Die Cutting My Mind's Eye Wood Sheets - Tutorial

Hi there!

Have you seen these wood sheets from My Mind's Eye Necessities collection?

Well they are actual wood and I am in serious {heart} with them!

I decided to play around with them in my die cutting systems and thought I would share what I learned.  Please bear in mind these are all my own findings, you may find other opinions on the www.

When I first saw this product at ScrapMuch? I immediately thought of how great it would be if I could cut it with the Silhouette. The first couple of times I attempted it, I played around with the thickness setting on the blade.  It didn't cut great at all.  I even tried using the chipboard setting, which I personally thought was genius and I thought I was totally on to something! ha! Fat chance!

I slept on it and went back the next day after doing some thinking in my best thinking place (the shower, ha!) - this is where I remembered about the corrugated paper setting, that's pretty thick right? So I gave it another try.

This time I had better results, not perfect but better. I had to press through with my craft knife to finish the job.

The cuts turned out cute though.  What did I learn?

•  I probably should have down a double cut, or even three or four - I definitely removed my project from the machine too quickly. 
• Simple cuts are probably a better choice.  
• This wood sheet is very delicate.

Would I try this again?  In a heart beat!  Just not with a new blade!
 

After that I decided to try this amazing wood sheet in my Cuttlebug.

To do this I just made the standard "sandwich" for cutting paper.  I moved it back and forth through the machine a couple of times before removing it.

I got a nice clean cut, with this scalloped heart.  Which is a little more detailed that the simple cut I could get on the Silhouette.

This butterfly cut nicely, too!  And they look amazing!

What did I learn?

• Be gentle removing the wood from the die.
• Cut the wood into smaller sections to avoid cracking while die cutting.
• You can cut slightly more detailed shapes. 

Would I try this again?  Absolutely! 

So, as I am sitting here typing this it is 1:30 am and a thought hits my fuzzy brain.  What about punches?  Well I am too tired to photograph and edit so I will tell you the details on that quick experiment.

To start with I used this side squeeze leaf punch.  It took a bit of squeezing but I got a good cut. However, I find these side squeeze punches quite delicate and I likely wouldn't use it again for this purpose. 

Next, I tried one of these punches.

This punch worked like a charm with much less squeezing and I wasn't afraid that I would break my punch.  I did not try an intricate shape, but if you are looking for quick and easy wood shapes, you can get them with your punches for sure.

So to break things down for you, I will list these ideas in order of preference.

• metal dies in a hand cranked machine ie. the Cuttlebug
• lever style punches
• Silhouette machine
• side squeeze punches

Please note all of these opinions are my own, be sure to  use your equipment carefully and at your own risk.

Thanks for visiting!
Laura
xoxo