I thought I'd try a little experiment to see whether misting or spritzing your cardstock (before running it through your embossing machine) really improves the quality of the embossing.
First off, I grabbed some leftover card that was sitting on my work desk. I picked an embossing folder at random from my growing collection (I blame Gail), sandwiched the card and ran it through my Cuttlebug. Then I misted a second piece of the same card and repeated.
Here's what I got...
Mmmmmm, well it's hard to see but the misted card seems to have a slightly deeper embossed effect. The card has warped very slightly.
Here's a close-up. It does look nice and hasn't damaged the texture and finish of the card. This is Papermill card (about 80lb weight) and seems to have survived a spritzing nicely. Was it worth doing? Yes, I'd say that it probably looks better.
Next, I tried another colour card. This is Bazzil Basics, which is my go-to colour card.
This card just soaked-up the water like a little sponge. Yes, it gave a nice impression, but was totally ruinous of the texture and finish of the card. Drying it with my heat tool just made the card look scorched, and removed the nice surface sheen that Bazzil has.
I also tried some Crafter's Companion watercolour paper and could certainly see a difference.
Having looked at some very persuasive blog posts and videos about spritzing and misting, I realised that many of the best results seem to be achieved when using Stampin' Up! cardstock. I tried a different embossing folder and some Temping Turquoise card, and was very impressed with the result.
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| Kaisercraft - Crochet Doily |
It's probably tricky to see, but the misted card has a much deeper impression and looks great.
To my mind whether you mist or not depends on the cardstock you're using. Thicker card generally seems to give better results when used in an embossing folder and is also less likely to tear. If you're planning to use a heavier, thicker card a little spritz of water certainly seems to improve the embossed effect you get.
I guess my advice would be to do a little test with your cardstock before spiritzing or not. Also, don't overdo the spritzing - remember, you're misting not drowning the card.
There's another challenge on the way, so Gail and I will see you soon for more embossing folder fun!
BTW - All views in this post are entirely my own, and I'm not receiving any form of remuneration from the companies I've mentioned.
12 comments:
Great tips and comparison. and such beautiful embossing folders, wow.
I mist watercoloured papers and results are stunning.
Crafty hugs xx
Cool post Jo and lovely exploration of misting. I do mist, if I remember, cos I think most of the time it does give a better result, but as you say, some products really don't like getting wet. Thanks for sharing. Hugz
Informative! Thanks for sharing your experiment!
Very interesting post! I've never misted my cardstock and I have always been pleased with my embossing. That being said I tend to use heavier weight cardstock. Thanks for this information!
Thanks for this great information. I haven't misted but would never have thought about the effect it would have on different cardstocks. I'll give it a try.
What a great post! I always thought the misting was done so the cardstock wouldn't tear when embossed, I never knew it gave a deeper impression. Who knew too that the type of cardstock made a difference. I will be experimenting with this technique for sure. Thanks for this post, so helpful! Hugs, Brenda
Hey, Jo....thank you for this great comparison. I agree that the thicker cardstocks do better with misting than the thinner ones.
I esp find that misting my layered "strips o' scraps" backgrounds before dry embossing gives a much better impression than without. (Eeek....I guess I can't really call that "dry" embossing anymore!) That's particularly important if I am going to go to the next step and double emboss. I need those well-defined ridges to catch the embossing ink and powder.
Love this Technique Time feature of your blog. Thanks, gals, for all you do.
<3 J
jwoolbright at gmail dot com
HerPeacefulGarden.blogspot.com
I found the same thing that it all depends on the cardstock you are using and you don't need much misting :)
I love the results you've achieved, Jo! and you must tell us more about this latest embossing folder, please! xx
=]
Thanks for sharing the comparison, it's useful!
I've never thought of misting the cardstock before embossing. I will certainly experiment with the different cardstock weights that I have to see what works and what doesn't.
I'm not much of a mister but Tim Holtz has mentioned it as being helpful. Thanks for the many examples of with/without misting - excellent post, Jo!!
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