I see there is not much activity on the Cougar board since the Silver bullet came out, but wanted to make this posting just in case someone is looking for a solution to embossing paper.
I tried using the mat that I got with my machine, I purchased the everything package, but found that it was way too thick and was leaving marks where the pinch wheels were contacting. I started using a few different types of "cushion" for the paper and thought, hmmmm, fun foam, and it worked perfectly. I was able to emboss an entire page of snowflakes and they came out perfectly. I did not use water or anything else, I just attached the thinner foam (bought at Michaels, Creatology brand) to my mat making the size of mat I needed, in my case it was 8.5 x 11. Each sheet of the foam was 6x9 so I used 2 close together. I put my cardstock over that, and taped it down with blue painters tape. I put in the embossing holder in using the middle size blade nub and arranged the target page so the pinch wheels could not come over the paper. I used 2 CD's to raise the blade holder so it was off the paper. I set the machine at first at 4 passes at 90 force (pressure) using Make-the-Cut and did an oval shape. I had to fiddle with the force (pressure) just a bit to get it to give me a good impression. I found that 120 worked really well and did 1 pass and viola, it worked great. No marks on the paper from the wheels and I embossed an entire of assorted snowflakes which were really detailed and it looks lovely. Just wanted to share!!