Welcome back to another installment of In Detail. Today, I’m taking a look at two tag die cut sets – the My Favorite Things Die-namics Tag Builder Blueprints 1 set and the Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Duo 1 set. The primary die in both sets is a 4" tall tag die.
To give some size perspective, here's a look at the tags centered on A2 card bases.
With the Die-namics Tag Builder Blueprints 1 set, My Favorite Things extends their Blueprints series to tags. I reviewed the Blueprints 13 set in a previous In Detail article. The Tag Builder set must be cut apart before use. (The Elizabeth Crafts Design Die Snips and File Set are suggested tools for this use.) The set comes packaged with a magnetic sheet. The ten-piece Tag Builder set includes the following dies: Tag 2 ⅜" x 4", Diagonal Stripe 2 ⅜"x 1 ⅞", Rectangle 1 ¾" x 2 ⅜", Circle 1 ⅜"diameter, Dotted Circle 1 ½" diameter, Tab 1 ⅜"x ⅜", Arrow ½" x ⅜",Hole Cover ½" diameter, “4U” 1" x ⅝", and Star 3⅜" diameter.
For my investigation of the Tag Builder set, I printed out the Tag Builder Blueprints 1 Sketches. Using the sketches as a guide, I played around with pieces cut with the dies from patterned paper, solid color cardstock and foil paper. I’m most likely to use gift tags during the holidays, so I used holiday colors and sentiments for these tags. The assembled tags can be used to attach to gift bags and boxes, or be attached on card bases. Please note: I didn’t glue down the pieces on the tags shown in the photos, so some elements are shifted.
The dotted circle, included in the set, does not cut; it pierces the paper and is designed to work behind the circle included in the set or on its own. I did not use the dotted circle or the arrow in any of my designs.
The pieces are scaled for tags, and as a result, several of them are quite small. Every time I used the star, I immediately put it back on the magnetic sheet, as I was so concerned I’d lose it. The pieces that I will use most from the set will be the tag and the rectangle.
Now, let’s take a look at the Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Duo 1 set. The die pieces are not attached, and therefore do not need to be cut apart. The set consists of a stitched tag die, measuring approximately 2 ¾" wide x 4" high, shown in the photo with the MFT tag, and a window pane die. The tag die does not cut a hole at the top of the tag.
The window pane die measures approximately 2 ¾" wide by 2" tall. The window pane die does not cut on its outer edge. The six rectangle cuts, with a faux stitched edge, measure ⅞" x 11/16".
Most obviously, the tag and window pane die can be used together to create a tag with windows. You can find lots of inspiration on the Pretty Pink Posh blog showing the tag cut with windows. For example, the windows can nicely showcase smaller stamps.
Since the window pane die does not cut on its outer edge, it can be used to create windows on a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Here’s a photo showing the result of using the die on a pre-cut rectangle.
I found that the easiest way to use the window pane die was to cut the rectangle first and then the window. I used the Tim Holtz Ruler to center the die on the rectangle before running it through my die cutting machine.
With the holiday theme in mind, and my holiday papers and stamps already out on my worktable, I used the Pretty Pink Posh window pane die with the Stitched Rectangle die (4" x 5 ¼"), from the My Favorite Things Blueprints 13 set, to create a front panel for a holiday card. I placed a die cut skyline (Memory Box Cityscape Nightline and Cityscape Silhouette behind the window pane. The window pane die will be the one I use the most from this tag set, primarily to create window cards.
--Jean
