Quick Tip no 3

Hello there, the other week I showed you how to die cut a shape without cutting the whole image. Well I've been asked by a crafty friend to explain how to cut out a convex (downward) shape of a stamp using a die. It really is so simple. I've remembered to photograph each step so hopefully you'll be able to understand how it works. Using this technique also means you'll never have to buy special dies for your Flip Flap cards.

First of all I stamped my image, in this case taken from the Moon Baby stamp set. I then decided which die made the best fit, matching the 2 end points - where I want to cut to. This die was secured in place with some low tack tape to prevent movement whilst cutting.










I then place my image and die onto the bottom cutting cutting plate. Depending on the shape and size you may need to rearrange the card so that the top plate fits through the die cutting machine.

The top plate should be placed so that it is placed ONLY over the area that needs cutting.



Once run through the machine, the die will cut only where the pressure of the top plate is, thus giving the partial cut required. The rest of the image can be fussy cut where needed to get the necessary effect. See, it is easy when you know how.

Quick Tip no 1

Hello again, Just a very quick tip which is why I'm posting twice this weekend. Do you ever want to use a basic die shape - circle, square, oval etc but not have the whole image stamped within that shape? Well, this morning that is exactly the effect I wanted. Could I just get straight on and do it?

The effect I wanted, isn't it cute

Oh no, it took me a while thinking exactly what to do! In the end I had to stamp my image and get the die, in this case a circle, so I could visualise it. This is so easy though in reality, I must have had brain freeze this morning.

Once you've stamped your image and chosen the die that best fits, fussy cut around the part you want to stand out of your shape. in this case the balloon was the obvious part to me. Then, slip the die through with the balloon on top of the die so that it isn't cut. This takes a little adjusting to get it exactly where you want. Once you're happy with the placement, run through your die cutter. See image below,

I think the finished cut looks rather effective. I hope you like it too. Now on to turn this into a card. Keep an eye out, this little elphant might just make an appearance again.