Cuttlebug Play Day March 12, 2013

Hurray!!!   A play day with Maggi, Mary, and Pea at my house.  Our objective... play with our cuttlebugs using various dies and embossing folders.  I did some research prior to our get together and gathered a bunch of techniques from this website: http://melstampz.blogspot.com  She has over 200 ideas identified via links on her blog; however, not all of the links are still valid so you will run into some that no longer exist.  I also obtained a couple of ideas from our friend Carol's blog: http://carol-creative-expressions.blogspot.com  Carol has one of the best blogs you will ever encounter.
We didn't come close to trying out all the techniques I had gathered, but we had a successful day... and what is more important is that we had a blast.  We'll just have to get together for another Cuttlebug play day!
I'll apologize in advance for the lack of pictures I took during our day.  We were just too busy....

 We started with die cutting because there are various types and manufacturers of dies and the cuttlebug sandwich varies depending on the type of die you are using.
Maggi and I have had more experience, and a lot more dies, than Pea and Mary so this was a learning session too.
We all walked away with bits and pieces to make cards or projects in the future.

 Can you see the concentration and hear our little brains clunking along?
We started with the thin dies: spellbinders, memory box, and prickley pear.  Then we advanced to the next thickness: cuttlebug cut and emboss folders, sizzix sizzlits, and cuttlebug dies.  Then up to the thick dies: sizzix alterations and sizzix on the edge dies.

 We each brought dies and embossing folders we had and this gave us a chance to see and try each others dies and folders.  I know I found a couple of dies that I might like to buy and I think Mary and Pea did also!!!  What are friends for if not to help you spend your money?
So now onward with the few pictures I have...

 This is cut from Maggi's 'on the edge' sizzix alterations die.  The piece at the bottom is what you get, but look at the piece on the top!!!  It is the leftover piece and they also look like trees... they may be 'Dr Seuss style' trees, but what the heck!  This is one of the dies I might buy since I like to do nature themed cards.

These birds were cut from a die that Mary had.  I can't remember the brand of the die, but it is similar to the flat solid dies that are also made by Prickley Pear and Memory Box.  Mary's die cut out 2 birds, one facing left and the other facing right.

 This is also cut from a die Mary owns.  It is a Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations die.  I love this one and cut out several clocks with hands for myself.  It is a large die, but you could cut the clock face in half and use a half of clock on a standard size card... thus getting 2 cards using one die cut of the clock face.

 This mannequin die is Maggi's and is one of the dies in a set that also contains a spool of thread.  It is a Sizzix Alterations die.  I cut out several of these using various patterned papers and cut enough so that all of us had some to take home.  I saved the piece that one of them was cut from also.  I'm thinking that it could be used on a card as it is, or can be used as a template placed on a piece of card stock and then sponge ink in the void to create the shape.

This key was cut and embossed with one of the Cuttlebug folders that both cuts and embosses an image all at the same time... pretty cool!!  The only thing I didn't like about those types of folders is that there are multiple images crowded on the same folder.  So if you only wanted one or a couple of the images cut from the paper you would need to cut the paper up and carefully place them in the folder over the image you want.

 After lunch and more die cutting we finally moved onto embossing folders.  Even though there are many brands, they basically all require the same sandwich in a cuttlebug.
So we tried some techniques.  This one and the next are created with the double embossing technique.  You use one folder, in this case it is birds, and after debossing the paper you apply ink (either direct to paper or with a foam applicator or sponge) to the debossed side of the card.

 Then, making sure the ink is dry, you run your card through the cuttlebug with a different embossing folder.  And this time you want to emboss, not deboss.  In the card above Pea used a floral folder.  When you take the card out you apply ink to the raised areas using a different color of ink.
We were oohhing and ahhing when these 2 cards were created by Pea and Maggi.
I'll definitely give this technique more attempts.  But I do think you need to be particular about which 2 embossing folders you use, and I think that the first application of ink should be a lighter color than the second application.

 The 2 cards on the left were created using the same embossing folder.  Mary applied ink to one side of the embossing folder, placed the white card in the folder and ran it through the cuttlebug.  Then, after cleaning off the embossing folder, she applied a different color ink to the other side of the same embossing folder, placed a white card in and ran it through the cuttlebug.

Here is another example of applying ink to the embossing folders and then running the white card through the cuttlebug.  For these Mary used a different embossing folder, but the same color ink when she debossed and when she embossed.
For some of the embossing folders we were having a difficult time determining which side of the folder is considered the deboss vs the emboss side!!!
Oh well, does it really matter???
We had fun... that is all that counts!