The Cuttlebug is one of my favorite tools in my craft room! You can make amazing cards and mats for your scrapbook pages. Get my favorite tips and ideas to maximize your investment. It both die cuts as well as embosses. There is a lot of use with this machine, Let us show you everything you can do.

I recently found a new love and new obsession -- the Cricut Cuttlebug! I should back up first, though. I

Sometimes the technique in creating a project is what really catches my eye. This is the case today. Bottle caps are a great recycled element to craft with and the way that Sara figured out ho…

So many cute dies and embossing folders available - START SHOPPING! I'm just getting started with embossing with my Cricut Cuttlebug, and I'm having lots of fun so far! I'm going to show you how to

Update: Sadly the Cricut Cuttlebug is no longer made by Cricut. A great alternative is the Sizzix Big Shot, read my full review and also…

The Cuttlebug is one of my favorite tools in my craft room! You can make amazing cards and mats for your scrapbook pages. Get my favorite tips and ideas to maximize your investment. It both die cuts as well as embosses. There is a lot of use with this machine, Let us show you everything you can do.

298317 views on Imgur: The magic of the Internet

The Cuttlebug is one of my favorite tools in my craft room! You can make amazing cards and mats for your scrapbook pages. Get my favorite tips and ideas to maximize your investment. It both die cuts as well as embosses. There is a lot of use with this machine, Let us show you everything you can do.

Explore Paper Crafts Photos' 840 photos on Flickr!

The Cuttlebug is a very versatile embossing and cutting system, you can use almost every die and embossing folder on the market in this wonderful machine. The latest cutting system to hit the Scrapbooking market are Spellbinders, dies that can...

Update: Sadly the Cricut Cuttlebug is no longer made by Cricut. A great alternative is the Sizzix Big Shot, read my full review and also…

Do It Yourself – Textured aluminum can metal (done w/Cuttlebug machine) If you own a CuttleBug (Provo Craft) machine or know someone who does, try this for inexpensive art materials. Carefull…

I'm playing catch up with my Indigo Inklings inbox and I wanted to address a couple of questions that I've received in the last week or so. The first question has to do with using the Fiskars texture plates in the Cuttlebug. I usually use texture plates with my Big Shot. Here's what I found worked with my Cuttlebug. Pictured above are my Cuttlebug, my Sizzix silicone embossing pad (the black pad--same as the Spellbinders tan pad), white cardstock, the A plate, the spiderweb Fiskars texture plate (might as well be seasonal, eh?), and the B plate. This was one of the suggested "recipes" that I'd seen. So here's my stack, from the bottom up: plate A, texture plate with desired texture face up, cardstock, silicone pad, plate B. I rolled it through and found that there was little pressure applied. It just plain rolled through too easily. There was no way that the cardstock would have been embossed. I needed a thicker stack. Here you can see my modification. I substituted my C plate for the B plate. Everything else was the same. And above you can see the result when I rolled that stack through. It's a very nice crisp emboss. I didn't mist my cardstock. I did feel a fair amount of pressure as I rolled the stack through, but not enough to make me think that I'd break the machine if I kept going. My suggestion would be to add shims to the stack using the B plate if you're worried that your stack using the C plate is too thick. Add the shims gradually, too. You might have to roll your combo through several times before you hit on just the right amount of pressure, but once you find that combo you'll be all set. Just make a note of it so that you don't forget the next time. The next question has to do with the crease pad and cutting/embossing Nestabilities dies in one pass. Now I know that some folks have been having some trouble getting this to work for them. I wasn't sure why because it's fairly straightforward when I use my crease pad in my Big Shot. Just as a refresher, here's what I do: Pictured above are my Big Shot, the multipurpose platform on Tab 2, one clear plate, a scalloped heart Nestabilities die, white cardstock, and my Sizzix premium crease pad. This is the order in which I put this combo through the machine, by the way. The die is cutting side up (the side with the ridge), and the paper or cardstock should be face down on top of it. This is how it looks after I roll it through. There are a couple of places where the cutting looks a little questionable, but the die cut popped right out. Here is how it looked once it was out of the die. I think you can see that it was both cut and embossed nicely. So, I got to thinking that maybe the thickness of the newer premium crease pads must be the problem. I tried this again with the red one that I bought recently. This time there were areas that clearly were not completely cut through. You could see where the cut would have been though, so it wasn't going to take much more pressure to get that complete cut. If you've been following my blog for a while, you might have guessed what shim I decided to add to the stack. Yes, it was the backing to one of those Cuttlebug folders. :-) I put it right on top of the crease pad and rolled the stack through again. This time I got a more complete cut, even at that lower left edge that looks a little iffy. It popped right out. And here is the heart that I simultaneously cut and embossed. I was going to say that it was done in one pass, but that wasn't really true, eh? It would be next time though since I now know to use a shim with this red crease pad. :-) The bottom line is that if you're getting an incomplete cut, try shimming. If your embossing isn't crisp enough, try adding a shim for that, too. Add your shims gradually though so you don't break anything, but don't be afraid to experiment a little bit to see what works best for your particular machine and your accessories. As you can see, sometimes items can vary and make a significant difference in the results that you get, or don't get. :-)

Hi all, Ive been really enjoying experimenting with my cuttlebug and I'm so pleased i bought one. Ive been able to drag out supplies i haven...

Hi all, Ive been really enjoying experimenting with my cuttlebug and I'm so pleased i bought one. Ive been able to drag out supplies i haven't used in a long while and use them now in an even easier way than before. So drag out all your plastic stencils and today I'll show you what i taught to all my Monday card ladies....enjoy Open up your cuttlebug and put in your A plate then B plate on top and then your plastic stencil. Next lay your card over the top of your stencil. Now lay your silicone baking mat over the top of your card. As a shim i use 4 layers of card....as you can see these are the backings off the emboss folders you get....this way you will all know exactly how thick it should be. lastly lay your second B plate over the top to complete the sandwich and roll through. Remember to never force anything through your machine...if your silicone baking mat is thicker than mine just leave out one of the card shims....and the results..... What i found most annoying was that hole they use to hang the stencils in the shop.....but I just cut around mine and colored it with chalks...here's a close up Turned out like a fancy Lilly pad for my cute little frog. Well i hope this has inspired you to use some of your old supplies....see we didn't waste money buying all those stencils !! :)...Valita A note from Julie Wonderful Tutorial Valita and as I'm a proud owner of a cuttlebug myself I will definitely be giving this a go !! Everybody go and check out Valita's fantastic Blog HERE it is full with inspiration!!!

298317 views on Imgur: The magic of the Internet

The Gadget Queen (me) already posted on the Cuttlebug and how great a tool it is to have on hand. It cuts and embosses....one little handy dandy machine does it all. I really hesitated to get one because I am such a Cricut lover and thought I could do about anything with it and I didn't want to get into static (those you can't change) dies! That hesitation lasted for about a second and I got a cute little Cuttlebug a few months back. I have lots of Cuttlebug embossing folders, a few Sizzix dies, a few Paper Trey Ink dies, Spellbinders Nestabilities, etc and needed to know how to put them through the Cuttlebug to cut or emboss. I did a search of sandwich recipes and found this a while back...not exactly sure where I got it from so if the author just happens to stop in here on the Avenue let me know and I'll give you credit! There are lots of different sandwich recipes out there...I've used many on this listing and have found them to be good guides for cutting. So...here you go: (NOTE: The entire menu will most likely not show on your computer screen. Double click on the image and it will pop up in another window but be too small to view. Click again and it will enlarge the image.) This is a great resource...I have mine printed out for easy reference! Happy Crafting!

The Cuttlebug is one of my favorite tools in my craft room! You can make amazing cards and mats for your scrapbook pages. Get my favorite tips and ideas to maximize your investment. It both die cuts as well as embosses. There is a lot of use with this machine, Let us show you everything you can do.

I want to address a few things that have come up in comments and make some observations. One question had to do with the Double Cuttle and how I get the different colors between the designs of the two folders. I run my cardstock through inside the first folder, usually the busier pattern. I accent that embossing either direct to paper using Cats-eye inkpads or a dauber. I then put that through my second embossing folder. The new image is embossed and the "background" embossing is flattened somewhat, but not lost entirely. I then accent that second, more prominent embossing by inking it in a different color or colors. That's it! Another comment had to do with Bigz dies and the Cuttlebug. I know there's an renewed interest in Sizzix dies, particularly the bigger dies, because of the recently announced association between Stampin' Up and Sizzix. There's a misconception out there about which Sizzix dies can be used in the Cuttlebug. They ALL can. They all fit through the machine. It's the Sizzix plates that won't fit through the slot of the Cuttlebug. They're too wide. You can put the dies through between the C'bug plates though. Need proof? I took pics, 'cuz why should you believe me over someone else who says that they won't fit, eh? But hey, if you trusted me already, then cool. :-) Here's my Cuttlebug. The opening is 6" wide. This is a Bigz die, which measures 5 1/2" by 6". It'll definitely fit through... even sideways, though it's a tight fit. Hey, you never know when someone might need to put the die through sideways, eh? But it'd work. This is one of the XL dies. Though according to the Sizzix site info it's 6" wide, it isn't quite, and as you may have seen in some of my other posts, these dies will easily fit through the Cuttlebug. The issue is not having plates long enough to cut these dies in one pass. I showed how the B plates can be used with the scalloped card die without getting a crease where the plate ends. You can cut the XL card dies that use the Movers & Shapers, too. Here's the horizontal card die with the opening for the Movers & Shapers dies. I'm pointing out the scoring bar in the blurry photo above. Sorry 'bout that. Put the folded edge of a piece of 4 1/2"by 12" piece of cardstock that's been scored and folded in half next to that scoring bar. You're just going to use this half of the die to cut out your card. Half of the die fits nicely between the B plates. That's how it looks after you've made the first pass. And now as I look at this, it looks like you could maybe get away with using an 11" length of cardstock.... Nifty! This is the other end of the die, the side where the metal "floor" holds the magnetic Mover & Shaper in place to cut out windows in your card. This is the end you'll use this time. Place the open card so that it's aligned inside the cutting blades and over the Mover & Shaper die and run this half of the die through between your B plates. In the photo above I wanted to point out that you'll want to align the card's fold with the edge of the top plate so that it won't leave a noticeable crease in your card as it passes through the machine. But wait! Even if you don't have one of these card dies, you can still use the Sizzix Movers & Shapers dies. I've posted about this before, but I'd like to repeat myself here since Amy made a comment that reminded me about magnetic paper as a useful tool. Pictured above are 2 B plates, a sheet of magnetic paper and a Movers & Shapers die. The die tends to slip without metal to grab onto, so to make using this die more foolproof and less frustrating, use a sheet of magnetic paper to help hold it in place. You can see how I've marked mine so that I can place my dies fairly accurately. That's just the outline of an A2 card. The dotted lines help me with placement and making sure the die is straight or centered etc. This is my sheet of magnetic paper. It doesn't add much thickness to the sandwich at all. This is that same stack with the card and another cutting plate on top. If you have an extra B plate you can use that. This is one from my Sizzix supplies because I don't have a spare B plate. This stack worked fine for me, but you may need to shim. And this is the card with the window cut out--all done with the Cuttlebug. While we're on the subject of magnetic paper (Thanks so much for the reminder, Amy!), I thought I'd show how I sometimes use this with my Nestabilities dies. Here you see plate A, plate C, sheet of magnetic paper, card open and face down on top of die with cutting side up, plate B. Again, I have some lines drawn to help me make sure that I can place the die right where I want it. There's just enough pull to the magnet to hold the die in place. I prefer this to using tape to keep things from moving. Here I've run that stack through the machine. This is the way the card looks from the front once it's been folded. It's a nice easy way to add a window to a card front. Sorry about the length of this post and the number of photos. I try to keep things short and not have too many pics to load at once, but so much of this was inter-related that I hated to break things up. Hopefully there was enough useful info up there to make the loading time worthwhile. :-)

I saw this idea on the web a few months back and asked my hubby to pick up some bottle caps next time he went to the brew supply store. He...

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I had bought these, the new Tim Holtz Embossing Diffusers. You have probably seen, like me, the DIY versions that people have posted on You Tube, and they looked like a really cool idea. So when I saw these, I thought they had to be worth a try. This has #1 on it, so I assume he will be bringing out some other shapes somewhere along the line. What you get in the pack is 3 frames, for want of a better description, and the 3 inserts that are cut from them. A large oval, a small long oval and a circle. So effectively you get 6 options for changing around what you can do with your embossing folders. To try them out, I used the large oval. The idea is that you get an un-embossed area with the frame, or just a small embossed area with the insert. You can stamp into the un-embossed area, or even double emboss-adding a different texture to that blank area. Now, I did have a look around the net to see what sandwiches people were using with these and the 'bug, as Tim obviously uses a Vagabond in his demos. I did find a couple of different sandwiches for the 'bug, neither of which worked in my machine. So WARNING & DISCLAIMER here: If you've had your 'bug a long time, you will have a good idea what will fit through it, and what won't. To those who are not so familiar with their machine, NEVER, EVER try to force a sandwich through- you WILL break your 'bug. Err on the side of caution and start with a really thin sandwich, and gradually shim up till it will go through with reasonable ease, and produce a good embossed piece. Better to throw away poorly embossed cardstock, than a Cuttlebug! The sandwich here worked for mine. It may be too thick, or too thin for your machine. One video I saw the lady used an A plate, B plate, folder with cardstock, Diffuser, then B plate. Went through her machine perfectly, and came out well embossed. This sandwich was WAY too thick for my machine, but hers was fine with it. So be warned! According to Tim, the Diffuser replaces one cutting plate, and as for embossing folders I would usually use A plate, B plate, folder & cardstock, then B plate,I put one B plate aside, and my sandwich was: A plate, B plate, Folder & cardstock, Diffuser. Like I said, this worked just nicely in my 'bug. The first time I tried it out, I discovered that its a bit difficult to get the folder/Diffuser to stay where you want it to- so I recommend low tack tape to hold everything together while you feed the sandwich through. The first piece I did was with one of the Tim Holtz Alterations folders , Retro Cirque set. You can see my sandwich on the left. This is what you get- an embossed piece of cardstock, with a central oval panel left plain. Meaning you can stamp onto it, or use it as a base for a matted piece of stamping. You don't get a crisp outline around the embossing, by the way, it just sort of fades out. So now, the oval shape that is cut from the frame. Its layered up exactly the same, on top of the folder, and this time you definitely need the low tack tape to hold it in place- otherwise the minute you try to feed it, it slides everywhere. You have lots of options as to where you place it, or the orientation, as it just sits on top. I'm just going for the central oval here. I also tried feeding it through upside down, just to see if it made any difference- it doesn't, . So here are the two pieces together- the top one is the frame Diffuser, the bottom one what you get with the Oval. The thing Tim demo'ed with this is that you can place one type of embossing with the frame part of the Diffuser, then another type within the plain area using the oval insert. This time I have used the Swiss Dots folder, with the Diffuser frame for the first bit. The first embossing.Looking through my folders, I found one that I thought would go perfectly with this: I tried the frame over it, and it does indeed seem like a perfect fit. It's a Sizzix folder, by the way. This was layered up exactly the same as to get the embossed oval with a plain frame: Folder with cardstock, Oval Diffuser on top. Its not too difficult to get everything in the right place, as you can see enough through the folder to place your design. As you can see, lots of tape this time, I really didn't want it to move at all. The oval plate just puts the pressure on the words in the folder, and adds it to the blank area. The three pieces from the various combinations.

The Cuttlebug is a very versatile embossing and cutting system, you can use almost every die and embossing folder on the market in this wonderful machine. The latest cutting system to hit the Scrapbooking market are Spellbinders, dies that can...

Embossing folders are a lot of fun. They're an easy way to add texture and interest to cards and, I suppose, to scrapbook pages, too. They can also be used in ways other than just sticking card stock or paper inside the folder and rolling it through a machine. That's what I mean by Cuttling, or what I should probably refer to now as selective embossing, since Sizzix and QuicKutz are now releasing their versions of the plastic embossing folder. I dunno though. Cuttling sounds so much more fun than selective embossing. And little did I know how quickly the term would spread when I first started using it about a year ago. Anyway, one of the questions that's come up frequently is, "I can't find wood die cuts--can I use something else?" The short answer is, yes! The reason why I use what I use is that it's usually handy, cheap, and easy. So, where I might use craft sticks, someone else might find a scrap piece of acrylic, trim it to size with a band saw, and then use it the same way. It's the same reason why I'll use the backing to Cuttlebug folder packaging as my shims. They're handy. It's repurposing. I think it also gives a good reference point when other folks want to try something I've described. And yep, and I have lots of 'em! So, here's another way to do diagonal embossing. That post periodically gets lots of hits and I know that not everyone has the narrow cutting plates that I used. You can get the same look using chipboard, and I just want to show that there is more than one way to Cuttle a folder. ;-) These are just some pieces of chipboard--I get these with stamps from the USPS when I order online. Also pictured are a sheet of transparency and some repositionable poster tape. It's a bit out of focus, but what I was trying to show was that 3 sheets of chipboard are close to the thickness of a cutting plate. I wanted to err on the thin side, so I think I managed that. My bone folder is showing how I might like to place a diagonal on an A2 size card. My chipboard pieces are intentionally bigger than the card and than an embossing folder. That gives me some room to play with the position of the chipboard on the folder. Ahhh, the things that you learn from experience. :-) Still narrow enough to fit through the Big Shot and through the Cuttlebug though. I think you can see how the extra size gives you a little room to move your folder, tilt it to change the angle of the diagonal, or whatever. I cut my chipboard on a diagonal with a few passes of a craft knife. I then glued the layers together using my ATG. You can just make out the transparency, I think. I glued the top stack of chipboard in place to the transparency. The bottom part I wanted to leave loose since I might want different widths of unembossed diagonal strips on my card front. Here you can see that I've put a piece of the repositionable tape on the chipboard. I made it a little less sticky by pressing it to my jeans a bit before sticking it to my transparency. Also pictured is an A2 size card with the card front inside the Floral Fantasy Cuttlebug folder and the back tucked behind. This is how I positioned the folder over the chipboard pieces. The transparency helped keep things from moving but still let me see what I was doing. The stack was: multipurpose platform with no tabs, chipboard, card inside embossing folder, clear plate. Here is how that turned out. As I've suggested before, you can accentuate the border between the embossed and unembossed areas by scoring. I use my Scor-It. And here's another card with a bigger diagonal strip, just for comparison. So, to get back to my original point, there are lots of ways of getting different looks by selectively embossing. The above photo shows some of the items that I've used to accomplish that. It's by no means an exhaustive list. These are meant to be suggestions. Everyone probably has something a little different that they can use that will work. When choosing something to use, what's easiest is finding something that's of uniform thickness and roughly the same thickness as a cutting plate. It's best if it's firm, without too much give to it so that you can get a nice crisp embossing--you want an even pressure to be applied to the folder by the rollers. Softer stuff like fun foam and rubber gasket can work, and while it's definitely cheap and easy to use, the embossing isn't as crisp as what you get when you use something with very little give to it, like wood, acrylic, or even chipboard. Try it and compare--that's what I did. And as always, when you experiment, start thin and gradually work your way thicker with shims until you get the look you want--you don't want to end up breaking your machine or your plates. As for embossing smaller folders, whether border folders or the smaller size folders made by any of the manufacturers, if you have problems with the edges of the folder being embossed, this is where using something narrower than the border folder or slightly smaller than the small embossing folder can be helpful (my examples are numbers 3, 4, 7 in the last photo)--no pressure on the edges means no lines, eh? After all, no one likes unsightly lines. ;-) Addendum: A couple of folks have asked about the "sandwich" for the Cuttlebug. For embossing folders used with the Cuttlebug, the sandwich from the bottom up is usually A plate, B plate, embossing folder with card or card stock inside, B plate. Depending on what you use to selectively emboss, just plan on substituting that chipboard or wood die or whatever for one of the B plates (I usually swap out the one on the bottom.) and then adding shims until you're satisfied with the look of the embossing.

Update: Sadly the Cricut Cuttlebug is no longer made by Cricut. A great alternative is the Sizzix Big Shot, read my full review and also…

Today we have the fabulous Allie from Allie B Dallie here to show us a fun project using fabric & the Cuttlebug. Allie has TONS of great c...

Have you ever wanted to create a one layer card that is embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder but keep the middle "un-embossed" (is t...

If you have a Cuttle Bug you most likely have tried to emboss with your brass stencils. I did, and didn't have much luck, even when I follo...

A couple of days ago, Marie in BC, Canada, wrote to ask me the following: I was wondering if you've ever used the sizzlit decorative strips in your c'bug? Do you need to run it through with the sizzlit strip plates or can you use double the c'bug plates like for the bigz xl dies? My first thought was that these strips could be treated like regular Sizzlits, but then the problem of the potential crease from the edge of the plate occurred to me and I thought I'd better actually test one. Here's what I found. I used the usual sandwich for Sizzlit dies: A plate, B plate, die with cutting side up, cardstock, B plate. Running the stack through as you normally would, you'd get a crease from the edge of the plate. That's what I figured. Now for me, this crease hit at a spot where it probably wouldn't have mattered much. It caught the very tip of that blade of grass and wouldn't have been too noticeable. You might be able to find a spot on the strip where you could place that edge and it wouldn't matter if it made a crease. But what if you had a long, continuous design where it could make a difference? Here's what I tried in order to minimize the possibility of creasing the cardstock. I left that trailing edge of the B plates, die and cardstock hanging off the edge of the A plate. By doing that, I avoided making that crease. No pressure applied to the edge means no creasing. Sorry that the pic isn't focused as well as it could have been. Trust me though. There's no crease. The next step was to cut out the rest of the design. This means sliding the uncut portion of the die and cardstock between the B plates and running it through again. You still want to avoid putting a crease in your cardstock. Essentially, you repeat what you did before. Here I show putting the front end of the plates through, hanging off the edge of the A plate. All I'd done was slide the die and cardstock forward in between the B plates. This worked. You could also flip this combo around and have this be the trailing edge going through the machine rather than the first part through. It's whatever is easier for you. So, to use these decorative dies in the Cuttlebug, you'll just have to run your sandwich through the machine twice. You can't double up the B plates like you do with the XL dies because you have the short A plate to contend with, too, but you also don't need to have the long strip plates to use them--you can use the regular B plates. The long plates would make it easier in that you wouldn't have to worry about the potential crease--you'd just run the die through between the plates twice to cut the full length--but you can use what you've got already with your machine to make these work. Hope that answers your questions, Marie. :-)

Update: Sadly the Cricut Cuttlebug is no longer made by Cricut. A great alternative is the Sizzix Big Shot, read my full review and also…

298317 views on Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Don't be afraid of unfamiliar crafting tools. This series tackles "scary" craft tools with a post on how to use a Cricut Cuttlebug to create leather flowers

The Cuttlebug is one of my favorite tools in my craft room! You can make amazing cards and mats for your scrapbook pages. Get my favorite tips and ideas to maximize your investment. It both die cuts as well as embosses. There is a lot of use with this machine, Let us show you everything you can do.

Today we have the fabulous Allie from Allie B Dallie here to show us a fun project using fabric & the Cuttlebug. Allie has TONS of great c...

Have you ever been in charge of throwing a party, and would love to make some of the simple details stand out? This will for sure make you napkins stand out! I'm not going to

by Kathy Berger Embossing FoldersFirst, I would like to apologize a little for the length of this post. I am sure I am going to overwhelm some of our readers, but I really wanted to be as thorough as I could about using embossing folders; perhaps I should have done this across several posts, but I really wanted to provide you with a single reference. I hope you will forgive my transgression and read through the post, or at least bookmark it for future reference. This post is not necessarily intended as an exhaustive guide for using those folders, but I hope it will be thorough enough to help you to get more out of the folders you might already have, and perhaps encourage you to buy more (check out the huge selection of folders available at FranticStamper! Using an embossing folder is as simple as inserting the material to be embossed into the folder, building up the appropriate sandwich for the machine being used, and rolling the folder through the machine (by cranking, pumping, or turning on a switch, depending on the machine.) Here is a summary of the standard sandwiches for using the embossing folders with a variety of die cutting machines. Machines do have some variation in the tightness of their sandwiches. You may need to add shims or vary your sandwich for your particular machine. One rule to remember is never to force a sandwich into your machine... you might break your plates and potentially could damage your machine. Always be sure to follow your manufacturer's guidelines! Machines and sandwiches: Machine Sandwich Cuttlebug White A Plate B Clear Cutting Plate Cuttlebug Embossing Folder B Clear Cutting Plate Wizard Blue Mat Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Tan Embossing Pad White Mat Original Sizzix Standard Cutting Plate Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Sizzlet Machine Concerter in place on machine Big Shot Multi-Purpose Platform, open at Tab 1 Clear Cutting Pad Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Clear Cutting Pad QuickCutz Epic Gray Cutting/Embossing Platform Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Clear Cutting Mat Vagabond Solo Platform Shim Standard Cutting Mat Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Standard Cutting Mat Craftwell eBosser Plate D Plate C Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Plate A Throughout this tutorial, if you wish to see a photo closer up, you can click on the photo to open it at a larger size then use your browser's back button to return to the tutorial page, or right-click (ctrl-click on a Mac) to choose to open the photo in a different tab or window. Next, here is a little warning about your choice of materials for embossing...if your material has a right side and a wrong side it is important to always be sure to insert it into the folder correctly! In general, the right side should be against the side which has the pattern indented rather than against the side whose pattern is raised; the embossing (raised pattern) will end up on the right side and the debossing (indented pattern) on the wrong side. EMBOSS DEBOSS Embossing Different Materials Vellum Vellum is beautiful when embossed, but it is a little bit fragile and sometimes tears or breaks when embossing. I find that if I sandwich the velum between two pieces of text-weight paper before inserting into the folder I have better results. Transparencies Getting a photo of an embossed transparency is definitely difficult, but the embossing is child's play; simply insert the transparency into a folder and emboss as you would card-stock! The results are fabulous even when the photo isn't! Metal Only thin metals (foils and foil card stock are wonderful!) should be embossed; thicker metals can damage not only your folder, but also your machine! The metal I used is aluminum from a soft drink can. Note: thin metals can be die cut with steel rule dies like the original Sizzix dies before embossing. These flowers were cut with a small (green) Sizzix Originals die. Also try embossing flashing tape (not to be confused with duct tape!); it is very metalic looking, embosses easily, and is self-adhering! By the way, once embossed metals can be colored with alcohol inks for a wonderful effect! Chipboard Chipboard can be difficult to emboss because it is stiff and it is thick. Only thin chipboard (the weight of a cereal box) should be used in the folders. Thin coasters can be embossed in the same way as chipboard. Velvet paper Velvet or suede papers can be embossed with a beautiful yet subtle result. These specialty papers are less stiff than standard cardstock but still hold the embossing beautifully. Craft foam While it is possible to emboss craft foam it is difficult to get a good, deep emboss. It helps some if you HEAT the embossing foam prior to embossing, but to do so you need to work quickly. Use a heat tool to heat the foam and as soon as the foam starts to curl, place the foam into the folder and run immediately through the embossing machine. This is one case where having an extra set of hands would be a BIG help (I didn't have extra hands so this is not as deeply embossed as I would like.) Embossing, Plus Color It is easy to emboss anything that has already been colored. Add texture to your patterned papers or your stamped and colored images by embossing them! But here are some other ways to combine color and texture by using embossing folders. DTP Using a light touch, simply rub an ink pad across the embossed image. Color will transfer to the raised parts of the image. Chalk Apply chalk to the embossed areas of the card; smudge and rub in lightly. For this technique I use Stabilo CarbOthello Pastel Pencils I had from an old art class, but any quality art chalk, like the Pebbles and Craft chalks at FranticStamper, will work well. Use a white polymer eraser to remove stray chalk or to lighten areas if desired. Gel Pen Highlights Use a gel pen to trace around all or parts of the embossed image to add highlights (especially effective on colored papers!) Using Waxed Paper for a Resist Emboss a piece of waxed paper as you would any other piece of paper. Place the embossed piece onto a piece of card stock. Cover with a sheet of typing bond, and iron on high temperature (NO STEAM!) to transfer the wax to the glossy card stock. Sponge or brayer ink onto the card, and then buff off the excess ink with a rag or piece of paper towel. The pattern from the embossing folder will have transferred to the glossy card, and will act as a resist to the ink. Sanding white core paper Emboss white core or double sided papers as usual. (Using Core'Dinations cardstock for this technique is fabulous! A wide selection of Core'Dinations is available at FranticStamper .) Use a sanding block to lightly sand away the top of the embossed areas of the paper. Sand away a little, or a lot, depending on the look you are after. Ink the folder Rub dye based, pigment, or chalk ink directly onto the inside of the embossing folder from the ink pad (do not use permanent or solvent based inks as they will not transfer well and will not come off the folder.) Rub onto the flatter side of the folder, the side with the indentations of the pattern. When embossed the ink will become the background for the embossed images. Partial Embossing Back out Roll the sandwich only part way through the machine and then back the folder out. Note: all of the manual machines have a method for reversing direction of the sandwich's progress through the machine. On the Cuttlebug, for example, simply turn the crank in the reverse direction.) Small folders Use a piece of Spellbinder's tan embossing mat (this stuff cuts easily!) or a chipboard shim (you might need a couple of layers) just a little smaller than the folder to replace one of the plates in your sandwich (on a Cuttlebug the sandwich would be A plate, folder with cardstock inserted, embossing mat or shim, and C plate... experiment with your machine's sandwich). The embossing will only happen where the mat or shim makes contact with the embossing folder, preventing the edges of the folder from being embossed. Note: This selective embossing technique can be used to emboss a shape or a window. Simply cut a shape out of chipboard and use with a full-sized embossing folder to emboss only the shape. Here are a rectangular frame and a circular shape embossed with the Swiss Dots folder. Long Embossing To emboss a long strip of paper that is no more than 5" wide you can use one of the A2-sized folders that has a repeating pattern (Swiss Dots, for example). The preferred method uses a piece of the Spellbinder's tan embossing mat, just a little smaller than the A2 Folder, and a C plate. Place the paper in the folder so that the top edge is inside the patterned area. Place the folder SIDEWAYS onto the A plate on the base of the embossing machine so that the bottom edge of the paper extends beyond the end of the plates. Put the embossing mat on top of the folder, then put the C plate on top of it all to complete the sandwich. Roll through the machine. Remove the paper from the folder then reposition the paper so that you will emboss an un-embossed area; carefully align the end of the embossed area onto the pattern of the folder. You will be able to feel it almost "lock" into place. Rebuild the sandwich, pass through the machine and then repeat until the entire strip is embossed. Alternately, you can use the standard sandwich (A plate, B Plate, folder, B plate) with the same repetitive process. The difference is that the B-plate will cause the edges of the folder to flatten out a small amount of the pattern that previously has been embossed. First emboss all the way across the strip, ignoring this flattening effect. When the whole strip has been embossed, simply align the paper onto the raised side of the pattern of the embossing folder and rub your fingers around the area that had been flattened, applying slight pressure. You will cause the previously embossed area to push into the pattern, and the embossing will re-imerge. Repeat this on any flattened areas. The strip (2 1/4" x 12") in the photo was embossed with this method. Double embossing This technique involves using two different embossing folders and inking, and can use either of a couple of the coloring methods discussed above. The ink will highlight the first folder's pattern, while the texture will show the second. Ink positive Emboss your first folder and use the DTP method to add color to the raised image. Next, emboss with the second folder. Ink negative Use the Ink the folder method with the first folder to add color to the background of the raised image. Then emboss using the second folder. The texture of the second folder will be the only texture left on the cardstock, but the negative of the pattern of the first folder will be printed on the cardstock. I hope you have enjoyed at least some of this lengthy post and perhaps have found it useful. I promise to try to make my next technique post a little less involved! (Be sure to check out this article by Sharon Jeffs for more examples of these techniques, plus a few more techniques!) Smiles, Kathy Tweet

Update: Sadly the Cricut Cuttlebug is no longer made by Cricut. A great alternative is the Sizzix Big Shot, read my full review and also…

No, this isn’t how to eat a sandwich made of die cuts :) A “sandwich” is a term used with manual die cutting machines to show you how to layer up the die cutting plates for your p…