simple dreams

The Story behind the Teflon Bone Folder

I don't know about you, but I love a good story about how a product came about. I thought I would share this with you because I found it so interesting!

The teflon bone folder is made by a family owned business. The inventor of this fabulous tool is a gentleman who has been a chemical engineer with over 30 years of experience. Part of his experience stems from the Ukraine, as that is where his family immigrated from over 18 years ago. When I met Yan over the phone I felt an instant bond with him - it was his accent. It is the exact same accent of my uncle. I too am from parents who immigrated to Canada (mine immigrated 82 and 74 years ago - they met and married in Canada). It turns out that both of my parents were born in almost the exact same location of the world as Yan. It is indeed a small world! But back to Yan's story.

He started this business about 7 years ago as a coating business and accidentally expanded into the bookbinding/conservation tool industry, and NOW the papercrafting world Ü. In meeting with a local bookbinder who needed assistance with her tools the discovery was made.

This bookbinder was also in a family business, passed down through her father over 40 years ago. They met with her in her bookbinding shop. Here she had all kinds of projects she was working on, such as old family bibles that needed restoration to books she was putting together for local schools. Yan was very interested in her business, being it was something he had no experience in, but respected highly being that it required much patience and expertise. She shared a lot about the business and happened to show them her bone folder that was actually made from metal! When they saw how she applied this bone folder they noticed that she had to be extra careful in sliding it because the metal being so dense, and the corners being rough left burnishing marks, as well as it was hard on the papers.

Yan's brain started "ticking", he's a very innovative man. So the story goes that it was indeed an accident that the discovery was made that there was a need for this tool, but if it wasn't for the vision that Yan had, this tool may not have never been invented. By the way, it is safe to say that when the bookbinder tested out the new product, she LOVED it! Customers now range across the United States and as far as England, New Zealand and further. The family is very proud of their tools and love being part of such a talented and creative industry.

The bone folders are made from Teflon unlike traditional bone material (or metal as in the first case). This composition gives the folder non-stick qualities, thus when you use your bone folder with glue it will NOT stick (such as for making boxes, bookbinding or now papercrafting!) or if you run it down the paper as you score your card you will not "shine" your paper as with the typical bone folder. They are also chemically inert, non-corrosive and non-contaminating. This makes it an ideal tool for conservators. So if you want acid-free, this is truly acid-free.

Recently at a conference in New York City, the 100th Anniversary of the Bookbinder's Guild, there were many individuals there that are current customers and everyone raved about the Teflon Bone Folder's. Testimonials are that "Once you touch one of these, you really can't put it down."

Well I kid you not - I feel the exact same way! I will never go back to using my old bone folder again and that is why I had to find this resource to share with all of you. I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did when it was shared with me. Thanks for stopping by today and have a wonderful weekend!

Cuttlebug Wizardry

It worked! I'm SO excited!!! I had this idea that if I could find the Wizard Charm Embossing kit by Spellbinders I could perform magic on brass stencils with my little Cuttlebug. At my LSS, Make an Impression, I measured the plate in the folder and it was the magical 6" width - you should have seen the grin that resulted. So I hurried home with my little kit and pulled out one of my brass stencils and...

I used a tiny piece of removable tape to hold the stencil in place. I'm going to have to use a different type of removable adhesive though, because even the tape left a slight impression in the paper - LOL.

These are the wizard pads - two come in the package. ETA: New wizard kits come with two tan pads, rather the tan and black pad. Please replace the black pad with the tan pad wherever I have it listed as a suggestion.

Position your sandwich (a) spacer, brass stencil, paper, tan Wizard pad, black Wizard pad, chipboard shim, (b) cutting pad. Crank Ü

Now I just need to figure out how I want to embellish and use this.

Then I started thinking - pretty scary right?!? LOL! What else do I have that I could sandwich for texture? Hmmm, this is a "charm" embossing kit. Oh WOW, what about letters?!? So that is precisely what I sandwiched next.

I sandwiched them with duct tape

and paper - I can hardly wait to try some other materials such as vellum, thin metal... Can you imagine the possibilities? I'm also thinking I want to find some Paper Glide - this is supposed to enhance your dry embossed image detail. I love crisp details!

OH WOW - what about those Fiskars texture plates I have sitting in the drawer that I purchased years ago and did "NOTHING" with!

OK, so now I'm thinking about all the stuff hanging around here that I'm going to be able to squish in my cute little Cuttlebug to create texture and interest on my projects. Paper clips, chipboard, textured ribbon like ric rac, coins - man what else did we do paper rubbings with when we were kids? Oh yeah baby - this is one cool little tool. RUN, don't walk to your nearest store on Black Friday Ü

If you have been squishing everything in sight to see what type of impression it will leave please chim in below and share with the blogging world your miraculous finds and fantasmagorical ideas Ü

So I took a couple of the things I sandwiched and made a card to express my feelings at this time of year.

Once again I am thankful for so much! There is so much I am grateful for: family, friends, hope, faith, the many of you who have been here sending your thoughts and prayers my family's way. Please know that I am thankful for you! Your support and encouragement - they mean the world to me - I appreciate you! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving day!!!

Cuttlebug Updates

I thought I would post the additional information I discovered regarding the uses of the Cuttlebug (CB). After creating with my sister, Betty over the phone she taught me what I will need to do in order to use my CB with my brass stencils. I am SO excited being that I have some absolutely gorgeous stencils.

Create a "sandwich" as follows:

• CB A pad
• CB B pad
• computer mouse pad which is fabric on one side and a rubbery material on the other. This mouse pad should be slightly less than 1/4" thick. Place the mouse pad rubbery side up.
• paper (less expensive paper only needs one pass through, Stampin' Up! and other heavier weight papers need 2-3 passes to get a crisp clean image)
• CB B pad

I can hardly wait to find an inexpensive mouse pad. I looked high and low and the only one we have I didn't dare cut up - LOL! I'm also going to see if I can find a Spellbinder Wizard Rubber Mat - I think that will be the perfect selection as well.

For those who own a Sizzix, you will be thrilled to know that the CB embossing folders and die cuts work with it too. I tested this for a friend yesterday and it worked great - it just took a LOT more work.

Hopefully I will have some pictures to share soon. I have a serious case of Cuttlebugitis that's for certain!

The "Bug" has Bitten!

You all made me do it!!! You are all enablers!!! I have a serious case of "Cuttlebugitis"!!! Read here for more information and you will see why you should RUN, not walk, to Michael's this week and purchase this little green wonder!!!

There is a coupon in this weeks paper once again and it does not have an exclusion on it! You may have to talk to the manager, being that I had to "discuss" at length that the Cuttlebug is an entirely different product than the Cricut. There is a sticker on the Cuttlebug box that says it is made by the same manufacturer as the Cricut and they are trying to tell us that due to this reason we can not use the coupon. This is WRONG - do not leave the store without using your coupon to purchase it. They must honor this coupon and I do believe that if you are on the fence, jump over right now and use that coupon before the Cuttlebug is added to the exclusion clause.

So... I have Cuttlebugitis BIG time! Julie made me want a "crank" style diecutter when she brought over her Big Shot, but I was patient - I waited and waited and waited... Well that is I waited until I saw the thread over at SCS and realized that the coupon from Michael's was burning a hole in my pocket. I realized that if I didn't run to the store right away they might be out, or they might start putting an exclusion clause on the coupon, or... Well I just had to have it!

Yes girls - it is FABULOUS! I picked it up late yesterday afternoon and look what I cranked out in a matter of minutes this a.m.

Look closely at the pale chartreuse flowers. First, I used one of the Cuttlebug embossing folders on the Memory Box cardstock and then I cut it out using my Sizzix Paper Sculpting, Daisy. I can hardly wait to get more of the embossing folders. I love the fact that the Memory Box cardstock has a white core - when dry embossing like this you can then just take your Lucky Squirrel sander and remove the color from the surface with ease, getting a beautiful contrast with the paper below. Hopefully, I'll have a chance to put these little goodies into a card form over the next couple of days.

Here is a comparison of the footprint to my "OLD" Sizzix - I say old because I don't know that I'll ever use it again. Craft garage sale here it comes!

The Cuttlebug takes up FAR LESS room. Even when open it only uses about the same space as the Sizzix "did" (teehee - I've already removed it Ü). The suction is incredible! Even when cranking the chipboard through, it stayed securely in place. I do believe it is important to have a clean smooth surface on which to attach it, but it holds PERFECTLY!

Yippie skippie! It takes the Sizzix dies! I measured the bed and a 6x6 piece of paper needs to have about 1/16" trimmed off the edge to fit through properly. After I took this picture I realized that I could fit these dies in "sideways" and they would still fit perfectly - so the tray is a wonderful width!

When you crank your dies through the machine you will hear some snap, crackle and popping - but it's all OK. Just keep crankin'. I had to take a picture of my cutting pad just to memorialize that virgin cut (and share the effects that you should not be concerned about). Replacement cutting pads are not expensive and I do believe that these will last for quit some time.

So here are the first things I have tried:

• felt

• chipboard

• Sizzlets

I thought I'd share this photo to show how I laid out four letters simultaneously using different patterns of paper behind each. The look of different papers together intrigues me and so I'm looking forward to layering these patterns together to create some little words Ü

My adventure with the Sizzlets hasn't been perfect, but I know I'll get there. The directions that come with it do NOT work with the Sizzlets. I think they must work with the Quickcutz, but being that I don't have any of these I can't tell you. The depth of the Sizzlet is to thick to use with the optional C cutting board. So I tried it with the B cutting board and as you can see it did not cut out all my letters. Then I tried inserting an additional piece of cardstock - it still did not cut out the detailed letters. Finally, I tried inserting a thin piece of chipboard - this did work, but I can't recommend it being that I had to crank so hard I was wondering if I was going to snap my handle off. I had to finish it, because I had started and was in the middle. But believe me, I was holding my breath while trying this. I do believe that this will work beautifully as well, once I get the correct size determined to add as my additional layer. I'm just not quite there yet.

That's all I have time for right now. I hope you find this helpful and if you have any hints, suggestions or products you have tried your Cuttlebug on I would so appreciate and love it if you would post your comments below!!!

Thanks and have a wonderful day!

Create-a-cut™ - How does it work?

ETA: Unfortunately we no longer carry the Create-a-Cut and I do not know where it is that you might find it. Thank you so much for your interest.

The design of this cutter is ingenious - at least I think so (insert big, silly grin). The cutter comes with one set of blades in place - then beneath the cutter there are two slots that hold the additional two sets of blades right there within easy reach. The blades are removable and are held in place by the "handle" locking into place. Squeeze the handle and you can remove the blade and insert a different one. The key is making certain you push it completely into place before you begin cutting.

 

The only additional tool you will need that does not come with the cutter is a wide, clear Fiskars ruler. This helps keep your projects square, assists you in making cuts that are in increments less than the 1/2" guide that is located at the top of the cutter and allows you to cut your paper into the tiniest of smidgeons by holding it in place underneath the cutting bar (do not hold the paper with your fingers - you just might loose them if you aren't paying close enough attention.) I use the Fiskars ruler by bumping it up square against the top of the cutter and then placing my paper square against the ruler, putting the Gripper on top of the paper next to the protective wire.

The cutter comes with this black Gripper. I have found that this holds the paper in place beautifully until your paper disappears under the protective wire. Then I switch to my Fiskars ruler - it has worked like a charm to help me get those tiny cuts. (Just don't push the ruler under the blade - guess what - it won't cut your paper if the ruler is under there - LOL!)

When it comes to cutting small pieces I also use the Fiskars ruler to make certain that my project is square. As you can see in this picture you can then align your corners up perfectly with the cutting blade and you will get a perfectly scalloped square each and every time. I'm LOVIN' this!

WOOHOO - this was my first try ever and I nailed it! So if I can do it I'm guessing you can too!

Another example of hitting it right the first time is shown below. By placing your finished width card on top of the blade and positioning it over the blade so that you get the scallop to start and stop in precisely the place you want your valleys/peaks to be, you will receive a perfectly placed cut each and every time!

Awww - the beauty of tools I could have never, ever imagined.

I haven't even begun to play with the deckle (or ripped as it is called) blade - oh, and I completely forgot to mention that there is a straight edge blade available as well. I have some fun ideas up my sleeve with that one, but just haven't had the time. Could you all please grant me my wish that I have more hours in my day, or that my body would function beautifully without sleep, or ??? Perhaps cloning - is that the answer - LOL!

I'm sure I forgot something in these lengthy posts, but I'll try and post as I think of things. I hope to inspire you with the fun things that are just jetting through my brain since beginning to play with my new toy! Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Good night everyone and hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with more goodies, but it's another crankin', busy day at the Hutson house Ü

Nitty Gritty Details

ETA: Unfortunately we no longer carry the Create-a-Cut and I do not know where it is that you might find it. Thank you so much for your interest.

When reviewing a product there is always the question - "Where do I begin?" So I decided I'd begin with what I first did when using this cutter.

BIG OOPS! Always read the directions before you start or you'll get this:

Being that it is a guillotine cutter one gets in a bad habit of pulling the handle towards the board or other blade - needless to say you can NOT do this with this cutter. Being that the blades are made to fit together precisely by moving the handle straight up and down you can not "torque" on the handle or you will ruin your project and perhaps the blade in the long run.

So when you receive your cutter it is best to read through the information that is in enclosed. I learned VERY quickly that a very light touch is needed to get wonderful cuts. I will not tell you that it has all been perfection since that point - if I don't pay attention to what it is that I'm doing I'll end up with a mess again, but if I work consistently I can assure you that I have been receiving the most beautiful, precise cuts.

When you first install the blades you need to raise and lower the blade carefully to make certain it is completely aligned. It is best to start practicing on text weight paper. This allows you to cut super easily and learn the motion that works the best. I would like to suggest that you not hold the end of the handle - this gives you the tendency to use the blades incorrectly. I have developed the habit of holding the handle on the side where it curves down and my cuts are coming out clean and perfect. Just be certain that you keep your fingers on the top of the handle and NOT under it!

As you practice try different types of paper. As I said text weight papers cut beautifully, Memory Box papers cut beautifully, most regular scrapbook papers cut fantastic. The only paper I have had trouble with is several of the Stampin' Up! cardstock sheets - not all packages, just some. It appears that the fibrous texture of this paper makes cutting a little more tricky. You can see though in under the Classic blade section below that it does cut the Stampin' Up! cardstock great as well - it is the red that is shown in the picture. It just took me more practice with the Stampin' Up! papers than it did with the others.

Following are some examples of what I have been able to accomplish with the different blades. These are all examples of strips of paper I just cut in a hurry and then started playing around with piecing them together. The combinations are limitless and I hope to share more as time allows.

Scallop Blade

• scalloped edge on both sides, different widths - layer different patterns on top of one another
• scalloped edge only on one side
• punch holes, weave ribbon, paper pierce
• scalloped edge on both sides, slightly offset to make rope
• group different colored pieces together to create a border
• use two piece to create a negative space, then in between put words, or string ribbon, or...

Classic Blade

• same thing all over again only different lines
• use your Scor-it to add decorative details to your "Flourishes
• add accents such as brads, flowers, sequins, sewing, stamping on the face of your "paper flourishes" (see examples in earlier posts)

Small Wave Blade

I LOVE the look of ric rac that this blade provides!

• stamp a linen texture on your paper before cutting and it will look like real ric rac
• layer with it
• edge with it
• can you see how small of strips one can cut with this cutter - woohoo - I love little details!

I think that I'm scrolling and scrolling and scrolling so I'm going to break here and move to another post to show you how I use it. See you again soon Ü

Create-a-cut™ Details

ETA: Unfortunately we no longer carry the Create-a-Cut and I do not know where it is that you might find it. Thank you so much for your interest.

At last – the information you have all been so patiently (or perhaps impatiently) waiting for me to share. Pictured below is the new cutter I have recently acquired – I did not want to share it with you until I knew for certain that I really, truly did love it! I thought I would, but I’m a cautious individual when recommending tools and I had not had enough time to experiment with it and give you as much information as possible, before I start selling these online. Now that I have had the opportunity to play with it… well, I’m so thrilled with the little “Paper Flourishes” that I have been able to create. Please look in earlier posts for several of the cards I have made featuring the "Flourishes" I created using this cutter. Please let me know what you think – I would love any and all feedback, criticism, whatever!

The Create-a-cut™ is made by Made Easy Incorporated®.

This cutter is a guillotine style cutter. It comes with three decorative blades:

• scalloped
• classic
• deckle

 

Most people want to know how much it is going to cost before they even tempt themselves – so here it is – I will be selling the Create-a-cut™ with it's three blades for $109.

The second option is the Create-a-cut™ Kit.

This kit includes the Create-a-cut™, an additional blade (small wave), an accessory tote and a carrying case on wheels. This kit sells for $179.

The Create-a-cut is warranted against defects for one year after purchase. Made Easy Inc. will service or replace any defective or broken part without charge on the condition the damage has not resulted from improper use.

So there you have it - the cutter I have been excited to share more about. I will review it in the next post in order to try and keep these to a fairly reasonable length - LOL! Thanks for stopping in and sharing in my excitement. As most of you know, I'm a gadget girl and this is one gadget I am so thrilled to have in my possession Ü

Paper Flourishes

Here it is ladies! The tool that I have been having fun with is made by Made Easy Incorporated® and is called the Create-a-cut™. I am literally bouncin' up and down with the little paper flourishes I have been creating. Look at these delicious little embellishments I have created in the last short while just slicing, dicing, punching and scoring. Have you been ogling the Doodlebug Paper Frills™? I certainly have and this is why I am over the top excited about this cutter!!!

ETA: Many of you have asked where you can purchase one of these cutters. Please follow this link to find purchasing information.

Below are a few samples I created using the cutter. The possibilities are ENDLESS!!!  I find that this is so much more incredible than the frills only because I have a limitless variety of paper on which I can work my magic – WOOHOO!

In this sample I used the Scallop blade together with the Classic blade. First I edged the Memory Box Key Lime card front, so that it would contrast with the white interior. I then cut and scored the polka dot Memory Box Christmas Brights funky polka dot. Next I cut the strip of red using the Classic blade on both sides, mounting it on white cardstock, piercing it and adding the sparkly green KI Memories brads. What a funky little strip indeed.

Next – do you see what I’m trying to convey with the group of cupcakes stamp? Juanita deserves a huge round of applause for pushing me over the edge on this one. Do you see the tree shape? I figured if I colored the cupcakes all green and added some little “star lights” with the star on top it would turn into a Christmas tree. What do you think?

To make this pocket I once again used the Scallop blade. I guess I really like that one – LOL! I actually really like them all and so I find it hilarious that all my samples that I put together today focus on this blade. First I cut the top edge of the pocket fold, turning it down and punching the holes with my crop-a-dile. The crop-a-dile works fantastic for getting these holes pretty even. This is when the Memory Box two-sided cardstock is fantastic – look at that awesome color contrast! Then I scored the front of the fold with the Scor-It and sewed between the two lines. I also cut the lower white strip with the Scallop blade, but just sewed it to the card front after attaching my patterned KI Memories paper.

The sentiment is one of my fav A Muse stamps – it reads Sweet…Holiday Wishes. I think it is the perfect accompaniment to these sweet treat holiday cards. The tiny twinkle stars are A Muse Creative Candy and the large star is by KI Memories. The paper clip and ribbon are also KI Memories. I love their new holiday grouping and I just had to have the little “test tubes” that are filled with the most fantastic little bellies Ü

My review and detailed pictures of the cutter, along with a ton of information should be next! Hang in there – it’s on it’s way Ü

Sweet Holiday Wishes

Who would have thought that a cupcake would make a wonderful holiday card? The things that Karen Lockhart comes up with never cease to amaze me. I arrived at her place one day to see a series of festive holiday cupcakes on her coloring table. I asked her if I could play with her idea and this is what I came up with. The little holly leaves are just added using a fine-tipped Zig Micron pen.

The wonderful scalloped strip was created using my amazing new cutter (more information to follow shortly - I'm in the process of reviewing all the positives and negatives) and the crop-a-dile. It is fantastic being able to set the depth on the crop-a-dile so that each punch is the same distance in without a lot of thought having to go into planning this out. I am having so much fun with this cutter creating a "Doodlebug" type of effect similar to their paper frills.

The paper is Memory Box, these are in the Christmas Brights collection. I love how the KI Memories accents (paper clip and brad) work perfectly with these colors.

The greeting is an A Muse sentiment that I masked off and stamped only the "sweet" completing it with my Dymo Labeler and some of the colored tape I had purchased ions ago to do something like this.

In hindsight I wish I had made the card a 6x6 size, so that my greeting didn't feel squeezed, but it will have to do for now. It just felt wonderful to stamp this creation tonight. Now it's off to bed and hopefully I'll have time to write my review about the cutter, do my projects that are due this week, and finish up my website. I can hardly wait to share the wonderful papers and stamps with you that I have lined up!

ETA: Many of you have asked where you can purchase one of these cutters. Please follow this link to find purchasing information.

Buzzing around like a Bee!

That would be me - LOL! Just a few quick pictures to share a little more information regarding the cutter. I haven't received mine yet and so I am waiting with baited breath, but I just wanted to share three of the different cuts I have been able to try. There is one more decorative blade that I haven't seen yet and so I'm excitedly waiting for my package to arrive.

I will be sharing more tidbits about this cutter when I have my hands on my own to test it fully Ü But it does cut 12x12 paper as you can see in the picture below:

Last, I would like to share the start of a book I began in the Junkitz CKC class that I took. I wanted to see how "big companies" taught their classes Ü It was great fun and I look forward to continuing work on this as time allows - the Junkitz product was fun to work with and as you can see I've started adding my own touches (some of those yummy diecuts). I do believe I'll have to change out that photo and the placement of the two flowers is off - it's really bugging me - LOL! But I thought you'd enjoy seeing it anyways.

One little tip in regards to these rulerz bookz is that you can use alcohol inks to change the color of the ruler - I really like how I was able to make it "green" to make it more me and blend in with the project better Ü