AccuCut Craft Blog

Techniques with Traci: Ready-to-go Boxes

Posted by Traci Armbrust

Last May AccuCut came out with ready-to-go Pillow, Tuck Top, and Gable boxes. My favorite ready-go-go boxes, though, are the Stationery Boxes that allow you to package up your handmade cards. The clear, pre-assembled boxes come in A2 and A7 sizes. The A2 box holds approximately eight cards and eight envelopes, and the A7 holds approximately ten cards and ten envelopes. They are perfect for gifts or if you are selling your own cards and stationery. Plus, they have a great top surface to decorate as simply or lavishly as you like.

There is nothing like a hand made Christmas card or thank you card to warm the heart.  In this project I decorated the outside of the A2 clear box with Holiday Trees and the word Wish and made simple thank you cards to go inside.

To seal this box shut, I placed tiny strips of Red Liner Double-Stick Adhesive Tape along the inside long edges of the box.   

Here is another idea! October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, which inspired me to use Awareness Ribbon #2 and the mini Ribbon. On this box, I choose to seal it shut by tying a ribbon around it and attaching the Awareness Ribbon die cut to that ribbon. 

 
 Here's another example of the A2 ready-to-go box. I used Borders #1 to seal the box closed and that adorable card inside is A2 card-Scalloped #1 and the flower on the outside is Flowers #27.

This A7 box is one of my favorites. The Dress was created using is a Pinnovation™ die. I dolled it up and adhered it to the front of the box. The cards on the inside are simple, yet add to the over all appeal of the design.

Here are some other ready-to-go boxes that have been decorated for various occasions. 

Pillow Box
 

Tuck Top Box 
 
  
 
 Gable Box-Kraft

So if you don't have time to cut out boxes, you just need a few for a special event or you need a creative and unique way to package your handmade cards. Try AccuCut's selection of ready-to-go boxes. Don't forget the dies to decorate them!

A zeal for seals

Posted by Tara Smithberg

We have Pinnovation seals in all shapes and sizes--from circles to squares to rectangles. But have you seen our latest seal? It's the 2" Frame Seals die. I love this unique shape. And you can cut 12 seals at one time!

Check out some of these favor boxes that show off the fabulous seal shape. This one here uses Box #18 simply tied with a ribbon. The fancy seal definitely gives this box its personality.

Here's another sweet and simple box using Box #28. With Pinnovation seals, it's so easy to customize items to make events, like weddings and baby showers extra special.

For more Pinnovation dies and to see more beautiful boxes, visit our website.

Four new looks for one of our favorite boxes

Posted by Tara Smithberg

One of our most popular boxes is Flower Box #2. What's great about it is that it is easy to assemble and it's self closing. It looks great with the bottom cut out of clear plastic too. Plus, you can cut two  box bottoms out of a 12" x 12" clear plastic sheet.

Now, we are giving you more options for this sweet little box! We just introduced four new toppers to suit all kinds of holidays and occasions: a heart, a snowflake, a new flower and a cute little duck shape. This new die, Flower Box #2 Accessories, includes for topper shapes on one board.

 

Here are some adorable projects that show them off.

 

 

 

For only $90, this die is a great bargain and one that you can definitely use all year long to create favor boxes for just about any occasion. Retailers, your customers will love all of the options!

An AccuCut Fan

Posted by Tara Smithberg

I have another project I need to share with you! This one comes from Tara Franklin and Karen Stelley from The Organized Bride in Frederick, Md. Thanks to Pinnovation™ dies, their company is seeing great success. Here, they share a custom fan program made with the 6" Frame Pinnovation die, perfect for a summer wedding.

  
If you're interested in expanding into stationery, take it from Tara and Karen:

"We just want to thank you for all of your help and suggestions with our venture into the die cutting world. We sold a lot of custom place cards in 2008 and wanted to expand our offerings with custom programs, menu's and favor boxes for 2009. We are thrilled with the product, your company and most of all THE SALES it is bringing us!!! My favorite is the fan program using the 6" Frame die. It has been a huge hit for our summer brides! We look forward to working with you in the future."

We love hearing stories like these from our customers. Thanks for sharing! For more ideas using Pinnovation dies or to see other Pinnovation dies, check out our website.

Wine Country Wedding

Posted by Tara Smithberg

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I wanted to share with you a really cool project for an alfresco California wedding by designer Suzette Waddell. 

The wedding had a wine theme, and instead of traditional table numbers, they chose to mark each table with names of their favorite wineries. The couple asked Suzette to come up with a 5" x 7" design that would include the winery name, a romantic font and have the look and feel of an actual wine label.

 

  
Suzette created her own design and used the A7 Cards and A7 Card Mats #3 Pinnovation™ dies to cut the cards. She used black and cream Fino stock and Ranger® Distress Ink in Vintage Photo by Tim Holtz™ to give them an aged look.

It would be so easy to carry this theme, colors, fonts and design elements throughout your entire wedding or formal event. You could use other Pinnovation dies to create matching save the dates, invitations, menus, programs and so much more.

Suzette (email: suzette@bloom415.com) is the owner of Bloom 415 in West Palm Beach, Florida. For more great ideas using Pinnovation dies, visit our website.

Do Yourself a Favor When You Use Self-Closing Bag and Box Dies

Posted by Tara Smithberg

Whether you are creating two or two hundred favor boxes, self-closing box dies are great when you need to create favors fast. We have quite a few box dies that cut boxes that close and stay closed on their own without any adhesive to worry about. All of these boxes come in various sizes to fit a wide range of goodies. Here are a few really cute examples:

Self-Closing Box #1

Self-Closing Box #4 

Self-Closing Box #6 

Box-Flower #2 

This die comes with the base and flower and leaves shapes, making it really easy to customize colors to coordinate with your event.

 

Other self-closing box dies include:

Bag-Purse #3

Bag-Purse #4

Bag-Scalloped

Bag-Self Closing Pocketbook

Bag-Tuck & Close #1

Box #1

Box #7

Box #8

Box #23

Box-Chair

Box-Dress

Box-Tuxedo

Box-Flower #1

Box-Scalloped

Box-Self-Closing #2

Box-Self-Closing #5

Box-Suitcase

And, if you are looking to create handmade favors even easier, you can use our new ready-to-go boxes that are already cut and ready to assemble and decorate. For more bag and box ideas, visit our ideas section on our website.

We Have a Winner!

Posted by Tara Smithberg

Congratulations to our National Stationery Show drawing winner, Sondra Simon of The Sophisticated Scribe in Rego Park, New York. She is the lucky winner of a free GrandeMARK die cutting machine (a $595 value)! Sondra, we hope you enjoy using your new machine to create all sorts of wonderful cards, invitations and more!

Thanks to everyone who entered our drawing at the show. We will have more drawings, deals and contests coming up throughout the summer so please keep visiting our blog.

And what would a post be without another project idea? This one is out of our new Supplement & Idea Book. Designer Traci Armbrust used the #10 Foldover Card, #10 Card Mats and the Cupcake #2 die to create this deliciously delightful invitation for a little girl's birthday party.

This foldover card is so versatile. You can use it for wedding programs, menus, announcements and more. And the #10 Card Mats die is a Pinnovation die, so it makes it very easy to print text exactly where you want it. (Be sure to check out yesterday's post below for a step-by-step tutorial on using Pinnovation dies).

I like how she used double-sided paper to show off coordinating patterns and colors. Smaller die cuts, like this cupcake shape, also look great as embellishments on cards and invitations--even on more formal designs. This trend is becoming more and more popular. For more new stationery ideas, be sure to visit our website to download or request a hard copy of our new Supplement & Idea Book.

Techniques with Traci: Pinnovation 101

Posted by Tara Smithberg

At the National Stationery Show in New York City a few weeks ago, our Pinnovation stationery dies were a big hit! It's so much fun to see people's eyes light up when they see how easy it is to create gorgeous custom invitations and announcements. I asked designer Traci Armbrust to demonstrate how to use the Pinnovation dies--step by step. 

We chose to create an invitation using the A7 Dress Cards die. This die is great because you can use the dress shape on its own or layer it on top of another A7 card. It's two-up so you can cut multiples in a snap. Here are a few sample projects using this die to show you how a finished design looks.

 

So, to begin, we started by laying out our text with the templates provided on our website. Here's what it looks like when you use our PDF template. PDF templates can be used in page layout and graphic programs such as Adobe® InDesign®, Illustrator® and Photoshop®, QuarkXPress® and others. Here, we are using Adobe Adobe® InDesign®. If you don't have any of these programs, have no fear! We also have a Microsoft Word template that works just as well.  

Here's what the Microsoft Word template looks with the text placed in the appropriate spot. Keep in mind you may have to do a few test prints just to be sure you've got it exactly where you want it.

Next, print out a test sheet. We give you a transparency with each Pinnovation die to make sure your text is exactly where you want it. Just place the die transparency on top of the printed test sheet to determine if any adjustments need to be made to your design. You may need to move elements due to shifting caused by your printer. Repeat the process until you are satisfied with the location of your design.  

And now comes the best part. With your die in the GrandeMARK machine, place your test sheet face-down on the die, making sure the paper is fitting inside the pins. Place the cutting mat on top of the die, making sure all of the pins are covered. Roll the die through the machine and... drum roll please... your invitations are perfectly cut!

Here's the final product. We layered the dress card on top of an A7 card using the Rounded A7 Cards die. By the way, this die is also a Pinnovation die if you wanted to print a design on that shape as well.

 

For great ideas using Pinnovation dies, visit our website. And be sure to download our brand new idea book loaded with beautiful stationery designs.

Ready-to-Go Boxes Are Quick and Easy

Posted by Tara Smithberg

Throughout the past year, we've had several requests for boxes that are cut and ready to assemble. And now they are here! We are happy to now offer ready-to-go stationery and favor boxes that are self-closing, easy to assemble and a cinch to decorate. The great thing about these boxes is that they are affordable, and now you can spend even more time decorating and personalizing them with your own style. Plus, no adhesive is required!

Stationery Boxes

Our Clear Stationery Boxes are available in two card sizes, A2 and A7. Here is a beautiful A2 box decorated with a gorgeous ribbon. They are sold in sets of 24 and boxes include lid and base. The A2 box fits approximately 8 cards with envelopes and the A7 box fits approximately 10 cards with envelopes. Now it is easier than ever to display and sell your stationery in a stunning package that is all your own.

Favor Boxes

Creating a large number of favor boxes is quick and easy when you use our ready-to-go boxes. All favor boxes are sold in sets of 20.

Clear plastic Pillow Boxes make wonderful favors and look great filled with small candies. This one here looks great personalized with a seal made with the Pinnovation Escort Cards die. 

Tuck Top Boxes are available in Clear Plastic and in White. Their simple shape and size make them easy to dress them up or down for any occasion. They are 2"w x 2"l x 2"h.  I love the flower on top of this fun one.

And last, but not least, we have Gable Boxes available in White and Kraft. The little handle make these cute for all sorts of occasions and their larger size allows you to pack them with all kinds of goodies. Assembled, these boxes are 2 1/2"w x 4"l x 5 3/8"h. This one here was decorated with the Flowers #22 and 3 1/2" x 2" Seals (Business Cards) Pinnovation die.

 

Check out all of the new boxes on our site.

Also, I added our photo album from the National Stationery Show. Take a look at some great pics by clicking on the photo album on the right. Enjoy!

Back in Nebraska...

Posted by Tara Smithberg

Hello everybody! What a busy week we had last week at the National Stationery Show! We had a great show, and it was wonderful getting to meet so many of our customers in person. It was also wonderful to introduce AccuCut and the GrandeMARK machine and dies to a brand new group of stationery-minded folks. I'm always amazed at the first time people see the machine in action and get a feel for how easy it is to use.

At the show, we introduced a brand new idea book full of beautiful stationery ideas to spark your creativity. Everybody loved browsing through the wonderful ideas and seeing which dies were used to make each project.

  

The book is now available for download on our website. Or you can request to receive a hard copy in the mail. Click here to download or to request the new May Supplement & Idea Book.

I've posted a few more photos here of our booth and our team.

 

Here is our team--starting from the left: Tammy Miller, Tara Smithberg, Leanne Dorathy, Joni Greunke and Traci Armbrust.  

 

Custom dies were also very popular at the show and many of you are taking advantage of this great service. With quick turnaround and affordable pricing, you can't go wrong if you need a specific shape quick. This service gives you the ultimate freedom to meet your clients' specific needs. If you need a custom die created, please contact us at 888.317.0093, ext. 369 or send an email to custom@accucut.com. Stay tuned for more on custom dies soon.

We are also proud to congratulate Someday Designs, winner of a prestigious LOUIE award for Personalized Invitation/Announcement above $5 who used AccuCut dies to create their design! I will be posting more about them soon!