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How to Emboss with Cricut Blade Turned Backwards

Get ready to be AMAZED to see that this can work!!  I had so much fun trying this out.

In this video I say that I’m using a “perfectly good” Cricut Personal.  The only reason I mentioned it like that is because I recently cut up a Cricut Expression to turn it into a Cricut “Fake” Cake.  You can see that video HERE. 😉

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63 Comments

  1. littleonephotography says:

    Yes, I’m FREAKIN OUT!!!! That was amazing. I will have to try it now.

    1. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one freaking out!! You’re going to LOVE IT!! 😀
      ~Joy~

  2. weremakinmemorieshere says:

    WOW!!! You Rock!!

  3. Wow, that is so cool!! I will have to give it a try.

  4. CDANIEL77 says:

    That is brillant! Thanks for sharing!

  5. jodycmoore says:

    I’ve been wanting something that would emboss my papers, but did not want to buy another machine to do it. I even suggested to Provo Co. to make a embosser to fit in where the blade goes….but this is so much better!!! I dont have to buy a thing, just flip the blade and it embosses. How cool is this, and in your words….SWEET!

  6. Brilliant, very cool way to use the blade. Who would have thunk.

  7. I love this!! Thank you for this great idea!!

  8. that is so great now we have something else we can do with our Cricut’s this is just great.

    Thanks

    Teri

    1. I’m glad you’re all as excited about it as I am. Thanks for watching! 😀
      ~Joy~

  9. This is so exciting!!! I was going to order the $30 embossing tip for the cricut but I had no idea I already had one! Yay!!!!! Thank you so much for putting this video up. I love it!!!!!!

  10. YAYYYY!!! THAT WAS SO COOL..NOW THERE IS MORE TO DO WITH MY CRICUT THAN JUST CUT. i CAN’T WAIT TO TRY IT MYSELF..

  11. I was wondering if this could be done with a cricut, Now I know:) Thanks Joy.

  12. tbirkhead says:

    OH.MY.GOODNESS!! If my body would allow me to do cartwheels, you can bet that I would be doing them all around my room! Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! You just saved me $30 which I can use to buy one of those rubber mats – for alot less no doubt. I’m wishing I had something here to use so I could do this right now but it’s Midnight and I’ll have to be patient a little longer.

  13. Way very cool! Now I’m gonna be on a hunt for a 12″ by 4″ embossing mat (like the Spellbinders one but bigger) so that I can do borders that will fit my 12″ by 12″ scrap pages. Or maybe I can piece shorter strips and not worry about a bigger mat. Hmmmm…

  14. MelissaWard says:

    I can’t wait to try this! Thank you for making it look so easy and who can’t be excited about it!!!

  15. WOW!! What a great idea!!! Thanks for sharing! I bet the blue painters tape would work well on the paper and you would not have worry so much about it tearing the paper.

    1. TWhite,
      Painter’s Tape is an EXCELLENT IDEA!!! 😀 Thank you!
      ~Joy~

  17. I think the difference with the blade depth, might change how deep of an emboss you get. So if you lowered it, you might have a more subtle image than with the higher one. Not sure, just my guess. But this does make the whole emboss and cut very easy since you could just do the shadow option after to cut your embossed image.

    ~Crystal
    sweetteetle.blogspot.com

  18. Thanks so much for the video (and to whomever it was that asked if it was possible!). I have never done much with embossing b/c I didn’t want to spend money on something else so I might have to try it now.
    Just wondering do you think it would work with some cardboard/paperboard (cereal box for example) under the paper…don’t know at all what the mat is made of. Just trying to see if I can truly do it without buying anything more and get an additional recycle from some cardboard.
    Thanks so much again!

    1. Hey Mary Jo,
      I don’t know if cardboard would work because it’s the cushioned give in the material that helps the blade emboss. I’d say it’s worth a try, but I’m thinking that it might tear your paper instead of emboss.
      Glad you liked the video!! 😀
      ~Joy~

  19. Thanks Joy…I might try it out to see what happens, or I might try to glue down a piece of felt (I still have tons of it around) to cardboard to see if that helps, if the plain route doesn’t work.
    As of now, I don’t see myself embossing enough to buysomething new to do it LOL.

  20. omg, joy you rock lady!!!!! im now looking to buy the foil once again. lol thanks for the tip(pun intended)

  21. wow… amazing. I am going to run upstairs and do this right now. You are brilliant!!!

    1. Thanks Gabriela!!
      I hope you have fun! 😀
      ~Joy~

  22. adriana39 says:

    Thanks for sharing. How exciting! I just have one question?
    What if you don’t have the vinyl square thing to put down.
    I don’t know what to come up with to be able to use the blade upside down for the embossing.

    Help!!

    1. Hey Adriana,
      One lady told me that she tried craft foam and it worked pretty well. You could try that. I hope that helps!
      ~Joy~

  23. Iamacutup says:

    I think I’m missing something. For some reason I can get to the How To video for this. Any help would be appreciated.

  24. Iamacutup says:

    What I was missing was patience. It took longer than I thought to download. What a great idea. I am going to try and find a bigger mat so I can do bigger projects with my Expression..

  25. I was so impressed with this that I had to try it straight away – you can see what I did here
    Thank you so much for sharing this x

    1. So cute, Craftyhazelnut!! I love your card! Thanks for linking back to me. 🙂
      ~Joy~

  26. HOLY Mother of Pearl Sponge Bob!!!!!! Who would have thunk it? Certainly NOT me, lol.

    1. LOL, Lynnette!! Have you seen my SpongeBob creations? I got better with each Bob. 😛
      Glad you’re excited about this way to emboss. I was clearly thrilled. 😉
      ~Joy~

  27. AMAZING! Your video was great! Your singing certainly added a lot to the tone of it and I enjoyed it! Your enthusiasm is contagious! 🙂

    I have a Sizzix Big Kick but don’t have an embossing mat. Out of curiousity, I stuck my mouse pad in as a cushion and it worked! I don’t know, it might be too thick for the Cricut, but I’ll try it out tomorrow, for sure!

  28. luna_tic72 says:

    This is a crazy great idea. I’m going to try it today too, I also do not have a mat like yours, but I do have the foam sheets from inside my Close To My Heart stamp sets, and all that temporary double sided tape my mom stuffed my stocking with one year by mistake….fingers crossed! I might be able to show the group a new thing thanks to this video!!! ~ Luna

  29. Paula Puckett says:

    Great googly moogly! Wish I had found this site before I bought my cuttlebug! I was just going over some different websites to find some embossing folders for Christmas cards, Halloween cards, etc. Now I can just fall back on my carts instead. What an idea! Is there any way you can market it? 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing this info. I’ll be a regular visitor to your site.

    1. Thanks Paula! Well, there are already some embossing tips by companies other than Cricut, like Pazzle. They cost around $30, so this was just much much MUCH more affordable! LOL! I don’t think you didn’t make a mistake buying your Cuttlebug. I LOVE mine! 😀 I’m glad you found my site! Thank you for being here!
      ~Joy~

  30. svonessen says:

    Love it–tried it and it worked great! Made a cool Father’s Day card using this technique. Thanks Joy!

    1. Hey, that’s great Svonessen! You’re smart to get a head start on Father’s Day too! 😉
      ~Joy~

    1. That’s GREAT Lori!! Thanks so much!
      ~Joy~

  32. Tammy Lee says:

    Hi
    I love your videos!!Thank you so much for all your work!!
    I have tried to view the “How to Emboss w/ Cricut with Blade backwards” but all I get is a tiny square in the upper left corner…I have right clicked on it hoping for a dropdown list to show picture…but no luck…..I can view other videos…but not this one and THIS ONE LOOKS AWESOME! Any Help would be so much appreciated!!!

    1. Tammy that is so weird! I’ll have to figure out what is going on with that video! Thank you for letting me know. I’ll see what I can find out. 🙂
      I’m so glad you like my videos! THANK YOU!!
      ~Joy~

  33. scrappinmomma says:

    That is so awesome

  34. Do you HAVE to use the embossing mat? Have you tried it without? It be totally awesome to be able to emboss some of the detailed cuts, then flip the blad, and do a black out cut so you’d have the cut with the detailed embossing. Hmmm.

    1. Hey Milangal,
      I does a super light to no emboss without a mat. It needs that pressure of the mat to sink the emboss, I believe. Some people have told me they’ve had success using craft foam. 😉 I hope that helps!
      ~Joy~

  36. jlytranch says:

    I have only the padding from a CTMH stamp set to try this with. I have tried this several times and I am only getting a light impression; not one that I would consider “embossed”. I have adjusted the pressure. If it is set too heavy all the movements of the blade get scratched into the cardstock, as well as the impression of the rollers because of the padding. I do not have any metal or foil to try this on. Would love to have your suggestions about settings using the Cricut Expression.

  37. I am hyperventilating! I am soooooo excited! I cannot wait to share this with my group! They will be as amazed as I am! Thank you so much for sharing this, and it will not cost anything to use it! Such a great deal!

  38. So excited!!! Can’t wait to try this!! Thanks so much for sharing this with us!! You’re the BEST!!!

  39. Pingback: Joy's Life.com

  40. Wow, I can’t wait to try it! Thank you for making the video! I am so excited that I’ve already shared it with my sister and a friend.

    Thanks again–I couldn’t justify sending $35.00 on the embossing “tool” they sell for the Cricut–I hope I can find the Spellbinders pad…I hope it is not too expensive.

  41. kimik1061 says:

    I need a bigger imagination so I can come up with AWESOME stuff like this. You know i will be stealing this idea!!! And yes I am FREAKING OUT!!

  42. MissMichelle says:

    That is totally a great idea! I now have a use for the baby bug that I have not used since I got the expression!

  44. Hi Joy, I just tried this technique (thanks for sharing it!!! Sweeeet!), using a 6×6″ sheet of “Plumber’s Rubber”, bought at Home Depot for $0.79. When I asked where I might find it, they looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language, and then assumed the “little woman” meant ‘plumber’s putty’. I have done enough home improvement projects to know the diff! It is red & comes in 1/8″ & 1/16″ thicknesses. I used the 1/16″. Anyway, it worked beautifully, except for the lines made when the embossing tip runs across the design to start or finish the embossing. I noticed this line in your example, too. Anyone think of a way to eliminate this? I also used painter’s tape to adhere the paper to the rubber sheet (i use it to adhere paper to my mats when they start losing their stickiness, too…works great). I also recommend sticking the rubber sheet slightly outside the area where you usually align the paper, so that your cuts are well within the sheet. Great tip! New to your blog – I’ve marked it as a favorite already!
    Laura
    http://cricutcard-iologist.blogspot.com

    1. Ladams1221,
      I know just what you mean about going into the hardware store knowing what you want but getting the “little woman” treatment. Ugh. Sometimes it’s a real pain, isn’t it? Recently I was in a hardware store asking for a particular item. They told me nothing by that name existed and if it did they didn’t carry it. I ended up finding it in their store on my own, by the exact name I’d asked for. I hunted them down in the store, showed it to them and told them what aisle it was on in case anyone else asked for it. I was nice, but good grief!

      What some people have done to get rid of that line is to move the rollers out of the way. Honestly, I haven’t tried that with a machine that I actually use. I did cut the rollers off of an old machine I have, but maybe I should have attempted rolling them to the side first, LOL. Other than moving the rollers, the only other way to avoid the “line” is to use a Gypsy and maneuver your design between the rollers. I hope that helps!

      Thanks for being part of my site! Welcome! 😀
      ~Joy~

  45. I just got a Cricut Expression for Christmas, and am so excited to create wonderful things with it. It is a little disappointing sometimes to see how the cost of all the little items ads up. THANK YOU, SO MUCH for sharing a way to further utilize my machine without having to spend more money.

  46. I am not sure why but nothing happens when I turn my blade upside down. I set it up to emboss an image and the paper came out plain. I am not sure what settings it needs to be on…is anyone else having this problem?

  47. rorysnana says:

    It works ! It works !..I just had to try it and it works !…I love all the embossing on cards (and just ordered tonite the Sizzix Embossing Machine )Had I only found your vodeo 1st !
    I found a pc of Foil paper that I had bought yrs ago and wasn’t sure what to do with it …..followed your video and OMG ….it turned out beautifully ! Thank you so much for sharing this and Kudos to the creative person who suggested it !
    Awesome!

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