Embossing Rumors put to the Test!

So, I have been hearing that it was possible to turn the blade in the Cricut upside down in the blade housing and emboss.  I was skeptical!  I of course did not want to damage my bug, but after watching several videos I decided to give it a try!  Guess what?  It worked!  I put a Spellbinder embossing mat on my Cricut mat and taped the paper over the embossing mat.  I "cut" the word image mirrored.  I had my blade set on 6, pressure on max and multicut on 3.

Another idea I have been curious about was making my own embossing mat for the Cuttlebug.  First I cut several pumpkins from chipboard.  I adhered them to another piece of chipboard.  I made a Cuttlebug sandwich like this:  A plate, Spellbinder's embossing mat, homemade pumpkin embossing mat (design side up), paper, Spellbinder's embossing mat and finally B plate.  Guess what!  It worked too! 

Homemade Embossing Mat

Finished Product!
Hope you find these results inspiring!