Have a look at our frequently asked questions and if you still haven’t found what you’re looking for send us an email and we will do our best to answer it for you.

Downloadable Instruction Sheets

    How to use Carnation Crafts Dies

    Use a low tack repositionable tape to attach your die to your chosen medium with the blade face down. The tape will allow you to keep your die in place over your chosen Vignette to allow for more accurate alignment and will also enable you to rotate the die during multiple cuts whilst still being held in place.

    Place the die and medium in the correct sandwich of cutting plates, on your table top die cutting machine, as per your manufacturer’s instructions and run through the machine to achieve your die cut. You may need to repeat this process rotating your die and medium, running through the machine again, to achieve a complete cut on more intricate designs.

    Remove the tape once you have a complete die cut, you may find that the die holds the medium in place once cut, to release this simply flick with your finger to allow this to pop out. Alternatively, use a pokey tool to remove the die cut and any small pieces that remain in the die ready for your next cut.

    Carnation Crafts dies are designed to work with all manual and automatic die cutting machines.

    How do I make sure the Vignettes line up with my dies?

    The Carnation Crafts Vignettes are pre coloured download that allow you to create a perfectly coloured die cut every time. Occasionally you may find that the print out doesn’t line up exactly, usually this is down to printer settings. We always recommend printing to ‘actual size’ to ensure the best match for your Vignette. Depending on your printer you will see different options but make sure that you do not select “Fit to Page”, that borderless printing (if your printer supports it) is switched off and any scaling options are set to 100%. The Vignette downloads are A4 sized pdfs (29.7cm x 21cm), but you should be able to print the correct size on other sizes (e.g. letter) if the above settings are correct.

    How do I know what ‘sandwich’ of plates to use for my machine?

    Each die cutting machine comes with its own recommended sandwich of cutting plates which are included within the instruction booklets, please refer to these for more detailed instructions. We have outlined a number of popular machines below with their recommended plates listed from the bottom up:

    Big Shot
    Multi Purpose Platform (all tabs)
    Cutting Mat
    Die (cutting side up)
    Paper / Card
    Cutting Mat     		Ebosser
    D Plate
    B Shim
    C Plate
    Magnetic Sheet
    Die (cutting side up)
    Paper / Card
    A Plate    		Cut ‘n’ Boss
    Base plate D
    Platform B
    Platform A
    Magnetic Sheet
    Die (cutting side up)
    Cardstock
    Platform A     		Cuttlebug
    A Plate
    B Plate
    Die (cutting side up)
    Paper / Card
    C Plate
    Grand Calibur
    A Plate
    Die (cutting side up)
    Paper / Card
    C Plate    		Joy Trevaille
    A Base Plate
    Die (cutting side up)
    Paper / Card
    C Cutting Plate (grey)     		Just Cutz
    Thick White Base Plate
    Magnetic mat
    Die (cutting side up)
    Paper / Card
    Cutting Plate    		Sizzix Big Kick
    Large Platform (with all tabs)
    Die (cutting side up)
    Paper / Card
    2 x Big Kick Cutting Mats
    Original Sizzix
    Sizzix System Converter
    Cutting Pad
    Paper / Card
    Die (cutting side down)
    Spellbinders Spacer Plate    		Sizzix Vagabond
    Platform
    Solo Thin Adaptor
    Cutting Mat
    Die (cutting side up)
    Paper / Card
    Cutting Mat    		Fiskars Fuse
    Base plate
    Shim A
    Die (cutting side up)
    Paper / Card
    Cutting Plate    		Accucut Zip-e-mate
    Zip-e-mate Platform
    Die (cutting side up)
    Paper / Card
    Cutting Pad
    Accucut Epic Six
    Light Grey Cutting Platform
    Die (cutting side up)
    Paper / Card
    Epic Cutting Mat    		Quikcutz Revolution
    Revolution Platform
    Die (cutting side up)
    Paper / Card
    Acrylic Cutting Mat    		Spellbinders Wizard
    White Master Mat
    White Spacer Plate
    Die (cutting side up)
    Paper / Card
    White Master Mat    		Sizzix Sidekick
    Clear cutting plate
    2 x Sizzix Adapter 2.5″ x 7.5″ to cover the length of your plates
    Die (cutting side up)
    Paper / Card
    Clear cutting plate

    In time you may find that your cutting plates are showing signs of wear and tear, this is completely normal for all die cutting machines when used on a regular basis. We recommend using a range of shims when this occurs to enable you to lengthen the life of your plates.  Metal and magnetic shims are both available to purchase from a number of retailers, these all work in a similar way, simply place in between the flat side of your die and the base plate to give you extra pressure when die cutting.

    My dies are joined by metal tabs, how do I separate them?

    Many of the Carnation Crafts Dies are designed to stay together to allow you to cut the decoupage layers easily without losing small pieces, you should not try to separate these as the tabs are designed to be thicker than other dies. However you may find some dies where you would like to separate the smaller tabs, with small tabs this will happen over time with use as the pressure of the machine will weaken the tabs and they will separate. We do recommend separating the small tabs yourself with either a pair of old scissors or jewellery / wire snips as this means that you are separating them in a controlled manner. When the gaps in between the dies are quite small you may need to push the snips up towards the front from the back so that just the tips are through and then snip.

    How do I add the pop outs back into my die cut?

    On some die designs there are elements that pop out that you may want to piece back in,  this is often known as the ‘waste’.

    The easiest way to do this is with a machine with adjustable rollers, place tape on the back of the die cut and run through with low pressure so that the design does not cut fully. Alternatively take a shim out of the sandwich to lessen the pressure placed on your die cut. If you decide you want to piece the waste back in after you have made a complete cut or are not able to adjust the pressure simply place tape on the back of your die cut and piece the elements back in, this just takes a little longer.

    What is your Angel Policy?

    As long as all dies are cut on a standard home die cutting machine and all projects are hand made there is no limit to how many can be sold or where they can be sold. Cuts made using a standard home die cutting machine may also be sold but papers and printed sheets must not be printed and sold but can be cut and used on handmade projects to be sold. If cuts are made on an electronic machine such as (but not limited to) Brother Scan & Cut, Silhouette Cameo then designs may be re-sized and hand made finished projects may be sold. Reproduction or replication of designs in any format other than being cut with a home cutting machine is not permitted.