AccuCut Craft Blog

Let's eat cake

Posted by Jen Cramer

People are always scrapbooking their children and milestones, and birthday parties make classic pages. So a must-have die in a store die cutting center is definitely a birthday cake. It's also a good die because it can fit on pages but it can also go on birthday cards.

Here is a cake die that I recommend: Cake-Birthday #1. I would say that the Large size is our most popular, where the cake itself is 3 3/8" high. I love that it has a separate candle on the die so you can cut as many candles as you want.

It also has a coordinating frosting die that you would also get in a large to fit the large cake. Here we can see both used in a cute 8" x 8" page.

See the Make A Wish page for materials and die information.

She's having a baby

Posted by Jen Cramer

One of AccuCut's most popular card dies for baby announcements and thank you cards is our Diaper Card, which is a 2-die set. Besides being so cute folded up, it opens to show an inside mat that can hold announcement information or another message. The die for the mat is actually a Clear Cuts die, which means that you can see through it. You can print out your invitation for example, look through the die to position it where it needs to be cut, and then run it through the die cutting machine.

Here are a few examples of the card being used. The first is a striped It's a Girl card. It would be so nice to be able to pick out your papers to match the colors that you're using for the baby's room or your favorite "girl" colors.

and the inside:

The second is a Love and Adore Diaper Card that is perfect for a new little boy.

If you're a retailer, it's a good idea to have a selection of dies for baby announcements. If you can show a mom-to-be how to make her announcements she could need to make up to 50-75 cards -- and she'll need to buy paper, adhesive and embellishments to make them. You just need to supply her with the tools to make the card and a little inspiration.

One final note... the folded Diaper Card is 6 1/4"w x 4 1/2" high so it fits in an A6 envelope. Hope you enjoyed our posts this week. Have a great weekend and we'll be back again on Monday!

Pull up a chair

Posted by Jen Cramer

If you're looking to add another wedding-related die to your selection, then I have the perfect die for you: AccuCut's Box-Chair die is a place card holder and favor box rolled up into one.

On the single jumbo die you get both the chair shape and the place card that fits into the two notches on the chair back. The base is 2" square and the chair is 4 1/4" high. When assembled, the chair "seat" opens up for you to put in candies or other treats.

Now let's look at a few examples of how this box has been used:

You can see how you can use the die by itself and decorate with hand-cut paper strips (red Michael box) or you can use border dies to embellish the chair.

Click here for material lists and die information for these and two more projects using this chair. If you're a retail store, the key is to make a few examples of the die being used so brides can visualize how they could use this box at their shower or wedding. You have to inspire them!

Spotted on the web: Owl Mini Book

Posted by Jen Cramer

I try to take a few minutes each day to check out some of my favorite blogs done by well-known scrapbooking artists and also some of our customers that do a great job promoting their AccuCut die cutting centers. It's a great way to keep in touch with where the industry is going and what is happening in local stores. The best part is when I run across creative projects made with AccuCut dies.

I saw this Owl Mini Book project done by Vanessa Hudson on the Scrap Etc. blog the other day and I just had to share it with our readers. (PS: I like reading this blog because Monique always includes a ton of pictures of new products they are bringing into the store!)

I can see four different dies she used in this project. I just love how she used the Owl die (large size 3 1/2"w x 4 1/2"h) to cut the shape out of felt, and the flowers for the wings are such a cute idea. (I just checked and there are about 10 of these in stock right now but that could change fast.)

And then I see Nameplates #3 (the bigger shape)...

And the Border-Scallops-Small #2 that is just over 12" wide...

And the basis of the album is made using our popular Cards-Filing die, which is a bargain at just $55...

Thanks, Vanessa, for the inspiration and I'll be on the lookout for more projects out there that show off AccuCut dies!

Tuesday's with Tammy: Know when to hold 'em

Posted by Tammy Miller

The AccuCut GrandeMARK machine and dies have been a source of income for store owners in a unique way for many years. More and more I have been impressed with the creative ways they have used our system to make money. Nothing has proven that to me further than the smart business ideas that were posted on or around March 11th.  If you haven’t read all of them you should take some time and do so. I'm sure you can find some ideas for your store if you have one!

The concept we call "Know when to hold ‘em" is one of my favorites and is one that I suggest all the time to store owners. You can also find this suggestion on page 6 of the 2008 Craft Catalog... if you don’t already have one, you can request the catalog online. Basically, the thought is to keep a few strategic dies in the back room or office (not in your die cutting center) and use them to create pre-cut shapes, kits and themed packages. You could keep the die in the back indefinitely or add the die to your die cutting center when it pays for itself.

So how do you decide which dies to do this with? Album dies, oversized shapes and frames are a good place to start. Let's look at a couple examples.

This is our Mat-Circles-11" die with an example of it used on a scrapbook page (see Sweet Giggly Funny page). It would be a good die to keep back and use to cut out chipboard or any plain color of cardstock and then sell that in your store.

Here's another idea... AccuCut sells four different metal tins that each have a coordinating die. For example, here is a Color My World album using our Large Hinged Candy Tin and the Rectangle Accordion Album die that goes with it.

These are the three shapes you get on the die (with a mini pic of how they fit together):

You could sell the tins and then use the die to cut blank albums in a variety of colors. The accordion album shape is 11 1/4"w x 3 1/4"h so you can get three albums out of just one piece of paper. I would bet that you could charge at least $1.00 for a blank album die cut ($3.00 out of that one piece of paper), so you do the math figuring out the profit you will make. Before long you will pay for that die.

Best of luck, and keep posting your comments. I have heard from many store owners they love to read all of the ideas being shared on our blog.

Skull and crossbones anyone?

Posted by Jen Cramer

It seems as if the "skull and crossbones" trend is still out there in the scrapbooking world... from just plain "bones" (even with girly pink) to classic pirate papers and embellishments. If your customers are still carrying the trend--or if you're looking for a way to spark sales of skulls/pirate products--then it may be a good idea to invest in a skull-and-crossbones AccuCut die.

Our die is actually called a Poison Symbol and it looks like this:

Here is the small die used on a One Tough Girl 12" x 12" scrapbook page:

It looks great cut out of our new black chipboard, which was also used to cut out the 4" Tower letters. I really like the look of the new Tower size -- you can get a lot of bold letters on a page because they are so narrow. Here's a quick look at that alphabet:

Tomorrow:  Another installment of "Tuesdays with Tammy"!

Spring is here...hooray!

Posted by Jen Cramer

I don't know about you but I am tired of winter and I am definitely ready for spring and even more ready for summer. So it was nice to see that we finally reached the first day of spring yesterday. In honor of yesterday's annual milestone, let's see a fun spring project.

This Spring Giggles Triptych is made by decorating a Creative Imaginations Bare Elements Jyoti Triptych with die cuts, rub-ons and photos.

It's so easy to decorate one of these tryptichs when you cut out the base shapes using the coordinating AccuCut Jyoti Triptych die shown below. You can see that it cuts the outside frame shape and the recessed "window" shape. It's so much easier using the die than trying to cut those shapes by hand.

If you want to see all of the dies used on this Spring project including butterflies, the flower and the rick rack shape, just go to the project page.

Now that I've shared a project with you, I think I'm going to spend the rest of my day off checking out some of the local scrapbook stores (home is Omaha, Nebraska) to see what new products they have in from their CHA orders. Last night I stopped at Yesterday's Scrapbooking down the street, which has a great AccuCut die cutting center by the way, and picked up some of the new Scenic Route Grafton line. I can't wait to play with it!

We'll be back again on Monday... enjoy your weekend and have a happy Easter!

Offer favor box dies for weddings

Posted by Jen Cramer

If you are a retail store with a die cutting center, be sure you are offering dies to tap the wedding market. By having a variety of dies for invitations and favor boxes -- and making sure you let people know you have them -- you will be able to sell more cardstock and other embellishments.

Here is a new die that came out in January that I just love for wedding favors: Box #26.

It comes in two sizes, is a nice "squatty" (is that a real word?) shape so you don't have to spend a lot of money to fill it up with candy, and it has the most adorable scalloped top. Let's look at two projects showing the two sizes.

The jumbo-size box is 2 1/2" wide x 2 1/2" long x 1 1/4" high. This Monogram Favor Box is a classic example using a monogram letter on the top -- this one uses a 2" Uppercase Roman alphabet. The bride can also make her own seals for the top of the box using a computer or rubber stamping a letter on the top or simply add a die-cut or Prima flower.

I also like the super jumbo size for a larger favor box -- it's 3 1/4" wide x 3 1/4" long x 1 5/8" high. It would also make a nice size for attendants' gifts to hold jewelry and other smaller items. This Happy Couple Box shows how you can incorporate a photo of the couple into your favor. Black and white photos are always a nice touch.

 

Want to see more boxes? Go to the AccuCut site to see all bags and boxes.

Designing with AccuCut clear plastic sheets

Posted by Traci Armbrust, AccuCut Sr. Designer

I am so excited to get the opportunity to share some ideas and tips for making your projects using AccuCut die cuts truly fabulous.

My first tip is to cut shapes using AccuCut's clear plastic sheets. It comes in both 12" x 12" and 9" x 12" sizes in a variety of sheets per package. Some of my favorites projects to make with our plastic are bags and boxes (see Button Box and Flower Box)...

and of course albums (see That's My Boy 5" x 8" album)... 

I also love to cut out flower shapes because you can bend the flowers into 3-D shapes for a nice effect. Another technique is to use Opaque StazOn Ink by Tsukineko to add color to the flowers. You can actually stamp on your flower or simply use it as an accent tool. Here are a few of my favorite projects using this technique.

In this 12" x 12" scrapbook page called Pals Forever I simply cut out the flowers using our Flowers #6 (F1445LC) die and took my StazOn™ Cotton White ink pad across the petals using a swiping motion.  I swipe from the inside of the flower to the outside of the petal. Experiment using all different colors or even combining them.

On this 6" x 6" album called Natural Beauty I took a foam stamp and simply stamped a flower image right onto the plastic using the Butter Cream StazOn™ Opaque Ink.

The plastic sheets are a lot of fun -- just start experimenting! For more inspiration, here are more than 50 project ideas using clear plastic. Have fun!

Tuesdays with Tammy: How to promote new dies

Posted by Tammy Miller

As you're bringing new dies into your die cutting center, don't forget to promote them as much as you can. We have had many successful stores tell us that by keeping the display projects up to date with the latest dies that their customers will be more interested in taking advantage of the die cutting center... which means more paper and other product that they will need to buy from you. 

How else can you promote new dies? Here's a list that I always go through with retailers and if you have any more ideas I'd like to hear about them.

1. Feature a new die a week: Show multiple projects using the die, including scrapbook pages, cards and other paper crafts.
2. List the new dies in your e-mail or printed newsletter. If you locate your die on the AccuCut site you can right-click on the die image and copy it so you can use it in your newsletter.
3. Go to the Ideas area on the AccuCut site. You can enter your die number in the search box to show all of the AccuCut project ideas using that die. Print off your favorites and keep a binder in your die cutting center to provide free inspiration for your customers!
4. Have a contest: Pick a die or group of new dies and have a contest in your store for the most creative project. This provides projects that you can display during the contest period (have people vote on their favorites) and gets people excited about what they can participate in.   
5. Create samples, samples and more samples.
6. Have a class featuring projects made with new dies.

If you have any other creative ways to promote new dies in a store, please post your ideas.

Before I go I want to share a wonderful Spring Flowers scrapbook page that showcases the new Apricot alphabet in the 2" size as well as our Creative Cafe Ribbon-11 1/2" die, which was one of our best sellers at the show. Click here to view the project page on our site.

I like the nontraditional use of the big ribbon shape. Here is what the actual Ribbon-11 1/2" die looks like:

For the scrapbook page, the designer used two different papers to cut two shapes using just the ribbon edge. Then she pieced them together to form a narrower ribbon shape than the original shape on the die. That's just one more way to get more out of a single die. I hope you liked the project and the tip!