Tutorial For Cutting and Embossing with Dies
by Laura Fulcher

Greetings friends.  Today I want to talk about cutting and embossing with the Egg Basket Frame die.  There are some metal dies that will cut out shapes as well as emboss a pattern into the cardstock.  However, it is a two step process that perhaps not everyone knows.

When I first cut out the basket, it looked like this:

The basket was cut out, but the basket weave pattern wasn’t very noticeable.  To make the pattern more pronounced, I left the brown cardstock and ran it through my Big Shot a second time.  This time though, I changed the plates to create a “sandwich” for the die and paper using the embossing folder setting.  I also added a rubber embossing mat that allowed the die to really be pressed into the pattern.  If you have never seen a rubber mat before, search for “rubber embossing mat” to see different versions.  It is the same type of mat you would use to emboss stencils into your cardstock using a die cut machine.

This is the “sandwich” I used to emboss with my die using the Big Shot:

Platform set at Tab 1 (same as embossing folders)

Plastic plate

Metal die face up

Cardstock that I am trying to emboss

Rubber mat

Second Plastic plate

 

I don’t own a Cuttlebug, so I pulled the embossing information from the Cuttlebug website:

Pad ‘B’

Embossing Mat or Plumber’s Gaske

Cardstock

Brass Stencil (or metal die)

Pad ‘B’

Pad ‘A’

 

Here is what the basket looked like when it was embossed:

Notice that the basket weave pattern is much more pronounced.

One more little hint…use a square punch to notch your sentiment strip.  It is much easier than using scissors:

Let me know if you have any questions.  It is really easy once you figure out the proper order to run through your die cut machine.  I hope you didn’t mind that I turned the egg basket into a floral basket.  I have already seen samples with the eggs and wanted to show that the die can actually be used year-round.  Have a great weekend!

 

 

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