Cuttled nugget purse

Nuggets are so much fun! I'm talking about the Hershey's Nuggets that are so popular to decorate with labels and make boxes for and give away. I've done that a few times but wanted to try something a little different. One of my girls wants to make her Valentines this year, so that's been in the back of my mind, too. So this morning I saw someone mention nugget purses. That started the wheels turning!

Templates for single nugget purses abound! The measurements that I saw quoted most often and that I used in making mine were: card stock strip 5 1/2" long and 1 1/2" wide. This is scored at 1 1/2", 2 1/2", and 4". This makes the open-sided purse with a flap closure once you fold all of the scored lines, and it can be decorated any way you wish.

Here are mine....


I made the first one using a neutral color cardstock because I was just playing around. I like the way it turned out, but the white and the red are more striking. What I did was cut and score as I described above. I then put the all of the card stock strip except for the flap inside the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder and embossed it. I stamped my Hero Arts sentiment on the flap using Memento ink, punched the flap edge with the Martha Stewart mini-hearts edge punch, and added a narrow strip of red card stock behind the punched mini-hearts to make them stand out. I punched two holes at the top for the 1/4" red ribbon, placed the nugget inside with a glue dot on the bottom of it to keep it from slipping out, and glued down the flap.


And this is a close-up view of the Valentine Hershey nugget purse. I kinda like the extra texture that the embossing gives it.

"tweet" - Patterned Paper Passion - DCM

It's been ages since I've participated in the daring cardmakers challenge. I decided it was time to get back into it. This week's challenge is patterned paper passion, and the details are as follows: I want to see 3 different patterned papers on your card. And to be extra daring, why not see if you can use 3 different lines of paper!

Okay! Here's my card:


The patterned papers that I used are by Me and My Big Ideas--the big background, Basic Grey Boxer--the green swirly layer, and Die Cuts with a View Green Stack--birds and branches. The stamped images are by Hero Arts and stamped using Memento dye inks. The decorative border of the green layer was made using the Fiskars Effervescence border punch, and I used the plain and scalloped circles Nestabilities dies by Spellbinders to make the top of the card. The partial Nesties technique let me cut out just part of the circle at the top fold so that it would stick out.

I wouldn't have tried this dare on my own, but it was fun to find out that three patterned papers, all by different companies, can really come together and look nice on one card.

partial Nesties cards

When my muse deserted me last week, I looked at some stamping magazines to see if I could find some inspiration. It came from an unexpected quarter. I saw a top fold card with a half circle sticking out of the top that had originally been part of the card front. I know that's not a great description, but here are a couple of cards that I made, working along those lines. I think you'll understand what I was trying to describe after you see them.


This is my version with a Spellbinders oval Nestabilities shape cut out instead. I actually would have tried a circle, but the oval Nesties were closer. I cut it out using the partial Nesties technique that I posted quite a while back now. I then embossed the card front using a Sizzix textured impressions folder. The decorative border was made using the Fiskars Apron Lace border punch. The stamps were all Hero Arts and stamped using Memento inks. The decorative card stock is by DCWV.


For this card I decided to see what a Spellbinders Labels 1 cut out would look like. Okay, yeah, and it was closer than the circle Nesties, too. The card front embossing was made using the Textile Cuttlebug A2 embossing folder. The punched images were made using Martha Stewart punches. For the decorative border I used the Fiskars Upper Crest border punch. (Don't you love the names of their border punches?!) The stamped sentiment is by Hero Arts. The added bling are tiny hot fix crystals.

snow day, take 2

This is the card that I had to make today. I'd thought that I'd put away the winter theme for this season, but no.


This card was made using a set of Sizzix textured impressions folders--the snowflakes and the snowman. For the embossed snowflakes border I used the double 'bossing technique that I wrote about earlier. This time I used Core'dinations card stock. I embossed first this time and sanded the embossing. Those are the very light snowflakes that you see. I then debossed and dabbed the entire surface with Versamark Dazzle Frost. I think you can see some of the shimmer, particularly near the top of the card. The snowflake embellishments were made using a Martha Stewart punch. The sentiment is by Hero Arts and stamped using Memento dye inks.

This is why I was back in wintry mode. We'd already had a snow day Tuesday due to a mix of sleet and snow.


This is how my backyard looked this morning. The sun was shining, and the sky was turning blue as the clouds cleared out. We got probably close to 6" of snow in all, most of that coming overnight. It looked so pretty, but it was still rather cold at this point.


As you can see, that didn't deter some of us who were bound and determined to get out and run around and live in the moment. :-)

double 'bossed cards, almost like double Cuttling

I was playing around with embossing folders a few days ago, using them in various ways. I know. Big surprise, eh? LOL!

Here's a twist on a technique that you've seen described here and elsewhere. It's what I called double Cuttling when I first described it. In my version you run your card front or card stock through your die machine inside one embossing folder, accent the embossing, then run it through again inside a folder of a different design and accent that embossing in a complementary color. This was originally done with the Cuttlebug embossing folders. Now you can do this using the Sizzix textured impressions folders, too.

So, my twist on this technique? I use just one folder; the other steps are essentially the same.


This was made using one of the A2 size folders from a Sizzix textured impressions folder set, the spring flowers and paisley. First I de-bossed the card front. I then went over that with my Pear Tart Memento dye dew drop inkpad. I placed the card front back into the folder, this time em-bossing it. I went over the embossing with Dandelion Memento dye ink. The stamped images and sentiment are by Hero Arts. The borders were made using the Lattice Arch Martha Stewart edge punch.


For this card I followed the steps that I outlined above, this time using the D'Vine Swirls Cuttlebug folder, Bahama Blue and Grape Jelly Memento inks. The stamped images are again Hero Arts. The border was made using the double scallop edge punch by Martha Stewart.


For this last card I used the same technique. This folder is from the Sizzix Argyle and Lines & Circles textured impressions set. The inks used were Angel Pink and Lulu Lavender by Memento. The die cuts were made using Spellbinders scalloped oval Nestabilities. The stamps are by Hero Arts.

I like this twist on double Cuttling. Double 'bossing can give a more subtle and less busy look, plus the images are all essentially the same design and look very cohesive as a background. I've found that it's best to use a fairly heavy card stock because of all of the 'bossing. I like to deboss first and use a lighter accent color to bring out the white of the debossed areas. I then emboss and accent with the darker color, so you get that neat combo of images in light and dark. I haven't experimented with this technique using colored card stocks yet, but that might be an interesting look, too. Core'dinations card stock might be a lot of fun. Lots of possibilities! Good thing we have another snow day here. :-)

my Cuttle quilted card

This is a technique that I've wanted to try since I first heard it described by Sarosa and saw some of the cards that she made using this technique. She called it Cuttlequilting, which is a great name for it. Essentially, you can use your craft table scraps to assemble a quilt-like patterned card layer for your card, then you run it through your die machine inside a Cuttlebug A2 size folder to give it the "quilted" look.

Since I've never quilted in real life :-), I went with a very easy pattern--I cut out a dozen 1 1/4" squares for my "quilt" and assembled them in rows. I then ran that through inside the paisley folder. I could have left it as is. The quilting was subtle. But I decided to go for it and I accented the embossing with some ink.


The tag was made using a Cuttlebug die. The stamped images are by Hero Arts and stamped using Memento dye inks. I used waxy flax (remember this stuff?) to embellish the tag.

I can see incorporating different quilting patterns into designing cards like this. There are some other fairly simple ones that could easily be adapted to cardmaking. To see Sarosa's many examples, click on: card quilts.

still more textured impressions cards

Whew! It's been one of those weeks! I've been wanting so badly to make some cards, but most of what I made I didn't really like for one reason or another. Nothing seemed to work. I hate it when my muse deserts me! It came back today though--probably didn't care for the snow and sleet outside. LOL! Snow day here, so lots of uninterrupted time to craft--loved it!

Here are a couple of cards that I made using the Sizzix textured impressions folders....


This first card was made using the A2 embossing folder from one of the Happy Birthday sets. If you look at the design of this folder, it's actually supposed to be an invitation with Who, What, When Where etc embossed on the front. At this point, I can't see needing that sort of thing for my card-making, but I did like the rest of the design. I did a bit of creative altering and now have a nice blank space instead, where I stamped the large Inkadinkado sentiment. I added some Distress Stickle sparkles and some rhinestone bling and voila! A birthday card rather than an invite.


For this card I used the medium size textured impression folder from one of the Thank You sets on Core'dinations card stock which I'd cut using a scalloped rectangle Nestabilities die by Spellbinders. I sanded the embossing and accented it a bit with some Memento dye inks. The patterned card stock is by Die Cuts with a View and the decorative edges and corners were made using the Martha Stewart scallop dot edge punch. I then added some clear rhinestones as accents.

Okay. I'll save some of the other cards that I've made for some other posts. :-)

selective Sizzix-ing how-to

Selectively embossing with the Sizzix textured impressions folders is really very similar to creative Cuttling. Here are the details though, due to popular demand. :-)


In this first photo are the supplies needed: the Big Shot, multipurpose platform open to Tab 1, one clear cutting plate, two A2 size cards, one shim (Cuttlebug backing), two wood die cut frames, and two textured impressions folders.


Here is a better look at those wood die cut frames. I bought these at Michaels. You might be able to make out that I labeled the oval one with Tab 1 to make it easy on myself.


For my first card, I'm using the A2 folder from the Dots & Flowers set and the frame with the oval opening.


I place the card front inside the folder. When I wrote up creative Cuttling, I tucked the back of the folded card behind the folder. With these Sizzix folders, because of their size and the fact that the design covers the entire card front, the fold is inside the folder and so the back of the card needs to be left hanging out and the folder put through sideways.


From bottom to top: multipurpose platform open to Tab 1, shim (because I know I'll need one), folder with card front inside, wood die cut frame, clear cutting plate.


Here's the stack all lined up and ready to be run through the machine.


And here's how it turned out.


I did the same thing with the other wood frame and the Argyle A2 size Sizzix folder. The stack, or sandwich, was exactly the same.


And this is how it looked after rolling it through.

So again, this is very much like creative Cuttling. The only real differences, and they're minor ones, are putting the folder and card through sideways and leaving the back flap of the card as the trailing edge.

A caveat if you're trying this for the first time--machines are different and what works for one might not work quite the same way for another. You may not need to shim, or you may need more shims than I used. You'll have to play with it a bit the first time or two, but after that you should be able to keep using your same combo. Just don't force anything through your machine. There should be a little bit of resistance getting started, but my sandwich rolls through easily once it starts going through.

One last thought, I'd seen somewhere that people were using craft sticks or other items inside their folders to selectively emboss. From the cards that I've seen, that seems to work. I personally prefer placing anything that makes the sandwich uneven on the outside of the folder. I think that gives me the best shot at getting a fairly distinct border between the embossed and unembossed areas. I'm also hesitant to put any uneven pressure on any of the actual design elements inside the folder because I'd hate to mess up parts of the positive or negative face and risk getting a less than crisp and clean emboss when I use the folder normally. I'm all for using things in new and creative ways, but I'd rather not put a good thing at risk. Just my two cents. :-)

selective Sizzix-ing?

Okay, I have a dilemma of sorts. Way back when, I posted a technique that I'd dubbed creative Cuttling. In short, this was a way of selectively embossing Cuttlebug folder designs using stuff from around the house. You can do the same thing with these new Sizzix textured impressions folders. Neat, eh? Looks even better because the card front is embossed edge to edge. The one problem? I can't call it creative Cuttling. LOL! Just so you know that I'm using Sizzix folders but essentially the same technique, I'll call it selective Sizzix embossing--selective Sizzix-ing is just too hard to say, even just in my head. ;-)

Here are a couple of cards that I made using wood die cut frames in place of one clear cutting plate to leave an unembossed area on the card front.


For this first card I used a wood die cut frame with an oval opening. The folder is from the Dots & Flowers set.


This one was made with a wood die cut frame with a small rectangular opening over the A2 size folder of Wedding Set 2. I then accented the opening by making score lines with my Scor-It.

Both cards were embossed with Sizzix textured impressions folders. The sentiments are both by Hero Arts and stamped using Memento dye ink. The dancer silhouettes are from an Angela Cartwright Stampington set and stamped using Tuxedo Black Memento dye ink. The flowers are Primas and I used hot fix crystals for a bit more embellishment.

TGIF, everyone!

blog comments

I did a little bit of housekeeping on my blog. In the sidebar you'll still see everything that was there before, but I've added a widget that shows recent comments that have been added to posts on my blog. I know that not everyone can receive emailed follow-ups to comments that they've made--this means that unless you remember to stop back by and specifically check, you might not find out your answer or even know if your comment was acknowledged. That would be one way to follow up. Here are a couple more:

• I've added a link to a feed that you can subscribe to via the RSS reader of your choice--this feed will be solely for follow-up comments that have been added to posts.
  
• If you prefer email, I've added a link for an email subscription to comments, too. Like the email subscription to this blog, it would be a single daily mailing of comments, if there were any comments made.
  

So basically I've added a few ways to keep up with comments that are made on this blog. The comments can be very helpful and so many readers come up with such great ideas that I hate for them to go unnoticed. This is the best solution for now, I think. :-)

even more Sizzix textured impressions cards

I just had to play with more Sizzix textured impressions folders. Here are some of the cards that I made with them today. To see more information about these folders as well as the other cards I've made with them, just click on the Sizzix textured impressions label at the end of this post.


The background embossing was made with the Dots & Flowers textured impressions set. The large flower is from one of the Thank You sets. The sentiment is by Hero Arts.


The background embossing is from a Cuttlebug A2 folder. The embossed sentiment was made using a textured impression folder from one of the Thank You sets. The die cut is a Spellbinders Label 1 die.


The card front was embossed using the Argyle textured impressions folder. Again you can see that it covers the entire front of the card from edge to edge. The sentiment was also made using a textured impressions folder. I embellished with hot fix crystals.


This last card was also made with one of the Thank You textured impressions sets. I distressed the embossing and then embellished with a Brides flower colored with Memento dye inks.

adding a favicon to your blog

As I was reading through my blog subscriptions yesterday, a post made via Twitter/Blogger caught my eye. It had to do with favicons. A favicon is that small graphic that you often see up near the address bar on your browser. For example, when you're looking at a Blogger blog, you'll often see the orange icon with the white B. That's a favicon.

The note that I saw had to do with making your own favicon and installing it on your blog or website. That sounded neat! You have to keep things fairly simple though. These graphics are only 16 x 16 pixels. That means that you can't put a whole lot of detail into them. Still, you can make your site look just that little bit more unique. I added one to this blog. Hopefully you can see it. It should look like this....Okay, I take that back. When Blogger uploaded this, it changed. My ink splat is not really that sickly greenish color. It's supposed to be gray, and I hope that gray is what you see when you land on this blog. Yikes.

Anyway, if you want to give it a try, here's the blog post that was recommended by Blogger. It's on a blog called, Rose DesRochers - World Outside My Window. She describes exactly what you need to do. It's really fairly simple and straightforward. You do need to have a site to host your favicon image though since Blogger doesn't let you upload .ico files--that's the filename for favicons.

Lastly, this worked for me just fine using Firefox and Internet Explorer. Apparently with Safari I'll have to figure out how to clear the old favicon out of my browser cache before it'll upload and recognize the new one. So, if you're browsing via Safari, that's why you probably still the orange and white Blogger favicon.

Just thought I'd post another way you can make your blog even more unique. :-)

two more blog awards

I'm happy, if a bit slow, to announce that I've received two more blog awards. :-)

My apologies, Cathy, aka KraftyKoolKat. I received an award from her just before the hectic holidays began and hadn't acknowledged it. Here it is....


The rules for this one are as follows: Link to whoever gave you the award and pass it on and link to 5 others. You also have to write down 5 things you are addicted to!

There are lots of fabulous blogs out there so here are five of the ones that I follow:

D world of Marlene

I Like Markers

Inkaland mixed media alterd art stamping

Mel Stampz
Stampin' Kub's Blog

As for my addictions:

1. my computer and the internet!
2. decorative papers and card stock, and one of these days I'll be able to make myself use them and not just collect them
3. embossing folders - Cuttlebug or the new Sizzix textured impressions
4. Nestabilities
5. reading - magazines, audiobooks, ebooks, fiction, non-fiction... I'll read it all and I have time to do it what with driving and waiting, and driving and waiting... (I have one teenage girl and one preteen girl.)

The next award is one that I received from Robin.

And here are my seven nominees for this one....

Artsy Visions
Creative Expressions
Diaries of a Stamper
Follow Your Bliss...
Mish Mash
one little spark...
Stamping Science

Thank you, Cathy, and thank you, Robin, for giving me these blog awards. I appreciate that you thought of Indigo Inklings when making your nominations. :-) I'll be adding both of these awards to my sidebar later.

diagonal scoring with the Scor-It

Some time over the holidays, I saw a discussion having to do with decorative diagonal scoring with score boards. I use the Scor-It for all of the scoring that I do on my cards. My method for getting fairly uniform diagonal scores is pretty simple, so I thought I'd take some pics and post it here.


Pictured above are my full size Scor-It, a wide clear C-Thru ruler, and a scrap piece of card stock. You don't actually need a clear ruler. You can use a regular ruler. You can use another piece of card stock. In an earlier post about diagonal scoring, I used clear cutting plates from my die cutting machine. All you need is something that has two straight edges set at right angles to each other.


To keep it really simple, I made the first score by lining up the opposite corners on the scoring track. That's what my two blue arrows are indicating.


This is the result of my first score.


For this example, I decided to score at 1/2 inch intervals. That makes it easy to see in photos. You can score any size interval though, and even vary them if you'd like to make plaid patterns etc.

What I did was line up that first score at the 1/2" mark on the Scor-It centering ruler at the top of the Scor-It board. The corner makes a nice pointer. Then I made sure that my new score line would be parallel to the first one by pushing the edge of the ruler flush against the top edge of the Scor-It board. Then I made sure that the long edge of the ruler lined up with that first score. Once I was satisfied, I made the new score line. And just so you know, it took me A LOT longer to say it than to just do it. :-)

I continued to do that until I reached the corner of the card stock. It went quickly and I could be fairly accurate because the rubbery surface holds the card stock in place nicely and keeps it from sliding, even without being held stable against the top edge of the board.


I then decided to score diagonally in the other direction. I started this set of scores by lining up the other pair of opposite corners and repeating the steps that I described above.


Since this was just an example piece, I only did half the scoring that I'd do for a fully scored piece of card stock, but the design is still very interesting and you can see that the intervals are uniform.

Scoring with a score board can add great visual interest to a card front. Scoring diagonally should be part of the arsenal of scoring techniques because it can look very striking and can be accomplished very quickly and easily.

two more textured impressions cards

I made a couple more cards using the new Sizzix textured impressions embossing folders that I've talked about in a couple of previous posts. (Please note: these should not be confused with the Texturz texture plates or the Simple Impressions folders. These are different and are like the Cuttlebug embossing folders.) I just wanted to show more of the designs and again show how these folders will emboss an entire A2 size card front.

The background embossing of the above card was made using the A2 size folder of Wedding set 2. The sentiment is also an embossing folder from that set. The decorative borders were made using a Fiskars embossing border punch.

For this card I pulled out one of the Christmas sets. I thought this one could be a bit more winter than Christmas necessarily. Again, these snowflakes float over the whole card front. The image in the center was made using a smaller folder from that set. I accented the snowflakes in that image with Diamond Stickles. The sentiment is by Verve and stamped using Memento dye ink.

These embossing folders can make card-making a very fast process!

embossing with plastic templates

Since I've addressed some of the old business, here's some new business. Alicia wrote requesting a Big Shot tutorial that has to do with embossing using plastic templates. Apparently someone came up with the idea of embossing mini-envelope templates using a Cuttlebug. I guess this makes it easier to cut them out, or at least eliminates that tracing step.

Okay, I don't have a mini-envelope template and most of my envelope templates are for bigger envelopes and are too big to be embossed via a die cutter machine. What I do have that fits is a post-it note cover template. Amazing what a person can find when looking through her stash. Who knew? ;-) But I'd guess that this is roughly the same thickness as an envelope template, even one of the mini variety.

Here's what I did....

These are the supplies I used: my Big Shot, multipurpose platform, black impressions pad, one clear cutting plate, silicone rubber, post-it cover plastic template, scrap paper.


This is the stack, or sandwich, that I used from bottom to top: multipurpose platform open to no tabs, clear cutting plate, template, paper, silicone, impressions pad. Now usually this type of combo, with the silicone and the impressions pad, is used with Tab 1. Since this was a trial run and I do try to start thinner first, and since I was using lightweight paper like I would probably use for an envelope, I started with no tabs.

Here's how it turned out. I know. It's a little tough to see.

Here's how it looks from behind so that you can see that it embossed nicely. The fold lines weren't cut through either, so I was satisfied that using no tabs was a good thing to do and I'd use that same combo again.

FYI, if you decide to try this with mini-envelope templates, you'll need to cut the excess plastic away from the envelope shape then put it through to emboss it. LOL! That's why I picked a really easy shape to experiment with--no cutting, simple shape. :-) Hm, now I may just need to make some post-it note covers with this thing....

more on textured impressions

I posted the other day about Sizzix textured impressions. Here are the cards that I promised and a couple more photos so you can see what these are like and how they compare to the Cuttlebug embossing folders.

First off, here's a comparison of the two paisley A2 folders....

The Sizzix folder is the one in front, the Cuttlebug folder behind. Both are actually about the same length, but I think you can see that the design of the Sizzix folder covers more area from the standpoint of length.

In this photo I wanted to show the difference between the widths of the designs. This time the Sizzix folder is the one behind. It's clearly wider than the Cuttlebug folder and you can see, I hope, that the design of the Sizzix covers the entire width of the Cuttlebug folder.

Here are the Sizzix folders in action. These are both A2 cards.

The above card was made with the Paisley Sizzix textured impressions folder. You can see that it makes a nice crisp embossed image and it covers the entire card front. The embossed sentiment is also a Sizzix textured impression that came with one of the Thank You sets. 

And with that timely segue....

Here is a card made using the A2 thank you folder. Again, you can see that the design covers the entire card front. The embossing is crisp and clean. I colored this with shimmer chalks for a soft look, then added some hot fix crystals.

Look out! More fun stuff to add to the stash! :-)

A few recommendations for your blog hopping pleasure

I haven't had time to make cards yet, but while I was sitting here having my coffee, I thought I'd jot a few thoughts about making blog-hopping and web-surfing a bit easier and more fun.

The other day on the Gingerwood stamping forum, someone made mention of TinyURL as a quick way of making long URLs into short ones that are easy to paste into messageboard posts, replies etc. You can go to the site and convert a long link. I use the Firefox add-on version that's called TinyUrl creator. This will convert long URLs with just a right-click, or a control-click for Mac users.

This discussion then turned to CoolIris, which is a cool 3D way of looking at stuff on the internet. I have this as a Firefox add-on, too, but haven't used it much. One thing that's fun to do with it though is to go to a blog, click on one of the images to view in CoolIris, then all of the photos on that blog end up on the 3D wall for viewing. That's kinda fun!

I've mentioned being an avid user of Google Reader. I love to keep track of the blogs that I follow by subscribing to them via GR. I like reading feeds without being surprised by unexpected music. I also like accessing them via Blogger when I want to add a blog roll or something similar to my sidebar. Most of all, I like being able to see new blog posts and read them all from one spot!

Recently, GR did some revamping. In doing that, one of my favorite tweaks was 'broken'. I'd added, via a Firefox Greasemonkey add-on, a script that added a Preview button to Google Reader. It was called GPE. I loved that! Not everyone posts full feeds of their blog posts, so I could click on that little button to see the full feed in Google Reader without leaving GR. I found a tip for fixing it, tried it, didn't work for me. I was bummed. :-( Then I found a different Firefox add-on that claimed to add a preview button called Better GReader. I tried it. It works! I'm happy again!

And since I'm talking about making web surfing easier, I'll mention one more Firefox add-on that I'd hate to do without, and that's Linkification. It basically turns any text link into a clickable link. So, if someone copies and pastes a URL into a message, linkification will turn it into a link that you can just click on. I've always loved this add-on.

So, to make your blog hopping travels easier or more fun, those are just a few recommendations. :-)

New Year, New Goodies!

I'm back after taking some time off to celebrate the holidays. We had a lot of fun getting together with family, but now things are getting back to "normal". I haven't found much time for crafting and card making yet, but I will soon.

Here are some of the new goodies that I have here that are tempting me...


Pictured above are four sets of the new Textured Impressions Embossing Folders by Sizzix. As you can see, they're very much like the Cuttlebug embossing folders, made of a similar plastic and having a positive and negative face to make for very crisply embossed images. I'll admit that I've taken some of these out of the packaging, but I don't have any cards to show yet. I'm hoping to make some soon.

Here are a few tidbits that I think are worth knowing though--these are more expensive than the Cuttlebug embossing folders, but they also come with anywhere from 2 to 5 folders per package. The set with just two folders has two A2 size folders, so it's comparably priced to the Cuttlebug folders. The other sets all look like they have an A2 folder in addition to three or four other smaller folders, so again I think that compares favorably with the price of Cuttlebug folders. One thing that might be a biggie though--these A2 folders will emboss the ENTIRE front of an A2 size card. I tested the paisley design and it covers the whole card front, no unembossed areas around the edges like you get with the Cuttlebug A2 folders. So, if you're one of the folks who never liked the fact that the CB folders didn't emboss the whole card front, then you'll like these design of these folders a lot better.

Okay, enough for now. I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and great start to the new year.

By the way, it didn't escape my notice that my counter ticked over 100,000 hits. I think it's time for a giveaway in honor of the milestone. I'll look at my stash and post a pic of what I'll be giving away in the next day or so. Stay tuned! :-)