Frugal Friday Tip: DIY Embossing Folders

Design Team Member Christy submitted this Frugal Friday Tip. 

Last November, I was very happy to add a Sizzix Texture Boutique to my arsenal of scrapbook tools. Of course, what would an embossing machine be without the embossing folders? Since I purchased the Texture Boutique, I began to slowly acquire a variety of folders. However, most days, my budget did not allow me to purchase more. So you can imagine that I was quite intrigued by the idea that I could make my own.  I had come across the photo of just such a handmade folder on Pinterest. The Photo led me to a blog post with directions. Mel, the owner of Mel Stampz blog, had shared, in detail, how she created an embossing folder out of recycled cereal boxes and mod podge. So the very next day, I went out to the craft store and purchased the mod podge so that I could get to work.
  Now while I do have access to quite a lot of cereal boxes, I chose instead to raid my stash for some sheets of chipboard. I had a whole pack of this thick chipboard that I had purchased at the craft store. I felt that it would be a bit heavier and longer lasting than the cereal box. Next, instead of cutting chipboard pieces, I used some of the precut ones I had in my stash. Warehouse sales and Manufacturer grab bags have left me with quite the variety of chipboard pieces. The precut pieces are also thick and durable, which in my mind, would translate to better impressions when I used them to emboss.

The folders were incredibly easy to make. I simply used my embossing folders as a template to mark out the size I would need on the chipboard sheet. Once that was done, I cut the sheet and set to work adhering the chipboard shapes. For my first folder, I chose some chipboard stars from the rusty pickle. I laid the stars out onto the chipboard sheet, then used a brush and mod podge to adhere them. I did go back and cover the whole thing with a layer of mod podge. Very little mod podge was needed. The hard part was waiting for an hour so that it could cure. While I waited, I made another embossing plate with chipboard hearts from Maya Road.

Once the handmade embossing plates had cured and were dry, I next set about experimenting with a variety of sandwiches to use in my machine. I tried an extra sheet of the chipboard-cut down to size, a piece of craft foam, and also an old mouse pad. The results were very pleasing.

Handmade embossing folder made from Maya Road
chipbaord hearts, Mod podge, and a sheet of chipboard

The sandwich with the craft foam and the sandwich with the mouse pad produced the deepest embossed impressions on the paper. Some weights of paper worked better than others. I found a medium weight paper provided the best results. I also tried embossing pieces of soda can. I got a very light impressions which, though visible to the naked eye, did not photograph well. It seems that paper will work the best with these homemade embossing plates.

hand made embossing folder with rusty pickle stars,
mod podge and chipboard

I did try the recommendation of spritzing the paper with water prior to running it through the machine. I found however, that this caused the paper to stick to the hand made template. You can see the red fuzz it left behind on the star plate above. I believe mod podge does make a water proof sealer which may be worth looking into. All of the paper's I embossed were done without water though, except for the one. I tried it with Coredinations colour core card stock. Even with the water, the paper was so thick that a deep impression was not made. It does not even show well in the photo above. There was a slight impression on the star which showed through a little after I sanded it. I still recommend medium weight card stock.

While the hand made templates do not emboss every type of paper, I can still see them as a useful tool and a money saver. I plan to make some more and may even attempt cutting my own shapes or designs to use. Meanwhile, I have plenty of extra precut chipboard shapes with which to work with.

Do you have a Frugal Tip to share?  Just send it along with a picture to Scrappinpsycho@live.com.  You could be featured as a future Frugal Friday Tip.

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Design Team Member Missy had the following Frugal Friday Tip to share:

I don't always pay attention when I am cutting out stuff with my Cricut. I forget to adjust the blade depth alot! If a cut won't punch out cleanly, turn it over to the back side and use some sandpaper to thin out the paper. You may have to do it a couple of times to get it punched out, but it will save you alot of time over using a craft knife and the chance that you will ruin cut!


Do you have a frugal tip you'd like to share?  Just email a picture (if possible) and your tip to scrappinpsycho@live.com .  Your tip could be featured as a future Frugal Friday Tip. 

Be sure to scroll down the page - Scrap Our Stash posts something new everyday.

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Design Team Member Missy submitted this Frugal Friday Tip.  She said, "Sometimes when I cut out stuff on my Cricut, I don't use it. Whether it's because of the size, color, or I don't like the font, I will save all of the mis-cuts. Then when I want to use that "ransom letter" look for my title I go through all my letters and use what ever I have already cut out.   This saves me some time and paper!  I used this tip in the title of my layout blastoff.

We would love to see a project that you have completed using this or one of our other Scrap Our Stash Frugal Friday Tips.  Just send a picture and a description telling us what tip you used to:  scrappinpsycho@live.com.  Your project will be shared here on the blog.  Do you have a frugal tip to share - submit your tip along with a picture to scrappinpsycho@live.com.  You could be featured in an upcoming Frugal Friday Tip.

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Here is Ren-Yi's contribution for the July brad/eyelet challenge & Frugal Friday tip (all in one). She said, "When I saw the theme to the next SOS challenge, I was coming up with usual way I use eyelets and brads: center of flowers, adding a few in a row to add extra bling, adding them to ribbon, etc. But I wanted to do something different. So here I was going "Think Think Think" like Pooh bear. So while crafting on a different project, which included cutting out a cloud, I had my a-hah moment. Clouds are like "thought bubbles," which require little bubbles, but little bubbles remind me of "air bubbles," which led to fishies swimming. Totally logical, right? ;) Here are a couple of fun, *planned* elements to the card:
* Embossed the kraft card stock and inked the raised parts with a stamp pad (a technique I spied off on the very talented blog of Claire from Waltzingmouse Stamps) to create water and waves
* Used wavy ribbon to represent water waves, which also breaks the area of embossed and non-embossed card stock up well.
* Used Swiss Dots Bazzill paper since "bubbles and dots" where kind of a theme.
* Frugal Friday Tip: Use your existing sentiments to make a better & punnier one. If you recognized the font or sentiment, you are probably thinking Papertrey Ink's Mega Mixed Messages. But if you don't recall a "Best Fishes" sentiments in the set, I say "Look otherwise!" *wink wink* "Father" and "Wishes" in "Best Wishes" are of the same font type and same font size. So yep, through masking and careful placement of the stamp, one can create a new sentiment. Tada! This does not always work, but always look for opportunities. Remember this card? I isolated the "N" from a sentiment that ends with an "N" (e.g. "Good Man" or "Have Fun") to write out "Well Done 'N Good Luck." Gotta get as much mileage out of your stamps, right?
And then there are the usual unplanned mistakes and how to "recover" hack:
* Used a Crop-A-Dile to punch out the holes and fasten the eyelets. Does anyone ever remember there is a guard? Duh. I had already glued down Mr. Fishy and the holes to punch out the air bubbles were absolutely no where near Mr. Fishy. Oops. So i had to relocate Mr. Fishy a little more to the left. Good thing when I adhere I don't push and attach everything down, until everything is placed where I want it.
* Mr. Fishy was drawn as a sketch on the scrap piece in an inked pen (my pencil was hijacked!), only he was too large. Oops. No big deal, turn the card stock around and start again ;) My Recycling 101, #1 Rule: if there is an "Oops", use the other side ;)
* So, remember the Frugal Friday tip? My third "Oops" and "I should have practiced." Sometimes concepts are just better in theory and need to be tested out first. The "F" was placed significantly lower, and it was not recoverable. Which brings me to my My Recycling, Rule #2: Cover up. So, now you can guess why there is a sentiment matted onto Swiss Dotted Bazzill paper. Shhh - don't tell anyone, it'll be our secret, yes?
* After (to my absolute relief) of kinda nailing my punny sentiment, I realized it stamped the sentiment crooked but cut out the card stock straight. Duh. Sigh. Groan. I was planning on aligning the matted sentiment parallel to the edge of the card, but it was so obviously crooked. So, if you tilt the sentiment in the direction it was crookedly stamped (in my case, i stamped it slanting upward and I tilted the whole matted sentiment upward), it's less noticeable. So you'll keep that secret, too, right?
Hope some of these hacks were helpful. Do you have other creative brad and eyelet uses? If so, bring 'em on before July 31st. A guest design spot is at stake, and let me tell you I had a ball with these ladies. Thanks SOS for a chance to play with ya'll and be a July Guest Designer."

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Matching Bling by Rachel

Here is a great way to take plain bling that you have in your stash and turn it into a colorful creation to match your layout.

So you have a color you want to match and some ink (or permanent marker).

Apply the ink to the bling and wait about a minute. Dab the excess off and then let dry. Add the bling to your layout!!

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Our $$Frugal Friday Tip$$ this week comes from Robin. She used the sheets that come in the front of paper packs as part of her layout. They are acid & lingin free, since they are used to package the papers, so they are safe for layouts!
She cut the little squares out & used them as part of her design. This allowed her to save the larger sheets for other projects, while still coordinating with her page!


For Robin's example "Simply Beautiful "she used the packaging from a Daisy D's paper pack.















For her layout "An Apple a Day" she used a package of Basic Gray. This layout was inspired by a Julie Bonner sketch.

Okay, now it's your turn. Complete a project using the "packaging" of a paper pack and email it to scrappinpsycho@live.com we'd love to post it for others to see.

If you have a frugal tip you'd like to share - email your tip and any accompany pictures to us - you may be our next $Frugal Friday Tip$.

We're also looking forward to seeing what you are doing with the December Scrap Challenge. See all the details below.