Cutting Dies from Aliexpress

I have a feeling it was on SCS ( Splitcoast Stampers forum) that I saw mention of Aliexpress, on a thread about buying cheap dies from China. All the people who had used it had favourable reports of the dies, and the site itself. So, as you do, I went for a browse. I had originally bought some of the cheap China dies off E-Bay, but the selection of dies available on Aliexpress is incredible. I'm pretty sure there is every type of die you'd ever want on there, including some which are clearly direct copies of some from famous brand names.

 However, I think in all the dies I bought- yes, I did go a little mad- I've not seen any of them elsewhere. Apart from the tree frame, which is similar to a Memory Box die, but that's now discontinued.
 I'm a little late with this review, as they arrived when I was feeling poorly, and haven't been unpacked till now.
So, 12 separate dies, 1 set of four dies, and an embossing folder.
 Any guesses as to the cost?
 It was an amazing £24.97! Shipping was free, and I was very impressed with the packaging too. They were in a poly bag, and wrapped up in a large sheet of foam.

You can get an idea of die sizes, as each square on my cutting mat is 5mm.
 Right, on to individual prices:
The ballerina, 79p
Hot Air Balloon, £1.75
Christmas Lampost, £1.34
Mr & Mrs, £1.16
Set of 6 cats, £1.09
Spider and web, £1.56
Tree Frame, £2.65 ( the most expensive die)
Motorbike, £2.00

 Embossing Folder, £1.31 .

The 'Mixed Media' type dies.

Circles Cut Out (Middle) £1.86
Flower style cut out, (Right), £1.77
Honeycomb cut out, top, £1.89.



Set of 4 cut out dies   £2.58



So I have to report no issues with ordering, delivery or prices. As a number of these dies are ones that I will use only very occasionally, I'm very happy to get them as cheaply as these.


The only thing to do now is probably the most important issue, and check on the cutting standard.

First up is the set of 4 Mixed Media type dies. They gave a clean cut, with just a few bits to poke out. I'd usually help this process by using either Waxed paper, or a Tumble Drier sheet, new or used, both work fine, between the die and the cardstock, but for the purpose of trialling the cutting ability I wanted to use them 'as is'.
 Impressed with the cuts, especially on the tiny squares one.



The Honeycomb corner completes the set, and I had no cutting issues at all- all cut cleanly and needing no shimming, just the standard cutting sandwich on my Cuttlebug.


Followed by the circles and the long narrow Honeycomb. As before, clean cuts, no shims.

 This is the flower-like cutting die, again, good clean cuts, no shims.



















Next up, the spider & web. This one most definitely would benefit from waxed paper/drier sheet, as while it cuts cleanly, the 'bits' do need poking out, and the web is very delicate to remove from the die. But like the others, clean cuts and no shims.




The set of 6 cats cut cleanly and popped straight out of the dies. No shims. This set came all joined together, and that was how I cut them, and I think I shall leave them joined.







The motorbike, and the first one that needed shimming to get clean cuts. You can see here a few parts, particularly on the wheels, did not cut all the way through. Shimming with a single sheet of cardstock fixed this easily though.

Top die cut is after shimming, bottom one before.You get some nice embossed engine detail too.

The ballerina cut and popped out of the die easily.


















The hot air balloon also cut cleanly and needed no shimming.This will be a great one for paper piecing, I think.

The  Letters cut cleanly, as did the little hearts that came with it.

Almost done, the Christmas Lamp Post. Like the others, a nice clean cut with no shims.


The eagle eyed amongst you have probably noticed cut marks on my 'C' plate- evidence of the times I've put the die and cardstock in upside down!

The bunch of balloons, a clean cut, no shimming, another one which will work well for paper piecing, and the front balloon cuts all the way through, so could have foam pads/silicone glue put behind it and give some dimension.

The final die, a tree frame. I'd been looking for one of these, a Memory Box die, which is oval rather than oblong, but it seems to be discontinued. However, this is a perfectly fine replacement, and cut perfectly.

You can see my well used 'B' plate underneath! But it still works just fine.





  
So that's all the dies trialled, and only one, the motorbike, needed shimming. Some, like the Mixed Media type dies, would definitely benefit from the waxed paper/ drier sheet, as although they cut cleanly, you do have a few bits to poke out.

 So, if you're wondering if the Aliexpress dies are worth a go, my answer is a resounding Yes. I have no complaints about either the shipping times, the cost, or the cutting.A total of 16 dies,and an embossing folder, at a cost that you'd normally pay for a couple of 'Big Name' dies works for me very nicely, thank you.😀
 Just so you know, there are 49 pages of dies, with 36 dies to a page! Plus, they obviously update & add dies regularly, as I've just been back and there are loads of new dies since I last visited, about 6-8 weeks ago.

WOYWW #439

Not a lot of crafting this week, as Saturday was spent at a wedding and reception, then today at a follow up with the Radiology Oncologist, which was all ok, he'll be organising a CT scan in a few weeks to see how things have changed.

This is Tammy & Jake, Tammy being our niece, and their children Mckenzie & Evelyn.



What isn't apparent from this pic, is that Tammy was very close to giving birth to their next child! The wedding was booked a year ago, and then earlier this year, Tammy realised she was pregnant, and the due date she was given, you've probably guessed, was 28th of October- the date booked for the wedding.

This picture tells the story quite clearly, here she is with her Sister in law to be, Tara, also now expecting.
 The bouquet of paper roses she's carrying was made by my DIL Becky, along with all the corsages and the decorations for the reception hall.

However, despite having contractions 20 minutes apart during the wedding and reception, she hung on until Monday, when baby Skyler-Jaye finally made her appearance.

Monday night we were at the NEC Genting Arena for a Metallica concert, amazing as always.


At the check up I had last week with my QE surgeon, the result was as good as we hoped- he's perfectly happy with how things are healing, and sees no need for any intervention by them. I have another appointment in 3 weeks time just so they can be sure everything has healed.
 There will be a blog post tomorrow about some dies I bought from Aliexpress. They arrived during the week I was starting to feel poorly, so I've only just got them unpacked, and tried out for cutting.

 I'll leave you with another few shots from the wedding.

Me & Doug with the Bride, looking radiant & very happy.

 Me with Tracy, my Sister in law & the Brides Mom, along with her daughter in Law to be, Tara.

All those streamers of leaves around the wall were made by Becky, literally hundreds of leaves on string hung from sticks, as they had a woodland theme for the decorations.

Doug, his baby brother Tim, and their sister Ellie.

Me & Beloved Hubby.

WOYWW #438

 Another week flashes past us, and so we meet up again at Julias place, The Stamping Ground, for another WOYWW. Not got a lot done since last week, seem to be struggling with my energy levels at the moment.
 I did get to go to the Eileen Godwin workshop at our local craft shop on Saturday, and a great time was had by all.I'd booked it as soon as I got the email about it, quite a few months ago, as Eileen is a lady I've wanted to met for some years. When I first started blogging, around 10 years ago now(!), Eileen was one of the first, if not the first, person to leave me a comment, and has always been very encouraging to me.
She's as lovely and friendly as she looks, and made the workshop great fun.






Group photo here, a bunch of smashing crafters, and got to meet a couple who had been Facebook friends for a while, so it's great to meet in the flesh.

These are the days projects- the first one using Brushos in a very controlled way, which surprisingly, can be done. I think the fairy one needs something else stamping, as she looks to me as if she's reaching out to something. Maybe an animal she's going to stroke, or some flowers to pick? Not sure yet.







 

The second pair used Distress Oxides onto a craft mat then spritzed with water, and watercolour cardstock dragged through.

Both my projects still have to be made into finished cards, with some matting and layering, but I deliberately left that bit till I got home,as I have so much cardstock, it will be great to use some up!


So thats me done for this week, short and sweet. I've had an appointment arrive today to see my original surgeon at the QE on Thursday, so we should get some idea of whether they want to look at this skin flap, or if they think it's healing up fine.

WOYWW #437- The Escaped from Hospital Edition.

Yes, I'm finally free, and hopefully will stay that way. I'm so sad at missing the crop, and all the people I'd have met for the first time, but fingers crossed another chance will come along soon. I'd gone to the GP on the Friday evening, but he couldn't find anything wrong, but I spent Saturday lay asleep most of the time on the sofa, and Sunday, apart from getting up for a shower, I spent in bed. I knew something was wrong, but not what, so I kept my appointment on Monday to see my Oncologist at the local hospital. Who took one look at me, standing there with sweat literally running from me, and told me he wanted to admit me. Which became even more important when he got a nurse to take my blood pressure and it was 88 over 63! Considering they've been treating me for High Blood Pressure for two years- regularly 200+ over 120+- was a bit of a shocker. Straight away got me a wheelchair, told me to sit, and stay sat, as he didn't want me hitting the floor face first!
 Turns out I had a UTI/Sepsis incident, and have had two weeks of IV antibiotics, which have gone a considerable way to helping. I still have some infection in the flap of skin that was created after my bowel surgery, but they are trying to get me seen by someone at the QE for that, as the level of surgical expertise involved is way above theirs at the local hospital.
 One really odd thing, as I said, they'd been treating me for High Blood Pressure for two years. They took me off my BP meds 10 days ago, to get my blood pressure to come up, and it's now sitting at what is a perfectly normal reading, and has been for the last week. Go figure!

So, the photos of my desk are as they got left two weeks ago,all my purchases at Art From The Heart waiting to get put away, which I will do over the next few days. I'm not showing photos of the rest of the room, as I have stuff to put away I'd packed to bring to the crop, and it looks a complete mess right now.
 I also spent time thinking about crafts while I was stuck in my hospital bed, and one thing I did manage to come up with was a couple of plans for Art Journaling. I've wanted to dip my toes in this for a while, but was at a bit of a loss for how to start- ideas, themes and so on. I decided that I can do one that concentrates on different techniques, for starters.
 For a second one, the idea came in a bit of a convoluted way. Someone on the ward had a radio playing one morning, and one track- an old 80's one- that got played was Ian Dury & The Blockheads Reasons To Be Cheerful, (Part 3). Which I took as a brilliant idea for an Art Journal- Reasons to be Cheerful! So, having a notebook, I started jotting down ideas, setting out pages alphabetically with Reasons.  So still an idea in the bud, so to speak, but coming along nicely.
 Huge thank you's to everyone who sent me good wishes on Facebook, I did read them all.
 Looking forward to this Saturday, when I'm off to Amelias Creative Crafts, to do a workshop with Eileen Godwin. She's on the DT's for Lavinia Stamps, Sweet Poppy stencils,Designs by Ryn, and now Visible Image, and has a very distinct style and use of colour I love. Plus, back in 2010 when I first started blogging, Eileen was one of my first, if not the first, followers, and encouraged me greatly, so I've wanted to meet her for a long time now. So I'm really psyched up for that, there will be photos next week!

WOYWW #434- The After Tim Holtz edition!

So, back in the land of reality, after a fabulous workshop at Art From The Heart, Harrowgate, with Tim Holtz & Mario Rossi.

A wonderful time was had by all, and 4 hours just flew by.
 At the end, we got goodies to rake away with us- the two stencils we used were made especially for the workshop, so won't ever be available to buy.

 Top left is an Apron, and bottom left is a bag for 'putting your thoughts and ideas into'. Those things we jot down on a bit of paper, then promptly forget what we did with them.

All those came in this bag with the Creative Chemistry Live UK Edition on, and our lanyards.

Next came a folder, with refill inserts, to store all our tags from the lessons in. Plus the specially printed badge for the front.

The folder itself, & inserts are available to buy, and a great way of storing tag samples.

  A notebook, to write thoughts and ideas in.




Again, this is available to buy as part of the regular Idea-ology range.

Final gift was a piece of 'Good Luck' jewellery from the Assemblage line.

Finally, I took my Compendium of Curiosities, and Distressables books with me, just in case I could get them signed. And sign them he did, quite happily.








Everything was so well organised, and both Tim & Mario took time with people, making them feel they were an important part of the day, it was a wonderful atmosphere.




I'll do another post later in the week on all the tags, and I'll bring them to the crop with me.

Even taking time for a silly photo!

I'm feeling much better this week than I did last, by Saturday, the worst of the side effects were easing off, which I was pleased about. Didn't expect them to shift quite so fast.I am still tired, but I think Sunday was such a long day, so accounts for some of that, and I have a really painful butt, as I sipped over in the bathroom on Saturday afternoon, and landed firmly on my rear, so it feels bruised.



Anyhow, I'm done, bed is calling. I'll be round during the day today. Hugs to everyone.