AccuCut Craft Blog

Thursday's winner and a new giveaway for Friday

Posted by Jen Cramer

Our winner for Thursday's giveaway of a $75 AccuCut gift certificate is Julie, who posted at 4:00 yesterday:

The it shape for fall/winter will be a leafless tree.

Posted by: Julie | May 08, 2008 at 04:00 PM

Congrats! We'll be in touch to get you your gift certificate. I've heard lots of people talking about trees and branches lately so don't be surprised if you see something in our July release for CHA Summer.

And that brings us to the final giveaway of the week... the new Treat Wrap Bag die (with crease). This die makes a wonderful class project and kits too. The single shape wraps around 4" wide x 6" high treat bags. Here's a Flower Treat Wrap that Traci made. Those Jelly Bellies are making me hungry!

And here's another Heart Treat Bag that I made. To assemble it I filled up my bag with gum drops, rolled the bag down a few times at the top and stapled the clear bag to the inside top of the front flap. Then you wrap the wrapper around the bag and glue the top flap down over the front. You could also use little magnets to hold the top on if you wanted.

If your treats are really heavy and want to tip over you could cut a piece of chipboard to fit inside the bottom and cover it with paper. Putting that inside the bottom would help stabilize it if needed.

To enter the drawing to win this fabulous die, tell me what your favorite AccuCut bag or box die is. Click on the comments link below and post your comment there. You can even include a link to the die if you want or just include the name and why you like it so much. We'll give everyone the weekend to enter... post your comment by the end of day Sunday, May 11, and we'll post the winner on Monday.

PS: To all of the mothers out there, have a happy Mothers Day on Sunday!

We have a winner for Wednesday's free dies

Posted by Jen Cramer

The winner of the birds and flourish dies from Wednesday's post is Shanel, who posted May 7 at 11:51 a.m. Here is her entry:

I'd love to see more ideas, more scrapbook page layouts on your blog. I love having your dies in my store and my customers love them too but more ideas on how to use some of them would be wonderful! Thanks. Great blog!

Posted by: Shanel | May 07, 2008 at 11:51 AM

Congratulations, Shanel. We'll e-mail you to confirm where to send your free dies!

And everyone else: We're still open for entries in today's giveaway of a $75 gift certificate. You have until 9 a.m. Friday to get your prediction in. See the post from May 7 for info.

Thursday's gift certificate giveaway and a butterfly favor

*** Entries are no longer being accepted. ***

Posted by Jen Cramer

If you're looking for a unique idea for a small favor container you may be able to find something in the travel items section of your local Target, Wal-Mart, any dollar store, etc. Traci found these cute little screw-top containers last year and turned them into Butterfly Favors.

On the top of the favor she used the Butterfly #6 long cut die to make the layered butterfly. The die has three "wing" shapes in different sizes ranging from 2 1/4" wide to 3" wide, perfect for layering. The extra long cut version has larger sizes.

I know that butterflies have been very popular this summer and have popped up on a number of scrapbook papers and embellishments. Over the past year or so we've also seen our fair share of birds, cupcakes, skulls, robots, owls, pirates and a few other suddenly "it" shapes.

So what is your prediction for the next "it" shape for this fall/winter? Click on the comments link below and tell me what your prediction is and you'll be entered to win today's giveaway... a $75 AccuCut gift certificate. You have until 9 a.m. CST Friday, May 9, to post your comment. *** Entries are no longer being accepted. ***

We have a winner for Tuesday's free die

Posted by Jen Cramer

The winner of the A2 Gift Card die from Tuesday's post is Christine D., who posted May 6 at 2:10 p.m. Here is what she would make with that die:

This versatile die is one of many on my "wish list". Not only is it a great gift holder that can be decorated countless ways, but it would also make a great mini accordion album. I would also add a magnetic closure to it (I love the snap sound). Or, instead of a "gift card" holder, personalize the gift even more and print your own special "coupon" on the mat -- everyone enjoys the gift of time. And of course, it would also be a great hidden journaling area on a scrapbook page.

Posted by: Christine D. | May 06, 2008 at 02:10 PM

Congratulations, Christine. We'll e-mail you to confirm where to send your free die!

Other blog readers: See the previous post regarding another chance to win not one but TWO dies... we're doing this every day until Friday so keep coming back.

Wednesday's giveaway: Two dies to one winner!

*** Entries are no longer being accepted. ***

Posted by Jen Cramer

Is everyone enjoying our National Scrapbooking Day giveaway spree this week? I've had so much fun giving away free products! Everyone is so creative and it's great to hear your ideas about how you would use the dies.

I'm feeling especially generous today so let's give away not one but TWO dies to one lucky winner. Both are new dies that were introduced in January and will work wonderfully together.

The first die is Birds #1 (the long cut size). I know we've given this one away before but everyone loves it so much I thought we should give away another one.

This Maya Road Half Circle Binder album uses both the jumbo and the long cut sizes of the die. (The long cut bird is the smaller one of the two and is a little more than 3 1/2" wide.) I also have to mention that decorating the Maya Road binders is so easy when you have the die to match. You can see all of our Maya Road dies on our site.

Here's one more project that shows another bird that's on the Birds #1 die. This Thinking of You card is so sweet. The bird is placed on one of our new Convertibles cards using a new Brackets insert. If you haven't seen them you can learn more about Convertibles cards and albums here.

And the "bonus" die is our new small Flourishes #4 die. They are the perfect size to put a bird right on top of them!

So how can you enter our drawing to win these two dies? Just click on the "comments" link below this post and let me know one thing that you'd like to see more of on our blog or what we can add to it to make sure you keep coming back (except giveaways...we already know you like those!). Do you want to see more techniques? How about videos? Guest bloggers? More scrapbooking or more cards? You name it. Leave your comment by 9 a.m. CST tomorrow morning (Thursday 5/8) to be entered in our drawing. Good luck! *** Entries are no longer being accepted. ***

We have a winner for Monday's free die

Posted by Jen Cramer

The winner of the Vintage long cut die from Monday's post is Debra Rector, who posted May 6 at 2:14. Here's what she said she did on National Scrapbook Day:

A group of scrap buddies and I started a Scrap Club back in December '07. The six of us meet on the first Sunday of every month and spend the day together doing what we love most -- scrapping! This weekend we celebrated National Scrapbook Day by using a new AccuCut album die (6x6) and challenging each other to complete the album in time for next month. We used chip board for the front and back covers, and clear plastic (also purchased from AccuCut) for the center tabbed pages.

Posted by: Debra Rector | May 06, 2008 at 02:14 PM

Congratulations, Debra. We'll contact you to get your info.

Everyone else, there are still more chances to win every day through Friday this week. Keep watching! (Tuesday's free gift card die ends at 10 a.m. Wednesday.)

Tuesdays with Tammy: Give away a free die?

*** Entries are no longer being accepted. ***

Posted by Tammy Miller

Is it someone's birthday? At the Miller house, it is a week-long celebration when it's someone's birthday. Grandma loves celebrations so the party just keeps going. I sorta get the same feeling for National Scrapbooking Day -- a week-long celebration! So I've chosen a great die to give away with today's post: the AccuCut A2 Card-Gift Card die.

This cute little card has two slits to hold a standard gift card from just about anywhere. You can use it for any occasion: birthdays, graduations, Christmas or even for a baby gift.

I have a great story I want to share. At Christmas I was trying to get the girls to tell me what they wanted, and the standard answer was "gift cards". But I just wanted to give them something that they could open and play with just like they did when they were little. After the fourth or fifth time I asked, Marissa finally said in a teary voice, "But, Mom, I just love to shop." Well, gift cards it was.

You know that a gift card is always appreciated by the person getting it, but as the "gift card giver" sometimes you just want to dress it up a little to let the person know that it wasn't just a last-minute decision. For a Christmas gift, you can make something like this Oh Christmas Tree Gift Card Holder that was made with BasicGrey Figgy Pudding cardstock. The paper is so pretty you don't even need to add anything to the outside of the card.

And here is the inside. The trees were cut out of the same cardstock and glued to the card that fits on the inside top panel. Add a holiday rub-on or stamp and you're good to go.

So back to my story... When Marissa's birthday rolled around I thought I'd try again. Same answer. "Mom, all I want are gift cards. I want to buy my own swimsuit and I want to pick it out." Anyone else out there have a 12-year-old daughter? : )

Here is an example of a gift card for a special birthday. (See Enjoy Gift Card Holder.)

And the inside reveals the rest of the message...

If I were a store owner I would have a "Gift Card Holder" class and show them how to make 4-5 cards. Maybe a couple birthday cards, a graduation one and one for Christmas. Show them how easy it is so they will want to make more. (It really is addictive once you start!) During the holidays, make sure you have some kits or some even already made for people to "grab and go". You could do that with birthday card holders too.

I bet you want to win this die now! Post a comment by 10 a.m. CST tomorrow (Wednesday) and tell me how you would use this die. I will randomly pick the winner and send the die to you!  *** Entries are no longer being accepted. ***

PS: Don't forget about our "Mom" challenge. Entries are due Monday, May 12.

Happy "Week After National Scrapbooking Day" and your chance to win a free die!

Posted by Jen Cramer

I hope everyone out there was able to take part in some of the National Scrapbooking Day festivities this weekend, whether in your local stores or online. Many of you were probably hosting the events at your own stores! If not, hopefully you were able to find some time to create something at home.

If you were reading the AccuCut Craft Blog last week, I promised a giveaway every day this week to celebrate NSD -- yes, Monday through Friday this week we're going to give away something for free each day!

Let's start off the week by giving away a Vintage long cut die. I talked about the die in the May 1st post. Here are the two shapes on the die again:

So, to enter the random drawing for the die, tell me what you did to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day. Since I was late posting today, I'll take entries until 3 p.m. CST Tuesday, May 6. We'll draw a winner tomorrow after it closes and post the winner. (Only US and Canada entries for this drawing please. I'll have a gift certificate drawing later this week that will be open to international entries.) EDITED: ENTRIES ARE NOW CLOSED

So what did I do for National Scrapbooking Day? I started a mini album about our two kids for my mother-in-law using a 4" Maya Road Binder and Creative Cafe papers/dies. If it turns out okay I'll post pics later this week. That reminds me... we're starting to get entries for our Mother's Day challenge. Entries are due May 12 and you could win a $50 gift certificate. Read more about the challenge.

Good luck!

Ending the week with a pair of bags

Posted by Jen Cramer

Besides note cards, I have the most fun creating things with AccuCut bag and box dies. With the variety of paper out there to choose from you can really make some beautiful packaging.

This is Bag #9. I like how the top of the long sides have an extra "flap" that folds over inside (or outside) the box to reinforce the handle area. The super jumbo version stands 4" high and the giant version, which still cuts a bag out of 12" x 12" paper, stands almost 6" high.

Here is a Groovy Flower Bag made using the super jumbo Bag #9 die. It was so easy to put together. Simply add a strip of paper to the front -- adhere a strip to the front with the ends hanging off and then simply cut them flush to the bag with scissors. Then layer two flower die cuts (I used Flowers #6) with dimensional glue dots. Add a button for the flower center and tie on some ribbon for handles (that's Love, Elsie ribbon here).

Similarly shaped to that bag, Bag #11 has scallops along the top and the super jumbo size (the only size) stands 4 1/4" high.

In this Flower for You bag, the bag was cut out of some flowery Fancy Pants Kewl cardstock and then a flower and stem die cuts were added to the front for a 3-D effect. Wouldn't you like to get a present in that bag?

Here's one more version of that bag to end our week. Sometimes simple is all you need. Here, the bag was made with another beautiful piece of double-sided cardstock -- this time it's K & Company. Then Traci punched a couple holes in the front so she could tie a wide silk ribbon on to the bag. That bag would be perfect for a wedding or baby shower, Mother's Day or someone's birthday. (See Scalloped Bag)

PS: Check back Monday through Friday next week for daily giveaways to celebrate National Scrapbook Day!

Vintage (and a reminder about our Challenge!)

Posted by Jen Cramer

Sorry we were a no-show yesterday... we are crazy busy getting ready for the National Stationery Show in a few weeks and putting together our May supplement (can you believe it is May 1st today?!). I can't wait to share what we've been working on -- you will really love the new dies. Keep watching the blog for sneak peeks.

And speaking of watching the blog, I want to make sure you didn't miss our "mom" CHALLENGE that was issued on Monday. You could win a $50 gift certificate so be sure to check it out here.

Now back to our featured die of the day: the Vintage long cut die that was released in January.

It has two wonderful shapes on the single die. The shape on the left is 4" wide x 2 7/8" high and the second shape is 4 3/8" square.

I love the intricate curves and the antique feel to these shapes. It's just one of those dies that make you say "I have to make something with this"... something sanded or inked on the edges to really show off the shape.

Here is a Love Notes Card that Traci made. You can see that the "square" shape fits perfectly on top of our Ribbon Card.

And then here is the same card die and square Vintage shape used with fun bright colors on this Birdy card. Same dies but totally different look.

The more horizontal shape is a lot of fun too. In this Love You Grandpa standing album, the Vintage shape is used to frame two photos. See how the inking really makes that shape "pop" from the background.

And one of my favorite recent scrapbook pages is this simple wedding 12" x 12" page: Love You Like Crazy. The small shape features a rub-on and see the sanding on the edges. 

Also used on this page is the 11 1/2" version of our square Vintage shape that comes on a giant die. They are a perfect complement for each other.

You can see a few more projects using the Vintage long cut die here. I think it's a wonderful die that could be used to create beautiful cards, albums, page embellisments... you name it. I also think stores should use this die to make and sell their own cardstock and chipboard shapes.