Thursday 23 October 2008

Cuttlebug Embossing Border tips

I LOVE the embossing borders that Cuttlebug has came out with! But I found that if I use the borders the same way I would use a full sized embossing folder (A2 size), they leave marks on my cardstock. This is true particularly with textured cardstock like Bazzill (my favorite!). If you wrap the embossing border folder around the cardstock and place it between the two "B" plates with the "A" plate on the bottom, you sometimes get this:

You can kind of see where the textured part was flattened out in some spots and there's a line where the edge of the border is. Now some cardstocks work fine and some don't.


HOWEVER, if this DOES happen to me, I just use my Scor-pal to make a line down the edge of the border area. Kind of separates that section so it looks like it's supposed to be different.


You know the packaging that Cuttlebug folders some in? Well I took the back "chipboard" piece and cut it in to 1" wide strips. I then adhered 7 strips together in a stack as shown. I started out with 4 or 5 and experimented until I had the right thickness for my Cuttlebug. If you're using glue, don't use too much or it will squish out the sides when you run it through your Cuttlebug! You'd need to experiment too - start out with less layers and add one layer at a time until it embosses the way you want it to without leaving the flattened area and line. It depends on how tight your Cuttlebug is, what thickness of adhesive you're using to hold your strips together, and what thickness of cardstock you generally use. Read on to find out how to use your stack.


Here's what I do different with the borders: I wrap the border folder around the cardstock and place it directly on the "A" plate. I don't use a "B" plate yet.


Now place the 1" wide chipboard stack directly over the embossing border folder.


Place a "B" plate on top of that. Yes, my "B" plate is well LOVED! Now sometimes my border folder slips a bit and I have to readjust to make sure it stays where I want it before I roll my stack through the Cuttlebug.


Here is the result from using this method. You can't see where the edge of the border folder was and there's no flattening of the textured cardstock. I like this nice crisp clean look better! And it's so simple!

Check out my blog, Angel Stamper, for more inspiration!

Hope you have a great day! Tootles!

8 comments:

Julie Allain said...

Vicki Thanks so much!!

Off to play with my cuttlebug :)

maddy hill said...

fabulous idea vicki , will be giving this a bash at later ... thanks for sharing !

Anonymous said...

I stumbled across your information and I think it's just what I need. I'll most definitely be giving this a go. Thanks so much for the tip!!

Anonymous said...

Hi!

Today (November 13) I posted an entry on my blog with a link to this tutorial.

Would you let me know if that's OK?

Thanks,

Nancy Ward

Anonymous said...

Vicki, thank you for your tips. I like both the scored line to offset the border and the non-squish method.

Robbie said...

I ran across your site when it was linked to Mel's. I have these borders but not used them yet. Glad I haven't...now I can start out right and not be disappointed in the results! Thanks a mil!!

www.robbieandkent.blogspot.com

Robbie said...

I came to your site via Mel's. Thanks so much for the instructions. I have these borders but not used them yet. Now I can do so without disappointment. Thanks!!

Rosy Newlun said...

Brilliant ideas - tfs!!!!!