Frustration with Punches

[kerravonsen]

So... I'm trying a new way of jewellery making (inspired by Annemarie Ridderhoff on YouTube), by making acrylic pours (aka fluid art) onto transparency sheet (because I couldn't acquire any Yupo paper, and I already had the transparency sheet -- overhead transparency sheet, thin transparent plastic sheets in A4 size) and cutting out the pretty bits

Comments

[lookslikerain]

I've cut out stencils using transparency sheets and it was a bit of a bitch, (slippery as all get out) but it worked okay. I think the key for me was using a sharp blade, and a lot of tape to hold it all down. I guess it depends on how steady your hands are. Mine aren't that steady, haha, so I really hated it! :P

Also, I don't know if it would work with what you are describing with the transparency sheet, but I've made fridge magnets before out of clear glass cabochons with paper on glued onto the back and then a magnet. Sort of sounds similar? I, like you, didn't have any punches that fit with the size of cabochons, so I cut out rough squares, glued them onto the cabochons and then once they had dried, cut around them with an exacto knife. The glass was good enough to act as the solid guide to cut against, and as long as I went slowly enough, it made a nice neat cut. I then went over them again to seal off any edges (not that they really needed it) before sticking on the magnet back. It is a lot more fiddly than diecuts, but it was

[kerravonsen]

Yeah, I don't want to be messing with stencils and craft knives, that would be a nightmare.

Hmmm, gluing it onto the cabochon first? Not something I thought of! Thanks.

Though I decided, after much toing and froing, to bite the bullet and buy a manual die-cut machine, a Sizzix Big Shot (since that seems to be one of the most reliable ones). Still an investment, but not as expensive as an electronic one, and you get the advantage of being able to emboss as well as cut! Not that I would be putting embossed things under a cabochon, but it could be useful for other things like decorating cuff bracelets. So, two for the price of one. Because I don't want to end up injuring myself with sub-standard punches!

[calzephyr77]

Huh, I wish I had seen your post earlier, I totally would have recommended a Big Shot. I have had mine for years now and it is still quite dependable, plus the amount of wafer thin dies you can get now is amazing! If you go the wafer thin die route, you may want to invest in a magnetic platform for the machine. It holds the dies in place. It is such a game changer, especially if you are cutting out sets of parts.

I haven't heard of Annemarie Ridderhoff before - now I'm mesmerized!

[kerravonsen]

Thank you. I love my Big Shot, I am having a lot of fun with it. And yeah, Annemarie Ridderhoff is really something; very prolific.