Big Shot Dies And Sandwiches

Hi! This is Sage Kimble and I'm the Mad Stamper. I've heard from customers who are getting really confused about which tabs of the Big Shot Platform they should use with which Dies. So I thought I'd give you a little tour to help you out. The Multipurpose Platform comes with a base and 2 Tabs and on each of these layers you'll find directions and pictures for creating the sandwiches you need for different dies. One of the problems however it that we keep getting new kinds of dies and they're not all on here. That means that sometimes you just have to guess and experiment. You'll notice that my tabs are no longer connected to my Platform, because I've found they kept getting in the way and I could use them more easily just by pulling them off the shelf when I needed them and adding them to the base. So let me show you the sandwiches you'll need for all of the Stampin'Up! dies and embossing folders... at least at this time. Originals and Bigs Dies are thick dies with a ridge of metal below the surface. If you press down along the lines, you can see on your steel dies, you'll feel the cutting metal. I like to put some sticker paper on top of my dies so that I can see where the lines are better and they show up in my videos better. And with these, you don't need a Platform at all because the thickness of the die acts in place of that platform. So for these dies, all you need is a bottom cutting path, the dye, a piece of Card Stock, the top cutting pad, and that's your sandwich that goes through the Big Shot. The way the Big Shot works is that as you roll it through the machine, it gets squeezed by the roller; and that's how the steel edge cuts your Card Stock. For the extra large dies, the sandwich is same, but you'll need extra long cutting pads. And with a die like the Fancy Favor die, that has both cutting and scoring lines, you'll need a cutting pad on the bottom, the die, your Card Stock, and then instead of a top cutting pad, you'll need the extended creased pads, so you'll get nice score lines. All of the other Stampin'Up! Dies and the Embossing Folders are thin enough that you're going to need to use the Platform with some combination of Tabs or no Tabs. This is a Sizzlit and you can see it's very thin and has light colored foam on top which is etched into a pattern and when the Card Stock goes through the Big Shot on top of the Sizzlits, then this foam shape will get cut into the Card Stock. Clearlits are basically the same as a Sizzlit. Instead of having a soild backing like this, they'll have a little window so that you can place it over something you've stamped and center it so you can cut it out. This was sort of a precursor to what we have now, which is Framelits. And the other thing that uses the same sandwich as the Sizzlit is this Embosslit. And an Embosslit both cuts and embosses the Card Stock at the same time. And it's a little folder; you put the Card Stock inside and then run it through the Big Shot. So the sandwich that you use for all three of those is the Multipurpose Platform with Tab 1, the bottom cutting pad, the Sizzlit and Card Stock and a top cutting pad. And you run that through the Big Shot. For the Clearlits, you usually put the Card Stock with the image you want to cut out down on the bottom cutting pad like so and the top cutting pad on top of that. And as I showed you earlier for the Embosslit, the Card Stock goes inside the folder and you put the hinge of the Embosslit so that it's parallel with the long side of the Platform, and put the top cutting pad on. So all three of those use Tab 1. The newest Dies that we have are Framelits and Edgelits. Edgelits are designed to create an adoring edge along your Card Stock. And Framelits are designed so that they'll coordinate with a stamp set and you can place the Framelit on top of the Card Stock just like you did it with Clearlits and run that through the Big Shot. And when I'm using Framelits and Edgelits, I like to position it around my stamped image and use a little bit of painter's tape to hold it in place while I run it through the Big Shot so that it doesn't shift positions. So you're going to need one extra Tab with Framelits and Edgelits. You'll need Tab 2 and because Framelits and Edgelits really cut up your cutting pads, I'm going to show you my old pair; you can see has had a lot of use with Edgelits and Framelits. So the sandwich is the Platform, the Tabs 1 and 2, bottom cutting pad, the Card Stock with the Framelit or Edgelit and your tap cutting pad. So one more thing I'm going to show you, and that's, Embossing Folders. Now I find with my machine and every machine's a little different; so you have to figure out what's going to work best for yours. I find that the Embossing Folders work best without any Tabs at all. So for an Embossing Folder, you place your Card Stock inside the folder, use the Platform without a Tab, the bottom cutting pad, the embossing folder with Card Stock and a top cutting pad and run that through the Big Shot. So there you have it; all the sandwiches for Stampin'Up! Big Shot Dies. I'll include a link in the About section, underneath the video, where you can download a pdf with the sandwiches written out. I hope this video helps make using the Big Shot Platform with different Dies and Embossing Folders easier for you and less confusing. For more inspiration in instruction be sure to visit me on my website at www.StampingMadly.com, the Stamping Madly Face Book page, and the Mad Stamper YouTube Channel. Happy Stamping!