Art Philosophy Cut Embossing Folders--I made my own!

I have always loved the look of dry embossing folders on cards and am anxiously looking forward to Close To My Heart coming out with a line of them that would coordinate with our stamps. (I don't know of any company plans to do this and I am wishful thinking about it!) In the meantime I came across a Youtube video about making your own embossing folders out of recycled materials such as cereal boxes. This is the video clip that I inspired me. Here are my shamrock cards:

I used my Gypsy to create a page of shamrocks from an Art Philosophy tag on page 50 of the AP booklet. I "hid" the outline and the hole on top so I could just use the shamrock image. I then copied, pasted and arranged the shamrock images on my Gypsy. I used a sheet of white chipboard that I had from another project but I could have used a cereal box too. I used the multicut feature on my Gypsy set for 3 cuts. My blade pressure was 5 and speed was set at 4 with a regular blade. I popped out all the shamrocks and used one of CTMH Finishing Files to smooth the rough edges in the negative part.

I cut 2 pieces of chipboard at 4 3/8 x 5 3/4 and used masking tape at the top to make an embossing folder. (For the folder I used a 12 x 12 piece of cardboard that came with CTMH Memory Protectors. I found that this was very sturdy and more difficult to cut through so I used it as the folder pieces.) Next I put the shamrocks back into the sheet and placed it inside of the folder.

I then applied small amounts of 3M Quick Dry Adhesive to the just the shamrocks. Look for the tiny white dots in the photo. (Be careful not to get it too close to the edge or it may leak through and adhere the other side of the chipboard to that side also.)

I closed the top of the folder over the insert and placed 3 hardcover books on top. I let it dry for about 10 minutes and then carefully peeled back the bottom layer of negative shamrocks.

Then I placed the shamrocks back inside the negative frame before applying glue. I then applied dots of glue to this side, closed the folder, covered it with books and let it dry.

Now when I open the folder it looks like this:

I place my paper in the middle of my folder and run it through my Cuttlebug using from bottom to top: A platform, B platform, embossing folder with paper inside, B platform. (Depending on the thickness of your materials you might want to add a piece or 2 of cardstock or chipboard to apply more pressure to the embossing sandwich.)

Details about the cards at the top of the post: I used Close To My Heart retired wood stamps for the greetings and the retired color "Kentucky Green" which I think is the best match for anything to do with St. Patrick's day and shamrocks. On the first card I chalk colored 2 of the shamrocks with retired CTMH chalks--Kentucky Green. I used a CTMH sanding block to lightly distress the top of the second card. The square mat is made from Pear cardstock and the edges of the scalloped circle were outlined with a Kentucky Green marker.