Altenew Lingo
 

I find the verbiage of categories on Altenew's site a little confusing.

First, there's build-a-flower which, to my understanding are stamps sets w/corresponding die sets which do not cut layers but rather cut out the outline of a flower or leaf. In this case, the layers are made with the stamps & shades of inks.

Then there's craft-a-flower which, also to my understanding, are sets of stand-alone dies which cut out different layers and different colors of card stock which you're supposed to layer on top of one another to form a specific flower. No stamps involved. So far, I've got it.

But here's where I find it confusing: 3D die sets, craft-a-flower and layering die sets. Basically, the craft-a-flower, 3D flower dies, and layering die sets are different names for the same thing/technique. And craft-a-flowers also come with the designation "layering die sets" but sometimes "layering die set" is an independent designator (as in the jumbo garden picks) Am I right? Am I missing something? Also, when I look at them side-by-side it seems to me that the flower 3D dies are not really 3D as you would expect (like Susan Tierney Cockburn's or their own gemstone die, for example) but just layer flatly. So aren't these 3 categories just the same thing?

And, if I am correct, why have 3 names for the same type of die set? Is there a clearer way to think about this? I feel like I need a graph!

The first 2 seems to be very similar except with Build a Flower you get stamps and dies.
With Craft a Flower you can buy stamps alone and dies alone.
With 3D flower dies you don't have to use stamps. The pieces stack to create the shading, so that's the 3D.
I only have the 3D. and some 'normal' flowers with multiple stamping to create the shading.
Search on Pinterest and see examples of each.

Too confusing!
 

I loved the effect of stamping & layering Altenew flowers when they first came out...but they were so difficult to line up (for me) that I virtually gave up. I absolutely do not like the die cut layered flowers..find them boring and totally non artistic, so haven't bought much nor paid attention to all the various categories. Your listing was great...WAY TOO confusing! I also dislike the die cuts with that nasty white halo around the stamped image...why do they do that? I'm sticking with stamping...cleaner, prettier and less confusing!

Thx for the input. Yeah, I'm with ya. I find it harder than it should be too. Somebody (maybe My Favorite Things?) started putting a (non-stamped) dot on them to help in orientation; that helped. So many choices; I'm sure we can both find what works for us!

Don't forget Paint-a-Flower, just stamps, no dies.

I gave up on Altenew a long time ago! (Except for their ink pads.)

They evidently aced the class "How to (Over) Saturate a Market."

LOL

The way I remember this change is that Sizzix threatened several die-producing companies with lawsuits in the belief that Sizzix had a patent on the dies that cut right at the edge of a stamped image. This thread from two years ago will give you some insight:
fate coordinating dies 628487