Update on using embossing pen in Cameo

I bought the new penholders from Amazon, hoping they would work with the embossing pens from Ranger in the Cameo, but none of them worked, so back to plan B, simple and cheap foam cushions from dollar store, I had tried to push these onto the pens without any luck, plus they were too narrow to fit the Cameo,"but" I sliced it down and it worked perfectly

Here is the pen shown in the holder, doesns't go all the way around but works just fine.  I needed something I could slip on and off quickly so that I could put the cap back on the pens so they wouldn't dry out.
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The pen now fits in the holder nicely and I quickly sketched and embossed this design on scrap cardstock, excuse the paint splatters.  So now I can use the Cameo to sketch and heat emboss any design in my files as needed.

More experiments with those Ranger "Emboss It" Pens

OK, so you don't have a Cricut, Explore, or even a Silhouette Cameo, those embossing pens are still pretty wonderful.  Just print out whatever designs/images you want on whatever project you are working on, and use pens to trace over design.  Then sprinkle with embossing powder and zap with heat gun and you get the same effect.  I had previously printed designs onto deli paper and blogged it here:   see the kids on bicycles that I "printed" in gray, just to test what I would get, but now I quickly scribbled over them with the black Emboss It Pen then sprinkled it with fine clear embossing powder, and now it looks like this (I intentionally didn't fill in everything to see what it would look like),

Then I tried using Embossing Pen in Black on other Deli Paper.  I had printed butterflies in Blue and printed them onto deli paper but they were too faded so I traced a couple with the embossing pen in black and doodled on paper also and here is result:

Then I wondered if the emboss it pen would work on the fabric I printed of one of my painted deli papers and it worked sort of.  I still had the fabric on the carrier sheet and had not removed it, so I traced over a butterfly that I had printed, in these pictures you can see the powder sprinkled on the half of the butterfly I had traced with the emboss it pen, then a pic of what it looked like after using heat gun.  It left a texture, but not the smooth shiny texture you get on a non pourous surface, but I guess I could go over it again and build up layers  Anyway good for experimenting:

Learned a new trick

I bit the bullet and got another digital cutting machine.  I absolutely love my Cameo, and especially the software program which is terrific.  I use the software for more than just cutting.  It is pretty much my "go to" program when I want to lay things out, get nice crisp images and text,  and print from it, either on paper, fabric, or on transparencies that I use to make silkscreens.

  However, I was intrigued by the Cricut Explore's ability to cut thicker materials than the Cameo can cut, so I bought one.  It is a lovely machine and has many advantages, and I will use both the Cameo and the Cricut Explore.  I am not thrilled with the "on-line", software that drives the Explore not enough flexibility in personally designing images, etc.  Although I understand the Cricut has come a long way with this new machine.

Now for my discovery:  in learning the ways of the Explore, I fell upon this video as I devoured as many tutorials as I could to learn the system:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2FOnbya4_g

Melody showed a neat trick which I will use a whole lot.  I love heat embossing and have several powders.  Up til now, it has mainly been something you do with rubber/acrylic stamps and therefore is limited in size, etc.  But having watched Melody's tutorial, and having bought the embossing pens she used, I proceeded to use them on "yes" some more of my deli paper.  I must have made this sheet the same time I made several recent ones, same paint colors.  On the others, I  ran through printer to get graphic images to print on top of the painted papers.  This time, I put the paper on my Explore mat, inserted the clear pen in the pen holder, changed the image from a cut to a "write" and off I went--rather the machine went!  Since the embossing pen I used was clear,  I couldn't easily see where the pen had drawn on the paper until I sprinkled on the mustard color embossing powder and voila, it was there nice and clear/clean.  I hit it with the heating gun and the areas drawn with the embossing pen  raised up from the paper.  With this bit of help, I can use virtually every image on my computer to get whatever size/placement I want.  I have a collection of stamps which I probably won't even use, glad I don't have too many, this is the way to go.    Both the Cameo and the Explore take 12" wide media, so this is an added advantage as well.  Unless you have a wide format printer, you would have had to wrap paper around a carrier sheet.  How lovely to be able to use this technique to draw/sketch and then heat emboss using the capabilities of the machine.  These pens did not fit into my Cameo holder, so had to use the Cricut Explore.  I will post this on the forum of Cameo users to see if some of the other purchased pen holders will hold these embossing pens.