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Boy, oh boy, do I have a lot to share with you tonight! I had two hours alone with my Cuttlebug toady and came up with some interesting embossing techniques. AND I printed on the inside of a cereal box–probably not acid free, but a lot of fun!
There are also a couple of software hints and shortcuts in this post that will speed up your time on the computer, so you can get to crafting your card quickly. These cards are EASY and have so much texture and dimension!
I used my digital stamp “Mitten” for these two cards. You will want to pick this digi up in my store for just $1, because it is so versatile!! It’s perfect for “Warm Winter Wishes” for the upcoming holiday’s or a winter birthday.
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| Challenge Card for: Pixie Cottage- Stiching Sweet Stampin Challenge Blog: Ribbon Our Creative Corner: 3 Embellishments (buttons, twine, twill tape, ribbon) Paper Romance: Buttons 365 Cards: Try a New Technique (create your own embossing “folders”) Mark’s Finest Papers’ Friends: Stitching |
We’ll start with the red card.
You will need to trim a cereal box or something similar to fit in your printer. I trimmed this box to 7 x 10 inches. I also set the lever on my printer to envelope, so that the box would feed through easier.
Computer Hints
I used Microsoft Word to create a document the size of my cereal box (7 x 10), and I inserted the digi stamp into the .doc. I made the Mitten 1.5 inches tall, and set the Text Wrapping to “Through”. This allows you to move it anywhere on the page. While the mitten was selected, I hit ctrl + c to copy, and then ctrl + v to paste. This way you do not need to set the Position or Text Wrapping each time.
With this second Mitten, I mirrored it by Position > Flip Horizontal, and then placed it below the first mitten. With one Mitten selected, press ctrl and click on the other mitten. Both mittens will be selected. Hit ctrl + c, then crtl + v, and this will copy both and paste them. Now drag this group of two over, and you have four. Repeat until you have eight–four the original way, and four mirrored.
This is the printed cereal box:
Cut the Mittens out using sharp scissors. You will also need hemp twine and tape.
Tape or glue the twine to the back of the mittens to make pairs.
The Cuttlebug sandwich will be Plate A, cardstock shims, Plate B (if your Plate B is as used/rough as mine, see below, then you will need a smooth piece of cardstock on top of it.),…
On top of the smooth surface, arrange your cut out Mittens. Then place your cardstock to be embossed, the Spellbinders Tan polymer mat, and finally, Plate B.
Run this through your Cuttlebug.
And you will have custom embossed paper using a digital stamp! Punches work well too.
Here’s my card using the digi stamp for embossing, and then using the Mittens I cut out from the cereal box, as the focal point of my card.
I used some warm grey Tria markers to color my Mittens before adding them to my card.
Embossing in this way, preserved the texture of my Bazzill cardstock.
Blue Card
Here’s how you can create your own textured cardstock. I used some smooth SU! Bordering Blue cardstock, and an old dish cloth that I crocheted.
Cuttlebug sandwich for this: Plate A, Plate B, Dish Cloth, Cardstock, tan polymer mat, Plate B.
Here’s what you get: And as you can see, my dish cloth is now pretty flat. lol! But it’s an old one, and it was worth it. :) Maybe it will be reshaped in the wash.
I used a large scalloped rectangle Nestabilities die to created this scalloped edge:
Insert your cardstock into one edge of the Nestie. The paper will be under one side, and over the other side.
Make your Cuttlebug cutting sandwich: Plate A, Plate C, Nestabilities Die with the the ridge facing up, and cardstock over the cutting ridge on one side, Plate B.
Here’s what you end up with:
You could use this as a card base. I cut mine way down to use under my twill tape and ribbon, and distressed the other edge.
If you want one Mitten to stick up higher than the other, you can double up the foam tape.
And here’s the completed card. I LOVE the crocheted texture on the cardstock!
I have many more ideas to try, and I will keep you posted on my experiments. :)
I hope this has sparked some creativity in you, and I would love to hear what you think. What are you going to press through your die cutting machine?
For more information on Cuttlebug Sandwiches and Nestabilities, please see my previous post about embossing a frame with Nestabilites.
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thanks Faith for sharing this with us.
Dawn
