Illustrated Scrapbooking Die Cuts Verses Handmade Die Cuts
I choose the colors of acid free cardstock I wanted to use, and got to work using my die cutting machine. It took time deciding which cartridge had the cutest snowflake die cuts.÷ Then I attached my acid free scrapbook paper firmly to the cutting matt and cut, then I cut its matching layered piece.I then had to glue the two die cut pieces together. Hum, the snowflake die cut was super delicate.÷ The die cut had very thin parts. The only thing I have ever used in my scrapbooks was acid free glue sticks. So I pulled it out and began the tedious work of trying to keep the glue on the back of the die cut. It took me 10 minutes to get my first 2 inch snowflake die cut made!
I am someone who sits down and gets my scrapbooking done; on average 18 or more pages done in a day. However today because I used my die cutting machine I only created 6 pages. I was so disappointed. I felt as if I had wasted my day and I wasn"t happy with the way my handmade die cuts turned out. Glue had squished out from under the super thin parts of my die cuts and it made my pages look dirty. I had even ran to the store and bought a glue pen which could be applied in the thinner areas of the die cut.÷ Even so, on some areas of the die cuts the glue still leaked out.
The pages I do are usually quick, easy and VERY CUTE! Not wanting to give up on my personal die cutting machine so fast, I gave it a few more chances. I have come to the conclusion that a personal die cutting machine is not an ideal scrapbooking tool. It is fun to use for special things, birthday cards and school projects for my kids. But for fast, productive scrapbooking it is a hassle.
So I have gone back to my "regular" scrapbooking technique. DIE CUTS!!! Illustrated die cuts are SO much cuter! All you have to do is pop the die cuts out, put a few swipes of glue on the back and you"re set to go!÷ I know there are some scrapbookers out there who love taking hours at a time making just one page and I take my hat off to them.÷ But I have two kids and piles and piles of pictures that need to be scrapbooked. I love my scrapbooks, it is so much fun looking back at the fun times my family has had together and how things have changed.
For me it is very important to stay caught up. I"ve decided that I"m sticking with pre-made illustrated die cuts from http://www.nouglydiecuts.com/.÷ Their Blog Spot at http://www.nouglydiecuts.blogspot.com/÷ ÷ shows some fun and simple ways to use their diecuts. They also carry Cut outs which are not hard to use, that is if you know how to use scissors! They also have some die cuts that come with matching frames these are fun.÷ Headers and mini die cuts are also a great way to finish off a scrapbook page.÷ For me, my new motto is: "Happy Scrapbookers use Die Cuts!" and I"m a happy scrapbooker! Go check out their website and become a "Happy Scrapbooker" too.