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Spellbinders

Tuesday Tutorial – Impress Me!

9 Comments
9 Comments

butterflyimpress

Hi it’s Spike again with another installment of Tuesday Tutorial!  Since the new Spellbinders Spring 2009 products have arrived and been flying off the shelves, one product caught my eye that I hadn’t seen before!  Spellbinders Impressabilities.

These are totally different from anything I have ever seen for embossing.

impressabilitiesbutterfly

It is absolutely gorgeous and also quite delicate.  Be very careful when using this (and even taking it in and out of the package) as it can easily be bent and warped.  You will also want to rotate it or flip it over every time you use it so that it gets even wear when you emboss.

sideview1

Here’s a side view. Yes it’s THAT thin! So you’ll want to store it in the folder it came in.

Now one thing they didn’t cover in the package was how to actually use it in your embossing machine!  And that was the mission Kate and Shellie sent me on!  I will show you how to use it on paper, vellum and the Spellbinders Craft Foil while making 3 SUPER EASY cards.

Using Impressabilities with Paper

Right on the package it states, “For best results use smooth 65lb cardstock” so I tried it out on some I had kicking around.  Remember this is a different kind of emboss (not as deep) than you would get using a embossing folder.

1. To help the cardstock take more of the emboss, lightly spritz with water (only once or twice) each side.  If the cardstock gets too wet, it won’t keep the emboss as experience has taught me that lesson.

spritzing

2. Next create your embossing sandwich

Please note: I found that these sandwiches work well for me but aren’t set in stone and aren’t the only ways to use them.  You may have to adjust them by adding or removing a shim.  When in doubt, err on the side of thin as you can always pass it through again with an added shim.  Shim: cereal box weight cardstock cut to the size of the Impressabilities (I use a Spellbinders Magnetic Placement mat as it’s usually within arms reach)

If you’re using a Big Shot from the bottom up: Tab 1, shim, Cutting Pad, Spellbinders tan embossing mat, misted cardstock, Spellbinders Impressabilities, Cutting Pad

If you’re using a Cuttlebug from the bottom up: A Plate, shim, B Plate, Spellbinders tan embossing mat, misted cardstock, Spellbinders Impressabilities, B Plate

embossedpaper

Here’s the embossed cardstock from the debossed (back) side.  Sorry, I know it’s a little difficult to see!

3.  So…let’s grab some Black Onyx VersaFine and a Brayer!

brayering

4.  To keep things simple, just cut it to size and place it on some black cardstock

butterflycardpaper

Using Impressabilities with Vellum

For vellum use the exact same sandwiches as for paper but don’t spritz the vellum.  After embossing the vellum, I glued it onto black cardstock with Tombow Mono Multi glue and added some black Kaiser pearls in the corners to hide the glue spots!

embossedvellum

Using Impressabilities with Craft Foil

I just love this stuff!  On Easter Monday, the entire design team got together for our own little crop.  We played around with the Impressabilities and I think it was Marianne who suggested…try it with the foil! It should be soft enough!  Marianne, you’re brilliant!

Before you go embossing the foil, you need to figure out which side you want to be embossed (bumpy side up) as the foil is coloured on top and silver on the back.

In this sample, I want the gold side embossed.

If you’re using a Big Shot from the bottom up: Tab 1, shim, Cutting Pad, Spellbinders Impressabilities, Foil colour side up, Spellbinders tan embossing mat, Cutting Pad

If you’re using a Cuttlebug from the bottom up: A Plate, shim, B Plate, Spellbinders Impressabilities, Foil colour side up, Spellbinders tan embossing mat, B Plate

foilsandwich

Note: you may find that the foil is well embossed and is stuck to the Impressabilities, take care in pulling off the foil.  Trim the foil and stick it onto some black cardstock. Voila!

embossedfoil

Now should you find that some pieces warp or become detached, don’t fret!  You can always cut it up and use the pieces as metal embellishments!

I hope that this has helped in understanding the Spellbinders Impressabilities.  If you’ve found other tips, tricks and hints, we’d love to hear them!

Thanks for dropping in today!

Love,

Tuesday Tutorial – Impress Me! Read More »

Can’t Get Enough of Those Nestabilities!

2 Comments
2 Comments

Cards from Crate Paper 5th Avenue Collection

I’ve been making a lot of cards lately and just keep going back to my Nesties to add that little bit of extra interest to the design. I used them on three of the four cards in this set to make the frames and scalloped mat and just loved how easy it was to use them. Before Nestabilities came along you would have had to do a lot of measuring and cutting with a craft knife to make a frame that looked like this which is why I generally avoided them. Not any more! Now I find myself adding frames and scalloped accents to all kinds of projects. I used my Big Shot to cut and emboss with the Nestabilities but you can also used them in your Cuttlebug.

These cards are very quick and easy to make. I used the double-sided papers from the Crate Paper 5th Avenue collection, raven and french vanilla cardstock from Bazzill, flowers, pearls, brads, gems & a little ribbon. The scroll corner accents were cut from raven cardstock with the Sizzlits Architectural Accents set and I used a Quickie glue pen to attach them.  I’ve found that this little pen is the best thing for adding just enough glue to adhere and the pen tip lets you put it on just where you want it. The Nestabilities sets that I used are the Classic Rectangles – Small S4-130 and the Classic Scalloped Rectangles – Small S4-131.

Here’s some pics of the individual cards to show you more detail. Hope they give you some ideas for your own set of cards.

card from crate paper 5th avenue collection 01 card from crate paper 5th avenue collection 02

card from crate paper 5th avenue collection 03 card from crate paper 5th avenue collection 04

I

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Card Holder Made with Nestabilities and a Cuttlebug Embossing Combo

1 Comment
1 Comment

I was trying to think of something different that I could make to dress us the dining table this Thanksgiving when I remembered about a big tub of binder clips that I had bought at Staples a while ago with the intention of making photo holders. Well, life got busy and the photo holders didn’t get done but I decided they would make awesome name card holders for this year’s Thanksgiving dinner.

Here’s what I came up with …

card holder

These were super easy to make. I only used 2 papers from My Mind’s Eye 29th Street Market collection (Woven Together/Girly Green and Sunburst/Golden Rays) to cover the clip and make everything else. Because these papers are double-sided it’s easy to make projects that coordinate beautifully. I used the patterned sides of the papers to cover the clip and for the pumpkin and letters and then used the back side of both sheets for the leaves and cards. This cute little pumpkin embossing set has been sitting on my craft table for a couple of weeks now and I’ve been itching to use it on something. It just seemed like the perfect little accent for this project.

(Click on the picture for a larger view)

Here’s how I put them together :

Step 1:

Cut a 2″ wide strip of the plaid paper (approx. 3″ long) and attach it to the binder clip with Scor-Tape. I used Scor-Tape because of the instant bond and it won’t come apart later. Some other double-sided tapes aren’t strong enough to do this.

Step 2:

Cut and emboss the pumpkin in the floral print. Trim off the stem and leaves.  Cut and emboss the stem and leaves plus the top of the pumpkin in green (the back of the plaid paper). Cut and emboss two extra leaves. Attach all the green pieces to the back of the pumpkin with Tombow Mono Aqua. Put two glue dots on the back of the pumkin where they will touch the silver handles on the binder clips. Now cut a thin strip of any of your scrap pieces and attach it over the back of the pumpkin to cover the glue dots and hold everything in place.

Step 3:

Cut and emboss a scallop rectangle from the S4-131 set from the buttercream color which is the back of the floral. I used the largest die. Then cut another rectangle with the S4-142 set from the green color which is the back of the plaid. For this one I used the second smallest die. Layer the green piece on top of the buttercream piece with foam dots, leaving the bottom center open.

Step 4:

Cut the letters for the name using the Sizzix Naturally Serif Alphabet Decorative Strip from the plaid paper and attach to the green scalloped rectangle with a Quickie Glue Pen. I love this little pen for attaching small letters or die cuts. The tip is fine enough that you can put just a little glue where you want it and it doesn’t seep out around the sides. Don’t know how I got by without it! And, if you haven’t used any of the Sizzix Decorative Strips, check them out. They are a super value at just $19.99. Where else can you get a complete alphabet at that price? I love the size because it’s small enough for cards but works on scrapbook pages too.

And that’s it! Slide the name buttercream paper in between the silver handles and you have a personalized place card for your table. Change the papers and the die cuts and you could make these for just about any occasion – Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, birthdays. The possibilities are endless!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope this gives you some ideas that you’d like to try.

Supplies :

Paper : 29th Street Market Collection – Woven Together/Girly Green and Sunburst/Golden Rays

Nestabilities : S4-131 Classic Scalloped Rectangles – Small and S4-142 Long Classic Scalloped Rectangles – Large

Cuttlebug : 37-1822 Pumpkin Spice Cut & Emboss Combo

Sizzix : 655112 Naturally Serif Alphabet Decorative Strip

Miscellaneous : 1/2″ Scor-Tape, Mono Aqua glue, 1/4″ Iridescent Ribbon – Rust, Quickie Glue Pen, Binder clips (2″),  Memory Book Glue Dots

Card Holder Made with Nestabilities and a Cuttlebug Embossing Combo Read More »

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