Hello and enjoy...

Here are a couple of cards that I made before I was sidetracked by those new Cuttlebug folders.


To make this one I used Penny Black stamps and Memento inks. I made the decorative scores with my Scor-It.


I used the Scor-It and Scor-It ruler for the decorative scores on this card. I made the sentiment with the EK Success Paper Shapers medium square Punch & Stamp set. The wee bugs were punched using an EK Success punch and I embellished a bit with some Diamond Dust Stickles.

more fun with punch & stamp sets

I'll admit it. I love playing with crafting tools. :-) I reviewed the EK Success Paper Shapers Punch & Stamps sets recently. I really liked the way the Black-Eyed Susan set did its job. I decided to try out some other ones.

I made this card by embossing the card front with an A2 size Sizzix folder from the textured impressions Spring Set 2 . Love the way it covers the entire front! I used the circle punch & stamp set to make the heart-stamped, round flower center from decorative paper. The heart-shaped petals were made using the heart punch & stamp set. The sentiment is by Hot Off the Press, and all inks were Memento.

I really like how simple it is to get a nicely placed stamped design on a punched shape using these sets. I'm not saying that it can't be done by stamping, centering the image and punching with a regular punch, but this takes the guesswork out of it, and I like that a lot! I have a clear alphabet stamp set that I want to use with these next. Seems like this should be great for making words etc.

And woo hoo! My web site is back up and my blog background once again looks much more interesting than plain white. :-)

Guest Designer Spot: let's talk about embossing folders

Please note: this article was originally published on the Cuttlebug Challenge blog. I think enough time has passed that I'm publishing it here as well so that it can go out to my email subscribers and be linked along with my other tutorials.

Hi, this is Jay from IndigoInklings, and I'm back for one of my monthly Guest Designer visits. I thought it would be fun to talk briefly about using other manufacturers' embossing folders with the Cuttlebug, and talk in more detail about the new QuicKutz border embossing folders and how to use them with the Cuttlebug.

I think everyone is familiar with the Cuttlebug embossing folders by ProvoCraft. Sizzix was the next to come out with embossing folders, and QuicKutz has been the most recent to begin producing these.


For now you'll have to trust me that there is one of each brand of A2 folder in the photo above. The ProvoCraft is on top, the QuicKutz next, and the Sizzix on the bottom. What I want to show is that the Sizzix folks listened to crafters and made their folders just a bit wider so that their designs truly cover the entire front of an A2 size card.


Okay, see? There they are. The QuicKutz has the distinctive blue tint.


Just wanted to give you a side view of the folders. They're similar in thickness, but I'll just remind you that if you're not getting as crisp and clear an emboss as you'd like, gradually add thin shims until you're happy with what you're seeing--then make a note of it for next time.


Here is a typical set of Sizzix embossing folders. They sell their product in sets--the folders are usually of varying sizes but the designs are coordinated so that they can be used in combination on a card front or layout.


This is a sampling of QuicKutz embossing folders. They have the A2 size, the 2x2 inch size, and they have the large 2x12 inch border folders. The borders and A2 folders are sold individually; the 2x2's are sold in sets, like the small ProvoCraft folders.

All of these folders can be used with the Cuttlebug machine. I use the same sandwich for the Sizzix and QuicKutz folders that I do for the ProvoCraft Cuttlebug folders.

That's my quick overview of the embossing folders currently out on the market. Now I'd like to talk in more detil about the QuicKutz border folders.


First off, yes, they can be used in the Cuttlebug. (They can be used in the Big Shot, too, but I'll mainly stick to descriptions for the C'bug here.) The sandwich is the same one that you'd normally use for ProvoCraft embossing folders: A plate, B plate, embossing folder with card stock inside, B plate. It's the length of these folders that make using them a little tricky, but that's only because you have to put the sandwich through twice to emboss the full length.


Here's how I made my first pass. I staggered the stack just a bit. This makes it a little easier to feed it through.


Here's how it looks so far.


Now I've moved the plates to the other end of the folder and I'm going to go ahead and just feed that unsandwiched end through first. It's always a good idea to lead with the folded edge if possible. I staggered the plates just a bit again, too.


Here's the full length of the embossed card stock.


And since I think I actually showed the debossed side up there, here's the other side. :-)

Quick aside for Big Shot users: you can do the same with your machine, just use the multipurpose platform on either No Tabs (what I use) or Tab 1, and sandwich the folder between the clear cutting plates as you normally would.

Now a simpler way to accomplish the same thing would be to use the Sizzix extended platform and the cutting plates that are made for use with the Sizzix decorative border dies.


Here you see the extended platform that I was talking about.


It is conveniently very close to the same thickness as the A plate. Big Shot users, you could use this instead of the multipurpose platform.


So the stack/sandwich is: extended platform, extended cutting plate, border embossing folder with card stock inside, extended cutting plate. Roll it through.


Voila! One pass. Easy peasy. I wouldn't recommend buying these items just for this, but if you happen to have them or come across them on clearance or something somewhere, it does simplify things.

But you know, why stop at just embossing these borders the regular way? We crafters like to innovate, right? Let's take things a step farther.


Here I have 4 one inch wide strips of chipboard that I wish were 12" long rather than the 11" that they were in reality. Through the magic of the internet though, it can seem like they were 12" long and it can look like I did the following in one pass. LOL!


In the photo above, I removed the extended cutting plate that had been on the bottom, put the previously embossed card stock that I showed you into a different border folder (one with a line of large dots that happen to be one inch wide), and placed it directly onto the platform. I placed my stack of chipboard strips on top of the circle designs, topped that with an extended cutting plate, and ran it through the machine.


Here's how that piece of embossed card stock looked after that. By the way, I used the chipboard to keep from flattening out the original embossing--a form of selective embossing, eh? This is one of the ways that I've described on my blog for avoiding those unsightly folder lines. In the same way that I don't like to have stray marks made by folder edges, sometimes I don't want to flatten out existing embossing either. This is how I choose where I'd like the pressure to be applied to a folder so that I can avoid flattening embossed images if I don't have to.


You can also embellish the plain scalloped border this way.

So, these border embossing folders would be a fun way to embellish scrapbook layouts. They're a true 12" length, though the widths of the designs vary.

I thought that you might like to see that these can be used for card-making, too, so here are some cards that I worked up.


For this card I used the QuicKutz scalloped border and the QK dots border embossing folders. The stamped images are by Chatterbox and stamped using Memento dye inks. The embellishments are by Hero Arts.


The QuicKutz border for this card is the scallops and dots. The flowers are by Bazzill and Prima. The sentiment is by Amuse Artistamps.


I did a little something different on this card. I embossed it with the A2 damask embossing folder by Sizzix. You can see how it embossed the entire card front. I embossed over that with the QuicKutz scalloped border which left a faint impression of the original embossing. I didn't do it justice in the photo, but looking at it in real life, it almost looks like there's a scalloped border vellum overlay on the card. The sentiment is by My Sentiments Exactly and was stamped using Memento ink. The punched embellishments were made using the EK Success Black-Eyed Susan Punch & Stamp set and Memento inks.


For this last card I wanted to show that you can use other border folders in combination with the QuicKutz borders. This is the QK scallops and dots combined with one of the Cuttlebug Just My Type border folders. I added the scored lines using my Scor-It to set off that border design a bit more. The sentiment is by Hero Arts and stamped using Memento ink. The stick pin embellishment is by Maya Road.

I hope that gives you some useful information regarding all of these embossing folders that have become available recently. I also hope that I've given you a bit of inspiration as far as some fun ways in which some of these new border folders can be used both individually and in combination to dress up cards quickly and easily. If I managed to inspire you, I love hearing about it and seeing what you've made. Feel free to leave a link here or on my blog so that I can take a peek and be inspired by your creativity, too. :-)

Thanks, and I'll see you next time!

EK Success Paper Shapers Punch & Stamp set

As you might be able to tell from my weird posting schedule, it was a busy April and an even busier May around here. Now that most of the rush is over, I've been able to get back into some crafting and some blogging. Ahhhh!!! Sadly for the bank account, I also got back into some shopping for craft supplies. I do have to admit that being busy kept me out of trouble as far as that goes. But shop I did, and so I have a bit of a product review.

One of my late night internet stops was Joann's online. These days I mainly look. They did away with the Free Shipping Club so no more double-dipping with coupons. The danger with looking is that sometimes you find something that you need to try. Especially when it's on sale for 40% off. And especially if you do a quick search and find a code for free shipping on top of that!

What arrived the other day in my box of goodies was the Paper Shapers Punch and Stamp set by EK Success. I haven't bought shape punches in ages. I do find myself drawn to their edger punches or to various border punches, but not to shapes so much. I like Nesties for that--more variety, easier to store, take up less space, can emboss with them.... But this set was intriguing! It claimed to stamp an image AND punch it out, too! No having to flip the punch over and line up the design to punch it out. No trying to eyeball a stamp so that it ends up centered on a small punched out shape. Okay, you only get one shape and one size, but it has multiple stamps made to fit inside that shape, and they make sets of other stamps that are compatible. This had potential, especially since there are alphabet sets made to fit. These were new, so no reviews yet on the Joann site. The few I saw online were good. I had to try one.

Here's the scoop....


This is how it looks once it's been liberated from the plastic shell. This happens to be the medium Black-Eyed Susan set.


The handle lifts up and away to reveal the couple of things that make this punch unique.


This is the storage compartment for the extra stamps that go with this punch.


This set comes with 4 clear flower stamps, so these are the three that were in that storage area.


This piece lifts straight up and out. Notice the handy arrows that let you know how to re-seat this part when it's time to put it back.


Pulling the whole thing out, you can see where that 4th stamp was lurking. You can also see why it's important to realign this piece properly--it has to sit in that opening in the metal just so.


Time to see how this works. I pulled out a small inkpad. I happened to have the Memento dew drops close by. These are great for inking up small stamps like this. They wash off of clear stamps nicely, too. Most of the time I just stamp off what little ink is left on the stamp.


I lined up the arrows and replaced that part with the inked stamp attached. Not difficult to do at all.


I moved the handle back into its original position, placed a piece of Georgia Pacific white card stock into the slot of the punch and pressed down on the handle, simultaneously stamping and punching out the design. At least that's what I hoped was happening.


HA! It worked. You'll notice, as I did, that the shape was still attached to the card stock at a couple of points. As I understand it, you can leave it this way to pop out a bit and give a 3D effect.


It was easy to pop it loose though. And you could certainly use a nice sharp pair of scissors if you wanted to. I'll probably just give that rough edge a quick swipe with a sanding block.


So there the stamped and punched out image. I kinda like that. Easy to see using all sorts of colors of inks or card stocks or maybe designer papers.... Lots of potential.


Then I remembered that sunflower stamp that came with the set. Oooo, I had to see how that one would look! As I inked it up, I wondered if I could make the center a different color. Well, I mean, of course I could, but could the set up of this punch help to line up the design? That was the question. And the answer was yes! I inked in Cantaloupe first, then punched/stamped as before. But this time I didn't remove my card stock to see how it turned out. I left it, and instead I lifted the handle and removed that piece with the stamp, and inked just the center with Potter's Clay. I put it back into its spot, and I gave the handle a gentle press--not enough to punch again, hopefully just enough to apply the new ink.


And here is how that experiment turned out. Not bad, eh?

All in all, I found that this was a slick way of stamping an image and having that image be nicely centered in the middle of a cut-out shape. Clear stamps are great and I can get fairly accurate placement just by looking, but it's not a foolproof process for me by any stretch; and though I like my Stamp-a-ma-jig for more accurately placing images, I don't tend to pull it out for smaller stuff like this. I know that I'll use this flower shape and the images fairly often, and I may now have to give serious consideration to getting either the square or circle punch and stamp set. I understand that there are a couple of alpha sets that will fit in both and I think these sets punch out shapes that are a great size for card making.

Gotta like it--a tool that works as billed, and I got it for a good price. Woo hoo! :-)