How to use Sizzix Bigz XL dies in your Cuttlebug!!

SO.... you LOVE the Bigz XL dies... but don't want to purchase a Big Shot or Big Kick??
ME TOO! :)

I saw lots of how-to videos on You Tube on how to use all the other dies in a Cuttlebug... but no one had one for the Bigz XL or 3D dies!

Here is a series of pictures I took while making more of my pop-up Christmas Trees for cards.

**Click on any picture for a screen-size view - then hit the back button to return to the tutorial.

You will need 4 B plates for this. I always have 4 since I use two for die-cutting only, and 2 for embossing only. Just keep your embossing plates on the top, and they won't get marked with the die.


First, I took a 12x12 sheet of green, and folded it in half.
I laid the die on the platform, the cardstock for cutting, then the first B plate over the die.
Next, I placed the 2nd B plate and slid it about an inch forward over
the front of the die. This allows the die to run through your Cuttlebug (CB).


Here is another view just as I'm going to run the die through the CB.

This shows the first 2 plates almost through, and now I'm "butting" the other two B plates tight to meet the first 2 plates.

When the 2nd set start running through the pressure rollers, be sure to hold them by either pushing or giving pressure from the top and bottom as the next 2 plates go through.

This photo shows all the plates on the other side, run through the CB. I always run the die forward, then backwards. It seems to give a cleaner cut, but you don't have to!

When running the die backwards, be sure to give pressure on the first top plate as it goes back through the pressure rollers.

**See caption on picture.

I hope this little pictorial tutorial helps!!! I have 3 of the Bigz dies, and LOVE them!!! You can see the Christmas Tree in the very next post as you scroll down.

PLEASE leave comments - I'd LOVE to know if this helped you!!!

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I LOVE Christmas!!

I love anything and everything to do with Christmas!!! I really, really do!

When I saw this tree in the Stampin' Up catalog, I HAD to have it. After looking at some You Tube videos on the different dies used in the Cuttlebug, I have 3 of these Sizzix Bigz XL 3D dies... the Birthday Cake, the Gift Card Holder, and this Tree.

Assembling it is something of a to-do, but it's so CUTE... and I just love showing it and seeing the surprise when they open the card! LOVE it!!

This tree shows stickles on the top edges, and the ornaments, but when I get settled into my craft room, I'm going to run the trees through the Xyron, and sprinkle them with green glitter... won't THAT be cool! An entire glittered tree, popping up out of your card!

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A very dear friend of mine has agreed to do me a HUGE favor to help me acquire some punch holders for my new craft room... so in addition to sending the money needed to buy the things I need, I made this card!

The patterened paper comes from Debbie Mumm stacks!! Isn't it absolutely adorable!! This is some of the paper I used for the Thanksgiving cards... it's just TOO cute to pass up.

On the envelope, the stamp is from a Stampin' Up set of trees.... so SO perfect for fall.

One of the ladies at my monthly Stamp Club always decorates the envelopes with either the same stamps we're using, or something coordinating. I just loved the idea, and have taken to using it as often as I can. "Thanks Sandra!"

The photo corners come from the Jasmine cart! Just a tip: I used the Auto Fill feature on my Cricut Expression, and cut an entire 12 x 12 piece of black, red, purple, etc. and have each color in the snack baggies. Any time I need a photo corner, they're ready to go!! If I remember correctly you can get almost 300 from one sheet.... they do seem to last forever!! :)

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Hot Cocoa/Apple Cider Sleeves

I FINALLY figured out the technique for inking up the Cuttlebug Embossing Folders!!!


The real trick is to make sure your Craft ink pads are nice and juicy (full of ink.) THEN be sure to get a nice even coat on the plastic. I have a rubber brayer that works beautifully! You don't have to work THAT quickly, because the ink won't dry onto the embossing folder. There is time to get an even coat.

I used purple, this green, blue, and red for the sleeves... and almost all of my holiday embossing folders! The holly just screamed for some red stickles... but the rest will be presented just as they are....

I then used my Glue Glider Pro to complete the sleeves so they wouldn't accidentally open.

I still need to punch and add the ribbon... but the 'hard' part is done!!

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CD Case Calendar

Making these calendars was so much fun!!! I used the daisy punch from Martha Stewart, and my Stampin' Up 5 petal flower punch for the leaves, and just layered, layered, layered!!

Even with the dimension on the flowers, and colored/detailed skittles for centers, they still closed!




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Commissioned Card - Thinking of You

One of the girls I'm working with requested a card for a friend... after a few questions about this friend, this is what I came up with!

Gotta LOVE the Paper Doll Dress Up cart for its versatility! The guitar and name staff is from the Hannah Montana cart, Jasmine is the cart with the photo corners, and the Thinking of You came from Wild Card.

I think I need a Jukebox!! :) :)

The patterened paper is from Michelle Anderson's stacks - this one is called Americana. I also LOVE the Illusions stack she designed!

The detail on the envelope is from a new Stampin Up wheel I just bought off ebay. It came in the mail today... How perfect!

Thanks for looking!

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A Year of Cards - Plus

This is the set of cards (minus one) that will be in the Stationery Boxes I'm presenting at the Craft Fair for sale. It includes all the major holidays (in my opinion), 2 birthday cards, and a sympathy card. Some of the cards have little extras: cut-out areas, stamped coordinated envelopes, and ribbon accents. A few of the cards are blank inside for you to write your own messages, and some have sentiments already included.

The plus for this Year of Cards included in the Stationery Boxes are coordinating gift tags, and thank you cards as well as a place for notes, stamp storage, and pen storage.

I think the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the Mother's Day card with the tulips and butterfly are my favorites.

Please enjoy!!

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More things for the Craft Fair!

I want to thank Mary over at the Kreates Kards blog for this idea!!

This past January, Mom and I spent 4 days assembling a dozen calendars...
Why? Because I designed a page per month! I love this idea MUCH better!
It's so much faster to put together, and looks great too!

I'm really on a monochromatic wave, I just had to take advantage of the blues.
Definitely look for more color schemes, and other decorations on the calendars!

These will go for sale in the Craft Fair I'm working towards in just about a month.
Luckily, I ordered these calendar packs months ago!

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Stampin' Up Club! ~ August and September Projects!

The last two months of Stamp Club have been GREAT!!! Kathy's showing us some AWESOME techniques! I'm always so excited to go because the girls are so much fun... and we get to create beautiful projects! How could that EVERY be a bad thing!!



This card was created with the ever versatile Versamark ink, and chalks!! We used the daubers and the SU chalks to color in the daisies, and then stamped and distressed the remaining areas of the card. I still can't get over how pretty this is in person!!



I always LOVE the stairstep cards! Here we used the black Staz-On ink for the trees on acetate film, set the ink, and colored the trees in with some fall colors. All that was left was to just assemble all the other parts of the harvest-moon card.


This was actually our September card... lots of techniques here, plus a Scor-Pal! I chose to score every line diagonally at 1/2 inch, then stamp the blue baroque swirl. Then, Versamark the entire surface, and then add clear embossing powder for a shiny, glossy finish! There's also a clear brad we made on the medallion!



This one is also a September card!! Guess after 11 PM is just too late for me! Plus, it's been a long week!

Isn't this just the most adorable card? I'd seen that Just Buzzin' By set, and thought I didn't need it... WRONG! I sure love it even more now I've used it... sneaky! :)

Can you see the shimmer on the wings, antennae, and flower? That's the new Champagne Mist shimmer paint. Perfect for this project!!!

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More Sneak Peaks.....

Here are a few more things I'm making for the Craft Fair that will take place in about ONE MONTH!! AAAAARRRRRHHHH! :)

The 4 cards above belong to a set of Year-Round cards that will go into a Stationery Box and sell as a set.

The Happy New Year and Happy Thanksgiving cuts came from the Wild Card Cricut Cart, and the photo corners on the Thanksgiving card are from the Jasmine cart.

The notepad below is legal length, and can be use for lots and lots of lists!!!

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Project Teaser... Craft Fair in Early November!

Click on the picture to show a screen-sized view!

So you may have noticed I've been taking a teeny tiny break from the blog - due to a new school year at a new campus, etc. etc. etc.....

This is what I've been doing in the evenings!!! I'm preparing for a local craft fair at the beginning of November!

I've got an entire notebook of lists of things to make - and that's what I've been doing.

Here's just a little peek at some of the projects.

Each type of tag has stickles, and a To: From: stamp on the back to attach to gifts.

I'm also making a series of Stationery Boxes for gifts among lots of other things. :)

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Kitchen Sink Stamp card - Made with the Roses Stamp Set I Won!

Here you can see the roses stamp (2 sizes) I used for the card. The butterfly is also from a Kitchen Sink stamp set. The Stampin' Up ink is just the very best quality for using these stamps!

The photo corners are from Spellbinders, and the card is embossed with the paisley folder, and one of the new design strips from Cuttlebug. I used the Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid ink for the edges, and bottom swirl to bring them out a little more. You can probably see some stickle accents on the butterfly and each rose.

One lunchtime at work this past week, the girls were talking about someone they know (being new, I haven't had the chance to meet this person) who's going through a rough time. SO, I came home and though of using my new stamp set to make this card. It turned out even better than I imagined it!!
How do you find Kitchen Sink Stamps to make these AWESOME projects? Click HERE!

Please enjoy.

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Cricut Booklets and Overlays Storage Solution!!! ***Update with pictures!!

I saw this post on the Cricut Messageboard earlier this week, and had to share!!! I hope lots of people can make use of this technique!!

Etha has designed a sleeve that fits perfectly in so many ways.
1. It holds both the book and overlay together
2. Each of the sleeves fits perfectly into a photo box, or crate.
3. They can easily be made in quantity for those of us that have LOTS of carts!

http://ethaschuette.com/?p=621

This is the link to her post, pictures, and diagram for MAKING these sleeves!

I am almost half done assembling the sleeves for my carts. I'll take pictures as soon as I have all of them made. It's an inspired idea!!!

So here they are all finished! It did take me 2 days with interruptions for work, cooking dinner, etc. I didn't go through all that awesome work Etha did in printing the cart names, or running a copy of the keypad on the outside... Hers are beautiful! Please go check them out.
THANKS ETHA!!

**One thing I will add - These sleeves are also large enough to hold some extra cuts! If I know I'm going to use a certain cut often, I usually make a few extra. The sleeves would be a good place to store them neatly! The snack sized Ziplock bags fit PERFECTLY into the sleeves.

Pictures on the way!!
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Guestbook!!

Please take a moment to scroll (all the way) down and sign my guestbook!!

I love to see where everyone is located!


Por favor, tome un momento para llegar al final de la pagina del libro de los invitados para que lo firmen!
Muchas Gracias!

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How EXCITING!!! I WON!

I entered the Kitchen Sink Stamps Challenge #16 with quite a few cards... and this one won!!
http://suescricutandcrafts.blogspot.com/2009/08/kitchen-sink-crew-challenge-16-2nd.html

I'm so excited! I got a free stamp set for winning the challenge!

WHOOO HOOOOO!

Thanks to the Kitchen Sink Crew, and Maria!!

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Cards for Soldiers "Help Wanted" - and a little break...

Two things in this post...
First, I want to tell you about Cards for Soldiers!
http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/tm.aspx?m=5114015

Follow that link to help make cards for our fighting men to send home for their families!
The (very simple) rules are there on the beginning post!
Basically, you sign up to make cards on the theme provided, send them off to your shipper (based on your time zone), and they are then whisked away for the service men to send to their families!!
It's a GREAT cause, and helps others!!!

Next,
I'm taking just a teeny-tiny break from my blog for right now. Why, you ask??
1. We had some pretty devastating news this past Monday, and I'm still trying to work through it. I had all my hopes and 'dreams' pinned on this promotion my husband applied for and he didn't get it. I know it sounds a little superficial, but it was one of our major 'life' goals... and now we are derailed for quite awhile.

2. I've got some big projects I'm working on and will preview them SOON - but I don't want to give away the surprise!!!

Yes, I'm keeping up with my Design Team projects, and the one swap I'm finishing...

3. I'm beginning a new school year on a new campus, and I need to get into a new routine with ALL new teachers. That just takes lots of time.

I appreciate all the wonderful comments so much!!! Thanks to those who leave the encouraging words.

Sue V.
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Lime Light Design Team August Project -Cards for Soldiers!

Our Lime Light project for this month was to make Cards for Soldiers! I always love doing these projects!

There are a total of 25 cards, all ready for someone's birthday! How cool to get a card with your own birthday number on it! I was even able to make them all identical because the cards are so small, I could get all 5 out of one 12x12 sheet. That doesn't happen often!!

Using the challenge from My Pink Stamper, I got out the Pomegranate ink (I really LOVE that color!) and used my star wheel behind Elmo, Cookie, and Big Bird! It was a WHEELIE great challenge! One I'll use often, for sure.

Again, I used one of my shortcuts to make the face pieces. I cut all the eyes, noses, all of Big Bird's face pieces in white, and used my Stampin' Up markers to color in the pieces. Saves SO much aggravation with cutting those teeny tiny things!! I used: Elmo's nose: Only Orange, for Big Bird: Pink Passion for his eyelids and tongue, and Real Red for his mouth. Cookie's cookie is colored in Close to Cocoa.

Though we can't use glitter, I used my black glaze pens to make the eyes shiny, and the white to mark the highlight, and Brilliance Blue ink so the Happy Birthday was nice and shimmery.

I'll apologize for the glare, I already had each card individually wrapped before I took the pictures. They're in a protective covering to make sure they make the journey safely!!

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