This month we're sharing an in depth overview of WOW! Embossing Powders. In the above photo, you can see they have quite a wide variety of of embossing products and they each have different features and, in some cases, multiple uses. They have their own line of Fab Foils, that work in conjunction with their Bonding Powder!
If you enjoy making your own custom mixes of embossing powders, I must also mention how cool their EMPTY Anti-static jars also are! They come labels that have enough space for you to write down the details of your custom mix so you can whip up a new batch whenever you run out! I actually plan to transfer some other embossing powders I already own into these jars because I love the anti-static feature.
WOW! Embossing Powder also has their own embossing pad with an "Ultra slow-drying" embossing ink. While Versamark has long been my personal embossing pad of choice, I wanted to do a comparison between the two.
On plain white card stock I tested the Versamark Watermark/Embossing Pad on the left, and the WOW! Ultra Slow-drying Pad on the right. Powders are listed top to bottom:
Each of these powders are a fine grind. They melted smoothly with a nice shiny finish. In each instance, the Ultra-Slow-drying Pad performed equal to the Versamark pad. It is a clear ink and just like the Versamark, and I had to tilt the card stock to see where I had stamped.
The same powders were then embossed on black card stock; except for the Gold Rich, which is nicely opaque and a bright gold finish, the others were transparent, their hues barely showing against the black card stock. This is something to be aware of, as the jar labels themselves do not indicate whether or not they are opaque or transparent. They did, however, melt and smoothly and shiny on the black paper as they did on white.
In the above photo, the top two examples are glittery embossing powders:
Under the Sea, left; Royal Crush, right.
Both had a nice ratio of embossing powder mixed with glitter to emboss easily and with good coverage; Under the Sea seems to have a brighter sparkle probably due to some clear iridescent glitter in the mix whereas the Royal Crush seems a darker sparkle. After examining it closer, I believe that is because it is a transparent purple embossing powder with a deep turquoise blue glitter in the mix. The glitter grind in both seems to be Ultra-fine, yielding a finish that is not overly "chunky".
The bottom two examples feature:
White Puff, left; Glow In The Dark, right.
White Puff has a slightly coarser grind, and when melted created a fun, uneven raised effect that looks just like its name: Puffy. I thought the finish would feel soft/cushy to the touch, but it actually feels firm, albeit textured. I think this powder would be awesome for embossing white furry critters and clouds, etc.
Glow in the Dark is a finer grind that, after embossing, appears with a pale, almost fluorescent yellow color on both white and black card stocks, and more of a matte, as opposed to shiny, finish.
I tested how well it glowed in the dark by "charging" it up in a well lit area, and then ducking into a darkened room (OK, the bathroom, LOL!) that had no light at all. I was tickled to see how well it glowed in the dark and could see all the details of the butterfly quite nicely! This will be great on Halloween cards, or on cards that feature fairies or insects, etc. You could even selectively emboss by using the WOW! Embossing Pen to apply the powder just to very specific areas of your image! Such a fun, interactive touch on a card any time of year! I wish I could have gotten a photo of it, but take my word for it: It glows. :)
Next I tried the Bonding Powder, which is designed to fuse heat-activated transfer foils to paper surfaces. Emboss like you normally would, apply a piece of foil, colored side up, sandwich in a piece of typing paper and send it through a laminating machine or the Minc. You can also use a household iron, altho the aforementioned machines are a lot easier to use.
I tried it twice on my Minc; the initial trial on the right was done with a heat setting of 3. It seemed to cause the image to muddy so I tried a second time (left) by dropping the heat on the Minc to Level 1. I think this preserved the butterfly's details more with the foil so in the future, I will pre-heat the laminator to the lower temperature when using the Bonding Powder.
The Bonding Powder will not yield a perfectly "flat" smooth foiled effect, as can be achieved with laser printing, but if you are trying to foil a stamped image or don't have a laser printer, this method produced a fair finish.
The above is an example of what you can achieve with the Melt-It Powder!
I wanted to try creating my own clear epoxy type embellishments, so I heated the Melt-It powder in one of the small Melt-It Containers by pouring several spoonfuls into it and heating with my embossing gun from underneath. It's important to heat from underneath so that you don't blow the powder around and make a mess, before it actually becomes molten. You can also form a pouring spout prior to heating by pinching an area of the tin.
SAFETY: Hold the tin container with a pair of pliers while heating; it will get extremely hot and you do not want to burn yourself. The embossing powder will also be molten and hot; take care not to spill it onto yourself during this process.
If I had an old electric skillet, I would set the container inside it and melt the powder that way because it does take some time to fully melt the powder.
After the Melt-it Powder was hot and molten, I poured small puddles of it onto a non-stick craft sheet and allowed it to cool. I also added some Bluetiful powder to color it and make a "sea glass" look, which I absolutely loved. Since I had made quite a bit of this, I also tried pouring it into a button mould and allowed that to cool.
When the puddles were cool I could pop them right off the non-stick craft sheet and buttons popped right out of the mold, altho I need to practice how high to fill them; I overfilled them the first try. You can actually toss the "rejects" back into the tin and re-melt them down and try again, if you like. I did. :)
With a little practice, I think I'll get better at making the puddles more round for use as faux epoxy dots.
Last, but not least, I wanted to try deep impression embossing with the Rich Gold Ultra High powder; this powder is not intended for use as normal embossing powder. It is a coarse grind, melts quite thickly and can be layered several times. While still molten, a stamp image that has been prepped with Versamark or the Ultra Slow-drying Ink can be impressed into it and allowed to cool. The Slow-drying Ink acts as a release agent so you can easily remove the stamp when the powder has cooled and the image is debossed into the embossing powder.
I swiped the Ultra Slow-drying Pad against the paper surface, and then sprinkled the Ultra-high powder over the top, heated, allowed to cool, and repeated the process. Then, while the embossing powder was still molten, I set the stamp down into it. You can also experiment by melting the powder in a tin and pouring a puddle of it onto a non-stick craft sheet and then setting the stamp into it; it can resemble sealing wax.
LINK: Watch in HD on our YouTube Channel HERE.
I hope this has given you some insights into WOW! Embossing Powder products and how they can be used to create great effects on your cards and paper craft projects!
Thanks for joining me today!
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