offset Cuttling

I was experimenting with some of my Cuttlebug embossing folders when I happened on something that I thought was a neat look. I tweaked what I'd done a bit and made a few cards to show off some "offset Cuttling".

Here are a couple of cards that show what I'm talking about....


This card was made with the Cuttlebug Joy & Cheer folder. I ran it through my die cutting machine twice. The first time through, I placed my cardstock off center inside the folder--more specifically, I shifted it a bit down and a bit to the left of where I'd normally place it. I accented this impression with the Memento New Sprout ink. I then placed the same piece of cardstock back inside the folder, this time centering it as I normally would. I accented that impression with Memento Rhubarb Stalk ink. This basically gave a drop shadow effect that I thought was fun. The flower is by Prima.


I did the same thing with this Holly embossing folder, tinting first with the light green, then the dark green and red after the second pass. The holly leaf embellishment is by Prima. The "berries" are Robin's Nest Dew Drops. The sentiment is by Impression Obsession. Those two cards show the effect fairly obviously. Offset Cuttling can also be used to more subtle effect and can look particularly striking with metallic cardstocks or papers. For the following two cards, I used the shimmer-finish silver paper that I'd bought at Target.


I offset my two embossing passes as I described above, and I tinted the second impression with Memento inks. Because of their translucent effect, the look is much more subtle. The sentiment is from a Martha Stewart clear stamp set and stamped using Memento Tuxedo black ink.


And this is one more example of the offset Cuttling effect. I'd accented after my first pass using Memento London Fog ink. When it dried it was just barely visible. I still like the effect though.

This technique can be used with any folder, but some will work better than others just given their inherent design. Simpler designs and patterns are probably best. It'll be fun to experiment and see which other folders can be used this way to give a little more visual interest.