Got crayons? All that fun foam in the Cuttlebug has me thinking of other things to do with embossing folders. I'm not sure if this is a ...
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.
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.
This tutorial is for Cuttlebug users and uses the plates that should come with your machine to emboss metal stencil dies. You will need: Cuttlebug Machine A Plate 2 B Plates C Plate 2 Silicone Mats Metal Stencil Card / Paper The sandwich is as follows (from bottom to top - as you would build it) A Plate Add one B Plate Add Stencil (see top tips down below) Add your card, if using a patterned or finished card the side you want to use needs to be facing the stencil Add 2 x Silicone Embossing Mats (see top tips for more info) Add the last B Plate This is a pic of everything layered up as it should be, the pics above have been staggered so you can see what has been layered up. Sandwich re-cap (starting from the bottom) ~ A Plate ~ B Plate ~ Stencil ~ Card (front facing stencil) ~ 2x Silicone Embossing Mats ~ B Plate This is now ready to go through your machine TOP TIPS! Check that your stencil does not have a branding or manufacturers mark on it as this will emboss too, if it does make sure that in your sandwich as above, the writing side of the stencil is facing down, touching the cutting mat. If you are embossing straight on to a card blank or die cut shape, if you cut your tan mat so it is slightly smaller than the outline of the stencil but large enough to cover the design this will mean you get an edge free image. When embossing in my machines i use the spellbinders mats, mainly because i find where other tutorials say you need one, you get much better results using 2 as in my sandwich above, there are other brands and sizes out there, you can buy a 12x12 sheet also from spellbinders that you can cut down if you are using it with stencils a lot. If you dont have any silicone mats, you could try sheets of funky foam, but this will wreck the foam and it will not last many passes through the machine! my last tip is a very cheap one but gives FAB results (fab results that are so hard to photograph!!) In the photo below i have 4 embossed images, from left to right Bigshot embossed misted with water, Bigshot embossed, Cuttlebug embossed misted with water, Cuttlebug embossed I am not sure if you can see in the picture but the 2 embossed images that were misted with water (both on larger scraps of card) give a much deeper impression. I mist mine with a plant sprayer and just give it one quick squirt on the mist setting and then a quick shake then pop it through the machine as you would normally (i always mist the front of the card - the side that touches the stencil in the sandwich) It is a very cheap tip but very effective!! If I get any questions about this tutorial i will add my responses to the bottom to try and help others who may have the same questions Lisa x
I LOVE the embossing borders that Cuttlebug has came out with! But I found that if I use the borders the same way I would use a full sized embossing folder (A2 size), they leave marks on my cardstock. This is true particularly with textured cardstock like Bazzill (my favorite!). If you wrap the embossing border folder around the cardstock and place it between the two "B" plates with the "A" plate on the bottom, you sometimes get this: You can kind of see where the textured part was flattened out in some spots and there's a line where the edge of the border is. Now some cardstocks work fine and some don't. HOWEVER, if this DOES happen to me, I just use my Scor-pal to make a line down the edge of the border area. Kind of separates that section so it looks like it's supposed to be different. You know the packaging that Cuttlebug folders some in? Well I took the back "chipboard" piece and cut it in to 1" wide strips. I then adhered 7 strips together in a stack as shown. I started out with 4 or 5 and experimented until I had the right thickness for my Cuttlebug. If you're using glue, don't use too much or it will squish out the sides when you run it through your Cuttlebug! You'd need to experiment too - start out with less layers and add one layer at a time until it embosses the way you want it to without leaving the flattened area and line. It depends on how tight your Cuttlebug is, what thickness of adhesive you're using to hold your strips together, and what thickness of cardstock you generally use. Read on to find out how to use your stack. Here's what I do different with the borders: I wrap the border folder around the cardstock and place it directly on the "A" plate. I don't use a "B" plate yet. Now place the 1" wide chipboard stack directly over the embossing border folder. Place a "B" plate on top of that. Yes, my "B" plate is well LOVED! Now sometimes my border folder slips a bit and I have to readjust to make sure it stays where I want it before I roll my stack through the Cuttlebug. Here is the result from using this method. You can't see where the edge of the border folder was and there's no flattening of the textured cardstock. I like this nice crisp clean look better! And it's so simple! Check out my blog, Angel Stamper, for more inspiration! Hope you have a great day! Tootles!
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
The Image: This sweet animal stack image is from the new Paper Garden Projects Stamp Kit: FarmYard Friends. It's tucked in a pocket tha...
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.
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...
The Provo Craft Cuttlebug embossing folders are folders that emboss designs on paper or cardstock. They enrich & enliven any project with texture and style
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.
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
Cut a shape, emboss a shape, or cut then emboss shapes with the inspired designs available exclusively with Cuttlebug cutting and embossing dies.
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.
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.
Some of the staff at Scrapbook Memories and More have experimented and posted a tutorial showing how to use Spellbinders die and embossing plates in the Cuttlebug machine. Love how versatile this …
I have gotten a number of questions from customers who have struggled with getting their embossing folder sandwich to roll through the Stampin' Up! Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine. I
Make your own DIY Embossing Folders for under $1 with your Cricut! Use Cricut Design Space to create your custom embossing folder!
Getting rid of those Cuttlebug folder lines has been a popular topic. Jackie wrote to me a while back, telling me about another way that she'd found for avoiding those lines. I wanted to mention it here because I tried it today and think it's another good alternative. At the far right is a border embossed the regular way. It shows that line that can be so irritating. The embossing in the center is the one I embossed using a craft stick. The one on the left is one that I did by using the following sandwich in my Big Shot: multipurpose platform open to Tab 2, border folder with cardstock inside, silicone embossing mat, clear plate. The beauty of this last method is that you probably already have everything you need. If I looked VERY closely, I could see a very faint line made by each edge. I don't think that you could see them in the photo. The embossing is also just a bit less crisp. I think that the differences are small though, and the ease of using just a silicone mat makes up for them. So add that in as yet another way to emboss with these folders and avoid the annoying lines. Thanks, Jackie! Now this is a tip that is probably useful only for Big Shot/Big Kick users, but I thought this was a neat time-saver. I'd read somewhere about being able to cut and emboss Nestabilities dies in one pass by using the Sizzix crease pad. I wish I could remember where I'd seen it, but it was a while back and I didn't get a chance to try it until this afternoon. Just know that this is not an idea that I'm claiming to have come up with myself--I wanted to share it though. What I did was use the following stack: my multipurpose platform on Tab 2, clear cutting plate, oval scalloped Nestabilities die with cutting side up, cardstock, blue Sizzix crease pad. So in short, I substituted the crease pad for the clear cutting plate that would normally be at the top of my stack. One pass through the machine, and you can see in the photo that the die did indeed both cut and emboss my scalloped oval shape. I love this because it's so quick and easy. No changing stacks. Just one pass. Very cool. Hope that Big Shot/Big Kick users find these tips helpful. :-) Edited to add: I've posted about cutting and embossing Nestabilities in one pass using the Cuttlebug, too. You can read that post by clicking HERE.
Things you will need: Scrap cardstock or postcard weight junk mail Bird Punch Glue or Xyron Sticker Maker Embossing Folder Aluminum Tape Big Shot or Cuttlebug Pin Back E6000 For each pin you will need to punch out 6 birds and 12 wings. Using your adhesive of choice (I used my Xyron) glue 6 layers together making one bird and two wings. The aluminum tape is peel and stick, however, you don't want to peel it until you cut it first leaving a slight border around the sides so you can cover the edges when you remove the backing. You will need to cover both sides and using your fingernail, make sure that the tape is adhered on all sides. Choose an embossing folder to emboss your birds and wings with. Make sure you take the thickness of the punches into consideration when making your sandwich. You may need to remove one of the plates like I did so you don't break the roller. When you do the wings make sure that they are all facing the same direction as the birds or your embossing will not match. After you've embossed them you might need to run your fingernail over the edges again to make sure that they are smooth. Adhere the front wing with a dab of E6000 and then do the same with the pin back on the reverse side. The second wing can be glued over the base of the pin back and slightly higher on the bird so that both wings can be seen. Of course you will want to make sure that these birds do not go through the laundry! Edited 8/19/12 to add: I'm happy that this little project has been pinned/repinned so many times on Pinterest. I had a question about the aluminum tape and where I got it. I found the tape at Home Depot but I don't remember what section of the store it was in. I'm sure if you ask at Customer Service there or at any hardware store they can point you in the right direction.
I found an awesome tutorial on making your own embossing folders here on Pinterest . She had created this very same design, and being t...
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…
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...
Did you know that the Cricut Cuttlebug can emboss paper napkins? In fact its super quick and easy to do and the end result is amazing!
In this Big Shot Tutorial: How to Use Embossing Folders, I’m going to show you how to use different types of embossing folders with your Big Shot so you'll know how to make your Big Shot sandwich for each type of folder for great results every time.
Hello and welcome here! This month is a busy month over at Inspired Stamps , the DT are sharing some Tutorials and there is a New Release ...
supplies: craft sheet, distress ink/frayed burlap/iced spruce (winter seasonal set), distress embossing ink, embossing…
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...
Embossing folders are a way for you to take your cards from nice to WOW! Here are some tips for using embossing folders.
Make some DIY Embossed Envelopes, with these easy technique! Perfect for adding elegance to your Wedding Envelopes, Anniversaries or any occasion.
Hello and welcome here! This month is a busy month over at Inspired Stamps , the DT are sharing some Tutorials and there is a New Release ...
Today I am back with 20 of the best ways to use your embossing folders! I think sometimes we can forget about them or just don’t know what to do with them. I hope my video will give you some …
I recently found a new love and new obsession -- the Cricut Cuttlebug! I should back up first, though. I
Make your paper crafts awesome with these 10 Embossing Folder tips & tricks. Learn the proper embossing sandwich or plate + fun ideas.
