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.

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. :-)

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.

textured Cuttling

I had to carve out some time from the busy-ness of real life to do some crafting. I have a fun announcement to make, but as much as I hate to tease, I don't want to say anything until tomorrow. In the meantime, I have a quickie tutorial using Cuttlebug embossing folders. I'm calling this particular look "textured Cuttling".

In keeping with the season, here's a card that shows off this technique.


I used the D'vine Swirls A2 Cuttlebug embossing folder on sheets of black and white cardstock. The skull and crossbones are a 3 X 3 Cuttlebug combo set. The extra texture that you see is from using mesh inside the Cuttlebug folder when embossing.


Here is a close up so that you can see the impression made by the mesh on the cardstock. The sentiment is by Inkadinkado and stamped using Memento dye ink, and the decorative corners were punched using a Tonic fleur corner punch.

Here are the specifics on using the mesh to add texture.


Here I used a piece of fabric mesh. This is the sort of thing that you see used for bags for laundering lingerie, or gym bags are occasionally made from this stuff as well. Just place it between the cardstock and the front of the embossing folder and roll it on through the machine as you normally would.


And this is how it turned out. I like the D'vine Swirls pattern because it has a nice balance of design and empty space.


You can use other types of mesh as well, as you can see above. Drywall tape will give you a small tight regular pattern. The gold mesh is a wide ribbon that I bought last Christmas. The orange mesh is the type of netting that you sometimes see used to bag produce; some bath sponges are made of a softer version of this stuff, too. What I look for is something that is dense enough to stand up to pressure, but isn't so hard that it will mark up the folder--this lets out metal or wire mesh. No need to mess up a perfectly good folder! But I also like stuff that won't necessarily take the impression of the folder so that I can use it over and over again. That's why those forms of netting up above work so well--they meet all of my criteria. I'm sure that there are more items out there that would work great for textured Cuttling. Hopefully this will give you a few places to start. :-)

Sizzix XL scalloped card die

I figured that I'd invested in those XL clear plates, I might as well get another die to use with them. :-) Any excuse, eh? LOL!


The finished size of this card is 4 1/4" by 5 7/8". I mention this because you have to use 12" long paper or cardstock when using this die. The standard 8 1/2" by 11" just isn't quite long enough to cover the entire length of the cutting surface. This die also provides the folding score for you, just like the A2 card die that I described a while back.

The stamped images are by My Favorite Things and stamped using Memento dye inks. The dot doodles are mine and were made with a Copic warm grey marker. Yep, I'm getting braver about doodling. The embossing was made using a Sizzix texture plate, Flower Power. And in case you'd been wondering, you can selectively emboss with these, too--similar to creative Cuttling. That's what I did in that card--I used that same triple layered chipboard with the heart cutout that I described yesterday. I did have to change my stack to fit this through my Big Shot. Again, if you try this, you'll have to experiment and see what works best for you and your particular machine. Start thin, and gradually add shims so that you don't break your machine! Just a friendly reminder. :-)

Here's the lowdown: I used my multipurpose platform, but with no tab. I also replaced the black Impression pad with the thinner clear cutting plate since I'd added some thickness to the stack by adding in the chipboard cutout. Just FYI, the stack was as follows, from the bottom up: multipurpose platform with no tab selected, texture plate with desired design facing up, card front facing down on top of that, black silicone embossing pad, chipboard cutout, clear cutting plate. I did not mist my cardstock and still got a nice impression. That is an option though if the embossing seems too shallow to you.

For you Cuttlebug users, sorry, I haven't tested this die in the CB yet. I would guess that you could run this huge die through twice using the CB's clear plates, just like I did with the A2 horizontal card die. I'll update when I get a chance to try that and know for sure.

These huge scallops on this card die are a lot of fun, and it's great to have a variety of ways to make scallops on cards!

DIY creative Cuttling and an aside on folder making

Ever since I wrote about the different things that could be used to emboss selectively with the Cuttlebug embossing folders--I'm talking about creative Cuttling--I haven't been able to stop looking for new items to use. Now I did say that the shapes had to be fairly simple. This technique doesn't pick up a lot of detail. Here's a card that I made earlier.


I used the Cuttlebug Script embossing folder and Cuttled it using chipboard with a heart shape cut out of it. Okay, technically it was three layers of chipboard that I glued together after cutting out the heart shape from each. This was a scalloped Nestabilities heart die by Spellbinders. I wasn't looking for the scallops to show up. I wanted the heart shape. The bird image is by Pink Paislee and stamped with Memento dye inks. The sentiment is by Inkadinkado, also stamped with Memento ink.

This is a photo of one of my test runs with the heart cutout, using the Textile texture folder and the creative Cuttling that I've described before.


Then it occurred to me that I could use not only this cutout, but the die cuts as well. Almost a year ago, I posted here about making my own embossing folder out of chipboard, using letters that I'd cut out using Sizzix alphabars. It was simple, but it worked.

This time I made my folder using the heavy weight transparency that I'd used when modifying those small Cuttlebug folders. I used my cutout side as the 'negative' face of my die and the die cut as the 'positive'. I adhered the chipboard pieces to their respective sides of the folder using my ATG. Just a word of warning, ATG tape is very sticky, but with chipboard and transparency it's even less forgiving than usual! You can guess how I might know. ;-)

Here's how it works as an embossing folder.


I had to play around with the shimming, and again, you'll want to take care and start thin and gradually add shims until you get an impression that you're happy with. This gave me a very crisp design right off.


That's just another photo with the folder open so that you can see the two sides and how they come together to sandwich the card front. The hinge is at the top of the folder.

Another good thing about this set up is that I can still use the cutout side of the folder for creative Cuttling like I did at the beginning of this post. I just open the folder all the way and lay that 'negative' face on top of my Cuttlebug embossing folder and run it through the die machine. The positive side either runs through ahead or behind my 'sandwich', off the platform entirely. And now that I think about it, you could the 'positive' face similarly to emboss, in this case, a heart shape of your Cuttlebug folder design.

Now it may not be a big deal to be able to emboss a Nestabilities shape since you can emboss those just fine on their own, but imagine if you'd used a Sizzix thick cut die or some other die that isn't made to be embossed like those alphabet dies that I'd used last year. That's where this could come in handy, particularly if you don't own an electronic die cutter and have to do things the semi-old-fashioned way. :-)

Moving & Shaping with the Cuttlebug

Okay, I'd noticed that I was repeating myself when talking about the new Sizzix Movers & Shapers and the possibility of using them in the Cuttlebug. I put them to the test this morning. Here's the scoop--they work!

A card to prove it....


This card was made using the Sizzix Movers & Shapers horizontal A2 card kit and the four pane window add-on. I put these through the Cuttlebug. The images are all Hero Arts and stamped using Tsukineko Memento dye inks. The patterned paper is Basic Grey Sultry. The butterfly die cuts were made using Spellbinders dies. I embellished with Liquid Pearls and Diamond Stickles.

Here's the stack that worked for me.


From the bottom: plate B, card die with add-on in place, card stock, plate B. I ran this through window side first so that the add-on die would help hold my cardstock in place.


Here's how it looked after that first pass through the Cuttlebug.

Now I shifted the B plates to the other end of the card die, taking care not to move my cardstock since part of it has already been cut out.


Here's the other end just about to be run through the machine.


This is how it looks after making those two passes through the CB. That part near the fold was a little bent but flattened out with a little tinkering. I'm not sure if that's where an edge of a plate caught it or if the cardstock shifted a bit. That's a chance you take when you have to make two passes instead of one pass with those extra long clear cutting plates.


And there you can see what the folded card looks like.

Yes, if you look closely I've already done a little tinkering with my card die. I've marked the center of the metal plate that represents the cardfront so that I can see exactly where I'm placing my die. No crooked windows for me! ;-) Yeah, I'm going for foolproof again, as usual. Hey, this stuff is supposed to make my life easier, eh? Not more frustrating.

Okay, but what about the add-ons? They'll work, too, and by themselves without the card die, just like with the Big Shot.


In the photo above, you see two B plates, a Sizzix long clear plate, the flower add-on, and a scrap of purple cardstock.


And this is the stack that worked for me. From the bottom: plate B, plate B, lightweight chipboard shim, add-on die with cutting side up, cardstock, clear cutting plate--if you have an extra B plate, that would work in place of the long Sizzix clear plate that I used here. They're the same thickness. Depending on your machine, you'll need to experiment just a bit with shimming, and as usual, you'll want to start thin and gradually add shims so that you won't break your machine.

So, there you have it. The Sizzix Movers & Shapers can work with the Cuttlebug. :-)

Tips for diagonal scoring

Diagonal scoring can be tricky. Scoring boards like the Scor-It have a nice raised edge so that you can push your paper or cardstock flush up against it and make a nice straight score. You can't place your card flush against a raised edge when you're scoring a traditional card front diagonally though. It's also tough if your card isn't a traditional shape. I'm going to describe what I do to try to keep from having to toss too many cards into the scrap pile.

In my post about diagonal Cuttling, I mentioned that I like to set off the look of the embossed and unembossed areas of the card front. I usually do this by scoring, so that the card looks like this....


To do this, I pull out my Scor-It board and open up the card on top of it. In the photo below, I've started to line up the bottom right corner of the card front along the ridge that will make my embossed line. I like to start here because this is the easiest place to see just where to score that line--I can sort of visualize the edge of the embossing following along that metal ridge.


But, I've said it here before--why guess when you can make things a bit more foolproof? Yes, I've successfully eyed it and gotten it right, but there are three more lines to score after this first one. I needed a better plan. Okay, yes, I learned that from experience. :-)

So, here's one way to double check. I use something with two nice straight edges set at a right angle. If you've been Cuttling diagonally using those long Sizzix plates, then BINGO! You can use one of those.


In the photo above, I've placed the short edge of the clear plate flush against the raised edge at the top of my Scor-It. Sliding close to the scoring rail, I can double check where my first score line will be made compared with where my embossing starts and ends. Once I'm happy with it, I can score my line.


Here I'm just showing another option. This is a clear triangle ruler. You can use a regular ruler, too, as long as the short edge is wide enough to be stable against the raised edge of the scoring board. I also like using something clear so that I can see embossed design through it.


Here I've made the first score line and I'm getting ready to make the second one. This is where it's really nice to have a way to check the placement of your line before you make it because if it looks off, then it's rather eye-catching and not necessarily in a good way.


Here I'm basically making sure that my lines will be parallel to each other. I've placed my card over the rail where I think the next score line should go. I slide the clear plate along that raised edge at the top of my board and I make sure that the first line that I scored is still lining up parallel to the scoring rail. The rubberized texture of the board holds my card in place while the clear plate slides easily over the top of the card, so that I can move the plate back and forth from the scoring rail to my first scored line until things are lined up just right. By the way, it took me A LOT longer to write that than it does to actually just do it. :-) When I'm satisfied, I score my line.

Make all of the score lines in the same fashion and you end up with a card that can look something like this when you've finished it off with some stamping and embellishments....


The stamped swirl image is by Inkadinkado and stamped using Memento dye ink. The butterfly die cut was made using a Spellbinders die and embossed and colored with that die as well. The flowers and leaf are Primas.

If you use craft sticks to creatively Cuttle as I've described before, you can set off that embossing with score lines, too. I went through the same steps to score the following card as I did in the one I described above. You just need to tilt the card a couple of different ways because the design changes direction.

For this card I used the Cuttlebug Perfectly Paisley embossing folder and embossed using craft sticks. I set off the embossing with score lines made with my Scor-It. The stamped images are an Inkadinkado mini set and stamped using Tsukineko Memento dye ink. I colored the images with Prismacolor colored pencils and blended with my Goo Gone Mess-free pen. I accented the headlights with a Sakura clear Glaze pen.

By the way I don't have a Scor-Pal. The idea would be the same though. You'd have your card face down in this case and set at an angle on top of the board. You'd position your card so that your first score line makes a nice border between an embossed and unembossed area of your card. Depending on whether one of the other scoring grooves falls in a spot where the next line would ideally be scored, you may or may not have to move your card. If you do have to move it, a clear straight edge can help you make sure that things are lined up properly again before you make your other score lines. Hope that made sense. :-)

Tips for diagonal Cuttling

When I do diagonal Cuttling, I usually have a result like this in mind....


Or a result like this....


Having done this a number of times now, I've encountered various pitfalls and I've tried a few things to try to minimize falling into these traps.

The first thing that can be tricky about diagonal embossing like this is keeping track of just where the pattern is, because I'm usually running my card and folder through the machine a few times to get the effect that I'm looking for. The second tricky thing is the scoring that I like to do--tricky because of the diagonal design and the fact that this isn't as straightforward as scoring vertical or horizontal lines on a scoring board. I'll address the pattern issue in this post and save the scoring for another.

For the first design above with the Cuttlebug D'vine Swirls, I find it easiest to keep track of my clear plate placement by using a transparency with lines drawn on it that represent the long edges of that clear plate. I'd placed my plate on top of the transparency and drew a line down each side with a black Sharpie.


That photo just shows approximately where I'll be positioning the clear plate when I put it and the folder with the card through the Big Shot.


Once the main section has been embossed, I open the folder and place the transparency inside, lining it up with the embossing. I close the folder, and now I have a way to tell where I need to line up my folder for the partial Cuttling of the corners.


It can look a bit weird to have the embossed edges not line up, or at least be somewhat close to parallel. It can also look weird to have a very narrow space between the embossed sections. I've embossed by guessing with some success, but I've been way off at times, too, and I can only use so many failed experimental cards. ;-) I needed a more foolproof method. So, slide the transparency out once the folder is in place, and run it through.


There's one corner down. I do the same for the other corner. This card front is ready for the scoring phase, so I'll set it aside.

In the second example at the beginning of this post, I used the Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder and embossed diagonally at each corner to leave an open diamond space at the center of the card. Again, you could eye it and get close, but it's nicer to be a little more sure of the placement. Yes, this is the voice of experience again.


If you look closely, you can see that I've made some small marks on top of my folder near the edges at the halfway point on each side. Well, you can't see all of the sides, but you can see them on the two sides at least. I used pencil here, but non-permanent marker would work well, too.


I use these marks to place my clear plate when I run my folder and card through the machine. The position of the plate in the photo above will emboss the top left corner of the card front. I'll reposition the plate and run it through three more times to finish the other corners, using the marks that I've placed to line things up properly. By the way, for this particular open diamond shaped card front embossing, the shorter plates that are used in the Sidekick or Tagalong can be a little easier to position than the long ones. For Cuttlebug users, I know that the opening of the machine is slightly smaller than the one in the Big Shot. You might find it easier to use something narrower like a ruler or perhaps two rulers stacked one on top of the other to make this diagonal embossing. I don't usually score this design, so this card front is ready for stamping.

Hope some of those tips are helpful if you try diagonal Cuttling. :-)