Spellbinders Grand Calibur: The wonders of die-cutting

Howdy!

Last time, I said I would go into more detail about die-cutting, and I shall!

So this is my (very) little craft-station, when it's tidy (which is rare)...

Admittedly, most things in this picture are pink, but the pink and white contraption with a handle (which vaguely resembles a mangle) is my lovely little die-cutting machine. My beloved Spellbinders Grand Calibur.

Most die-cutting systems are essentially the same; you have the machine itself; a selection of plates (essentially a flat, rectangular plastic board) in varying thicknesses and obviously the dies, which you buy separately.

What I consider to be the Grand Calibur's advantage over most other die-cutting systems is that it has a large platform, so can handle A4 projects, whereas most machines are designed to cut standard greeting-card-sized sheets (approximately A5).


Just so that you can see what they look like, here are a few of the dies that I have in my little collection:

Essentially, to die-cut with this machine, you make a sandwich using the plates and the paper/cardstock.
The cutting 'sandwich'- as advised by Spellbinders- is as follows:

• The grey base plate (all of the plates are labelled!)
• The die - cutting side up
• Paper / cardstock / fabric etc
• The white cutting plate

Personally - and many crafters agree - I find it vastly more preferable to stack the sandwich upside down, i.e. cutting plate, paper/card/media, die (cutting side DOWN this time) and THEN the grey base plate. The reason for this preference is that you can position the die more accurately. If you're using patterned paper or card, this is especially handy as you can choose to specifically include certain elements of the pattern/image on your cut shape.

Anyway, whichever way you choose to stack, once you've got your completed sandwich, you simply roll the whole thing through your machine.

Once you've cut your shapes, you may well want to emboss them, to add more dimension to your final pieces. Ensuring that your grey base plate is at the BOTTOM of the stack on your work surface, remove the white cutting plate from the top of the stack, but LEAVE your shapes within their dies. Add your rubber embossing mat (coloured a sandy brown) and your pale pink embossing plate, and then run THAT sandwich through the machine. All of the mats and plates that I've mentioned so far are included when you buy the machine, by the way.

Anyway, using this technique, you can create some really beautiful shapes to include in your cardmaking, or indeed scrapbooking endeavours. Here are a few examples of my own die-cutting results!

Shapes cut with the Venetian 'motifs' and 'accents' die sets!

Various shapes cut with a selection of my dies!

I realise that this is quite a brief overview of the Grand Calibur, but I hope that you enjoyed finding out a little more about it, and about what I do to create cards like this...

As ever, don't be shy, and drop by my store at www.fingerprintgreetings.co.uk to view and purchase my latest creations!

Thanks for visiting, blog friends! Happy crafting!

Muchos love!

Charley
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