Guest Blogger -- Julie Ebersole

Hello!  I’m Julie Ebersole, and I must say I’m thrilled to have been invited to be a guest blogger here for Scrapbook News and Review magazine!  Today, I thought it would be fun to share more about one of my all-time favorite products from A Muse called Simple Stick.  Simple Stick is a clear "special effects" embossing powder that becomes tacky when heated!

Here are some samples that feature Simple Stick:

Simple Stick embossing powder can be used for applying glitter, flock and foils to stamped images by using embossing ink, pigment inks, clear or watermark inks, and your heat tool.  Although A Muse Simple Stick is the finest grind embossing powder of its kind, you'll achieve best results by starting with a well-inked ink pad, and by heating the image from underneath the paper, as opposed to from the top, to keep the air flow from your heat tool to a minimum.

Glitter Application:

To use Simple Stick, as in the example above, follow these steps:

1. Stamp grassy stems first with a fast-drying chalk or dye ink.  These inks work best when you do not want embossing powder to stick to them because they dry so quickly.

2.  Pounce the paper surface lightly with an anti-static bag, such as Static Magic.  This step eliminates any areas that may have electro-static or oils from your finger tips that might attract unwanted stray embossing powder.

3.  Stamp the hearts with a red pigment ink.  Make sure your ink pad is well-inked prior to stamping.

4.  Sprinkle Simple Stick over the top, and tap excess off gently onto scrap paper, funneling it back into the jar for future use.

5. Heat with a heat tool from the underside of the card stock, taking care to watch the embossing powder melt, turning from granular to shiny/wet in appearance.  Note:  It is very important to keep the heat just close enough to the underside of the paper to melt the powder, then move on to the next area immediately, to avoid over-heating the embossing powder; once Simple Stick is over-heated, it becomes "cured" or hard and loses its sticky properties.

6.  Apply red ultrafine glitter to the hearts, tapping off excess onto a separate piece of scratch paper.  You will see that the glitter clings to the areas or images that were embossed with Simple Stick Powder.  I generally like to use a pigment ink color that matches the ultrafine glitter color I plan to work with, but when working with microfine glitters, a plain embossing or Versamark pad (clear) also works very well.

7.  Gently re-heat the image (from under the card stock) to harden and cure the Simple Stick powder, locking the glitter into it.  Any loose flecks of glitter remaining on the paper surface can be removed with a soft brush.

Clear Glitter Application:

For this design, the paper surface was both sponged lightly and then the images were stamped with chalk ink.  The paper was then pounced with an anti-static pouch.  Afterwards, a solid rectangle image was inked with Versamark, which is a clear pigment type ink (also referred to as a watermark ink), and then stamped directly atop the pre-stamped images.  Simple Stick was applied, heated, and then a clear, iridescent glitter applied.  This allows the artwork beneath to show through a "veil" of sparkly glitter.

Below is an example of a mini brad, that has been flocked by gripping the prongs with tweezers (always use tweezers to protect your had) and heating the head with a heat tool.  While hot, the brad was dipped directly into the jar of Simple Stick, and then dipped into a jar of flock, pressing the flock firmly against the brad head.  With this method, you do not need to apply any pigment or embossing ink to the brad because once it is hot, dipping it into the jar will cause the embossing powder to melt immediately and directly onto it.  Best results are achieved if you use a brad and flock that match in color, in this case, a yellow brad and yellow flock.

Using the methods as described above, you can apply flock, foils, even finely ground sand and coffee grounds to your stamped images, so I encourage you to experiment and play with a variety of materials.  Stunning effects can be achieved whether using solid/bold or outline type images!

A Muse Simple Stick embossing powder is one of those supplies I consider a staple, especially when working with glitter, and I hope this mini-tutorial inspires you to give it a try. Thanks for sharing part of your day with me!

Stamp happy!

Julie

Comments

[jen shears]

GREAT info!! Thanks!

[Jennifer Schmidt]

Thanks so much for sharing this, Julie! This sounds like a great product that I've got to get my hands on :) I love all of the different things that can be done with this that you've shown.

[Barb Housner]

Wonderful examples using the Amuse product. I am rather "embossing challenged" - I wonder if this would be easier for me to use.

thanks for sharing.

Barb Housner

[Cat]

as always, love your art Julie - and great tips too!

[Erika M]

How very cool - I haven't tried this particular product but I just might have to now that I have seen this awesome tutorial!

[ana]

wow those cards are amazing.

[Debbi Tehrani]

What delightful cards! Thank you for sharing your ideas with us!

[debby]

Beautiful examples.

[Valerie]

AWESOME cards! I am loving the sound of this product, I am going to have to find some!

[Cathy]

Gorgeous cards! the red on kraft is stunning.
Cathy

[Lori Baer]

I've got to get me some of this! Thanks for the great examples. Lori B

[Ann]

Great tips Julie! Thanks for sharing.

[Rose Ann]

All of your projects are so beautiful, and the Simple Stick looks like a great product! Thanks for all of the info, and for sharing your inspiring designs!!

[Anthonette]

I've never tried covering brads with flocking. Thanks for all the great ideas, Julie!

[Tenia Nelson]

Lovin the cards!!!

[Joyce (Ashjoy)]

Great cards! Congrats on the guest blogger spot!