Our Craftacular Adventure

Last Sunday H and I took a trip to Bethnal Green to one of our fave handmade fairs Bust Craftacular. This year we were not only there to catch up with the usual suspects, but we were hosting a papercutting banner workshop at the event too.

Love it: Cuttlebug Die Cutting Machine

At the beginning of January I made a sneaky purchase with some of my Christmas money and bought a Cricut Cuttlebug machine. I already have a Silhouette Cameo (which I use a-lot) and have had a Sizzex bigshot in the past but I donated it to H's work as I used to find it was a little cumbersome and therefore didn't really use it.  I love my Cameo but I wanted to do some work with foam and felt and due to the way that the silhouette cuts, you can't really use it well with felt.

I had heard great things about the Cuttlebug and loved the look of the compact design, what I also loved was that they brought out a limited edition one in stylish vintage green! It always helps to have pretty craft tools right.

I had some dies left over from when I had my Bigshot, I was a little annoyed to find that I needed to buy an extra 'C' plate in order to use them in the cuttle bug as it only comes with an 'A' and two 'B' plates. However some of my existing dies worked just fine and it came in the post super fast, then I was able to use all of them.

I had heard things about plates slipping and curving after time, but so far I haven't had any problems with either of those things.

If your not sure what the dickens I am talking about or what a die cutting machine does, it's basically a mangle with two rollers that uses metal dies to cut through paper, card, foam and fabrics.  You insert your material and a metal die in between the plates and the rollers push down with even pressure to cut and emboss the shape of your die in to the material.

As I said I particularly wanted to use it for cutting foam and felt, both of which it does beautifully. The only downside for me is that I am limited to the dies that I can buy ie. those that others design in fixed sizes. I think I have been spoilt with the freedom that comes with the Silhouette design studio software of being able to cut any design in any size. Having said that there are hundreds of dies out there and lots come with multiple size options.

The Kirsty Allsopp model does come with a few dies and an embossing plate but I did buy a few new dies as well of course, I think my favourite has to be this two part bow one from dimensions, this triple butterfly and the roll up rose.

As you can see I have been going a little crazy with the bow one!

This heart one will be really useful for Valentines and beyond and how beautiful are these feather ones. I bought my cuttlebug and all these dies from Crafts U Love which is one of my favourite places to buy craft supplies online.

All in all I would highly recommend this model if you are thinking of investing in a die-cutting system and can't commit to an electronic one. I love that you can use almost all of the other systems dies with it and for me the compact design means I am far more likely to keep it on hand and actually use it on a regular basis now. I am looking forward to trying out using it for some faux letterpress projects too as I have seen a few kits that you can use with these machines. Keep your eyes peeled for when I share my experiments.

I hope that helped if you are on the fence about getting one of these. Have you ever had a go with a die-cutting machine? Ever been fascinated to try one? Do you have one that's your favourite? Let me know your recommendations for places to buy dies from too please, I am a little addicted! I am looking for some good alphabet ones next.

Sammy xxx


Bloglovin / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Google+ / Instagram

Make it: New York Paper Cut

If you know me, you will know that I love New York.  It is one of my top 5 Cities around the world and currently is in the top spot!  When one of my friends mentioned that she would be jetting off there to work for 3 months, I thought of just the right sort thing to give her as a going away memento and as I love papercutting too, its the right combination of fun.

I love the Guggenheim building as it is just so different from alot of the buildings of New York, no highrise or square boxes to be seen here, It really was the foresight of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright, that meant it is such an iconic building now!

I bought this book when I last visited in 2006 from the Guggenheim itself - of course.  The first time I went to New York was with Sammy in 2004 and we went in to see it but didn't go around any exhibitions.  The last time I made sure I walked around the huge curve that houses most of the museums galleries.

So what better building to use as my inspiration for a bit of papercutting for a card to send away with my friend to remind her of home.  This is such a simple project and only really takes the time to work out the way around you want the picture to be.  With papercutting you can draw on the back of a picture to give you guidelines but you do have to remember it will be in the mirror image.  So if you want something a certain way, draw it the opposite on the back.

You will need:  Card (I used an old map of New York that I printed), Ruler, Cutting mat, pencil, rubber, Craft knife/scapel.

Start by using a reference picture of what you want to cut, or draw your own - depending on what you are going to papercut.

Then start drawing on the back of your card, remembering to do the mirror image if you want it to be a certain way.  

You could choose to do a tester piece and so you know you are doing the right thing when you come to your final piece.

Then start cutting along the lines - remembering to make sure your drawing is still attached.  On my version this meant only cutting the horizontal lines.  I then folded my card in half so that it will fit in an envelope.  I bent the horizontal lines into the inside of the card, so that the cuts protrude out when the card is folded.  Then I used a pencil to curve out the cuts so that they have the lovely curve of the Guggenheim when the card is kept slightly bent on the mantelpiece.

Then, that's it done, quite simple really.  The best thing about papercutting is that it really can be so simple to look effective.  There are so many different styles to try and so you can start small and work your way up.  I find it better to draw on the back as it gives a cleaner finish in the end, but you might want to start with keeping it the same way and so you can practice the mirror image after you have mastered using a scapel, especially for those little bits.  Trust me, there will always be a little bit that just rips off almost when you have finished!

We would love to see if you have a go at any papercutting. Like with all our DIY's if you do, take a quick pic and share it with us on Twitter or Instagram don't forget the hashtag #livelovemake.

Hope your having a lovely Monday!
H