At the end of the day what they all do, one way or another, is squeeze the dies and your chosen paper together so that it cuts your chosen shape. 

So we’ve had a play with some of the other die cutting machines on the market to show you how to quickly and easily you can use coveted Quickutz cutting and

embossing dies on the machine you already have so  so you don’t have to miss out!

THE CUTTLEBUG

Die Cutting Quickutz 2" and 4" dies

Literally as easy as ’ABC’.  Instructions for using Other Brand Thin Dies are in the manual, and the adaptor plate (marked C) that you need comes in the box.  

At the bottom you need your Spacer (A), one Cutting Pad (B) then you place your Quickutz die, your patterned paper and finally your Thin Die Adaptor (C) and roll the lot through the machine.

We found this cut easily and cleanly even through the two layers of the self-adhesive Quickutz Stripz.  The Cuttlebug will take up to four 2" dies or one 4" die.

Die Cutting Quickutz Cookie Cutter 12" Border Dies

The question on Cuttlebug owner’s lips who has seen the new 12" border dies released recently by Quickutz would be can I use these in my machine, and if so, how.  The answer is yes.

Use the same set up as above with the die resting on A and B.  Cover the die with your paper, and cover this with Adaptor Plate C. 

As you can see obviously the plates are not long enough to cut the whole die at once. 

Roll it through until it comes out the other end.

Now making sure you keep your your die and patterned paper together, move the plates to the other end of the die, and roll through again. 

You will probably need to do this from the other end and roll into the middle, rather than starting in the middle and rolling to the end,

as I found the machine didn’t want to accept the bulk of all the layers at once.

And there you have it.  The beautiful Quickutz Cookie Cutter Flourish cut on the Cuttlebug.  It’s not a perfect setup, but it’s certainly do-able.

Embossing with 2" and 4" Goosebumpz

This is easy enough but the widths of the embossing dies means you need to do a bit of tweaking.  The above ABC set up is too thick to send the embossing dies through,

and the ABB set used for Cuttlebug dies is too thin. 

This can be quickly and easily solved though with nothing more technical than a sheet or two of chipboard cut to the same size as the plates.

Fold your Goosebumpz Embossing Die over your chosen paper or cardstock.  Place on the Spacer (A) and Cutting Pad (B). 

Cover with your second Cutting Pad (B) and one or two sheets of chipboard.

THE SIZZIX "BIG RED"

 Die Cutting Quickutz 2" and 4" dies

To use Quickutz 2" or 4" dies in the Sizzix die cutting system you need both the Sizzix System Converter and the Adaptor plate.

If you don’t have the Adaptor Plate (I didn’t for the purposes of this report) load up layers of chipboard as shown. 

Test your system on scrap paper but I needed four layers under the cutting plate to give a clean cut.

The 2" dies are small enough to be cut in one go.  4" dies will need to be moved along and pressed twice.

Die Cutting Quickutz Cookie Cutter 12" Border Dies

The gorgeous 12" border dies went through easily enough.  This is the 12" Cookie Cutter Leafy Vine.  

You need to feed the length of the die and the paper through manually as this is not a rolling die machine, and you need to press about six times - and a few extra just be sure. 

Watch it as it comes out the end nearest the lever - you may need to turn it around so that you’re not pressing down on top of the die.

The fact that you can pick up your paper and die at any time to check whether it has cut through successfully though makes the system fairly foolproof.

Embossing with 2" and 4" Goosebumpz

Again you need the Sizzix System Convertor and either the Adaptor Plate or the high-tech chipboard layer alternative.

Courtesy of Aussie Scrap Source