Back To Basics Week 3 - Die Cutting

Hi Crafters 

Card 3 & 4 of Die-cutting 

Here we are back with more samples of die-cutting 

The next card shows how a die can form the shape of the card.

I love all things to do with the sea, and this shell die is large enough to make into a card base.

I have used it to make an easel card

Card 3

                                        

Fold the card in half and lay the outside die onto the card with the end of the shell over the edge of the card so it does not cut through. You will need to cut another single shell from a piece of card to make the front of the card. To form the easel card fold the top section of the card in half and place the spare piece over the top, lining up the top of the two pieces. The top half is glued on while the bottom half  remains  free standing to form the front of the card. There is then an inner die that I have cut to line the bottom half, you can see the edge of the base card, and a panelled centre die that is elegantly cut-out to decorate the shell shape, I cut this in gold mirra card. This die came from a seller called Alina on AliExpress. If buying from AliExpress always check the sizes of the dies and calculate the finished product size, as this die needs to be big enough to make the card, often sizes are given of the whole set and this can mean a set measuring 15cm x 10cm may give you a finished product half that size.

This card folds flat for posting and provided you do not add too much in the way of decoration will not be expensive to post.
You could make this from a circle or oval die 

Card 4

This card is for special occasions. It is large and elaborate, but not too difficult to make. Don’t be fooled though it is not cheap to make either. I see the demonstrators on tv and they often use another 2 layers at least, using 6 pieces of special card as well as beautiful embellishments. Worth it for someone special but not if you are making cards to sell or for charity as the product cost can be around £4 for this one and up to £8 for the demos on tv.

                                     

For this one I have used

1 8” white scalloped  edge card  

Silver mirra card 7.5” square

1 7” scalloped edged card cut to fit

Cut an outer circle from mirra card

The next layer of the die was cut from winter white card

The next circle cut from mirra card

An inner circle from winter white card

This was decorated with 3 Anna Griffin flowers around the edge

The die set was another from Alina. It takes quite a bit of cutting.

TIP: When buying from discount sellers in China it is usually wiser to choose a more open design that will cut more easily, it is disappointing to get a lovely looking set of dies that do not cut well and you may have difficulty getting a replacement or refund. Of course if you buy from Tonic or a any of the UK companies you can return dies that do not cut cleanly.

I hope you have enjoyed the die-cutting week.
Back next week with Shaped Cards. Not too fancy but hopefully some you will like and want to try yourselves. This will be the last week of styles.

During this series of Basic Card making I have shown different styles for card making, the series will end with a week of Christmas Cards, made using the styles shown during the previous weeks, so you can carry over the ideas for your Christmas crafting.

Dee