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Thursday 23 April 2009

...stencil how-to, Embossing and printing with your Cuttlebug


Ed - I have since learned that if you wet both sides of the card it doesn't curl so bad - thanks to
Kimberly! Also - if you are using a big shot - you may not need to dampen the paper at all, best thing is to experiment. I found that if i used dry cardstock for embossing, the image was not as sharp or detailed as when I dampened the cardstock. (I was using PapertreyInk cardstock) your results may vary depending on what type of card you use.

Scroll down for the previous two posts regarding the cards I made with this stencil.

I started with this wee thin metal stencil - you can get yours from this site. The manufacturers are called Country Stencils and tho' I bought mine at a craft fair here in Ireland, they originally come from the US. Check out their site for some real beauties!

The first thing to do with these stencils is to stencil with them - I tried it and they work beautifully. The guy who sold it to me also suggested embossing and wanted to sell me one of those wee embossing tools, you know the wee pen thingies with a rounded tip. Knowing this would take a little time, I wondered what would happen if I ran them through the cuttlebug. WOW.



I put the stencil on the B plate (which lies on the A plate)



Then I got the rest of the sandwich ready - A tan embossing mat (this is a spellbinders item from the wizard machine but they can be purchased separately) followed by 3 sheets of cardstock as shim( - I use the label cards that come with packs of PapertreyInk cardstock - they're perfect! NB you might need to vary the thickness of card that you use depending on the thickness of your stencil - my stencil is very thin, if your stencil is thicker, adjust the shim or you risk breaking your B plate!!!!!!) followed by the other B plate on top.


I dampened my cardstock - here I'm using Melon Berry from PapertreyInk.


Lay the cardstock, wet side down on the stencil, layer on the tan embossing mat followed by the cardstock shims and the B plate, Roll away!


And look what a lovely embossing this gives!! Of course you need to let it dry before use, and it will curl a little, so you might want to tape the edges to your cutting board while it dries, I don't bother, I just let them dry and then once they are trimmed out and well stuck down it's fine.

Next try Printing with your cuttlebug!!

Ink up your metal stencil - here I've used Versamark Cocoa


Layer on your cardstock (Importantly, I use dry cardstock when I am printing with a stencil!), tan emboss mat, card shims and B plate exactly as described above. Roll away!


This works beautifully for me - I love it! I must've 'printed' about 30 quilts the night I got this! Lol.

Here are a few alternative examples:


Above is what happened when I stencilled with the stencil and just decided to run the stencil through the cuttlebug before washing the ink off (I call this the first pass)- I think it gives a nice distressed look, I love how the ink lies in the depressed areas and the crisp white areas are slightly raised - it reminds me of letterpress printing! If you run the stencil through again ( I call this the second pass), without washing you get a softer image, like the one below - that's what I used on today's pink and green card.



Below is what happens when I spritzed the stencil with water before running it through on the second pass! (remember to use dry cardstock when printing with your stencil)



If you decide to add a little colour to one of your embossings, you might try rubbing an ink pad across the surface lightly - I find that the small inch cubes work best for this and I just rub them directly across the surface in any and all directions till all the wee high bits are coloured, at times a little will rub into the depressed areas but i don't eorry about that - if you find that too much comes off into the depressed bits either rub a little more gently with a lighter touch, use a less juicy ink pad or try embossing again with a slightly thicker shim, incase your embossing is not raised and defined enough. I find this works very well for me with only about one unusable image for every ten or so I chose to ink rub in this way.



And then of copurse you could always just stencil with your stencil!! Have fun!! hope this helps!

30 comments:

  1. Gosh have you had a lot of creative fun with this stencil Claire!! Thanks so much for sharing your methods with us!(saves a lot of trial and error for us!) The embossed quilt adds so much dimension to you cards!! Off to check out the stencil site - I feel a purchase coming on!!

    Oh - and I made one of your castles yesterday - I'll link you to the pic when it's all finished - what a super tutorial you made - especially for that rather tricky roof - wonderful design on that!!

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  2. what a great tool! And it goes so well with Nichole's Quilter's Sampler set---this may be a "need"! Thanks for the info~

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  3. Thanks for letting my know where you got that great stencil and thanks for the instructions. Beautiful card as always.

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  4. Your tutorial is very clear. Thanks!! I have lots of brass stencils and I am glad I now have a use for them.

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  5. Thank you for this awesome tutorial! A friend of mine was just asking about embossing with the metal stencils and I told her I didn't think you could do it! You've definately proven me wrong!! :) Thanks! Great cards too!!

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  6. Thank you so much for this and all your tutorials! You are definitely helping me grow as a crafter! I'm so excited to try this technique since I just got my cuttlebug last week. Blessings and hugs!

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  7. Wow! That's so neat. Now I can drag out all those stencils that I had almost forgotten I had. Thanks for sharing your creative ideas.

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  8. Wow! That is so neat. Now I can drag out all those stencils that I had almost forgotten I had. Thanks for sharing all your creative ideas!

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  9. These are such wonderful techniques! I can't wait to try them. The cards you made using this stencil are gorgeous!!!

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  10. Very cool! Especially since I love quilting, too!

    I have a tip about spritzing the cardstock before embossing: use rubbing alcohol in the spray bottle instead of water and it won't run the dye in the paper, plus it dries faster!

    Oh, can I gush about my new blog graphics that Michelle Laycock made for me? I can't get over how gorgeous it is now! http://www.stampis2b.com Sorry, I'm just so excited!

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  11. Thanks so much for sharing the info about purchasing these stencils. I saw your card two days ago and knew I needed to get this stencil. Your card is beautiful. Thanks for the great tutorial!!!

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  12. Thanks so much for these techniques. I have recently been inking up my textures plates for my big shot, but you have given me sooo many more ideas. thanks again for sharing so much with us.

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  13. Thanks for the tutorial on this. I have bunches of those metal stencils, and will now use them! hugs

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  14. I can't wait to try this....Thanks for posting this!

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  15. sheesh....I leave your blog alone for a few measley days and look what I've missed!! brilliant, as always :-) You rock girl!!

    FYI, you can also emboss and then use chalk pastels on the raised images to create a soft look. I did it with butterflies and they looked like they were about to puff off the cardstock :-)

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  16. Great tutorial. I'll be pulling out all those old thin stencils I own and trying this out.

    Thanks!

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  17. Thatnks for the tutorial!

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  18. Thanks for the tutorials, Claire. I will have to try them all. I have lots of stencils I never used because it became too tedious. This looks like a lot of fun!

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  19. Wow! I've had this stencil for years! Bought it and several others at a little country store in Washington state, USA. Thanks for sharing your beautiful card and techniques!

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  20. Thank you so much for this tutorial! I bought a stencil yesterday and tried it out in my cuttlebug and your technique worked like a charm! I am just waiting for the card stock to dry so I can colour it in and pop it onto a card.

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  21. Fabulous tutorial! Such a smart crafter you are!! ;)

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  22. That's a SUPER idea... will try it out... but just like you... when I find some time *eyesroll* .... I also often wonder where everybody finds the time... but guess other people wonder about me too *laugh*

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  23. Thanks so much for this tutorial. I didn't know you could do so much with a stencil. Great ideas!
    Karen Varney

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  24. Fantastic! This looks so stunning. You've breathed new life into brass stencils. Thanks so much for sharing all the great details! :O)

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  25. Thanks for he post and this is the great post for the learning point of view. Keep sharing more and more like this.

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  26. Oh, my, this is fabulous! I've actually got this very stencil and love it! Got it at the International Quilt Festival in Houston ten years ago or more. Thanks for the great tutorial!!

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  27. Most amazing! And thank you so much for sending me to yet another store that has things that I "neeeeeed"! LOL (just a hint of sarcasm since I just ran out of money placing my order at your site! haha! Just JOKING!)

    Thank you so much for your tutorial. It's really great!

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  28. I got a Cuttlebug just a few days ago and looked up "How to use brass stencils with the Cuttlebug" and came across your site. I followed your clear instructions and lo and behold a lovely piece of stenciled paper! Thank you.

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  29. These are such wonderful techniques! I can't wait to try them. The cards you made using this stencil are gorgeous!!!


    gift pakistan

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