Hello there! I’ve been playing around with an idea I’ve had for a while…or as long as I’ve been seeing the adorable crafts made with Nestabilites dies. If you don’t know what they are they are dies that emboss and cut. For lovely examples check out Olena’s blog. They are however expensive and you need to buy one in each size that you want..Boo! So being the frugal goddess that I am I figured out how to get the look for free:
I used my Faux Copic Technique to color the cute little witch and my cricut with SCAL software to design the card. Here is another Card I Made using these techniques:
To cut the cards with the cricut you will need SCAL software, and the free font Halloweenies and the SCUT files: Click here for card 1, Click here for card 2.
To get the look of “Nestabilities” all you need is a stencil and a stylus. A stylus is what you use for embossing by hand, it has a little metal ball on the end so it impresses the paper without poking through it. I use a large one and a small one but if you don’t have these you can use a dried up ball point pen for the small one and a bone folder in place of the large one.
Here’s how: Rub the back of a piece of cardstock with waxed paper. Lay it down waxed side up on a stencil (I’m using a deluxe design color blocking template as my stencil. It’s nice to bring them out of retirement LOL!) With little pressure and with the large stylus trace your shape. If you press too hard you may rip your paper, esp with the thick DD template, thinner templates like brass or the cheap purple ones wal-mart sells are actually better for this! After you traced it with the big stylus gently trace it with the small one or a nice crisp impression. There you have it, no machine, no dies, just a simple stencil and you have the look of “nestabilities” for a fraction of the price. The thing I love about using the colorblock templates is that there are so many sizes in one template! And by using Bic Mark Its instead of Copics you save a bunch there too!
Thanks for stopping by and until next time Happy Crafting!
Lindsay
The Frugal Crafter Blog 
Hi! Cute Halloween stuff!!! I really need to get me some of those Copic Markers! đ A few things…your package will be weighed around 10:30 today and shipped…let me know when you get the package! I hope it doesn’t take too long! lol – AND – I think you will have a few things to say about my post today! It’s about Quinoa! I found a new brand! YAY! đ
Did you want to do the sketch for RSC for next week?
Also…what would you think of doing a Sister Swap at RSC? They do it over at The Scrap Room and I think it would be FUN! Swapping supplies once a month with a “buddy”…let me know your thoughts! đ
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Thanks, Lindsay for whole post on me on your blog today! You’re sweetest!! Thanks! And your project today beautiful. I like to work with Big Mark-its, nice markers. Thanks, Lindsay and Good luck!
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I so want to SCAL. Can you tell me if anyversion of the cricut will work with the software of do I need a special model? I’m getting a cricut for Christmas.
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Your blog is the little gem of the frugal crafting world. Thank you so much for the Faux Nestabilities trick. I can’t justify paying for them either. I love your idea. Thank you so much.
I love BIC Markers. I grabbed a package before they become popular with paper crafters because I have a marker addiction. đ
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What a great idea to use these templates for embossing! Love, love the card!
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Cathy B,
SCAL will work with all version even the cricut create now with the new update..so I am told..I have the original cricut and I love it, I use it every day! I am hoping to get the expression for christmas then I will keep that one at my computer to use with scal and I will keep the little one in my craft room to use with carts and to take to classes I teach. I would go for the expression since almost everyone I know who bought the original wishes they got the big “e”, Wal Mart, AC Moore and Customcrops.com have the machine under $300. AcMoore has it on sale from time to time for $320 plus 4 carts…although if you use SCAL that doesn’t matter but don’t buy it without a cart because you need a cat in the machine for it to work, it doesn’t matter which cart though. Some sellers on ebay sell them with no carts. And their is always “Black Friday” for deals too!
Good Luck!
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Hi, I love the card and the idea of the faux nestabilites. I have SCAL and after download the files of the two cards they open up with only letters on the card, G’s and H on the far right. I am fairly new to SCAL is there something I’m doing wrong? Thanks for sharing your work and hopefully helping me out. PS I have successfully download other SCAL files.
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Jessica, the reason the card looks weird is because you need to download the “Halloweenies” font (it’s free just click on the link above) SCAL will replace the charecters with areal so the spiderweb was probably a “G” and the spiders was an “H” I’m guessing. Download the font and it will show up fine! Glad you lined it!
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