PHONE: (732) 266-1287
Tips and Tricks of the Trade: THIN CUTS
The ideas are endless and here’s what I love the most about thin cuts:
- They are inexpensive
- They are easy to organize and store (I use our mini album and 4×6 sleeves to store a few to a page)
- We now carry a very pretty PINK or black/white Striped mini album and I use the Z3192 4×6 pocket pages to store them in. I can slide two magnetic sleeves into one protectors/insert and place a few metal dies in one pocket. On the back, I store any extra pieces I have cut (or the negative) to use for another project.
- TIP: You can also store your embossing folders in the same mini album and use the 6×8 protectors to hold them. Works like a charm and I LOVE having it all at my fingertips! You can find these products HERE on my WEBSITE
- They are light to transport to a cropping event
- They have lots of versatility!
- You can stack them when you have the same die but in various sizes! See the layout below …
- You can cut out pieces of paper to use both the positive and negative of a thin cut. See the 2nd portion below.
- Love when they match a stamp set to make stamping and ‘no fussy cutting’ a breeze! Check out Stargazer Cardmaking stamp set and thin cut (on SALE NOW @ 25% off) and the cute cards it can make:
Stacking Die-cuts In Your Favor
Thin Cuts come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Stars, hearts, circles, flowers, ovals, banners, tags, numbers, letters—just to name a few ? . Our goal this month is to remind you just how handy these tools can be in creating beautiful artwork that is versatile and, dare we say it—Die-namite! All of our basic shapes Thin Cuts come in a set of four dies ranging in size, from 1″ to 2½”. In the page above we used our Basic Stars Thin Cuts to create something that literally pops off the page.
First we attached the largest stars to the page. You can use glue dots, thin 3-D foam tape, or both—which is what we did. Add the adhesive only to the center of the shape to keep it from going completely flat.
The smaller stars were stacked on top and then attached with a mini staple—not only functioning as an adhesive but as an added design element. You’ll notice that we only used three out of the four star sizes per stack. We found that doing more than three looked too bulky and didn’t visually work with our page. (If you remember from one of our previous posts, details in odd numbers look better than even!) Lastly, using nothing more than a finger, we lifted the corners up starting with the top layer.
Replicate this user-friendly technique with any of our basic shape Thin Cuts. If you want to achieve a similar effect with a Thin Cut that doesn’t come in a variety of sizes, follow the same steps and stack the same sized shapes on top of each other.
And don’t forget, our Thin Cuts are on sale this month! Save 25% on individual sets and 30% on select bundles! Click here to shop!
Block Alphabet Thin Cuts Technique
Our Die-namite! sale is in full swing, so why not share yet another way to use our Thin Cuts! Thin Cuts are our special line of metal dies that you can use to cut paper shapes by running them through a die-cutting machine, like the Cricut Cuttlebug™. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and some even coordinate with specific stamp sets. You can create exact shapes, over and over again, without using scissors! And the only thing better than that is that they are on sale through the end of the month at 25% off individual sets and 30% off select bundles! (For a complete list of our Thin Cuts, click here.)
Now let’s talk about that super cute card sending everyone out there HUGS. We made the card above using our Block Alphabet Thin Cuts and a partial die-cutting technique. The step-by-step instructions below will guide you through the process of re-creating this card, or one like it with a sentiment of your choice!
Materials Needed:
X7228B Gimme Some Sugar Paper Packet
Z3350 Whimsy Fundamentals
X5941 Bashful Cardstock
1385 White Daisy Cardstock
Z3386 Thin Cuts—Block Alphabet
Z3274 Clear Sparkles
Z1263 Bitty Sparkles
Z4014 White & Gold Twine
Z3372 Adhesive Runner
Washi Tape
Die-cutting Machine
Prepare and Cut.
To replicate our card exactly, you will need the following pieces:
- 1 standard card base
- 2″ x 4¼” White Daisy cardstock
- 2¾” x 4¼” light Bashful cardstock (our cardstock is 2-toned and we used the light side for this piece)
- 3½” x 4¼” Bashful cardstock
- 4¼” x 4¼” white flowers on Pixie paper from Gimme Some Sugar paper packet
Step 1. Planning your letter placement.
With a pencil, lightly draw a line 1″ from the right edge on all four cardstock pieces.
Step 2. Attaching the alphabet Thin Cuts.
Again, with a pencil, lightly mark 1 3/8″ from the top of the cardstock. Align the top of the alphabet Thin Cuts with this mark and the left edge slightly over the line you drew in step 1. You should be able to see the pencil line on the inner edge of the die. Once your dies are aligned, secure them with washi tape.
Tip: make sure your letters are in the correct order. The first letter should be on the shortest paper and the last letter on the longest.
Step 3. Partially cutting the letters.
As our preferred die-cutting machine, we used a Cricut Cuttlebug™ for this step. If your machine is something different, adjust as needed.
Layer a platform and a C-size plate and align the edges. Place the White Daisy cardstock on top of this combination so that the line you have drawn is about 1/8″ below the bottom of the plate. This will put the right half of the cardstock on the plate and leave the left half of the cardstock hanging off the plate. Adhere the piece in place with washi tape so it will not move when it’s run through the die-cutting machine. Anything below the plate will not cut through.
Layer a B-size plate on top and run the paper through your die-cutting machine. You should end up with a partially cut letter, still attached on the left.
Repeat this step with all of your letters.
Step 4. Trim off the excess.
To get a clean, straight edge, trim along the pencil line with a paper trimmer. DO NOT CUT ALL THE WAY THROUGH! Leave the part of the letters that are supposed to be attached uncut.
Tip: for the center line of the S, trim with scissors.
Step 5. Assemble your card!
Erase any remaining pencil lines and build your card. Attach your letters to the white flower Pixie paper starting one inch from the left with the S on the bottom, followed by the G, then U, and then the H.
Tip: embellish with twine before attaching this front to the card base.
That’s all, folks! Use this technique to make a standard-sized card with any custom sentiment, anything between 4 to 6 letters long, using our Block Alphabet Thin Cuts!
To see the complete list ON SALE @ a DISCOUNT … click HERE.
Happy THIN CUT-A-THON!