More...Operation Write Home Memorial Day Bloghop

Still hanging around "Hoppers"??? Thanks - you are truely Wonderful!!!

Here's is a link to my post in last year's OWH Memorial Day bloghop.

How-to Make your own Embossing Template for Cuttlebug Tutorial:

I did this with one of my jumbo T!m Holtz stamps and made a card for a swap I participated in for the "all things T!m" yahoo group. This is my finished piece. I painted a sheet of gloss paper with alcohol inks, topped with pounced metallic alcohol inks for that hammered metal look. But flat, it was lacking... since I am usually doing this stuff in the middle of the night, I had a "lightbulb MOMENT" to make an embossing template to give this stamp some "ooommmph"!

It's really easy and you only need a couple things you probably already have lying around your craft area - and the best part it's FREE!!!

You need: A stamp you want to emboss; some lightweight chipboard that you can cut with scissors comfortably [I use my T!m Holtz Tonic Scissors] - or - thick cardstock; ink, adhesive; and that thin rubber mat used for nestabilities.

STEP #1: Stamp your image on one piece of chipboard cut to exact same size of finished piece. Set this one aside.

Then stamp image on another piece of chipboard a couple of times [this will vary on thickness of cardstock or chipboard]. Cut out the areas you want to raise up and glue these one on top of another directly onto the final finished size piece [from step #1]. You can make chosen areas as thick as you want. I added two additional layers to the base layer. If you make it too thick, your embossed edges may crack/tear.



Final embossed areas number 3, 4, 5 0, & 7. The rest of the image is left flat.


OK - now you are going to take this and place it UNDERNEATH your finished pretty stamped piece, line it up and temporarily adhere it with removable tape or adhesive so it doesn't shift as you run it through the cuttlebug. Then place the Nestabilities rubber mat on top and run through the cuttlebug...and voila! The rubber mat forms around the raised areas while protecting the surface. Gently remove the layers and the embossed template to reuse again. I used this template 7 times and it still looks like it's got a few impressions left.

PLEASE NOTE: Please do a test run or two before doing your final piece to make any adjustments.

Here are the results - I had a couple cracks at the corner of the 3 near the 4 and 5. I easily masked these by coloring on the backside of the paper with a matching marker where the cracks were. They blended right in.




This added that extra "Pop" that it needed for this metal look. This technique is quick and easy and didn't cost me $10 for the Cricut Cuttlebug template kit. I checked it out at the craftstore and shimmied the contents out of the package to examine what it is [it's two pieces of sticky back thin chipboard that you cut out a positive and negative shapes and mount to a blank plastic cuttlebug shell]. I could have got it on sale 50% off, but opted to pass, and spent my $$$ on stamps. The kit may come in handy if I make a custom cricut shape, but haven't needed it so far.

Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear how this worked for you. Please post a comment on my Facebook Page with a photo.

If you have any questions regarding any of the steps, please leave a comment & I'll respond ASAP.