Hi

Hi, Thanks for dropping by.

My name is Eileen but to friends in the card making world I'm known as 'ikki'. (which is pronounced I-KEY) From where or how this came about I'm not sure - it just got shorten from my original craft name of Ikemo by various friends along my crafting way! I started crafting whilst recouperating from an accident, and from my first attempts with peeloffs and paint - I was hooked! Now my passion is my BUG! and now BEADING!

In the Cupboard you will find ideas, news, tips and techniques to help you get more from this fab little machine. So come in - join the fun and Cuttle with me!


Tuesday 15 June 2010

Impressabilities - Episode 2

Hi, thanks for dropping by to see if I'd solved the problem I told you about yesterday over the difficulties I 'd had with my one and only impressabilitie embossing die.  Enough for me to bin the it, but I don't like to be beaten so I preservered!

Since I couldn't get a good impression, I began to look at the sandwich I was using.   Yes, I was using the tan mat in the way that you do for brass stencils (you will find a link here of a tutorial I did last year) but that wasn't working in my Bug with this stencil.  Then I thought hey, perhaps it's the same as with some of the less sturdy dies, like Nellie Snellen and Joy Crafts, where reversing the order of the sandwich gives a better cut.  So, with fingers crossed and using the smallest of the dies that I'd cut from the whole plate, I made this sandwich......
B  /  B /  Shim / Tan Mat / card right side up / Die 

then topped the lot with the A plate.  A complete reverse of the usual sandwich.

Eureka - it worked!

Boy, was I excited, to get this far!!

and this is how my very simple butterfly die looked when embossed three times to enhance the background   to my decoupage embellishment


        This is the debossed pattern - I like this better than the embossed because it is more delicate.

One of the problems I had created for myself was that I like to emboss/deboss straight onto my card base.  I also like to use a heavyweight cardstock, with a lighter weight it is possible to do the task and get an impression, but for me, I still want to use the heavier weight. If you only want to make a decorative mat or frame, the lighter weight card works.   This card was a 240 grm.

If you have a Wizard or Big Shot you will not be having the same problems as me!  The Bug is not as sturdy and the pressure the rollers exert on the card is not as great.  Also all machines seem to differ, so what works for me may not necessarily work for you.  The above sandwich has caused me no problems despite being unconventional., and I have heard that others recipes also work, so it seems that the order of the sandwich is choice, but the right thickness is priority.  The Golden Rule being - NEVER FORCE. 

Of course, I wanted to go on with my experiments and I did and found that my new sandwich recipe helped, but if you're interested in how things turned out??????afraid you'll have to come back tomorrow.

to be continued..... 

3 comments:

Bettythebaglady said...

Hi Ikki just shows the great Tim is right when he says "It's all about embracing your imperfections and taking time to explore the imaginative." Good job you didn't bin it!Love BettyXXX

Just a little bit Crafty said...

Hi ikki, I am looking at buying my first lot of spellbinders to use with my Cuttlebug. I am taking baby steps and love all the inspiration here on your blog. Thanks for sharing all your knowledge. I will be back :)
Irene

chrissy xx said...

Knew you could do it!! Will be back tomorrow for the follow-up!.