Scrapping by Design

I’ve made another birthday card decorated with Sizzix  dies that cut party hats and the word Party. The dies used are
Sizzlits Shape Sets Die – Birthday Set #2.

The concentric pink circles are cut using the Spellbinders S4-124 Nestabilities 6-Piece Concentric Die Template, Classic Scalloped Circles, Large

As always, I cut the paper with my favorite tool of all time, the Sizzix Big Shot .

To make the party hats, I cut a hat in brown, a hat in rose and a hat in pink. I then layered them as shown, and decorated with a bit of Snow Writer. The hats are attached with 3D tape to add dimension.

The hat die could be adapted for a New Years theme, or for any other theme where a party hat may be apropos.

This hand made Easter card is courtesy of a make and take at Making Memories with Scrapbooking in Burnaby, BC.

The coloring is done with copic markers. I love copics, but I have decided not to purchase any.  I have a stash of assorted coloring products from previous fads, and I can’t justify buying more.

The pink part of the nose and inner ear is colored with a new product called Sparkly Fluff by The Craft Lounge. The color is Rockin Pink.

The bunny and the sentiment are stamped with acrylic stamps.  I don’t remember the brand, and I suspect the scalloped circles were cut with a die, probably one of the Spellbinders Nestabilties Dies

This is a cute card for a kid. I have a young boy in mind to receive it this Easter.

Today’s mail brought this adorable stamped Christmas card from another member of the Canada Stamp Talk email group.

The stamped image is colored with Copic markers. At least, that would be my best guess. The stamping is done on a white circle which in turn  is layered over a green circle, which in turn is layered over a red scalloped circle.

These circles are centered in the middle of green and red striped scrapbook paper, and the paper is double matted on a layer of white and red.

The red Merry Christmas sentiment is 3-D’d on the card and decorated with two red rhinestones.

I find this to be a most unusual and appealing card. What a bright and cheerful item to brighten my day.

Thanks to the sender, whose name i will include if she permits.

Yesterday, I received this lovely Christmas card from Ardelle McFarland, a member of the Canadian Stamp Talk (CST) Yahoo group. We are participating in a Holiday card exchange.

As always, Ardelle’s card is perfection. It combines  Cuttlebug embossing, a Spellbinder Nestability shape, stamped images, a small punch art flower with a beaded center and striped ribbon. The inside is just as lovely.

All elements in this card are perfectly color coordinated. Even the gray and maroon striped ribbon is an exact match of the card stock and the stamping ink.

Thank you Ardelle! Yours was the first card to arrive.

This Holiday craft project is a candy holder made with card stock, acrylic and a ribbon. It couldn’t be simpler, but of course, you could decorate it any way you choose.

The inspiration came from a make and take at Clipper Street Scrapbook Company, a craft store in Langley, BC. It was one of the make and takes at their annual Christmas open house.

In the video demonstration below, I used a Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Scalloped Circles Die Template to cut the shape in the middle. At Clipper Street, we used the Spellbinders S4-220 Nested Pine Trees Die Template. That’s the one shown in the picture above.

One tip: if you’re going to do this using a die cut machine (I used the Sizzix 655268 Big Shot Cutting-and-Embossing Roller-Style Machine
), its a good idea to tape your die in place before cutting. Otherwise, it can slip a bit during the cutting and that destroys the symmetry of the candy holder.

Here is the video demonstration:

Although this little 3-D candy holder is made as a holiday or Christmas craft project, you could adapt it easily to make wedding favors, or to make a holder for Valentines Day, birthday parties, Easter, Halloween or any other holiday or special occasion.

At today’s Make and Take at Making Memories with Scrapbooking in Vancouver, we made a delightful card using dies from Spellbinder Nestabilities

The purple circle and the yellow circle are the Nestabilities shapes. The black circle with the word “Smile” is a stamp.

We Used the Nestabilities dies with the Sizzix Big Shot.

To use them as a die, you make the “sandwich”, placing the card stock and the die between two acrylic  cutting surfaces, then placing that on Tab 2.

Nestabilities dies can also be embossed.  To do the embossing, we put the die and the card stock between the two acrylic blocks, but added a Spellbinder Embossing Mat.

This went on Tab 1, cutting and embossing simultaneously.

This cut the circle and created a ring of embossing around the edge. Very attractive.

I don’t have any Nestabilities dies yet, but I certainly want some.

A few days ago, blogger Susan Chong from the Artful Mama posted some pictures and a link to instructions for making a thoroughly delightful pop-up hexagon ball. Apparently Susan cut the shape with a Provo Craft Cricut Machine, but she also posted a link to another blog showing how to design the project yourself if you don’t have  the Cricut pattern.

And for those who can wait, Sizzix is soon to release a die that makes the pop-up hexagon ball and a few other things too.

Today, Susan uploaded what she describes as her first video clip showing the ball popping open. You can see it here: The Artful Mama: My First Pop Up Hexagon Ball!

I love this project. I can’t wait to try making one. Hmmm. I have a Cricut but no pattern for this. I also have a Big Shot Die Cut machine, but the die isn’t available yet.

So therefore, I’ll be trying to make the thing using the pictures at the link Susan posted.

Should I get the Provo Craft  Cuttlebug or should I get the Sizzix Big Shot/Big Kick? I asked that question to the email list, Canadian Stamp Talk (CST).

My question was motivated by the highly important (to me) fact that Michaels Arts and Craft store has the Provo Craft Cuttlebug and accessories on sale for 50% off this week — or at least it’s in sale in Vancouver, where I live.

Both machines do die cutting and embossing — and apparently both do it well.

I received some excellent information from fans of both the Cuttlebug and the Big Shot. Seemingly the Sizzix machine is called the Big Kick  when sold at A.C. Moore, Jo-Ann Stores and Michaels. It’s called the Big Shot when sold in elsewhere, including the smaller craft shops.  I don’t think there is any difference between the Big Shot and the Big Kick.  If there is, someone please correct me.

Comparing the Big Shot and the Cuttlebug

Size

The Provo Craft Cuttlebug Machine is smaller than the Sizzix 655268 Big Shot Cutting-and-Embossing Roller-Style Machine.   The Big Shot’s measurements are 14-1/4 by 8-1/2 by 6-1/2 inches and it weighs 11.5 pounds.  The Cuttlebug measures 12 by 7-4/5 by 9-1/2  and the mouth is six inches wide. It  weighs seven pounds.

The Cuttlebug takes up less space, is lighter and is therefore easier to tote around if you go to crops. I don’t go to crops, but storage space is a consideration.

Price

The Cuttlebug is usually cheaper. In my area, it sells for anywhere between $70 and $110. Wal-mart has the lowest price, at $70. Interestingly, at $110, Michaels is by far the most expensive, exceeding even the small mom-and-pop craft stores that fall in between the Wal-mart and Michaels price.   However,  the sale at  Michaels  should bring that down to $60.  The Big Shot sells locally from $90 to $100 and there’s no sign of a sale.

Function and Warranty

Both machines are said to be universal — meaning they will use dies from other manufacturers. Both machines will cut on a variety of materials. The Cuttlebug recommends cutting material that is 1/8 or an inch or less in thickness.  Thicker materials may not cut properly and may damage the machine. The warranty covers manufacturer’s defects only, so this type of damage would not be covered by the Provo Craft warranty, nor would it cover damage caused by using dies from other manufacturers.

One woman who responded to my question said that the Sizzix warranty is NOT void if you use dies from another manufacturer. However, the Sizzix  web site offers no information  about the Big Shot’s warranty, or about anything else that would be helpful for comparison purposes. I find the Sizzix web site disappointing, frankly, compared to the wealth of information on Provo Craft’s site.

Also, with the Cuttlebug, apparently you  cannot  use some of the larger dies like the wonderful Bigz Dies from Sizzix.  I have the Cricut, which is lovely for die cutting, but the Cricut does not work on thicker materials such as chipboard.

Some respondents thought that the Sizzix machine would work on thicker material than the Cuttlebug — but given the shortage of information on the Big Shot web page, I cannot confirm that.  It would be nice to be able to cut chipboard shapes.

Some people who responded to my question said that Cuttlebug is easier to use and to work with. Some others said that the Big Shot is easier to use and work with. One commented that with the Big Shot there is no shimming to make the folders emboss as there is with the Cuttlebug.

Customer Satisfaction at Amazon

At Amazon, customer satisfaction is about equal. Two people gave the Big Shot a five star rating.  The Cuttlebug earned a 4.5 star rating from a total of seven people. The half star was lost because apparently the Cuttlebug’s suction plates are not as good as they could be and the machine tends to move around on the table when you use it.

Dies

Dies for both machines are readily available at local craft stores,  chain stores and online, so availability is not an issue.

What’s your choice? Cuttlebug or Big Shot?  Or some other machine altogether?