AccuCut Craft Blog

Chipboard techniques

Posted by Traci Armbrust, AccuCut Sr. Designer

We heard a lot of great feedback about the folding technique posts (Part I and Part II), so let’s just get down to business with some more techniques using AccuCut dies.

We’re living in a chipboard world and I am definitely a chipboard girl. Sometimes I feel like I'm using chipboard in some way or another on most of the projects I create, especially since we started offering our own kraft chipboard. But I use it in many different ways... sometimes my use of chipboard is obvious and a major part of the project, and other times it's more "behind the scenes" but it helps to create the overall look I want to achieve. Let's walk through some tips.

Tip #1: Adhere your material to the chipboard before cutting with the AccuCut machine.

Whether you are using felt, metal or cardstock, use spray adhesive, double-sided adhesive sheets or a Xyron® machine to adhere the material to the chipboard before cutting. Doing this gives the die cut a nice finished edge. It also ensures that your edges stay nice and glued down.

If you are covering album pages, then this tip is crucial. Trying to line various materials with chipboard pages can become daunting and the edges seem to pull up easier.

In this Heart Crayon Box, the dark pink cardstock was adhered to the chipboard before cutting the hearts. Imagine trying to cut the chipboard and paper separately and trying to line them up. This looks much better, plus it save time.

This Home is Where the Heart Is home decor item one of my recent favorites. I adhered the brown paper to the chipboard and then cut out the Vintage shape that makes the base. I did the same thing with the heart to give it dimension. Then I adhered our copper craft metal to chipboard before cutting out the letters.

Tip #2: Paint your chipboard shapes.

After painting chipboard die cuts with acrylic paint (one of my favorites brands is Scrapbook Colors™ by Making Memories®) or whatever paints you like, let them dry. They might need to be pressed under a book if they start to curl -- it just depends if you get crazy with the paint or if you are a minimalist. After it dries you can apply all sorts or mediums: Ranger's Distress Ink, Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels, or even a clear lacquer like Diamond Glaze from Inkadinkado®. Or you can sand the edges to have the chipboard show through the paint.

On this Home for the Holidays page I cut out the 4" letters then painted them with white acrylic paint and then with taupe around the edges.

Tip #3: Cut bags and boxes from chipboard.

Making bags or boxes out of lightweight chipboard is very trendy and again you can ink it, paint it or just leave it plain. Check it out the Anything for You and First Smile boxes:

Tip #4: Bare or "naked" chipboard.

I use this technique, I use the word "technique" loosely, because this is as easy as it gets. Just cut your shapes out of chipboard and let the chipboard show through -- this works well with albums. The great thing about this is that you can teach classes or kit bare albums and shapes and let your imagination go wild. Here is one of my favorites… Four Times the Fun.

And finally...

Tip #5: Texturize it.

If you have a GrandeMARK machine, use the Deluxe Texturize & Emboss Kit and select from a variety of texture plates to add texture to chipboard. On this Party Like a Rock Star tag I used our Croc texture plate and then lightly added some ink to bring out the texture.

There you have it... lots of ways to use your chipboard with your dies. Chime in if you have any other techniques you use with chipboard. I would love to hear them!

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!

Folding techniques - Part 2

Posted by Jen Cramer

NOTE: Our free die entry is still going on.... see the March 11 post below.

In the last post we showed you a simple card-making technique using a single fold of paper strategically placed on a die. Now let's add just a couple more folds to create a stand-up shape. It's easy when you watch the step-by-step instructions.

STAND-UP SHAPES

For this technique demonstration we'll use Rabbit #6 (R1042L), which is great timing with Easter approaching. The shape is 4" wide by 5" high and fits nicely on pages and cards. Here, you'll get to see how you can make it into a standing Easter decoration. (This technique works best when the bottom of the shape is somewhat flat and when the bottom is broader than the "top" of the shape in order to give it support.)

1. The first step is to fold a sheet of paper in half. Then fold sides of paper in opposite direction of first fold, approximately 1/4" to 1/2" from the first fold depending on the size of the shape you will be cutting out. In this case, Traci used 1/2" folds.

3. Place folds at bottom of shape on die, leaving bottom blade uncovered. (This allows the shape to remain connected.)

4. Roll die through AccuCut machine.

5. Remove the die cut. You can see how the folds, when flattened, will form the base of your stand-up shape.

6. Apply adhesive to the top part of the shape only and connect the sides.

And here you can see how cute the final embellished project is! Adorable!

So when would you use this folding technique? You can make unique place cards and table decorations. Seasonal shapes are perfect for holidays (pumpkins, Christmas trees, etc.). For birthday parties, use a birthday cake shape. With some "chunkier" alphabets you can make a letter stand up -- a standing monogram would be a neat touch at a wedding shower.

If you want to use a shape but it doesn't "stand up" well with this technique, then make a base using a simple rectangle or tag and then adhere the shape to each side of the base.

I also think these shapes make fun crafts for kids. I have two 4-year-olds and I know I could keep them entertained for some time with cutting out and decorating shapes for their preschool class.

Simple techniques like these are quick ways to show customers the value of a store's die cutting center. You could have a Saturday demo that shows these two techniques and a few samples using the dies that you have. At a card-making class, make sure you end with an example of how you can use a folding technique to make almost any of your basic die shapes into a card.

You can also print off our Folding Techniques Flier (it's a PDF file) that shows seven different techniques, including the two we walked through today.

I hope you enjoyed this technique demonstration. If there are other techniques that you would like to see, please post to let us know and we can put some step-by-step instructions together. I know it is a lot easier to see it in person -- even if it is online!

Folding techniques - Part 1

Posted by Jen Cramer

NOTE: Our free die entry is still going on.... see the March 11 post below.

As a kid I enjoyed folding paper and using my scissors creatively to make strings of paper dolls and ornate snowflakes. Now it's fun to use similar concepts in folding techniques to expand how I can use a single die.

I asked our in-house designer Traci Armbrust to come up with a couple examples of folding techniques to share with our blog readers and she came up with two great examples. Let's start with the easiest...

SHAPE CARDS AND GIFT TAGS

1. First, select a die to make a folded card or gift tag. Simple small and large shapes without perforation work best. For this example we'll use Coasters #1, which is a Creative Cafe die that has a 4" circle and 4" scalloped circle on it.

2. Fold a piece of paper in half making sure the folded paper is larger than your shape.

3. Place folded paper onto die with the fold located inside the blade on one side of the shape.

4. Roll through your Accucut machine. The resulting shape will be a folded card.

Here is how Traci finished this card. This is a great size to add to a gift.

In case you were wondering, the dies used in this project are good basic shapes for any die cutting center:

• Circle Accents Spring/Summer (S1007 Mini)
• Circles (CR100J)
• Coasters #1 (C2550LC)
• Flower #17 (F1443S)
• Flowers #23 (F1466LC)

Our next blog post will show you how to use a folding technique to make a stand-up shape.