I was recently asked to review some new dies by Umbrella Crafts that are being sold at Scrapbook.com. After some thinking, I decided to accept and here are some of my thoughts.
When I got my package, I was pleasantly surprised. Scrapbook.com sent me the whole collection below.
At first glance, they look like any other dye set you can buy. However, their construction is sturdier then most of my other nesting dies that I own. I also liked that the largest sized dies are a little larger then what I already have. For example, the largest size in the rectangle is 4" by 6." Most of my other rectangle dies, the largest size is either A4 sized or a bit smaller.
I am not going to bore you with a bunch of words but am going to show you some projects that I created using some of the dies.
I was originally going to use them to make some scrapbook pages but since I rarely post my pages on here, I figured I would use them to make something that I would blog about, which are cards. I also combined the dies with other products because that is how most people would use basic shapes.
My first card that I created was a baby card. I used the Nested Circle Die Set and combined it with the Nested Flowers Die Set to create a sun in back of the Lawn Fawn laundry from their "Little Bundle" stamp and die set.
I made this card using a sketch over at Scrapbook.com that was for National Scrapbook Day last week.
You might notice that the blue card stock was not cut with rectangle die. That was a conscious choice by me. First, I wanted a stitching around the edge and the Umbrella Crafts rectangles do not have any stitching. Second, the second to largest size is a 3 1/2" by 5" and a bit too small for what I wanted.
All in all, I was happy with the way this card came out. I will be experimenting with these two dies together in the future.
My second card I created is a birthday card. I used the Nested Square Die Set, combined with Reverse Confetti's "Candles and Confetti" set to make a birthday card.
This birthday card was inspired by the sketch below from TGIF Challenge Blog.
I knew when I saw this sketch that it would be perfect to try out the square dies.
I die cut four squares with the smallest square die (1/5" by 1/5") taped them together and then matted them with the second to largest die, which is a 3.5" by 3/5" die.
I adhered the squares onto a white card base. I then layered the cake from Reverse Confetti's "Candles and Confetti" stamp set over the squares.
The sentiment I used was from PaperTrey Ink's "Baker's Dozen" set. I really liked that I could put the smaller square dies together and then matte them like I did on this card. These were the perfect size for what I wanted to do.
For my last project, I created another birthday card using Reverse Confetti's "Candles and Confetti" stamps and dies. I experimented with making an oval frame with the Umbrella Crafts "Nesting Ovals" die set.
I used the two largest ovals-the 2.5" by 3/5" and the 3" by 4" dies- and a piece of My Favorite Things "Dots and Stripes" paper. I wanted the oval to highlight the birthday cake-which it did beautifully.
In conclusion, I really liked these Umbrella Crafts Dies. They are a great deal for the product that you get. My only con is that I wish they had "stitching" or some sort of decoration around the edges of the dies for a more decorative effect. When I scrapbook, this doesn't matter to me but if I use the dies for card making, I prefer a more decorative edge.
I thank you for stopping by today!! Have a great Wednesday!!
Baby Card-Supplies Here
Square Birthday Card
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