Here the Sizzix die has been put through the 'Bug using the standard A,C,die, card, B sandwich.
There are two differences between these dies and Nesties. The first is the position of the cutting edge.
In the Nesties, it is in the width of the die, and I have noticed that the position varies from one die shape to another.As you can see from these two, in the Labels Die(right), it is pretty much in the centre of the die, but in the Scalloped Ovals, it is almost at the edge.
The big selling point with the Sizzix is that the cutting edge is RIGHT ON the edge, so in their words-'what you see is what you cut'. So if you want to frame an image you've stamped, or a photo, there is no guesswork as to what you will end up with- I can see their point, but personally I would just cut the shape out of cheap copy paper first, then use that to line up.The other big difference is that you CANNOT emboss with these dies, only cut. I didn't actually realise that when I bought them, and it may have influenced me against them, to be honest, if I had. I got these as I had a promo e-mail from Craft Superstore, who had them on offer in 2-pack combos, and I liked the number of dies in this particular set,8 in each, and circles are really useful.
However, I thought the lack of embossing a drawback, and wondered if there was a way around this. And the answer is, yes there is!
I have seen videos on Youtube about creating a 'blank' area inside an embossing folder, and tried something similar.
Firstly I cut a large scalloped circle, then chose a plain circle that would just fit inside this shape.Next, I layered them one above the other, and held them together with a little re-positionable adhesive.
Here are the two die cuts, so you can see what I mean. Before attempting to emboss, I flipped them over,so the plain circle was underneath.Now I layered up on the A plate with the Tan embossing mat, two card shims, and the 2 B plates. Although this did emboss, it wasn't as crisp as I would have liked, so I repeated it with three card shims.
The final sandwich:
A plate
Die cuts
Tan mat
3 card shims
2 B plates
Remember: Every 'Bug is different- be careful when adding shims, and start with less- you can add card/paper shims much easier than you can replace a broken 'Bug! This works in mine- yours may need more, or less. Remember also it will depend on the thickness of your die-cuts. The thicker they are, the less you will need in shims.
Here are the two pieces separated again, and you can see the scalloped shape is now embossed!
I've enlarged it here so you can see it more clearly.
It's no real hardship to do it this way,and it does have the advantage of some creativity- you can choose how wide you want your embossed border, and could choose to have it either plain, or scalloped. So for anyone who has bought them, and want to emboss, now you can.
