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I am interested in buying alphabet dies and wonder if you could make some recommendations for brands that work well? What would you advise I stay away from?
I think that will depend on how you plan to use them, really. Will you be using them on a variety of materials, say, fabric or chipboard? Or would you just be papercrafting?
If just the latter, the thin metal dies work great, store easier, and cost much less. There are lots of brands out there, Spellbinders and Sizzix are two big brands, but there are a ton of companies who contract their designs to manufacturers so they can sell their own house brand, such as Simon Says Stamps or Just Rite just to name two.
If you think you might want the versatility of being able to cut more materials at some point, the larger steel-ruled dies are better, I think. Even though they are much bulkier (and costlier!), they will generally cut through several layers of fabric, thick chipboards, and all kinds of metals.
Of course, they type of die cutting machine you have might limit you, now that I think of it, lol. Whichever type of dies you decide on, make sure they work with your machine. Some companies, such as Spellbinders, have information on their website detailing not only compatible machines but also the correct sandwich to use.
My first question is, what die cut machine do you have?
My next question is, what size letters do you think you want? (IE, are you a scrapper who wants bigger letters to make titles, or a cardmaker who prefers small letters for cards?)
If I can also suggest, if you will be getting a lot of use from alpha dies, consider a digital cutter- like the Silhouette. The 12 x12 Cameo will cut chipboard and thicker items than the A4 Portrait. The reason being that Alpha die sets get expensive, and you only get the alpha in one size.For the price of a few(depending on type/brand) Alpha die sets, you can get a digital cutter- and then cut any font on your pc, in any size up to 8" tall.
I second the suggestion that you look into an ecutter & software that will allow you to cut any font on your computer. Sizzix Original/Bigz alpha sets can cost $100 or more and cut a single font in a single size. For around $250 you can buy a machine that you can use to cut zillions of fonts at tons of sizes.
Free fonts can be found all overt the web. The possibilities are endless.
I love my dies and use them a lot, but if I was specifically looking into cutting letters, I'd totally invest in an ecutter & great design software. (In that vein, I suggest staying away from Cricut/Provo Craft products.)
__________________ Hi! I'm ISO the Fun Stampers Journey stamp "Say Cheese" AT-0167. Thank you!
For the smaller fonts, We Are Memory Keepers has a nice selection at reasonable prices. If you prefer the larger fonts, the old Cuttlebug alpha dies which originally sold for about $80, can now often be found for $15 to $20
TheOtherMeg,that was exactly the logic behind buying my Silhouette, 10 years ago now. I wanted to cut letters/numbers, and the Sizzix was the main home die cutting machine then, the Quickutz Squeeze came along a little later. Anyway, as you say, 2 sets for the Sizzix would have cost me as much, maybe slightly more, than the Silhouette did, and meant I had a whole world of sizes/styles of lettering I could cut, rather than just two in a set size.
TheOtherMeg,that was exactly the logic behind buying my Silhouette, 10 years ago now. I wanted to cut letters/numbers, and the Sizzix was the main home die cutting machine then, the Quickutz Squeeze came along a little later. Anyway, as you say, 2 sets for the Sizzix would have cost me as much, maybe slightly more, than the Silhouette did, and meant I had a whole world of sizes/styles of lettering I could cut, rather than just two in a set size.
I heard this a few years ago and didn't purchase this type of cutter cause I felt guilty spending the money. But now I am sure the price of a Silhouette has gone up since then. But just looking at one set of upper and one set of lower case dies comes to almost $80! I am glad to hear the cost of a Silhouette maybe affordable all things considered. Does anyone know of a place to purchase a Silhouette? Thanks so much for direction!
Last edited by dottiejdavis; 02-03-2014 at 10:15 AM..
Dottie, I'm over here in the Uk, so my advice wouldn't be very helpful, lol. There is a sticky thread for Silhouette at the top of this section, I'm sure if you ask the question there you will get some great advice
alphabet dies
