The ever handy heat gun!

I've now discovered that not only can you create lovely designs with stamps, ink, and embossing powder using a heat gun, and finish your Shrinkle pieces but I just used it to remove some old paintwork from the stairs! Of course if you try this make sure you are working in a well ventilated area with a mask and goggles, and stick on some work gloves if you're a bit clumsy like me! Keep the heat gun moving in circles and as soon as the paint bubbles slightly give it a scrape, if you already have a heat gun then you'll know that absent mindedly looking away for 10 seconds can result in flames/charred area/shrieking so keep a close eye. Obviously if you have an entire skirting board to do then bite the bullet and buy, hire or borrow a paint remover ( giant heat gun) but if it's only a few small areas why not give it a try. I cleared an a5 size bit of a good few layers of old paint in 10 mins. Proceed with caution and grin at results.