Craft Forum

i see a lot about die cutters, and the machines and hand held things, but i don’t really understand them. i hae to suffice with bought stuff mostly, i tend to make cards that are shaped, like cats, bags, cakes etc, or use ready made embellishments, and well lots of designs. but i am thinking a die cutter would really expand what i am able to do.

however, i don’t really understand what they are. i gather from their name that they can die and cut? and i know from what people say tha they cut out shapes? or at least i think i know that. but does anyone have any pictures of the kind of things they have made by die cutting? so i can see what it actually does. or could anybody explain it to me? and what are the differences between the ones that go on your desk and the hand held things i have seen? and what is the difference between the different free standing ones?

i’m sorry if these are silly questions, but i’m very clueless about them. also is there anything else i should know about them? obvious things?

Die-cutting machines are using specific dies for cutting out shapes or folders for embossing cardstock. These are sold separately.

The right tool depends on the way how you want to use it and the size of shapes you want to cut out. The hand-held QuicKutz Squeeze, for example, only takes 2x2” dies or embossing folders. The desktop machines are coming in all different sizes and prizes. There is now quite a large number of tools on the market with Cuttlebug and Big Shot machines perhaps the most common ones. Are there any spcific ones you are interested in?

The machines will work with the cutting dies and embossing folders that are created for them and often also with some competitor products. But you should check out the compability prior to using any other dies or folders to make sure they won’t damage your tool.

QuicKutz have quite a good website that also includes project ideas. Perhaps have a browse to see what other crafters have done.

http://www.quickutz.com/qk2/

I don’t have any images on this computer to show, and I don’t have any on my gallery ot blog with die cuts that are recent.  They are basically shapes that are cut like a punch.

Cuttlebug is one of the popular ones and worth checking out their website:

cuttlebug

I have a couple of old cards that I used glossy accents on dies cuts and triple embossing

die cuts

I do really like embossing with them and it features in my more recent cards.

thankyou all. it helps a lot. but with the die cutter can you colour things? i read on that blog something about that, but what are the dies that you use? are they actual die like ink or something, or is it just a name for something?

ahh right I can see why you are confused the ‘die’ part doesn’t mean ink ‘dye’ it just mean to cut out a shape, as in die cast a shape I think.

so it literally cuts a shape from card.  The flip flops on here are a QK die, and it cuts the strap out too - so that you can interchange with another colour.

haha, wow sometimes i am a real doofus…. i really should have realised that dye and die were different words….though i never did! hehehe. thanks for clearing that up.. i think i am a lot less confused now. &though; a little embarrassed*

so…. when in magazines and what not, there are die cut images, are they done by first stamping or printing form the computer a design and then using whatever plates you need to cut round it? cos i couldn’t work out how one machine could possibly do everything! it was the die cuts you get with magazines that confused me. becase they pu on magazine X number of die cuts, i thought that they were what a die cutter did. again it confused me. the other thing that confused me, is a lot of people ask about if they can use different die’s in different machines…so what with me not even knowing what a die cutter was… i was getting a headache! hehe…. it *think* i get it now though!

i do think i’ll have to get one though.

I don’t think there are many (if any) dies and stamps to match, there are some embossing and dies to match.  I would have a wander around the sites mentioned and you will see the type of designs there are.

The only matching die and stamp sets I can remember are the ones from QuicKutz. But I haven’t seen them around for a while now. I think I got my floral set from QVC around two years ago.

I’ve got a cuttlebug, and have been dropping hints for lots of dies for christmas, especially the nestabilities.  I love it.

One of the things I like is that, if I’m clever how I cut, I can still use the waste!

I cut out the mounts for the first card, then used the cut outs to mount a topper for a second card.

Lovely cards Moza and Carolyn. Don’t worry babyphoenix, we were all confused to start with so ask anything you don’t understand. I have a cuttlebug and think it is great. You don’t have to stamp at all with a die cutter - some people do stamp and colour images and then cut out a frame, often a nestability, but if you don’t do stamping you can still use it for many other things.

On this first card I have cut two scalloped nestability shapes on my cuttlebug, and also the two white corners are done on the cuttlebug too.

Embossing is also very popular, especially with cuttlebug owners as they make some great embossing folders. On this second card you can see I embossed the swirls with the cuttlebug then added another nestability with a sticker on top (something you can do if you don’t use stamps)

Good luck if you decide to get one

This has been very helpful for me too- thanks girls !

Its always difficult to choose a machine that will be the most useful, especially when there are so many different types.l have no access to try these machines out, as over here,its very , very limited in craft materials..X

don’t think there are many (if any) dies and stamps to match, there are some embossing and dies to match.  I would have a wander around the sites mentioned and you will see the type of designs there are.

_________________________________________________________________
I know alot about NS0-163 , PMI-001 , rcdd certification and sscp