TReelly Nice Die

It's Day 2 on "a Card a Day" - we have a Facebook group to keep in touch with what other members are doing, but if you're interested in joining in and don't use FB see the post previous to this one for how to join in

I do love Memory Box dies, but they can be a right faff to use - all those fiddly little bits of "spare" card to get out and then there's the "how to glue 'em on" question.

I bought the Starry Tree  die because it's sooo pretty and because I thought it would be the answer to that annual question "How do I churn out lots of Christmas cards without losing my mind?"

Obviously the prettiness of the die completely overshadowed the "Losing my mind" bit - as I realised on the first attempt at cutting!

I did a bit of research on the web, and asked a few questions of my lovely crafty friends and now, although using these dies is never going to be as speedy as using those lovely, simple Cuttlebug tree dies (I'm running out of ideas on how to get away using them again), I think I can now get a lot more use from them than I thought I would on day 1

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I did the "use a layer of greaseproof paper between die and cardstock" thing and that helped - I'm not sure whether you only need to do that once - but that's what I did and the dies have been a bit easier since.

Adding a card shim to the base plate of my Cuttlebug before the cutting sandwich is definitely helping - plus it's easy to change the thickness of the card or paper shim to get the best results.

Use scissors to cut close to the diecut shape - this helps prevent those complicated twisty spirally bits from getting tangled up and allows you to get the unwanted sections out in smaller pieces iyswim

The people at Cheery Lynn dies make a metal shim which seems to get brilliant reviews - I ordered one - and when it arrived I realised that I'd ordered a Big Shot one by mistake doh and double doh!  Fortunately the lovely people at Cutting Edge Crafts are happy to exchange it for the right one - but they are awaiting stock of the Cuttlebug Cuttlehug - you see, it was the name that confused me (doesn't take much)

My lovely friend Kath came up with a brilliant, and super speedy idea for gluing these intricate shapes to the card:  Apply glue to the actual CARD, then put the diecut onto the glue and toss Glamour Dust over the whole thing!  Brilliant and perfect for Christmas cards!

 So here's the design I made using Kath's method.

 Cutting all the bits in batches makes it quicker, the oval cut out makes a nice frame and hides the un-glittered areas, and I've used the the left over oval to make a topper for another card - they would also be perfect for gift tags!

Tools and Materials:
Dies: Memory Box Starry Tree, Snowflake border, Spellbinders Sxscalloped Oval
Bazzill card, White card scraps, Glamour Dust glitter, Tiny gems (Anita's gem wheels), Homemade decal sentiment stickers

Thanks for looking