House Mouse challenge #25 card

Here's yet another card that I've made this week from a sketch. This time I used the Challenge #25 sketch designed by Jami over at the House Mouse Monday Challenge blog.


The patterned card stock is by Me and My Big Ideas. The image was stamped using Memento dye ink then colored with Prismacolor colored pencils. The circle and scalloped circle were cut using Spellbinders Nestabilities dies.

Penny Black week 36 challenge card

Lately I've been finding my card-making inspiration on challenge blogs. This is a card that I made using the Penny Black Saturday Challenge for this week, the week 36 sketch by Nat.


This card was made using designer card stock by Me and My Big Ideas. The Penny Black images were colored using Memento markers. I love making cards from sketches because they help get me out of my comfort zone.

bringing on the bling - C'bug Spot challenge

Bling on cards is a lot of fun! So, when I saw the Cuttlebug Spot challenge for this week was to Bring on the Bling, I had to make a card along those lines.

Here it is....


I used a few different types of "bling". The green is a very pretty shimmery card stock by Prima. Unfortunately, the shimmer didn't show up well up above, so you'll have to take my word for it. The hot fix rhinestones were actually clear and they picked up the green of the card stock in a way that makes them almost look metallic in the photo. The silver border was made using HVAC foil tape (for Heating, Vents, Air Conditioners) that was embossed and cut with a Spellbinders Borderabilities die. I like using HVAC tape because it has a little more heft to it than aluminum foil, so it holds the embossing better, plus it's nicely sticky on the back once you remove the paper backing. The embossed card border was made using one of the Cuttlebug border embossing folders. The stamped images are all by Cloud 9 and stamped using Memento inks. Love using Memento inks on shimmery papers and card stocks because they're translucent and let the shimmer come through.

Chart for Assorted Dies & Sizzix Multipurpose Platform

Quite a while back I wrote up an entry about the Big Shot and multipurpose platform (MPP) called Big Shot Basics. I'd said that I love the MPP because it makes using all of the dies, folders, texture plates etc. so easy. It's tabbed and the instructions are printed right on each tab, with helpful illustrations, no less! After reading the comments made concerning that blog entry, the only other nifty addition would have been if Sizzix had specified just which other dies etc could be used with each tab. I'd written that up in the body of that post, but I decided that it'd be easier if that information was put in chart form.

Here's where you can now find a chart: Dies & Sizzix Multipurpose Platform

This is a pdf file, so you'll need Adobe Reader (can be downloaded for free) or some other application that will let you open and read pdf files. If you want to print it out, it's best to print it in landscape.

I've tried to include most of the more commonly used manufacturers' dies etc. If I've missed one (or more--Yikes!) feel free to let me know. I think there is only one place where my chart differs from what's recommended on the MPP and that's when using the Cuttlebug embossing folders. I tend to use No Tabs because I get a crisply embossed image with less likelihood of tearing the card stock or getting extra creases. I think that Tab 1 is what's actually recommended. I added that in the notes.

I didn't include any of my tips, tricks, or tweaks on this chart. If I've done some experimenting or tweaking, the post can be found in my sidebar in the Tutorials and Info for the Big Shot and Cuttlebug menu. I'll be adding this post to that menu shortly. :-)

feeling green - DCM

This week's challenge on Daring Cardmakers is feeling green. Here's the scoop from Jozza:

The dare is feeling green. I want to see lots of green on your cards in any shade you like. You could even do a double dare and make a green themed get well card. It's up to you.

Here's my card....


I like to think that this card is doubly green because I used a patterned card stock from DCWV's Green Stack (Hooray for recycled papers!) as well as the shades of green from the dare. The stamped images are by Penny Black and stamped and colored with Memento inks. I cut out some of the stamped petals and popped them out a bit to add some dimension. The border was embossed using a Cuttlebug embossing border folder.

double 'bossing revisited

Last night a discussion reminded me of something that I'd been meaning to try--embossing over a large folder design with a smaller one. My plan originally had been to use Cuttlebug folders, but as I looked at them, I wasn't finding smaller designs that were appealing to me. At least not today. :-)

That was when it came to me--Simple Impressions folders! Remember those? They're the embossing folders by Sizzix that no one uses anymore because everyone's been so thrilled with the plastic embossing folders. Hey, it's true for me! Took me a while to find them. But I have a bunch of these from when Sizzix was clearing them out and they were just what I was looking for. Great!

Now, the approach. At first I thought I'd simply double Cutt..., er, double emboss. ;-) The images looked too busy though. I wanted something more simple. I decided to double 'boss instead. The background would be debossed and the smaller Sizzix image embossed after.


This card was debossed with a Sizzix textured impressions A2 size folder, then embossed with a Sizzix simple impressions image. The border was made using the Martha Stewart scalloped dots edge punch. I started to reach for my chalks, but then decided to leave things plain.


This is another A2 size Sizzix textured impressions folder debossing. I then embossed with the Sizzix simple impressions star image. I used the Martha Stewart Stars edge punch for this border.


And I wouldn't want to shun my Cuttlebug folders completely (LOL!), so this is a debossed Cuttlebug background with the Sizzix roses image embossed on it. The Martha Stewart mini hearts edge punch was used for the border this time.

All of the stamps used for these cards are by Hero Arts. The inks were all Memento dye inks.

I really liked the way these turned out. The double 'bossing gives more depth to the images without adding bulk. I was concerned at first that the part of the stencil around the images might flatten out the debossing too much, but I think it worked out fine. It helps ease the transition between the debossed and embossed aspects of the card.

So, nothing fancy this time and no tools to brainstorm. Just wanted to remind you that those Sizzix Simple Impressions folders can still have a place in all of this fun 'bossing. :-)

Got Chipboard?

Wow, I didn't realize the level of interest that there would be for this idea of making your own embossed borders! So, okay. I've read through the comments (Thanks, all!), done a little more thinking about this, and I've made another card using a chipboard border for embossing.

Here it is....


The stamped image and sentiment are from the Penny Black Garden Friends clear stamp set. And I thought that the hedgies were cute! But even though I might be a little premature with the sentiment, it does feel like spring here today in the midwest. Ahhhh!

I used Memento inks for the stamping and to color the Brides flowers which were originally white. I used Memento markers to color the chicks and flowers. The bling are hot fix crystals. And of course, the embossed border was made using another partly home-made chipboard shape.

Here's where it came from.


I liked Heidi's idea of using Grungeboard cutouts, but I didn't relish the thought of trying to cut them with my craft knife. That did make me think of that pack of chipboard shapes that I'd picked up some time back when I saw them on clearance at Joann's. Pictured above is one of the sheets from that pack.


This is the one I decided to work with, even though curves can be a little trickier to cut. Notice that you actually could use the frame that you're left with when you've removed the shape. Either keep those straight edges, or use that fancy two colored pencils and a rubberband tool ;-) to trace the outline--just run the one pencil on the inside this time instead to trace.


I followed the steps that I described yesterday, so up above you see the tracings on my chipboard shape.


Here I've cut out the traced area. I thought about using the inside and the outside together, sandwiching the cardstock or paper in between as I've done previously. That's why I sandwiched them here. I didn't do that yet though. I did smooth all of the edges by sanding them down a bit. That way the fit won't be too tight if I do decide to do that later. That also makes the edges nice and smooth for embossing.


This is how I arranged my stack. I flipped it so that you can see the layers, but I turned it back over when I put it through the Big Shot. So from the bottom up going through the machine I had: the multipurpose platform open to Tab 1, clear cutting plate, chipboard border, card front that I'd misted with water (Thanks for the reminder, Jennifer!), silicone embossing mat, clear cutting plate, shim.


After running it through, this is the design that was embossed on my card front. I thought it looked pretty good even without using the other pieces of chipboard, so I didn't take this further today. You could certainly make your own embossing folder (like the plastic ones by ProvoCraft, Sizzix, and QuicKutz) by reassembling the pieces and sandwiching them inside a transparency folder, gluing the border to one side and the outer and inner pieces to the other. Much like what I did here and here. And similarly, yes, Sandi, I think you certainly could use precut chipboard shapes like hearts or stars to emboss a card front. The only thing I might do is anchor the pieces on another piece of chipboard or cardstock. The silicone pad is really compressed and sort of oozes between the rollers of the machine as it's rolled through so it would shift the shapes unless they're held down.

Hope everyone's enjoying as lovely as day as we're having here! Time for me to get out and enjoy it. :-)

embossed shape outlines on the cheap

Last week on the Gingerwood stamping forum we were talking about do-it-yourself embossing folders. Folks with Cricuts were improvising and embossing shapes similar to the Spellbinders Nestabilities shapes. The only drawback was that they said that they couldn't emboss the border of a die cut the way that you can with a Nesties die cut. I got to thinking about this, and I thought, well, why not? They can cut out frames--a 1/4" wide frame could give the same effect as a die cut with an embossed border. Now, someone may have done this already with their Cricut. I don't have one, so I don't follow those blogs or forums, but I thought that those of us who don't have an electronic die cutter for whatever reason shouldn't be left out. LOL!

I've made DIY embossing folders before. This time I wanted to see if I could emboss the outline of a shape--something similar to an embossed Nestabilities die cut look. I was gonna do it on the cheap, too. No Cricut. Hm, but how....

I knew that I'd make it out of chipboard. I needed a way to make an open frame in some kind of shape. I don't have one of those nifty tracing tools that will trace a design in a smaller or larger size. Wouldn't that have been cool! But hey, I thought of something that might work! So simple, too.


This is an octagon that I printed out on computer paper. Spellbinders will be offering an octagonal set of Nestabilities dies soon, but they aren't available yet for most of us.


I cut out my octagon.


This is my cut out shape laid on top of chipboard which I'd received courtesy of the USPS with a stamp order. Love to recycle!


I cut out shape from the chipboard.


Here is my makeshift tracer! Yep, two colored pencils held together by a rubber band. Woo! High tech stuff! You don't see this just anywhere! ;-)


Time to trace the inside border of my frame. One pencil rests on the chipboard, and the other one rides along the outside edge of the shape. I have that piece of scrap paper underneath so that I don't trace an octagon on my table.


Pull the pencils along one edge, like so. Then do the same for the other edges.


Here is my shape with all of the edges traced.


Now it's time to cut along the marks with my ruler and craft knife.


When I was finished it looked like this. Gee, aren't you glad that I'm not into making videos? No need to watch some of the more tedious parts of the procedure. LOL! But more seriously, that's why I use photos. It's like those cooking shows where they put a cake in the oven, then turn around and pull out the one that's all baked and ready for the next step. Some videos drive me nuts when they take almost 10 minutes to describe what they're doing and there's no good way to skip ahead. ARGH! But I digress.... :-)


This is my cut out shape (frame) which is on top of my multipurpose platform open to Tab 1, black silicone embossing pad, and card front. I placed my clear cutting plate and the backing from a Cuttlebug folder package as a shim on top of all of that, then ran the stack through. If you have an impressions pad, you probably could use that instead of the clear plate and shim.


This is the embossed border on the card front. It's not as crisp as what you'd get with Nesties, but it's not bad for a different, softer look. It's definitely not bad when you consider my materials, i.e. recycled chipboard, two pencils, a rubberband, a craft knife, a cutting mat, and a ruler. I think it took me longer to write up this blog post than to make it, too. :-)


And here is that border used as an accent on a card. The stamp is from My Favorite Things and stamped and colored using Memento dye inks and markers. I embellished the flowers with a bit of Flower Soft to add dimension.

challenge triple play

I've combined two challenges in one card before, so this time I wanted to see if I could incorporate three challenges in one. Here are the ones that I chose:

From daring cardmakers: I dare you to make an Oriental themed card which doesn’t use Red or Black.

From the Cuttlebug Challenge blog: ....this week's Cuttlebug Be inspired #17 is "LOVE".

And finally, I chose to use a card layout from Mojo Monday.

Here's the card....


I used patterned card stock from the DCWV Far East collection. Wouldn't you know it--the flowers look almost reddish there, but they're more brownish-orange in real life. The borders were punched with the Martha Stewart Lattice Arch punch. The stamped images are by InkaStamps and stamped using Memento Potters Clay dye ink. The hearts are Spellbinders Nestabilities die cuts. The subtle texture of two of the panels was made using the Floral Screen A2 Cuttlebug embossing folder. Finally I added some Mizuhiki cord embellishment.

Seems that I've been making much simpler cards lately. It was fun to make one that used more layers and more elements.

hope that does it

I don't know if it's because we have a pretty day here and I'm starting to think of spring and change, but I had to do what has become almost a yearly ritual--change my blog. :-)

I started blogging in July of 2006, never dreaming that I'd actually keep up with this. I had the one of the typical starter templates that suited me fine at first, but then it became.... well, boring. Not to mention that I'd often see other blogs with the same design--that was just not right.

After about year and a half, when I'd decided that I'd probably keep on blogging, I changed the design of my blog by tweaking the Blogger Minima template. I used a variation of my original header, and since I was now using a bigger flatscreen monitor with lots of real estate, I made my blog wider, too. I know that it probably annoyed a few folks with smaller screen resolutions, and I was sorry about that, but I wasn't fond of the really skinny look that I'd see here, and I do have to look at the thing fairly often. I've noticed that the majority of my visitors do view at higher resolutions, so I didn't feel too badly for too long.

So now the urge has come on again. I've thought about making a three column blog, but I like my wider sidebar and if I use two of them then I'm stuck with a fairly skinny column of text and photos again. Unless I wanted to annoy more people and widen things even more, that was out. I've tweaked my original template so much that I don't want to even try installing a premade template, and wow, but there are some really fun ones out there!

My compromise? I designed a new background for my blog this morning. I think it makes my blog look a little more up to date, at least I hope so. I made it using Paint Shop Pro and brushes that I've collected since I first started playing with PSP about 10 years ago now. Once I finished, I looked up how to keep my background fixed on my blog, and I was all set.

By the way, since I hate to leave without imparting at least one fun tidbit of knowledge, I checked how my new background would look in various screen sizes. I remember that at one point I had a simple application for doing this, but now I've found that you can just put a command into your address bar, assuming that you have javascript enabled for your browser.

Type in: javascript:resizeTo(800,600)

The numbers inside the parentheses represent the screen size you want to check. That's just one example. You can change it to whatever you want. Hit enter and it should resize your browser window to that size. I think my Firefox javascript settings are pretty restrictive and it doesn't resize for me, but it works in Safari, which I often use for previewing anyway, and it works in Internet Explorer, too.

Okay, let's hope that will take care of my urge to tweak my blog any further so that I can do some crafting. :-) Hm, though now that I look again, maybe my header could use some updating....

about all of this Cuttling....

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.

scalloped heart card and Cuttled nugget purse details

I wanted to add some visuals to the descriptions that I gave the other day for the scalloped heart card and the Cuttled Hershey Nugget purse. I'd received some questions about those, and I think that photos can be very helpful.

Those are my pieces of card stock and their dimensions.

I'll start off with the scalloped heart card.

Score as I indicated above. The dimensions are for the largest scalloped heart Nestabilities die. If you use a smaller one, make the inside panel about 1/4" narrower than the heart at its widest point, measuring from the cutting edges, and adjust the two outside panels accordingly so that they'll meet in the center.

Fold the outside panels in toward the center.

This is the largest of the scalloped heart dies. It's about 4 3/4" wide.

I usually put the dies through my machine cutting side up, but I wanted to show how I position it over the opening.

 

Here I've flipped the card and die so that you can see that the folds are inside the cutting edges at a couple of points on each side. This is what will make the "hinges". It's a fine line between having them be sturdy and having your heart look misshapen, so I thought this was a good compromise. That's also why I added other heart layers on the card front. They distract the eye from those folds.

Now I've run it through my Big Shot on the multipurpose platform Tab 2, between the two clear cutting plates.

And there you have the base of the card that can be stamped on or embellished as desired.

So now on to the nugget purse.

Make the score lines.

Fold along all of the scores.


The free panel is the purse flap. That's what I embellished using the edge punch. The nugget rests inside the triangle, and the holes that I made for the ribbon handle were punched through the fold at the top.

Love the Scor-It for making these projects easy!