3 Cheers for Cheery Lynn & a Tip to “Die” for!

Happy Friday folks! A couple weeks ago I showed you how to cut an intricate die, a beautiful doily die from Cheery Lynn. I had struggled with that die but finally found a method that worked in my “antique” but hard used machine. Well, the president of Cheery Lynn Designs saw my valiant attempt and sent me a platform for my big shot. Apparently they don’t make the platform I was using anymore (it’s rather vintage you know) but I could not see how a new platform would be better than my old platform shimmed with cereal boxes and roof flashing…OK, maybe I can see how. He also through in 3 die sets and a real steel metal shim to play with. Well, do you want to see how they work? Well, have a gander at today’s video:

I didn’t think having a new platform would make a difference but really it is like having a whole new machine. If you Big shot/Big Kick is newer than mine it probably would have come with the tabbed platform, if not you might want to consider it if you like to use wafer thin dies. If not a cereal box and roof flashing does the trick LOL! The metal shim really helped the die cut, I think since my machine is 8 years old the rollers might have loosened up a bit making the dies not so tight. My aluminum flashing worked well too but if you have a magnetic platform you would want the steel one to keep your dies in place. BTW, now that I have the new tabbed platform and I don’t need the old one I am going to see if I can figure out how to turn it into a magnetic one, my husbands countersink drill bits and rare earth magnets are going to come in really handy this weekend! All of the dies from Cheery Lynn Designs cut like butter and the flourish die got an extra workout as my friend Kathy used it to cut a bunch for birthday invites.  I have some cards in progress with the steampunk high heel die he sent too, I’ll share them later. I am really glad I gave thin dies another chance, you just need the right tool for the job. Thank you Mike for sending me some fun new dies and accessories to play with, you can check out the offerings of Cheery Lynn Designs on their website.

Now for a $$$ saving tip! If you have old, bowed die cut pads I’ll show you how to clean and flatten them, no special tools required!

I hope I inspired you to straiten up those die cutting plates and go make a card! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Mmmmm Cupcakes!

When I saw the cupcake challenge over at the Pink Persimmon blog I knew I has to do it! I never met a cupcake {stamp} I didn’t like and while I am vegan (egg and dairy cupcakes are few and far between) I can enjoy all the cupcake stamps I want and best of all they are calorie free!

Digital Stamps: (cupcakes) Lindsays Stamp Stuff, Rubber Stamp (happy birthday) Stampin Up, Die Cuts: Cricut (Accent Essentails) Cardstock: DCWV

To make the box I used my Cupcake Tree digital stamp and this weeks mini Pizza Box Tutorial from Splitcoast Stampers. The plain box only took seconds to make with a scor pal and a 6″x11″ sheet of cardstock.  I think I will keep this pattern handy to display and gift my handmade jewelery in.

Mini Pizza box is 4"x4"x1" and a snap to make!

I used another digital cupcake stamp on the card too.

Cupcake Stamp: Lindsay's Stamp Stuff

I love the embossed edges of the cardstock. I did that by cutting a 3 1/2″ scallop square (shift lock pressed) with my cricut and the Accent Essentials caridgete then I cut the same shape with the shadow button also pressed then used a bit of glue stick to stick the smaller shape to the back side of the larger and I ran it through my Big Shot manual die cutter with a couple sheets of rubber gasket. Here is a diagram of the sandwich I used. I don’t have a cuttlebug but the sandwich should be similar, The cardstock method works great in the big shot, you will have to experiment a bit with other machines.

Here is the sandwich I use to emboss with cardstock in my Big Shot/BigKick. You may need to adjust it a bit for other die cut machines but use this as a starting point. If you are not getting a good impression you can shim it with a sheet or two of cardstock between the rubber and the bottom plexiglass cutting plate.

Now here is a cool trick. Say you have some digital stamps all printed out or stamped images from a friend, you can still cut them into shape with the cricut (this method works on photos too!) first load your mat and scratch paper into the cricut and cut the shape you want. Unload the paper and remove the cut shape and lif up the leftover piece but do not remove it all the way. Center your stamped image that you want to cut under the empty cutout, remove the scrap paper, load the mat and cut the same shape again! Easy Peasy. However if you are using a traditional rubber stamp it is easier to cut first stamp later 😉

Thanks for stopping by…I think I might have to whip up a batch of vegan cupcakes (or stamp a few more at least)…till next time happy crafting!