Yargh. What you see on my desk this morning is an exercise in frustration.
You see, I recently bought a rather funky looking doily die. "How fabulous!" thought I. "I can make doiles to match my projects, as many of them as I like! Yippee!"
Or... not. Now, it's an intricate die and I'm not daft... I realised there would be some work involved in popping out all the teeny tiny little pieces. However, as it turns out, there's a lot more to it than "popping out"... mainly because even after being run through the BigShot twice (turning 90 degrees between runs through), the darn thing *still* didn't cut completely through in places. So I've ended up having to push and pull with a pokey tool, and occasionally try and re-cut lines with a craft knife, and generally it's taken me faaaaaar longer than I even care to think about to produce just one usable doily (and I wouldn't look too closely at it as there's a fair few ragged edges here and there).
So that's what I've been doing at my craft desk - that and a lot of swearing! :lol
So, to end on a more cheerful note, I shall also share with you the finished CJ page that I made using the background that was sitting on my desk in last week's WOYWW post:
I used a Dylusions stencil and a Stempelgelde stamp and handwrote the journalling. The CJ is now winging its way to the next recipient.
And that's it from me this week. I've stayed up faaaaar too late (or early, really) fighting with that doiley so I am taking myself off to bed! :)
16 comments:
Oh the ever tempting doilie die's!! I've been thinking about getting one for a while but did wonder about how fiddly they may be! Love the finished page! Very stylish! x April #86
Try putting some waxed paper (or plain old greaseproof) in between and I've found it comes out a lot easier on the delicate die cuts. Fingers crossed for you! Karen T 91 x
Oh dear . . . you poor thing . . . I can see that looks really frustrating.
Beautiful art at the end of your post though. xxx
Oh, that sounds awful!! You have my sympathies! :)
Have a good Wednesday anyway!
Zildara #90
Nightmare doily die!! Have you tried extra shims when you put it through the machine? Sometimes that helps for me, its odd how much of a difference in cutting a folded bit of A4 makes!! Trish #68
Love the journal cover! What are the flakey looking things all over it? They give it great dimension. Fun colors.
Don't get me started on doily dies... ugh. They are the bane of my existence. I have so many troubles with intricate dies. I even use shims (extra pieces of cardstock tucked in there). I have heard of a product called No More Shims which is supposed to be the be-all end-all. One of these days I'll get one and try it.
And it is such a lovely doily die - sucks that it is more work than you wanted. Dani 31
Okay then, thank you for the warning! I certainly would have thought the same thing as you, so good to know . . . your finished piece is delightful!
:)trisha, #36 this week
Your pages are fabulous... now dont start me on the dies... I also bought a couple... a waste of time.. drives me nuts!!! so wont make that mistake again... best to buy readymade from ebay!!! less hassle! Huve a good week, Hugs May x x x#8
Gorgeous bright page. I share your frustration with the doily die - I recently bought a similar one and have had the same troubloe - when I did get it to cut I couldn't get it out of the die without spoiling the edge with a pokey tool (and it wasn't cheap either) Thanks for a peep at your workspace. Hope you have a good week - Hazel, WOYWW #124 x
Glad it's not just me I had a fancy frame die & found that wouldn't cut clean so I had to pfaff about trying to get bits out - that was bad enough - a whole doily would drive me bonkers ! Love you CJ - great colours ! Ali #60
Your page looks fabulous. I think I will buy a cake doily from the shop, your way sounds too painful.
Have a great week.
Von #51
So sorry your die is being such a pain in the rear! That's really too bad since it would be an awesome die cut to have to use on all kinds of cards and projects. You really have lots more patience than I do...I would have chunked that puppy at something about 4 tiny holes worth of cutting in! Saw lots of others give some good suggestions but I don't have any since the one intricate die I had that did that to me was fixed by using a shim. Maybe someone who pops through will know of a better doily die? What brand is yours? The CJ page is beautiful...but, pardon my ignorance, what does CJ stand for? Or what is a CJ page? :)
Deeyll #141
Ali, the doiley is lovely, even if it was mega-frustrating to use! I agree with Karen about the waxed paper, though - I've heard that that will do the trick. (Or alternatively, splash out on an electronic cutter lol! - you can cut them any size!!)
Your journal page is beautiful. I've just got the Dylusions inks but haven't had a chance to try them yet. Hopefully this coming week...
Happy belated WOYWW,
Shoshi #4
Thanks for your comment on my blog, Ali - yes, I'm really looking forward to getting started on the inks once I've finished sorting the last of the ATC swap and making a couple of cards this week. I've had fun organising my palettes and am keen to start using those, too.
As for the cutting machine... I'm selling my Cricut machine if you're interested! (Now got a Black Cat Cougar) - details in Shoshi's Blog Shop on my blog lol lol!!! (Don't want to give your hubby a heart attack or anything... just saying!) Well worth making room for a machine, though, because once you've got one, you won't look back. It also saves room in the long run because you don't need to store dies any more!
If you went the whole hog and really broke the bank by buying a 24-inch Cougar, on the Black Cat forum they say that the box it comes in is sooo big that you can sleep in it, and get rid of the bed too, making more storage room ROFL!!
Shoshi
Doiley dies can be a pain in the b.m I find if I use blue tack that stuff you use to put posters on the wall with you can pick up the little pieces really easy, also try putting a thin shim through with the die at the same time or just an extra piece of paper it helps.
Love your art, nice colors.
Eliza #11
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