New ideas for old die cuts!

Are you kind of bored with the same old dies sitting on your shelf? Maybe you have some punches or shape cutting templates (Coluzzle anyone?) that need some love. Well, after today I hope you will look at them in a whole new way! On this layout (Yup, those are THIS years Halloween photos, I’m patting myself on the back) I used a tag die I’ve had for 5 years as a banner:

Supply Credits: Paper: DCWV, Echo Park, Cosmo Cricut, Stamps: Happy Halloween, hats: Pink Persimmon, Numbers and Events: Inkiadinkado, Spiders and web: Martha Stewart, Small date stamp: Inque Boutique, Dies: Tag: Ellison, Button: Sizzix, Spider: Cuddlebug

 

The candy corn are made from an inexpensive button die. It’s easy and if you don’t have the die don’t worry, you can hand cut them. Watch this short video:

I don’t have too many physical dies since I have an electronic die cutter and SCAL software to cut whatever I want but I like the thick steel-rule dies because I can cut through materials my Cricut can’t handle like felt, matte board, metal and thin wood. The types of dies I use the most are tags, hearts, flowers, clock hands and book-plates. I also picked up a few thick alphabet sets and I like cutting them from chipboard or adhesive backed fun foam. they look like “thickers” but I never run out of “e”s and “l”s. I have a few thin dies too and I have 6 button dies! I love them, I got a 4 pack at custom crops on clearance for .50, a Ellison one for $3 at my sister’s craft shop and my fave, the ellison embosslits from my stampin’ up lady for $11, it was a splurge but well worth it! Dies are an investment so you wan to be sure you can use them over and over again. Here are close-ups of the pages if you want to see:

Tip: If you have a lot going on during a particular holiday or event why not journal it in timeline fashion like I did here. We had so many parties going on around Halloween that by the time the big night arrived we were a pretty shabby bunch with costumes being held together with twist ties and hot glue but look at all the fun we had! I plan on doing a timeline page in december for all of the holiday activities that we do. Plus it is fast and easy and that is a plus when the holidays roll around!

 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope I inspired you to look beyond what your dies are intended to do and come up with even more ways to use them. Til next time happy crafting!