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.

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. :-)