Crafty Love Notes #2: Innovate!

I love texture, in case you haven't noticed. I had been thinking for a while, gee, wouldn't it be grand if I could pre-texture the backgrounds of my paintings, instead of having to add it at the end with texture pastes and the like? I had also been drooling over embossing machines for many reasons, probably ever since I played with the Vintaj Sizzix at CHA last year.

So I asked my Dad for the Anna Griffin special edition Cuttlebug for my birthday. The reason I wanted that one is because it came with 12 pretty folders, so could get started right away! So I did a sample of each folder that I have, and then I started looking around the room seeing what other flat textured items I might be able to roll through it!

I have a giant pile of punchanella, some of it interesting shapes like stars and flowers. The star piece is just the right width to go through the machine. But it's not a folder, it lacks the thickness- and these machines are calibrated to take a certain thickness or they just don't work. So- I kept searching around my room and this is what I came up with-

I used the spacer block and the two embossing plate thingies that came with the machine. I laid down a thick-ish silicone mat that is used for baking (I use it for clay), then the paper (cardstock) with the star punchanella on top. Those were sandwiched between the 2 B embossing plates. Under that sandwich, I stuck a piece of matt board that I cut to size, as a "shim." Now, you can buy shims for your machine- but WHY would you spend money on what is essentially a thin piece of cardboard????

The result of my efforts is down below, a groovy textured piece of cardstock. Moral of the story? Open your Eyes, Look around you, and TRY NEW THINGS. You never know what you might discover!