...Cutting awkward frames with Spellbinders Die Templates

Thanks to everyone who participated in yesterday's blog waltz!! I do love these, such a lot of fabby ideas to be had! Check out the links here:

http://www.waltzingmousehouse.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=436

you will need to register on our forum, but it's simple pimple!

So I used a wee frame for yesterdays card, and there's an easy way to cut out that oval, thought I'd pop up a few pointers here today.

I used the labels 2 stamp from the Vintage Labels 2 set. It was designed to fit the Spellbinders Die template Labels 2 dies, but did you know that one of the ovals from the Spellbinders classic ovals also fits the wee oval aperture? nope? me neither! lol! Well that's not entirely true, I do try to make sure that I use shapes that are easy to cut out and I was aiming for the proportions of the Classic ovals but my overall concern for these stamps was the Labels 2 dies.


Anyhow, I wanted to cut out that wee oval, and being the lazy imp that I am, I wanted an easy way to do it. Laziness and perfectionism aren't two qualities that combine naturally, lol, but I swing between the two!

If you stamp the label stamp first, you will notice that it's kinda hard to line up your oval on the stamped image because you can't actually see the cutting line on the die template, and if you cut the oval first, it's kinda hard to line up your stamp, because it'll be covered in ink and the oval shape needs to be set precisely on the line. You don't have the normal guidance that you get with having the clearance that most of my Spellbinder friendly stamps have, this is a much tighter fit.

So here's what to do:

1 - Cut out an oval shape from a piece of scrap card.


2 - Lay your scrap die cut on top of the area that you want to cut out. Place some lo-tac tape or a smidgeon of glue on the reverse of the scrap oval, and fuss about with it until it is in the exact place that you need it to be, this will determine what is cut away so take time to make sure it's in exactly the right place.


3 - Now, lay your die template on top of the scrap cut out, work with it, until you are sure that it is exactly lined up on top of the scrap oval. This is why you used card for your scrap cut out and not paper, the thickness of the card will help your fingers to guide the die template into position. It's probably best to do this on the C plate of your cuttle bug or on your white wizard base plate, so's you don't have to lift it and risk losing the position!


4 - Carefully run the label, scrap oval and die template through your wizard/cuttlebug. These genius die templates seem to have no problem cutting through the card even tho' there is an extra layer of scrap oval in there. If yours isn't cutting cleanly, turn it 90 degrees and pass it through again. The fact that I have no bother doing this is not much help to you if you have diffs! LOL, so you might also try adding a shim or adjusting your sandwich if you do run into diffs.


5 - And there it is, you now have a perfectly cut aperture in your label!


This is such an easy peasy thing to do that you'll want to try it in lots of different situations, where it's hard to line up your die templates!!

Hope it tickles!!