Simply Cards & Papercraft - UK (2020-03)

C

rafter’s have long since

been fans of nesting

dies – they’re versatility

and ease of use make them

a must-have item. Coming

in all shapes and sizes, and

classed as a basic stash

item, they’re some of the most

popular dies for companies

to release regularly – with

Spellbinders, Xcut, My Favorite

Things, Tonic Studios being

just a few of the big names to

release set after set.

Nesting die sets come in

sets containing the same

shape die in multiple sizes –

perfect for creating apertures,

frames, shaped card blanks

or, of course, matting and

layering. But that’s not all

we can do with them, and

so we’ve asked Claire to try

them out with dry embossing.

Dry embossing isn’t a new

technique, but it remains

a  rm favourite with the

team at Simply Cards

& Papercraft.

Dry embossing with dies

is when you create an

impression on a sheet of

cardstock, with the effect

being similar to what you

would achieve when using

an embossing folder. You

want the die to push into the

cardstock, but not perforate or

cut it in any way – this is done

by incorporating an embossing

mat into your die sandwich –

the mat absorbs the pressure

that would normally cut

through the cardstock, and

the die leaves just it’s

impression instead.

You want quite a

heavyweight cardstock,

watercolour cardstock is

particularly good in this

Nesting dies have become a

stash staple, and with this in mind

we tasked Claire Rhodes-Brandon

to embrace dry embossing

respect, to make sure that

when you’re embossing

the card, the dies don’t cut

through it. If you  nd you

don’t get a good enough

impression, try adding shims

with photocopy paper.

It’s not usually recommended

to run more than one die

through your die-cutting

machine at a time, since this

runs the risk of overlapping

dies becoming damaged.

However, you can’t do this

technique without using

multiple dies at once, so it’s

essential that you tape your

dies to stop them moving onto

each other.

It’s a rather simple

technique that can make a

quick and effective card. You

can still make more advanced

projects by experimenting with

Try something new with...

Nesting dies have become a

Try something new with

nesting dies