Tag Archives: Cuttlebug

Tuesday Techniques – Dry Embossing with Wafer Thin Dies

29 Tuesday May 2012

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It’s our final dry embossing day! I thought I’d show you how to use your wafer thin dies to emboss, rather than cut – use them for double duty and really get your money’s worth!

You will need:

Supplies

A die cutting/embossing machine, wafer thin dies (eg: Spellbinders, Hero Arts, Papertrey Ink, etc.), and a tag.

First, line up the die on your paper, cutting edge facing up. Next, I find it easiest to adhere the die to the paper. I normally use washi tape as it is low tack and there’s no problem removing it once the die has been run through your machine. I temporarily adhere it so it doesn’t move and I can be sure it will emboss right where I want it to!

Next, make your sandwich – for the Cuttlebug I use the A plate, B plate, then a piece of cardstock as a shim (and you can then get a die cut piece at the same time as you’re embossing!):

Then put your paper with the die facedown so the cutting edges go into the cardstock shim.

Over that goes a rubber mat and another B plate. If you want a really deep impression, you may want to use another thin shim for more pressure. Just be sure not to make the sandwich too thick or it won’t go through your machine.

After you roll it through, you get this:

Nicely embossed! I happened to use an open die here to get a frame, but you can use solid dies as well, and you can deboss if you prefer, just flip your paper over!

I like the subtlety of this embossing, and how it picks up ink really well to make it stand out more while still not being super dimensional. Excellent for cards you’re going to mail because they won’t be too bulky.

In the same vein, you can also use stencils and chipboard to emboss. I won’t cover those since they are very similar to what I did here today but if you want to see those in action check here and here. I used the stencil technique on the smaller red heart for my finished tag:

As always, leave me a link in the comments if you try this technique out – I’d love to see how you use dies for embossing!

S.

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Tuesday Techniques – Dry Embossing: Faux Letterpress

22 Tuesday May 2012

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One of my favourite ways to play with dry embossing is to do something called Faux Letterpress. All you need besides the regular supplies is ink!

supplies

Now, you all know my love of Distress Ink and how they are my go to ink for all things crafty, right? Well, I don’t normally use them for this technique… :0 I know, I know, it’s shocking but I do have my reasons!

Usually I will use an embossing folder for this that has a lot of white, or open, space and Distress Ink just doesn’t play nicely with that much area on a plastic folder. However, the Hero Arts Shadow Inks are a dye ink that are formulated to work well with stamps that require a large amount of coverage. They look a little splotchy a first but as they dry and soak into your paper they smooth out to a perfect finish. And they are awesome for Faux Letterpress!

I also like the Hero Arts/Sizzix Stamp&Emboss line for this since you get a coordinating stamp and embossing folder.

First, ink up your stamp and stamp away! (I used markers and a mist of water to do my impression and make it look like watercolour.)

Then, you do the Faux Letterpress. Ink up the solid side of your embossing folder, the side that has the most raised area. Another reason the Shadow Inks work well with this is because they have a firm, felt ink pad so the ink doesn’t press into the recessed areas of your embossing folder like it would with a foam ink pad.

Now, place your stamped piece in the folder, carefully lining up the image, then run it through your machine. All the inked areas on the folder will be pressed into your surface while the raised areas remain uncoloured.

Here’s a more basic example:

I just inked up my folder, stamped an image over the inked area, then embossed. The fun thing here is that it looks as though the stamped image is under the embossed area!

Finally, I did one tag with Distress Ink so you could see the difference in the inks.

It turns out really splotchy but I do like the Distress Ink look here because I’m using a less open design and the design lends itself to a grungier feel anyway. This would be perfect on the front of one of those always hard to do male cards!

And, so you can compare easily, the three tags together:

I finished off my original  tag with some twine, a stamped and embossed mini tag, and some Tim Holtz doodads.

Hope you enjoyed! I’ll have one more tutorial on embossing next week and then I’ll have to rack my brains for something new! If you have seen anything or have questions about a certain technique, let me know – maybe I can take that on some Tuesday!

As always, leave me a link in the comments if you try this out – I’d love to see your creations too!

S.

Tuesday Techniques – Dry Embossing Other Stuff

15 Tuesday May 2012

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One of the fun things about dry embossing is that it works on a multitude of surfaces. Today I’m going to show you a bunch of items that are not paper and the great effects you get when they’re embossed.

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned my love affair with Sticky Back Canvas – if not, consider yourself filled in! Apart from being simply awesome on it’s own and fabulous with a bunch of other techniques, it looks amazing when it’s embossed.

Canvas

Ranger Foil Tape Sheets are super cool anyway – they’re thin adhesive sheets of silver metal – but embossing takes them to another level!

Foil

Vellum and Kraft Glassine are similar in that they sort of “crack” when embossed. The vellum turns white when embossed, and the Glassine has a coating that lightens. Great effect while still keeping the translucent properties of the materials.

Vellum

Glassine

I also like acrylic sheets. Although it’s harder to get a picture of how it looks when embossed, it’s really neat and leaves a great shadow when applied over another surface with foam adhesive.

Acrylic

Finally, Creative Imaginations has wood veneer sheets – honestly, real wood that’s thin enough to cut and emboss! What not to like about this look?

Wood

It was hard to pick what to use on the tag but the wood was calling my name – I was dying to see how it would look with the Dylusions Ink Sprays 🙂 And it looks awesome!

As always, leave me a link in the comments if you try any of the Tuesday Techniques – I’d love to see what you come up with!

S.