Heat embossing is a technique that produces a raised image on paper or card stock. It's easy to do, and it can give your scrapbook pages a fancy, professionally done look. All you need to get started is a few simple supplies:

* Rubber stamps
* An embossing ink pad or pigment ink pad
* Embossing powder
* A tray or piece of scrap paper (to catch excess powder)
* A heat gun

1. Ink your stamp thoroughly.
2. Sprinkle a generous amount of embossing powder over the stamped image.
3. Pour the excess powder onto the tray or scrap paper to be put back in the container. If powder remains in spots that you don't want embossed, tap the back of the page to knock it off or brush it away with a small paintbrush.
4. Sweep the heat gun back and forth over the image until it melts. This will produce a shiny, raised image. Be careful not to overheat the paper or embossing powder so that they do not burn.

Tips and Alternative Techniques

* You can use an embossing marker instead of stamps and an ink pad. This will allow you to emboss items that you write or draw freehand.
* Try different colored inks and embossing powders to produce various effects. Embossing ink is usually either clear or tinted, but pigment inks are available in lots of colors. Unless you use clear embossing powder, however, the ink color will not show through. It may, however, affect the embossing powder's color.
* If you do not have a heat gun, you can hold your page over an electric heat source. But if you use this method, it's important to pay special attention in order to keep the paper from scorching.
* The heat used in embossing will ruin photographs. To prevent this, do your embossing before you add photos to the page. If you're new to the technique, you could do the embossing before you affix anything to the page in order to keep from wasting material if you make a mistake.
* Print a transparency and sprinkle it with embossing powder as soon as it is done printing. Heat it with extreme caution to keep it from warping. Place it over a photo to create the illusion of embossing on it.
* If static keeps embossing powder from coming off of spots where it's not needed, use an anti-static product. Wiping the page with a dryer sheet will also work.

Heat embossing can make an ordinary scrapbook page look extraordinary. Some scrappers are intimidated by the thought of using heat on their pages, but it's really quite simple to get it right. The hardest part is not burning anything, but even that becomes easy after the first few times.

At some point in every die-hard scrapper’s life, they’ll probably have to deal with scrapper’s block. You know what that is, don’t you? Try as you may, you just can’t think of a single clever word or idea for another scrapbook page. Here are some tips and ideas to help you overcome this bane to your scrapbooking existence.

If journaling is your problem, there are a number of things you can do to get over the blockage.

1. Get up from your chair and take a walk. That’s right. You need a fresh perspective. Go outside and enjoy the great outdoors. Breathe in the clean air and feel the sunshine on your face.

2. Start collecting sayings that are meaningful to you - witty phrases from commercials, cute things that your children say, quotes from famous and not-so-famous people. Keep them in a notebook for those times you need some inspiration.

3. Create a journal jar. This is really good for writers who get stuck. Find a nice looking jar and write down sentences that will get you thinking. Cut the sentences off the page and put them in the jar. The next time you have scrapper’s block, you can draw one out and see where it takes you. Here are a few to get your jar started:

* Explain a family tradition from when you were a child.
* Who do you most admire and why?
* What is your dream vacation?
* Which holiday is your favorite?

What if the problem isn’t journaling, but trying to come up with actual pages for your scrapbook to go along with the photos you have? Maybe it will help to know you’re not alone. Even professional scrapbookers have this problem from time to time.

1. It’s okay to "break the rules" in scrapbooking. You may feel you have to work with the most recent pictures you have, but it’s alright to go through them until you find some that you’d rather work with.

2. If you can’t actually make yourself work on a page, perhaps you can plan out pages you’d like to do but may not have the photos or supplies for. Think about how you could get photos to match those ideas.

3. Look through magazines or online to get inspiration. Perhaps you’ll see something that would be perfect with some of your photos.

4. Go back through your completed pages and realize that you’re really good at scrapbooking. There may be a layout in there that can be adapted or updated with some of the new supplies that are out.

Here are some ideas that you may be able to use to help get you past scrapper’s block:

* My first helium balloon
* Playing with my friends
* Taking a bubble bath
* First tooth lost
* Dirty faces
* First day of . . . school, camp, spending the night with Grandma . . .
* All dressed up and no place to go
* Splashing in puddles
* First haircut (be sure to save a lock of hair to include)
* Family reunion

There are endless possibilities when you’re creating scrapbook pages. Take some time away from your pages to give you a fresh perspective. Look through others’ pages, magazines, or your child’s baby book to get inspiration. When scrapper’s block has passed, you’ll have so many new great ideas you won’t be able to get to them quick enough!

Here is a quick video for you on how to use spellbinder dies with the Sizzix Big Shot Machine: lots of fun!