Fabulous Finds Friday … Spellbinders and More

There are several Fabulous Finds in the craft world today, including two new die cutting/embossing machines from Spellbinders.

First up is the Sapphire, a small, portable manual die cutting/embossing machine aimed at beginners who want to try die cutting but don’t have the budget or the space to invest in larger machines. It handles dies up to 2 1/4 inches wide. There are also some new blue dies designed for this machine, although other dies will also work. It is sold at JoAnn fabric stores.

For those looking for bigger, better, bolder, get ready for the new Platinum, a heavy-duty machine deep enough to handle steel rule dies. This means it is also powerful enough to cut up to eight layers of various materials. It can cut more than 40 types of material, just about anything you might need in paper or fabric projects, including leather, bubble wrap, shrink film, magnet sheets, burlap, cork, thin acrylic, chipboard, balsa wood, craft metal and more. (Bubble wrap??? That would be cool!)

It weighs a sturdy 14.7 pounds and has an 8.5 inch cutting base, which folds up for storage. Spellbinders is also introducing 16 steel rule dies. The machine will be available in September with a MSRP of $199.99.

To find out more about the Platinum, check out this video.

If you are a Spellbinders fan (and even if you are not!) check out Spellbinders’ The Creative Cafe, billed as “the place you come to feed your craft curiosity…”

Every Friday, there are new “menu” items featuring “back to basics” with tips and tricks; a designer spotlight (with creative stars such as Seth Apter http://thealteredpage.blogspot.com/, Becca Feeken from Amazing Paper Grace, http://www.amazingpapergrace.com/, Scrappy Cat’s Kim Roberto http://www.scrappycat.net/  and, of course, Spellbinders’ own Stacey Caron. https://www.facebook.com/SpellbindersStaceyCaron?fref=ts

There will be new techniques, too, and a “Weekend Workshop” feature.

For more information, go to Spellbinders here https://www.spellbinderspaperarts.com/blog/welcome-creative-cafe-your-menu-inspiration or here www.spellbinderspaperarts.com

In other crafty news ….

— Ranger Industries has joined forces with Susan Lenart Kazmer and her ICE Resin® brand of jewelry products. Ranger will be manufacturing and distributing Kazmer’s products. ICE Resin is a two-part epoxy resin great not just for jewelry making, but for other mixed media artists as well. I’ve used it to make jewelry as well as other embellishments, including a cool resin-preserved paper. (See one of my early posts on ICE Resin here.)

And a look at my first attempts:

Stay tuned for more Fabulous Finds, sure to get you through the summer doldrums!

Thanks for stopping by.