Spellbinders Botanical Swirls Die

[GypsyRoseStamper]

I just got this die and am rather mad at myself for not watching enough videos about it beforehand. I fell for the botanical design and didn't care that it could be expanded to cut a longer die. Ideally, I wanted the design with a narrow frame around it. Unfortunately, to get that effect, you must line a ruler along the edges and use a straight edge to trim the negative space next to the branches and leaves. I hate, despise, and loathe using a straight edge razor! Avoid it like the plague. Not only that, it is tricky to cut only the negative space and not slice off a branch accidentally (I have to mark the spaces before cutting to avoid error.). And tricky to trim that little snippet than is only 1/16" long. Getting the danged frame effect ends up taking a half hour (for me). Using only fragments of the botanical design is a possibility but doesn't appeal to me much. What a pain!

Cheery Lynn has a number of similar dies that do include the frame and don't require this trimming. If Spellbinders sticks with their present format, I will avoid these expandable dies. I think Spellbinders currently
has a butterfly design and a couple of geometric patterns done this way.

Another complaint. Just the standard Spellbinders brochure is included with the die, but it makes no mention of instructions for having the frame or using the expandable feature or the die. You have to track down the video online to get the instructions.

Caveat emptor.

[CathyC]

The pieces you are talking about having to trim are what makes the pattern expandable. If they were not left there the design would fall apart once you tried to expand it.

These dies were not meant to be plain background dies. The expandable feature is what the dies are all about. Had all of those pieces cut out, they would be like everyone else's background dies without the ability to expand the pattern. Yes, it is an extra step to trim those if you want a framed background. Having the ability to use it both ways makes it versatile and worth the effort to me. It does double duty.

Cathy

[GypsyRoseStamper]

Yes, I understand that the frame can't exist if expanding is wanted. I just think the expanding feature is hardly likely to be wanted by anybody, whereas the framed design would have much more popularity. If someone wants large diecuts, she is going to be looking at a Cricut or similar. A cut that is ca. 5 x 14 has limited value.