Page 117 - THE INDEPENDENT

Mirror stamping and die cutting
Advanced
ON THE DVD
Mirror stamping and die cutting
Mirror stamping and die cutting gives both stamps and dies greater versatility and opens up a whole new world of fun techniques.
The example uses both mirror stamping and die cutting with the help of the Rare Earth Collaboration Dreamcatcher die set. Firstly, the bird was stamped and die cut. The second bird was stamped using the Rare Earth Load and Fold, and for this technique we used a large background stamp placed face down onto the Load and Fold so that the smooth side of the stamp is facing upwards. The bird was then stamped onto the smooth surface of the background stamp. After removing the bird stamp, a piece of card was placed over the stamped image of the bird and the Load and Fold was closed, with some light pressure applied to transfer the image from the background stamp to the card.
The bird was then cut from a scrap piece of a dark coloured card and the stamped image placed over the die cut aperture, by using a light box or flashlight behind the card the bird can be lined up with the die cut shape and the die can be taped to the card with low tack tape in the correct position. After running the die and card through the machine you should have a perfect mirror of the first bird. It’s tricky, but well worth the beautiful results!
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