Fall Leaves Woodgrain Cards

Wanted to share with you a few fall cards I made using my new woodgrain embossing folder.  I just LOVE how they turned out!  I am a big fan of birch trees for their white bark and gorgeous fall leaves, and when I saw this card on Pinterest, I knew I just had to get busy with my white cardstock and woodgrain embossing folder (SU) and crank out a few like it of my own!

Basically, I ran the white cardstock through my Cuttlebug and then swiped the raised pattern with Bamboo ink (CTMH) directly from the inkpad.   I love how this technique really made the grain POP!  Then I stamped and fussy cut several fall leaves using the Autumn Splendor stamp set (CTMH, retired) using the "rock and roll" method with the following inks: barn red, creme brulee, goldrush, vineyard berry, and olive (CTMH). The acorn was stamped with chocolate ink and cut out, as well.

The sentiment is one of my FAVORITES for this time of year--a season that just oozes with GRATITUDE!  It is from CTMH's Always Grateful stamp set and states: "Gratitude turns what we have into ENOUGH"--SO TRUE!  I selectively inked the top of the sentiment with cocoa ink and the last line was inked with vineyard berry ink (both CTMH).  Then I backed it on Cocoa cardstock, cut it into a tag shape, punched it with a small hole punch and tied some brown baker's twine through, popping it up with some foam tape.

So I hope I've inspired YOU to play around with some fall crafting supplies today!  What a perfect way to tell someone how GRATEFUL you are to have them in your life this season!

Woodgrain Embossing Folders

Hi there, friend!  Just wanted to share with you some things I have recently learned about embossing folders. This spring, I got a Cuttlebug machine and have really enjoyed playing around with all the embossing techniques you can do it.  However, I recently ran into some problems with the woodgrain embossing folder.  Let me explain.

I recently purchased my woodgrain embossing folder from Stampin' Up.  It was my first folder from this company--my others are CTMH (Close to My Heart) folders and I have one from Cuttlebug (bought from Michael's).  While the woodgrain embossing folder from SU was $1 cheaper than the one offered from CTMH, I immediately realized that you get what you pay for once it came in the mail!  Here you can see SU's folder (made by Sizzix) compared with CTMH's folder--big size difference!

 The other great feature about CTMH's folders is that they feature this little slit at the top.  This allows you to feed through cardstock strips to get a continuous pattern for 12x12 scrapbook pages, for example.  Love this feature and I have used it often on my pages and it is super easy to match up the pattern!

Well, the problem that I was running into with my woodgrain embossing folder was the cracking and tearing of the cardstock once I ran in through.   I usually emboss my patterns using white core cardstock (made by CTMH) and I am usually pleased with the results.  Here, here, and here are a few card examples I have tried and I love how the white pops through--I often sand the raised edges to give it a distressed look.  However, with the woodgrain, I wasn't getting a distressed-looking image--I was getting a cracked and torn look that I wasn't as pleased with.  Check it out below...

Apparently, after a Google search, I realized that this problem is not unique with me--a lot of people have had issues with cracking and tearing of paper (even using solid-core cardstock) with this particular embossing folder pattern.  So, I gathered some tips from these sources and tried a vellum cardstock shim and regular cardstock shim, and also tried to be careful to emboss with the grain.  I was still disappointed.  It didn't seem to matter whether I embossed with or against the grain, and the vellum shim simply tore apart after a few uses and didn't seem to help.

So what DID finally help?  Well, thanks to a friend of mine (thanks Anna!) who gave me some SU cardstock, I finally was able to emboss without the cracking issue using SU's 80 lb. weight cardstock.  I tried Early Espresso and Crumb Cake and was very pleased with the results.  No tearing.  No cracking.  No need for shims.  No need to fuss with the grain of the paper.  You can see the difference below! 

So now I have the option of the solid look AND the distressed look, on whatever color cardstock I choose!  Bonus!

Hope this might help you if you get stuck with this particular embossing folder pattern!  Hope you have a creative day and thanks for stopping by!

I'm BAA--ACK!!

I have been MIA on my crafty blog for 2 months now--moving from Florida to Maryland, going on 3 weeks vacation, getting the kids situated for school and fall activities, and dealing with a busted PC and unable to upload pictures...so I am just NOW getting my craft on and making pictures of some projects to upload to my blog!!  I trust you have had a fabulous summer and are gearing up for a busy fall.  I know I am!  Fall is my favorite season, but it can also be busy, so one way I deal with the stress is to CRAFT!

My latest obsession?
Embossing folders.

Most specifically?  WOOD GRAIN embossing folders!

I will post more about my experience with this particular folder (had some paper issues associated with this particular embossing pattern)--but I will post a project without further ado:

Supplies used:  woodgrain embossing folder (SU), Cards in an Instant sentiment card: Me and My Big Ideas (Michaels), flamingo dots (CTMH), Crumb cake cardstock (SU), foam tape

You might notice--no stamping!  But I just love these modern cut-out sentiment cards and I found them on clearance at Michaels from Me and My Big Ideas.  Check them out here--there are a ton of variations. I simply popped the sentiment up on foam tape squares for some depth and scattered some pink enamel dots for some interest.  Done!

Thanks for stopping by (and bearing with me) my friend!  Hope you have a crafty and creative day!