‘Out of the box’ die-cutting is a method of partial die-cutting using nesting dies which leaves a portion of the image outside the shape of the die but is still attached to the die-cut. You can use any nesting die shape and this technique is perfect if you have images that are a little too large for your dies. Simply stamp and colour your image using your chosen medium – I have used watercolour markers here.

Position the die shape over the image where you would like it to cut, leaving part of the image outside the edge of the die. Take a pencil and draw two small lines on the inside edge of the die up to the stamped image so you know where you need to cut to. You can draw a pencil line around a section of the outside of the die to help you reposition the die when you are ready to die-cut.

Now cut from the side of the card piece straight to the pencil line on both sides and carefully cut around the section of the image between the pencil lines. You can cut a little beyond the pencil lines to make it easier to fit the die back in place. Take the die and slide the cut out area of the image on top of the die and use the pencil lines marked on the outer edge to help align the die in the correct place. Use low-tack-tape to secure and die-cut.

Remove the die and the section that was on top of the die has not been cut and is still attached. You can then die-cut a larger nesting shape to create a matt for your card design, it really is that simple! I hope you’re feeling inspired, have a look through your stash of dies and stamps and see what you can make.

1

Use black ink to stamp the image onto watercolour card and colour using watercolour markers.

2

Place the die over the image and draw a pencil line on the inside of the die where it meets the edges of the image. (This is the area which will be ‘out of the box’.)

3

Before moving the die, draw a pencil line around some of the outside edge of the die as a guide when placing the die when you are ready to die-cut.

4

Carefully cut around the area of the image between the pencil lines from Step 2, cutting a little bit past the lines to help when replacing the die.

5

Align the die back over the image with the cut section on top of the die using the pencil lines as a guide and tape in place.