Quick Tip on Embossing

I just thought I'd do a quick post on something that was bugging me...and am not sure if any of you had the same problems as me.

Its about the long time taken to melt the embossing powder by my Ranger's Heat Gun. This is my 2nd heat gun...previously I had used the Marvy Uchida and that would melt the powder in seconds...but it would also blow the powder all over my work surface. Which was a pain to clean afterwards! :(

So I decided to pick the Ranger's Heat It, (I got mine from Crafter's Corner) knowing it was a low noise, less fan speed kind of a gun.
But with that low fan speed came a drawback...it takes longer to melt the powder...the longer I used it, the more surfaces under it I melted. The reason is that, this is low temp heat gun....and the others are high temp melt heat guns...that is why this heat tool takes longer!

Thankfully I saw in one videos that I watch endlessly at nights (am a night owl and an insomniac) and it popped that this was what I needed.. , and I think this is my perfect solution. So I thought of sharing it with you!

What I did was take an useless corrugated cardboard sheet (see hoarding helps!!) and wrapped the piece in aluminum foil .. roughly an A4 size cardboard. And attached two wooden pegs to it...No metal and no plastic please...metal will heat up and plastic will melt...wooden pegs only..

What ever needs to be embossed, goes under the peg...so that it does not fly away...

And how it helps...when you're heating from top, the foil also gets heated and heats the paper from below...making the process of melting your powders faster....Its such a relief to have them melt faster....plus with the cardboard under it I don't melt any of my surfaces!! 

And your work gets done in half the time!!! just showing my pretty peg pins!! 
 

I would recommend this heat gun any day, its small, versatile, and makes so less noise than the other heat guns...plus this version works on the Indian voltage!! What more do I want!!

Hope this little tip helps you!!

Blending with Faber Castell pencils and Odorless thinners

I finally managed to shoot part 2 of my Coloring with Faber Castell Bi-colors. In part 1, I showed you how to blend those waxy pencils with a blender pencil. You can watch it here...But those blender pencils are not easy to come by.

So I had set about searching for an alternative method, and it  took me so long, because I had to find local versions of  blending mediums...and I finally found it...and I love the results I got with it....What I am using are oil paint thinners...called OMS (odorless mineral spirits)

These thinners are called OMS because they are odorless...

Most of it is self explanatory when you see the video

I do have to give credit to Amy R of pariepaperink, from whose video, I got the idea of putting the sponge in a baby food jar.

Here are the samples that I colored in my video...I think I really like this method of blending the colors.
Even better than watercoloring!
What say?

And here are the links to the various products I have mentioned. The Daler Rowney low odor thinner

Daler Rowney Low odor Thinner medium 

Another substitue for this can be the Camlin Distilled Turpentine, but which as I said stinks a ton...It has a strong pine odor...if you don't mind that..you can pick that up too at your local stationary store. The camlin turpentine wouldn't be called an OMS because it has a strong smell or odor. 

 I'm just sharing the pics coz sometimes you may forget the names of the product, but you'll always remember the pictures!! :p

Also there is the Winsor  Newton Sansodor ..same as the Daler Rowney product..I haven't been able to find it anywhere here, but if you do get that, that's a good option too.

 Blending stumps/sticks (paper stumps) I have found mine in my local craft shop. If you can find, that's good, but you can also get the set from Creatacolor which is of a higher quality.  

Papers I use are Brustro 200 gsm (not 220 as I mention in the video) 

Hope you do try this method...

Feel free to leave your questions and of course, do leave your feedback. Which is what I thrive on!! 

So what next would you want to know...I'm searching for topics for my next videos....