Paper Crafts Rubber Stamping

How to Use Clear Embossing Powder in Craft Projects

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Clear embossing powder is a useful addition to a stamper's workbox. Most rubber stampers at some stage will want to have a go at embossing. This is an exciting and versatile technique and easy to learn. But one of the challenges is knowing what to buy. There are numerous fantastic embossing products available from stamping and craft stores. The color range extends from the palest pastel through to deep vibrant hues. Embossing powders can be found with glitters, tiny crystals, holographic powders, and many other fancy finishes – even with fragrances! The choice facing a beginner stamper is staggering, and even the most strong-willed of stampers can find themselves buying embossing powders on a whim, which may not get fully used.

While a single pot of embossing powder is not expensive and lasts a very long time, the cost soon adds up, and for a beginner one of the key challenges is to make your money go as far as possible.

Many beginner rubber stampers find that a single pot of clear embossing powder is ideal for a wide number of projects, letting them explore the technique in more detail before investing in a wider range of powders.

Clear Embossing Powder

Clear embossing powder is one of the most useful items in a rubber stampers work box. The clear embossing powder can be used with any variety of colored inks, allowing a great deal of flexibility. This means that the single pot of transparent embossing powder and a heat gun can be used for many projects.

Clear Embossing Powder Uses

  • Clear Embossing as a Resist: Create unusual effects using clear embossing powder as a resist and painting over the top using watercolor paint
  • Emboss Multicolored Images: It is possible to emboss images that have been stamped with many colors. This means that beautiful multi-colored images can be gained without the need for several different colored embossing powders. Several images can be stamped in different colors, and these can all be embossed at the same time. This saves having to emboss the separate images when using different colored embossing powders.
  • Use With Rainbow Inks: Icier embossing powders also work well with images stamped using a rainbow or multicolored stamp pads. These stamp pads have a variety of different colored ink pads lined up next to each other allowing multi-colored images to be stamped using a single ink pad.
  • Set Pigment Inks: Pigment inks can be slow drying, mainly when used on papers with nonabsorbent surfaces such as vellum or with unique shiny finishes. Clear embossing powders will help fix the inks while letting the original color of the ink shine through.
  • Monochromatic Color Schemes: Clear embossing powder is ideal for creating monochromatic color schemes. Using a transparent ink and clear embossing powder the embossed image is a slightly darker shade than the paper or cardstock that is stamped upon. This can give a lovely subtle color scheme with the colors toning in together. This works particularly well on a shaded background where the clear embossed image accentuates the shading in the paper.
  • Outline Images: Embossing black inks gives a good outline for coloring images. Embossed images have a slightly raised shiny surface, and this presents an excellent outline when coloring in images. The embossed outline will help to stop paints or inks from flowing outside the outline and give a sharp finish to the final project. The shiny surface will also act as a resist meaning that most paints or chalks will not stick to it.

Benefits of Clear Embossing Powder

  • Saves buying several different colored embossing powders
  • Allows maximum usage of your colored ink pads
  • Gives a great outline image for even the most unsteady of hands to color in
  • Multi-colored images can be embossed in one go which saves time.

If you really can't resist all the beautiful colored embossing powders, treat yourself to a fancy colored one to complement the clear powder. This will allow you to play with a colored powder without breaking the bank!