My love affair with embossing folders continues. I don't think I've really hit the sweet spot for using embossing folders, but that doesn't stop me from acquiring them...
At some point I ran across a card made with the apocryphal Cuttlebug Raindrops/Snowflake embossing folder, seemingly was only ever available in Europe. This card from
I'm In Heaven uses it:
Of course, as something unattainable, this became something I must have, something to search for online, on Ebay, anywhere. In my searching, I came across
Taylored Expressions, which has a very similar folder. I ordered that one and a couple of others at some point last spring.
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| Snowfall |
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| Music |
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| Walking on Sunshine |
I see now that Taylored Expressions does have a separate "rain" folder. I may have to think about that one, but only after I actually use the "snow" folder for something.
Back at the Heirloom Show last spring, I picked up a few folders and die cuts from various vendors. I think I gave most of my money that day to
Impression Obsession (more about their stamps in a future post). I love tile cuts like these two below (and really want one from
Memory Box that I can't get any more...) as an easy way to add texture to a cover and let a background paper show through. My first attempt at using one of them is below. I don't love it, but I'll keep working at it...
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| Fancy Cut-out Border |
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| Square Cut-out |
I spent a long time at the IO booth, dithering over stamp choices and watching demos. There was one sample card I kept coming back to:
I never make cards with cats, but I'm drawn to cards with night skies, moons and snow/stars. So I found and purchased that die cut too.
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| Sun & Moon Die |
There are approximately a million
Memory Box (and
Poppystamps) items that I want, or at least want to look at. Looking at them is key for me, and that's the hard part. There are no stores near me that carry these products, and though I was hoping to encounter a vendor at the Heirloom show, only
Marco's Paper had even a few products. Here's what I got:
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| Breezy Clouds Detail Plate |
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| Brilliant Circle Outline |
I really have no idea how to use a "Detail Plate." I think it's all embossing, but it's not a folder, and it's therefore different and confusing to the likes of me. But I bet if I try it and get the sandwich right, it'll be fine. I like the Brilliant Circles because they look like citrus slices. There's another die that's a solid background companion to this one, but that was nowhere in evidence at the show.
Sometime over the summer I did an order from
Scrapbook.com. Among other things, I picked up a couple of items that had been on my wish list for a long time:
Ink-its Letterpress Plates by Sizzix.
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| Music |
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| Trellis Corner |
These plates are designed for letterpress printing, but I bet they work just fine for dry embossing (or debossing), and as I really want to figure out letterpress printing with embossing folders hopefully these will encourage me to keep working at it.
While I was on the Scrapbook.com site, I found another (sort-of) embossing product I hadn't seen before:
Spellbinders Texture Plates. These seem to be designed for non-paper applications, especially metal and foil, but I'm going to try them on paper. I was drawn in by the designs. I'm so consistent in my tastes...
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| French Script |
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| Music |
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| Poetry |
At various points along the way, I picked up a few other Spellbinders products. From their
M-bossabilities line, this is their Cabbage Rose folder. I love this Art Deco rose pattern. One of Tim Holtz stencils I featured in my previous post has them, and I have a few other products on my list with this similar pattern.
I never quite understood the need for nesting dies, but finding this set on sale, I picked it up. I do use some layers in my card making, so this basic rectangles set from Spellbinders
Nestabilities series may be useful. I really should try to find the set that is based on A2 card scaling, because that's the card size I use all the time.
I found the Nestabilities at a small shop,
Stamp Therapy, in Grand Rapids, MI when I was passing through town on a work trip. The other thing I picked up there was a set of embossing folders made by the
Project Life folks. This set is called Southern Wedding, for a reason I can't fathom.
I don't love the florals, but the ATC-sized garlands are so cute, I couldn't resist.
And finally, this set from
We R Memory Keepers came from my local
Paper Source. I think the Thank You strip will see a lot of use, even if the other don't.
Next up, new stamps!!!!!!
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