Dies

Die cutting offers many possibilities for card making, scrapbooking, journaling and other paper crafting projects.

It is not a technique exclusive to the paper crafting industry, but here we will only be talking about die cutting for crafting, whereby shapes are cut by implementation of a die into paper or cardstock, cork, fabric or other thin material, using a die cutting machine. Cut out shapes or die cuts are often referred to as paper embellishments, cut outs and ephemera.

Wafer-thin dies are lightweight and small, and the pressure that the die cutting machine applies to the die against the paper is what cuts out the shape. Stand-alone dies, coordinating dies and nesting dies are some of the categories of dies available.

Examples of stand-alone dies are word dies, shape, number and alphabet dies, floral dies, layering dies, cover dies (which cover the front of a standard A2 size card) and interactive dies.

Coordinated dies are cutting dies that are coordinated with stamps in a stamp set, which removes the stress and tediousness of fussy cutting your stamped images.

Nesting dies come in various shapes and sizes and each die in the set has been scaled to fit perfectly within the next size up, making a nesting die set a versatile tool in your craft room.