Hi Friends! I am still shooting and uploading the organization videos, who would have thought there was so many ways to store your craft supplies? Today I am going to show you how I store my die cutting stuff. I will show you where I keep my cricut (I have it on another record cabinet so the mat can more freely around and not collide with other things on my die cutting bench), big shot, wafer thin and thick steel rule dies, embossing folders, sizzlits, letterpress plates, cutting pads and other accessories that pertain to using out die cutting machines. I will even show you my laminator that for some funny reason I like to keep here, I think it is because it takes electricity and it is handy here. Some things just work, don’t question it. If I used my comb binding machine more often it would be here too but I only have that out on rare occasion so it sits on a high shelf with other supplies I don’t need often. If you have any questions about my die cutting area you can leave them in the comments. I hope you find this video helpful:)
Oh! I have say a HUGE thank you to everyone who voted for me in the Craftsy Blogger Awards! You guys are so awesome!!! Voting is open until January 30th, wish me luck! Thanks so much for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!
Howdy friends, wow, it has been super busy here! I have so many projects in the works but none completed right now so I thought I’d share these quick tags I made using dies from Cheery Lynn Designs:
I cut the steampunk shoe out of 3 colors of cardstock and pieced them together on text paper and there they sat in a pile for a month. While cleaning last weekend I found them again and put them on a tag. There. I finished something. Now I feel quite virtuous. So, go ahead, finish something! It feels so good! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!
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!
Howdy friends! Have you ever heard of a flip-flop, swing, flip it or swivel card? The idea has been around in the stamping community for ages and I have examples here (with a tutorial to make it with a paper trimmer) and here (to make it with a plastic template) but I got really excited when I saw dies to make them with fancy shaped windows. When I saw that the dies cost $30 a pop I decided that I would try to do it with the thin dies I already have. It is easy really, all you have to do is make a jig for your die-cutter and I will show you how in today’s video:
Can you imaging paying $30 for 1 die that will cut one shape in one size for a very specific kind of card? No way! I can get a set of nesting dies for less than that and 2-3 sets if they are on sale and they can be used for other things too! Now I can make a swing card in any shape and size I have a thin die for, cool huh? In the defense of the $30 Flip-It dies they are thick Movers & Shapers dies and if you were making a ton of cards the same shape and size (think wedding invites or owning a stationary business) it would be a good buy because you could cut several sheets of cardstock at once. But, for the occasional cardmaker or hobbyist I think making your thin dies work a little overtime is just fine. Oh no, I am drinking the thin die Kool-aid…I’ve crossed over to the darkside…will this insanity ever end? LOL! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!
I popped in to JoAnns Fabric Store the other day with a couple of coupons burning a hole in my pocket and what should I see but the Cricut Deep Cut blade and housing and packs of the Cricut Stamp Sheets. Since JoAnn lets you use coupons an cricut accessories (not the machines and cartridges) AND they will let you use multiple coupons I grabbed both to try! Here are my results, the birdcage and chandelier were made with the Cricut Stamp sheets.
Credits: Software: SCAL, Font: DB Ladybird, Die Cutter and Stamp sheets: Cricut, Bird and Butterfly stamps: InkadinkadoThis is what the stamp looks like when it clings to the block.
I have wanted to try the stamp material for a while but reviews of the product weren’t great and I hadn’t bothered to get the deep cut blade yet also because the reviews were lukewarm but I gave it a shot and I am one happy cricuteer…is that even a word? For my trail I used a new deep cut blade and deep cut blade housing (the blue one), a fairly newish mat, and a 6″x6″ sheet of stamp film and Scal software( one sale 10% off with this code: 1266018 until 4/12/09) but you could use Design Studio. I recommend the software so you can arrange it and pack as many images as you can fit in the 6″x6″ space and so you don’t make errors and waste the pricey film. BTW the price of a 2 pack of 6″x6″ stamp film is $10 but you can use your coupon at JoAnns or shop around on-line for a good deal. Here is what to do. Firmly press the film to the mat, put it in the stickiest area of the mat, if you have a brand new mat use that. As an extra precaution I taped along the edge with masking tape. Put the blue blade housing with a deep cut blade set at 4.5 in the machine and load the mat. Set the pressure to high (#4) Arrange the images to cut in your software and click cut. for best results don’t cut anything with too much detail or lines thinner than 1/8″ or the stamp will be too flimsy. Solid or silhouette images work best. See how many images I got from one 6″x6″ sheet. They are stamped on a 8 1/2″x11″ paper for reference.
All this was cut from a 6"x6" sheet. You can really pack in the images!
Take care when removing the images from the mat. Keep a pair of sharp fine tip scissors handy in case you need to make a snip here or there as I did with the chandelier stamp. The film is also available as a kit with clear blocks which is a good deal if you need the acrylic stamp blocks but if you have some already I would just get the stamp sheets. One disadvantage of the sheets is that they are very thin, be careful not to get ink on the block when inking up your stamp and keep a tissue handy to wipe away and rogue ink on the block before stamping.
Another tip, make sure you preview you image before you cut, if any part of the image looks too thin you can fix it now, for example the boy icon and robot dingbats had no neck so I welded a rectangle on so it could cut in one piece.
Bottom Line: I love this, I just grabbed another pack of the stamp sheets this morning (yes, with a coupon 😉 ) and I can’t wait to make more lovely stamps!
BTW If anyone knows whos blog I downloaded the beautiful chandelier SVG from please leave a comment so I can credit her. The bircadge come from DB Ladybird (scrapnfonts.com) and the boy, girl, flower and robot are from the free font Efon. Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!
