Crochet and Sizzix, but not together!

Well, I suppose you could use Sizzix and crochet together somehow, but I'm not. Betcha someone has though! 

Firstly, the crochet.

I know it's cro-shay, but I still read it as cro-chet. Maybe I should call it croshay from now on.

I'm still making this cushion (from the June Better Homes and Gardens).

It's still pretty full on, hey?

Here's my version so far.

It's looking a little sparse, hey?

And see the ones off the cushion over on the right? They're re-dos. Didn't add enough extra chain stitches in the middle and they turned out like Barbie beanies instead of flat flowers! I obviously noticed they were curling at the time and kept going because I thought I could stitch them flat with just a little curled edge, but decided I didn't like the idea.

Remember I'm making this whole thing up from the original picture I saw on the net. I've got the issue now, but it's still not helpful to me because I really can't read the patterns. Don't know if I can actually, haven't tried. I just asked Mum about one of them and she helped me sort it out. They still don't look like the ones in the mag though, but it doesn't really matter. 

After putting all the flowers out like this, it was fairly obvious I needed to do more and more big ones too. I've done a stack and the cushion's looking pretty full now. Two more to finish and I'm ready to stitch. Not looking forward to that, so I'm putting it off. 

Now, onto Sizzix. I got onto their site recently to check on an image and saw their Coming Soon section. Had to look, of course. Was interested to find they have some new embossing folders coming out in conjunction with Basic Grey.

Hmmm, I'm noticing a lot of cross licensing now. Sizzix and Basic Grey. Sizzix and Tim Holtz (of course, what a splash). Teresa Collins and that Stampmaker machine - not sure what it's called. Core-dinations and Jenni Bowlin. Core-dinations and Cosmo Cricket. Stampin Up and Sizzix. Companies joining together with their products and endorsements. That's my definition of cross licensing anyway!

Wanna see the new folders coming?

Check here for the first few.

And here for the second lot (they're on two pages).

My favourites are Christmas/Thin Ice (esp the Christmas one, and it's horizontal!), Peppermint Twists/Scallops and I really like Powdered Sugar/Snow Globe. Nice. Which ones do you like? Oh, I like Tim's Christmas Countdown one (with all the numbers) and the one that comes with it. Can't remember what it is, but I know I like it.

I've linked you over to pages four and five of five pages of new stuff. Check it all out, it's worth a look. Loving the ornaments - I hope I like the shape. Can't really get a good idea of what they really look like by the images sometimes.

A final note on Sizzix embossing folders. I've found that sometimes they crack the cardboard when they emboss. It's almost like the design is too deep.

To combat it - I emboss on no tabs (on Big Shot) and use shim instead of the top plate. Sandwich is white spacer plate, clear plate, embossing folder with card, chipboard and/or layers of cardstock so that it'll emboss, but not crack the card.

If using the Cuttlebug, it's the same. A plate, B plate, embossing folder with card and then chipboard/cardstock to make up the thickness.

Actually, what I might do is make up my own embossing plate out of chipboard. Work out what combination of chipboard/cardstock I need, stick it together, cut it to the size of a plate and call it my E plate! Would be good to do the same for the Big Shot. Just like the buttons, it's annoying when things don't work properly. Takes the fun outta crafting.

What do you think? Does anyone else out there notice that they (the Sizzix folders) crack their card sometimes? The Cuttlebug ones don't.

Okay, that's enough from me today. Over to you now. Start making your wish list of embossing folders and dies! I save them to Favourites under Things I Want to Buy. Bad, I know, but I like to keep track and I feel like I've "bought" them if I put them under there. I actually forget about the list sometimes and it's interesting to come back and see what's in there. Sometimes I still want things like the Marvy button punch and sometimes I wonder what I was thinking at the time and sometimes I delete things because how many embossing folders can you have really?!

:o)