Customer Reviews

Spellbinders Shapeabilities Dies-Flower Creations 3

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With these butterfly dies you can perform the following functions: step (1) cut butterflies from decorative paper; step (2) emboss butterflies; step (3) color butterflies.

I was able to cut and emboss these pretty butterflies with my Cuttlebug V2 Embossing & Die Cutting Machine plus Spellbinders W-023 Enlarged Embossing Pads for Wizard Cutting and Embossing System. Although the Spellbinders die cuts work without any extra parts in the Cuttlebug machine to perform step (1), you will need one of the Spellbinders embossing pads, in order to perform step (2), which is to emboss your cut-out butterflies.

To perform step (3) I left the cut and embossed butterflies in the Shapeabilities dies, so that I could color the embossed (raised) parts of each butterfly. I used Clearsnap Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink Gold Lame By The Each and SMOOCH ACCNTINK GREENAPPLE.3oz Drafting, Engineering, Art (General Catalog) to color the butterflies in the above (Customer Image 1) Sympathy greeting card.

Note: the directions that come with the Shapeabilities dies are easy to use, except they fail to mention that if you are using paper that has a decorative print on only one side, be sure to place the printed side of the paper against the cutting side of the die.

The directions included with this product explain how to use these dies with the following machines: Big Kick by Sizzix; Original Sizzix Press; CuttleBug by Provocraft (this is the die-cutter/embosser that I use); and the Big Shot machines by Ellison-Sizzix.

This is a very nice product, and easy to clean after step (3). I used Cottonelle Fresh Folded Moist Wipes Refill 84 to clean my dies.

I love making greeting cards with Sunflowers because they are the state flower where I live (Kansas). These Spellbinder dies make absolutely beautiful flowers that I mount on cards. I love the clean embossing and the large size of the flowers. I use the dies in a Cuttlebug machine and they work great.

There are videos on You Tube that show how to use different brands of cutting and embossing dies in the Cuttlebug, but all that is really necessary is finding a shim that is the right thickness so the layers can pass safely through the machine. I usually use the "A" piece and two "B" pieces for the Nestability dies. If the layers are not thick enough I experiment with layers of cardboard until the layers are thick enough to make the impression I want. I find the cardboard from the back of tablets like legal pads are great for making the shim layers since they can be cut to the size of the plastic pads and are thin enough to add extra layers if needed. Just remember to not make the final layers so thick the handle won't turn--forcing it through the machine can break it.

Storage of the Nestability dies is really easy too. They are very thin metal shapes with a raised edge for cutting. They come mounted on a folded piece of cardboard with double stick tape holding them in place. When storing the dies I fold the cardboard back over the dies to protect them and hold it closed with a paperclip on the edge. If the double stick tape looses its grip a new one can be added under the dies. Many of the sets can be stored in a very small space--I keep them in a clear plastic storage box with my Cuttlebug embossing folders.

I have both sets of the Spellbinders Sunflowers, and they make great flowers for cards and scrapbook pages. AND you can combine them to make more three dimensional ones.

I love spellbinders. They are fun, very easy to work with, and can be used to enchance cards, scraping pages or as artwork for kids. Embossing them with a Cuddlebug makes them look very professional.

This die makes a large flower--big enough to fill the front of a greeting card. I like to cut three layers of the yellow petals to make a nice full flower, and two or three leaves to mount behind the bloom. I also embellish the brown center with orange glitter glue to look like seeds.

The Nestability dies are really great. I wish I would have discovered them before I bought so many large paper punches--I would have saved a lot of money and storage space. I have templates for tracing but then they have to be cut out with a scissors and no matter how hard I try I cannot cut a smooth curve! With the dies it is all taken care of and they come out perfect. To emboss, the paper is left in place with the cutting die is passed through the machine again with the soft rubber layers that are sold separately. They softly press the paper through the dots and lines for embossing without cutting the paper again.

As I mentioned in another review, I use these dies in my Cuttlebug machine. It takes a little experimenting to get the thickness of the layers just right and sometimes shims of light weight cardboard are needed to get the thickness needed. There is info on the internet that explains this better if you want to do a search for it.