EMBOSSED MONOGRAMMED CUP

EMBOSSED MONOGRAMMED CUP

Heat embossing may sound like an intimidating craft to try, but it’s actually not as tough as it sounds! It’s great for personalising non-porous items as the embossing powder melts onto the surface as it is heated, making it rather permanent ( and great for gifts ) . So, let’s get started!

Materials you'll need:

1. A glass cup ( I got mine at ikea for $3.20 )
2. Heat gun
3. Embossing pen
4. Embossing powder in the colour of your choice
5. Big piece of paper ( to contain your embossing powder mess )
6. Some tape
7. Small brush

Prepping your cup

 The first thing you want to do is wash and dry your cup thoroughly ! Any oil or sweat stains from your hands will potentially cause the embossing powder to cluster at random places rather than just at your design. So try your best not to touch the cup AT ALL. This way you minimise any "cleaning up" work with your brush ! 

Making your design

The embossing pen "ink" is a type of glue that is slow drying, so when you pour embossing powder over it, it sticks to the glue-y portions ! The only problem is that most embossing pens are clear D: So that means for surfaces like glass, it's a tad bit difficult to see what you've written. Unless you can get your hands on Rangers black and white embossing pens, here is a little trick I use !

Practice your design ( to scale ) on some random scrap paper in DARK INK. Then cut it out, and paste it on the inside of the cup where you want your design to be with some tape. Now, when you trace over your design with your pen, the dark ink allows for a bit more visibility for the glossy embossing "ink".

Quick trick: I find that the embossing pens by ZIG work better on only porous surfaces, while Ranger is generally good for all surfaces ( and cheaper too ).

Get embossing !

The embossing process needs to be done quick, before the glue dries. So lay out everything first. Open the embossing powder cap, prepare your brush and plug in your heat gun.

After tracing over your design, pour the embossing powder over the design, making sure to cover the whole design.

Next, firmly tap off the rest of the powder onto the big piece of paper ( you can recycle the powder later by bending the paper and pouring the powder back into the container).  The powder should cling to your design, and probably to other random areas too. So to remove those, grab a brush and just brush away the excess powder around your design!

Quick trick : Don't worry if you feel there's too little powder on your design - the powder melts and might spread! If it's still too little even after heating, just go over the design again with your pen when it's cooled and repeat the process.

Heating the design

This is probably the most insta-worthy and magical part of the whole process! Simply turn on your heat gun and hold it 1-2 inches above your design and start heating!! You'll know when to stop heating when the design turns reflective.

Quick trick: Be careful not to overheat your design ! When overheated, the design starts to bubble which can look a bit funky!

And there you have it ! Your very own embossed monogrammed cup <3