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.

holiday cards Cuttlebug-style

I wanted to share a few more cards that I made using the Cuttlebug A2 embossing folders and the border folders. They were made in the winter holiday spirit. :-)


This first card was very simply embossed using one of the border folders on the top and bottom edges of the card. The bird image is by Inkadinkado and stamped using Memento dye inks. The sentiment is by My Favorite Things. The faux snow is by Cornish Heritage Farms.


This card was made by using diagonal Cuttling with the Snowflakes embossing folder. I used another border folder to accent the space for the sentiment by Inkadinkado. The corner were punched using a Fiskars corner punch.


I partially Cuttled the front of this card using the Christmas ornaments embossing folder. The score lines were made using the Scor-It, and again I used a border folder to add interest to that bottom edge of the design. The stamped image is by Stampendous, stamped with Memento dye ink and colored with Copic Spica glitter pens.


This last card was partially embossed using the Snow Dots embossing folder. I used an embossing border folder to set off the sentiment by Martha Stewart. The snowflakes were made via a punch also by Martha Stewart. The inky accents on the snowflakes and the stamping were made using Memento dye inks.

These are just some quick and easy cards that showcase the some of the fun looks that you can get by using embossing folders in different ways and in different combinations.

a few more Cuttled cards

I seem to have a lot of Cuttled card fronts just waiting to have something done to them. I got around to doing some stamping, so I thought I'd post a few of those cards that I've finished.


This first card was made doing some diagonal Cuttling of a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. The stamped flower image is by Imaginisce the sentiment is a Studio G stamp. Both were stamped using Memento dye ink and then colored with Prismacolor colored pencils blended with Goo Gone and accented with Copic Spica glitter pens. The orange border was made with the Fiskars Lacy Days of Summer border punch.


This next card was made with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. I'd partially Cuttled to leave spaces for stamping sentiments. The stamps were all by Inkadinkado and stamped with Memento ink. The scalloped circle was made using a Spellbinders petite scalloped circle Nestabilities die.


This last card was made by creative Cuttling using the Mini Mosaic Cuttlebug embossing folder. The stamped images and sentiments are by Inque Boutique, stamped using Memento dye inks, and colored with Prismacolor colored pencils. The blending was done using Goo Gone.

Ahhh, it's nice to do some crafting. :-)

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. :-)

diagonal Cuttling for Cuttlebug users

More equal time for Cuttlebug users since I haven't put the machine away yet. This is for those of you who either don't have the long Sizzix plates or didn't go out and find some for trying out diagonal Cuttling. I was browsing Michael's today because I'd needed to buy some Mod Podge for a project that I'm working on. I cruised by the wood die cut aisle to see if there was anything fun to pick up while I was there. I had a 20% off my entire non-sale purchase coupon that I'd received via email, so small, inexpensive things were finding their way into my basket.

One of the things that I found was a door hanger that cost me 79 cents, less 20% since it wasn't on sale. Man, can I shop or what?! ;-) Now mind you, this is about 1/2" wider than the long Sizzix plates, but I thought it could work.


Those are the materials that I used: the CB, A plate, B plate, A2 size card, Cuttlebug embossing folder, wood door hanger.


I know you have this down by now, but place the card front inside the folder and tuck the back behind the folder.


Place the folder and card on top of the A plate and the door hanger at a diagonal on top of that. There are a few things that I want to point out:

~*~ The thickness of this hanger is slightly less than that of a B plate. It was close enough that I just eliminated the B plate that would normally go on top of the A plate. The idea is that less is better. I can always add a shim and run it through again if the embossing isn't crisp enough.

~*~ The hanger just barely covers the folder from corner to opposite corner. That's okay because these things tend to emboss a bit past the edges of the item being pressed onto the folder.

~*~ I also tried to position the stack so that none of the edges or corners stuck out past the edges of the A plate. If you have to have part of the hanger stick out past the edge, try to make it at the back end so that the folder has at least made it most of the way through the slot before you reach that point where something is sticking out. By then the stack will be loose and the back end will easily slide over and through the slot. Actually, my stack had moved a bit in the photo,and the corner that was cut off at the bottom actually did stick out past the left edge of the A plate. It all slid through just fine. But really, there was still enough room that everything could have fit without going past the side edges of the A plate.


Put the B plate on top, and it's ready to be rolled through the machine.


There's the Cuttled card front. You can stop there, or you can take it a bit further and do the corners, too. I went on to show how I embossed the corner below by partial Cuttling.


This time use both B plates to sandwich your folder as you normally would, but only stick that part of the corner that you want to emboss between the plates, as above.


Here it is once the corner has been Cuttled. I like to finish it off a bit by scoring along those edges where the design fades out. I use my Scor-It to make my score lines.


There's the first score line. Then I line it up for the second one.


I have some tips for doing this in more foolproof fashion than just trying to eyeball it as I did here, but I don't have photos yet. It's on my list though!


Here's that bottom corner looking more finished with the two scores making a sharper demarcation between the embossed and unembossed portions of the card front. You can put a sentiment there, or stamp a long decorative design, add ribbon.... whatever comes to mind. The other corner could be finished the same way.

I still feel that the long Sizzix plates gave me somewhat better results. I think the edges were a bit more crisp and I prefer the narrower plates. But I think for the difference in cost, this isn't a bad result at all. For Cuttlebug users who'd like to try some diagonal Cuttling and who don't have access to the long Sizzix plates, the wood door hanger makes a decent substitute even at full price. LOL!

Edited to add: I've updated this technique, adding another way to diagonally Cuttle a card front. Click here to read it: diagonal Cuttling update.

Equal Time: Cuttling for Cuttlebug Users

Go figure. There are a lot of folks who use the Cuttlebug embossing folders with a Cuttlebug machine and not a Big Shot. ;-) I've read some comments about folks thinking that the Cuttling techniques that I've described can only be done with a Big Shot. I've always thought that the way the machines work is essentially the same, so really Cuttling should be adaptable. I had to prove it to myself though.

For you Cuttlebug users out there, I pulled mine out. It was a good deal that I couldn't pass up, and it's my back-up should my Big Shot ever fail me. It's out of the box now, and yes, Cuttling can be done with this machine.

Here are some how-to's. Thankfully Blogger's photo upload is working well today.


Okay, so there you see my CB with the plates, a couple of embossing folders, a card, my transparency, and the items I'll be using to do my creative double Cuttling (the wood frame and the oval wood die cut).


As usual, put the card front inside the folder and tuck the back part underneath the folder.


Here's that transparency template that I made by tracing the inside of the opening of the frame with a Sharpie. I use this to help me position where I want my frame once I've closed the folder. This is Floral Fantasy, by the way.


Once the folder is closed, I can still see where I want the opening of the frame to be.


I position the wood frame so that the opening matches the traced oval.


Here I'm sliding the transparency out. I don't need it anymore, eh?


Now I've placed the B plate on top of the frame, on top of the folder with the card inside, on top of plate A. As I understand it, usually you'd have another plate B in there. I took that bottom one out. My wood frame is virtually the same thickness as that plate, actually a little less. So this should roll through just fine. The only question is whether I'll need to make a second pass using a shim if it doesn't emboss deeply enough.


Here's the card after it's been rolled through. I like it fine as it is, plus I'm ready to take the next step. LOL!


Now I've tucked my card front inside the Birds & Swirls folder. I pull out my handy dandy transparency again to see where I'd like those birds and swirls to show up.


Close the folder with the transparency still inside.


This time I position my oval wood die cut on top of the closed folder and over the tracing. It's crooked up there on purpose, okay? That's so you can see the tracing. My eyes aren't quite that bad. ;-) I'll straighten it out before running it through.


I've slipped the transparency out and placed the B plate on top of the stack. Again, this wood die cut is conveniently the same thickness as one of the B plates, so I eliminated that second B plate that would ordinarily be in the stack. Top to bottom: B plate, wood die cut, folder with card front inside, A plate.


Here's how it turned out after I ran it through. Maybe it wasn't the best combination, but it's still pretty and it shows that creative double Cuttling can be adapted to a Cuttlebug. And obviously you don't need to do the second Cuttling. You can stop after the first pass as I've described in creative Cuttling. You might also want to peek at creative Cuttling in more detail.

Partial Cuttling for the Cuttlebug works, too. Hey, I've got the machine out, so I might as well put this through the paces as well.


Here's my stack. It's the usual combo. The folder with card front inside between two B plates on top of the A plate. The key is leaving the area that's to be left unembossed outside of the plates so that no pressure will be applied. That's why my folder is just hanging out there.


And there's the partial Cuttling result using the Swiss Dots folder. Only the top part of a top fold card was embossed, and no cards or tools were harmed in the production of this look. ;-)

Diagonal Cuttling works, too.


The two long plates are from Sizzix and are usually used for those long border dies. They're the same thickness as the B plates. They let me emboss at an angle as I've described before.


And that's the result of doing diagonal Cuttling using the Perfectly Paisley embossing folder. I do run that through twice because that top left corner is left unembossed after the first pass, but you can just straighten those long plates and emboss that area. You can also just leave it if you like that look.

I'm going to skip over the double Cuttle because I don't think there was ever any reason to think that couldn't be duplicated with a Cuttlebug machine.

So there ya go! Equal time for fans of the Cuttlebug. :-) I'll just add that I did like the CB fine. I was bummed that the multipurpose platform was too wide to fit through the opening though. I'd rather not have to think about what stack combo to run through the machine, plus that little extra width gives me more room when I'm trying to run things through diagonally. I'll be sticking with what's most familiar to me, so it's back to the Big Shot again. :-)