Chart for Assorted Dies & Sizzix Multipurpose Platform

Quite a while back I wrote up an entry about the Big Shot and multipurpose platform (MPP) called Big Shot Basics. I'd said that I love the MPP because it makes using all of the dies, folders, texture plates etc. so easy. It's tabbed and the instructions are printed right on each tab, with helpful illustrations, no less! After reading the comments made concerning that blog entry, the only other nifty addition would have been if Sizzix had specified just which other dies etc could be used with each tab. I'd written that up in the body of that post, but I decided that it'd be easier if that information was put in chart form.

Here's where you can now find a chart: Dies & Sizzix Multipurpose Platform

This is a pdf file, so you'll need Adobe Reader (can be downloaded for free) or some other application that will let you open and read pdf files. If you want to print it out, it's best to print it in landscape.

I've tried to include most of the more commonly used manufacturers' dies etc. If I've missed one (or more--Yikes!) feel free to let me know. I think there is only one place where my chart differs from what's recommended on the MPP and that's when using the Cuttlebug embossing folders. I tend to use No Tabs because I get a crisply embossed image with less likelihood of tearing the card stock or getting extra creases. I think that Tab 1 is what's actually recommended. I added that in the notes.

I didn't include any of my tips, tricks, or tweaks on this chart. If I've done some experimenting or tweaking, the post can be found in my sidebar in the Tutorials and Info for the Big Shot and Cuttlebug menu. I'll be adding this post to that menu shortly. :-)

manual die cutters - some considerations

When I started out stamping years ago, the notion of using a die cutter to cut shapes, particularly intricate or delicate shapes, was an attractive one.

I started out with the original red Sizzix. It did the job for quite a while and there are a lot of folks out there who are still quite satisfied with that machine. Tinker a bit and you can use many types of dies and embossing folders. You can emboss with brass stencils, too. The drawbacks to this machine are its weight. It's definitely not portable. It takes a pump type action to use it and you have to manually move your platform through the machine. Some people find that difficult. It also has a narrower opening and a narrower platform so some of the bigger dies (and by this I mean big from the standpoint of width; thickness is not an issue) and most texture plates cannot be used with it. They just won't fit through the opening.

As I recall, the Wizard was one of the next machines that became the subject of many discussions. People like the fact that it's metal and durable. Early on there were complaints that it was difficult to crank dies through, but it cut and it embossed beautifully according to the ones who persisted and learned to love it. I don't have one, so I won't comment any further.

My next foray into the world of manual die cutters came when the Big Shot was released. I liked the Sizzix, but I liked the Sidekick even more. The Big Shot seemed like a bigger version of the Sidekick, so I went with it.

The advantages of the Big Shot in its current incarnation:

• crank action - You simply turn a crank to roll your platform through the machine.
• large platform - This allows the machine to accept all of the non-commercial dies out there. You can also cut multiple dies in one pass.
  
• versatility - It is a die cutter--anything from wafer thin dies to thick dies like the Bigz. It embosses. You can use Cuttlebug embossing folders, Sizzix folders, texture plates like the ones by Sizzix or Fiskars, even brass stencils. Yes, you do need other accessories like an embossing mat, but you'd need those with other machines as well. You can also use a wide variety of materials in it. And with the largest opening of the current die cutters, it can accept all cutting plates--it can be trickier to use competitors' dies if you don't have plates that will fit through your machine.
  
• multipurpose platform - This makes life so simple! One platform, hinged, with tabbed "pages" that allow you to change the thickness. The instructions and diagrams are printed right on the platform. You don't need to memorize or pull out a printout of what "sandwich" to use for which dies or folders. It's all right there.
• durability - I've had my Big Shot for a few years now. If you stop by here often, you know that I experiment a lot. LOL! I tend to challenge this machine by running things through it that people don't normally use. It's done great!
  
• stability - The Big Shot does have a bigger footprint. Space isn't so much an issue for me. It's actually better for me to have a machine that I can use almost anywhere, like the floor or on a counter, or on the dining room table. I tend to move around with my crafting. But the bigger footprint keeps the machine from moving as I crank things through it.
• convenience - I store my cutting plates and multipurpose platform on the bed of my Big Shot. Everything is right there where I can find it.
• longevity - So far it has stood the test of time with me and my experimenting!
  

The disadvantages:

• size - Some people want and need a machine that takes up less space.
• not as portable - The Big Shot doesn't fold up. It does have a handle that makes it easier to carry, but it's certainly larger than the Cuttlebug and the Wizard.

Okay, now about the Cuttlebug. Most of the recent buzz had been about the Cuttlebug, at least until Stampin' Up decided to team up with Sizzix to offer the Big Shot and some exclusive dies. I have one of these and have played with it a bit.

Here are what I perceive to be the advantages:

• size - The machine folds up and takes up little space when folded.
• portable - Because of its small size when folded, it's one of the more portable machines. It's not light though. It still has some heft to it. It has a nice carrying handle, too.
  
• crank action - Again, this is a machine that you roll your platform though.
• suction - When you open up the platform of this machine, the base will attach to the surface of your work area via suction to stabilize it.
• versatility - This machine will take all non-commercial dies, thick or thin. It can emboss with folders, brass stencils, and texture plates given the proper accessories. It should be noted that to use some of the Bigz dies, particularly the XL dies, some tinkering will be necessary to get those to work, but they will fit.

Some disadvantages:

• stability - I don't always use a smooth surface when working, so if the base can't stick to something, I have to make sure to stabilize the machine myself as I roll things through. Even if I am using a smooth surface, the suction can sometimes fail and I'm stuck pinning the machine down myself, especially if I'm in the middle of cranking something through. With the Sidekick there was a separate lever to re-do the suction. With the Cuttlebug you'd have to close and reopen the platform--something you might not be able to do if you're in the middle of cranking.
• sandwiches - I suppose if you use the machine often enough you'll eventually learn all of the sandwich combinations for the various dies, folders, and texture plates. I find that I have to refer to a printout, which is okay, but inconvenient.
• storage - The machine doesn't take up much room, but I do have to have a way to keep the A, B, and C plates all together as well as keep them near the machine. Again, this is something that I find to be a disadvantage given the way that I tend to craft here.
• durability - So far so good as far as my experimentation goes, but I do get the impression that this machine isn't as tolerant of my weird combinations. I can't quite bring myself to push things as far with this machine for fear of breaking it. I know this is very subjective.
• no long cutting plates available for use with the XL dies
  

I'm sure that it's clear that I'm a big fan of my Big Shot. It does everything for me. The multipurpose platform is a big plus! The fact that I can use the Sizzix XL dies and the long cutting plates is also a plus. Add in that I can use the crease pad to cut and emboss Nestabilities dies in one pass and that's another advantage.

The Cuttlebug is a good machine, too. For me it comes in second. I don't mind tinkering and looking for ways to make things work in it, but when it comes right down to it, quicker and simpler and more foolproof will generally win out for me and in most cases that will be the Big Shot way of doing things.

At some point I'm hoping to update a couple of the charts that you can find here. That's on my To-Do list. I'll just remind anyone who may not know that they can always be found in my sidebar in the Tutorials for the Big Shot and Cuttlebug menu. I'm talking about the Die Cutter Comparison chart and the chart showing die cutters and their compatibility with various materials.

It seems like there are a lot of questions out there at the moment about these two die cutters, so I just thought I'd put in my 2 cents since I have both. I'd also like to point out a YouTube video made by Spellbinders that shows how their dies can be used in the Cuttlebug, the Quickutz Revolution, the original Sizzix, and the Big Shot/Big Kick machines. It gives you a good look at how these machines work and what's entailed in cutting and embossing with each. You get a look at the multipurpose platform and at the embossing mats. You won't see the crease pad in use--you'll just have to take my word for it that it can be a simpler process than what was shown in the video. Click on the crease pad label at the bottom of this to read more. Maybe this will help some decide which machine will work best for their needs, because that's what it really boils down to.

selective embossing with texture plates

Since I just touched on this yesterday, I thought I'd go into more detail about selective embossing, particularly selectively embossing only part of the texture plates that are made by Sizzix and by Fiskars. These may not produce as deep an impression as the embossing made using the Cuttlebug embossing folders, but they can certainly be distinct enough, and they have the advantage of being bigger than the folders.

Here's a card that I made using a Sizzix texture plate, specifically, Spring Vine. The stamped area had been left unembossed.


The stamped images are all by Inkadinkado and stamped with Memento dye inks. The flowers are Primas with a Robin's Nest Dew Drop center. I made the embossed lines with my Scor-it.

I know that some folks out there like to roll their embossing folders in partway and then back out to do their partial embossing. That won't work here. You could do the top and bottom, but there's no way to do the sides because the texture plate is too wide to fit through the opening of the Big Shot or the Cuttlebug sideways.

So, here's how I went about selectively embossing my texture plate.

First, go to your stash of stuff that you keep because it might come in handy one day. Pull out some of that chipboard that you've been hoarding. It'll look like this....


Now take about three of those, and cut them to the width of a texture plate. Might as well take advantage of the fact that these are so big. This also will eliminate those unembossed edges for people who don't like the fact that the CB embossing folders won't go all the way to the edge of an A2 sized cardfront. The width is 5 7/8", by the way. Here are my three. The length doesn't really matter so long as it's at least as long as the texture plate. You can always trim it later.


I decided that I wanted to make a rectangular opening so that my unembossed area would be a rectangle. I pulled out my biggest rectangle Nestabilities die and cut out my rectangle, like this....


I like these dies because you can place them anywhere to make your cut. The disadvantage is that you can only cut through so much thickness. So, I made a pass for each piece of chipboard, placing the die in roughly the same spot each time, and I had these....


I glued the three layers together using my ATG. I lined up the openings and edges for both the die cuts and the cutouts. You can set the die cuts aside for the moment, but they might be useful later if you decide to turn these into embossing folders, as I mentioned yesterday. Here is how it looked before I put mine aside. I wanted to show the thickness.


Stroke of genius or pure luck? I'll let you decide. ;-) But look! One of the clear plates with my triple layer cutout on top of it is roughly the same thickness as my Impressions pad. Doesn't that work out nicely.


Okay, so here's the stack or sandwich that I'll put through my Big Shot. Essentially you follow the directions on the multipurpose platform. So, from the bottom up: platform, texture plate with the desired design facing up (these are two-sided, eh?), cardstock face down, silicone embossing pad (black or tan, doesn't matter), chipboard cutout that I made, clear cutting plate. I'm using the clear cutting plate here instead of the black Impressions pad because of the added thickness of the chipboard.


Here is my stack all nice and neat and ready to put through the machine. Let me just note here that I do occasionally listen to my own advice. I decided to start thinner, so I did not leave my multipurpose platform open to Tab 1 as I normally would. I used no tabs.


And here's how that turned out. This is Sizzix Formal Fanfare.


And here's another, just for fun. This time it's Sizzix Spring Vine.


And yeah, I can already hear the question, can this be done with the Cuttlebug? I could probably have tweaked my stack a bit more, but the answer is yes. This was made with the Sizzix Diamonds texture plate.


Now these texture plates are less forgiving than the embossing folders. Too little shimming and you won't get a good impression. Too much and you risk breaking your machine. The sandwich needs a good squeeze to give the best impression though. You definitely have to be more patient here finding the right combo for you and your particular machine, because even CB's differ somewhat from each other with respect to how much the rollers squeeze the sandwich. Once you hit on the right combo, make a note of it so you'll know just what you need next time.

For the above, I used plate A, texture plate with design facing up, cardstock facing down, silicone pad, chipboard cutout, and about 4 more layers of chipboard. I tried plate B instead of all of the chipboard layers at first, but it was too thick to put through. I think I could have added another layer of cardstock to the chipboard combo to get an even better impression, but at least you get the idea and can see that it works. Misting the cardstock before embossing might have helped a bit, too.

So, if you live some place where you get to enjoy a three day weekend this weekend, then this is a fairly simple project that you can try. With a little effort you can get more use out of those nifty texture plates, and I have to say that some of the designs I've seen recently are really pretty!

Hope this helps get some wheels turning and some weekends off to an inspiring start! :-)

Sizzix XL scalloped card die

I figured that I'd invested in those XL clear plates, I might as well get another die to use with them. :-) Any excuse, eh? LOL!


The finished size of this card is 4 1/4" by 5 7/8". I mention this because you have to use 12" long paper or cardstock when using this die. The standard 8 1/2" by 11" just isn't quite long enough to cover the entire length of the cutting surface. This die also provides the folding score for you, just like the A2 card die that I described a while back.

The stamped images are by My Favorite Things and stamped using Memento dye inks. The dot doodles are mine and were made with a Copic warm grey marker. Yep, I'm getting braver about doodling. The embossing was made using a Sizzix texture plate, Flower Power. And in case you'd been wondering, you can selectively emboss with these, too--similar to creative Cuttling. That's what I did in that card--I used that same triple layered chipboard with the heart cutout that I described yesterday. I did have to change my stack to fit this through my Big Shot. Again, if you try this, you'll have to experiment and see what works best for you and your particular machine. Start thin, and gradually add shims so that you don't break your machine! Just a friendly reminder. :-)

Here's the lowdown: I used my multipurpose platform, but with no tab. I also replaced the black Impression pad with the thinner clear cutting plate since I'd added some thickness to the stack by adding in the chipboard cutout. Just FYI, the stack was as follows, from the bottom up: multipurpose platform with no tab selected, texture plate with desired design facing up, card front facing down on top of that, black silicone embossing pad, chipboard cutout, clear cutting plate. I did not mist my cardstock and still got a nice impression. That is an option though if the embossing seems too shallow to you.

For you Cuttlebug users, sorry, I haven't tested this die in the CB yet. I would guess that you could run this huge die through twice using the CB's clear plates, just like I did with the A2 horizontal card die. I'll update when I get a chance to try that and know for sure.

These huge scallops on this card die are a lot of fun, and it's great to have a variety of ways to make scallops on cards!

Comparing manual die cutters

There are lots of die cutters available for personal use these days. It can be tough to know which ones will cut which dies, which can use what folders, and that sort of thing. I have three machines. I've had a red Sizzix for years. I've had the Sidekick for a little less than that. I've had my Big Shot for at least a couple of years now and it's the most versatile of the three.

But everyday I see lots of folks with questions about die cutter compatibility, so I compiled a chart of what works with what. Now I tried not to include erroneous information, but that means that I may have left something out if I couldn't find enough info about it. This is not meant to be all-inclusive in any sense, and I expect, and hope, that if there are errors they'll be pointed out, and that if there are additions that need to be made, they'll be sent or posted so that I can add them.

Okay, so with that disclaimer out of the way, here's a link to a file where I've compiled my information in chart form.

http://www.indigojay.com/crafting/diecutter_compatibilitychart.pdf

Hopefully this is viewable by most folks. You do have to have Adobe Acrobat Reader which is free and can be downloaded here.

Addendum:
I didn't go in search of this info. It kind of dropped in my lap, so I thought I'd add it here. If you have a Cuttlebug and want to know the sandwiches for the various dies, here's a link on SplitCoastStampers that will help:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4505306#post4505306

It has the info in doc and pdf form. Hope that makes things easier.