I love the idea for an Advert calendar countdown!
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That star gift box would look great on a Christmas 
Well done for fixing that machine, the star box I love!!..
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Well done Tabby, who needs a man about the house? 
Love the little boxes……
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Well done I love fixing things did not know I did, well not until I had to.
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They’d look even more wonderful crammed with chocolates.
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C’mon!!!
But yes, Tabby makes beautiful crafts.
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I’m not being rude when I tell you that your star gift box is okay but that’s not the interesting bit, @SilverTabby.
Because what I am impressed by - and I am indeed extremely impressed - is that you fixed what anybody who has ever taken one apart will know is a very complicated bit of machinery.
Kudos to you for that.
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Oh well done you! I did feel for you when I read what had happened on the Good Morning thread, so I’m so pleased you managed to fix it. Now, I have no idea what a magnetic shim is, but if the machine had shredded it, how did you sort that bit?
Edited to add: I LOVE that star, it’s really beautiful!
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@Bathsheba - a magnetic shim is a mat that holds dies in place as they go through the machine. It is ‘sandwiched’ between the cutting plates so, in theory, should not have been anywhere near the rollers. The one in question was an A4 sized one. This is all that was left of it!
What a lovely thing to say - thank you!
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Eeee, yer a clever lass out Tabs. Well done! 
TBH I’ve never heard of a die cutting machine and no idea what they do.
Are those lovely boxed made using the machine?
Why is it called ‘die cutting’?
Does it cut out humans dying? 
Dies are metal shapes, words, or alphabet letters that can be used to cut images from a material. They’re made of metal and come in all kinds of fun shapes and sizes - but I have no idea why they are called dies!
To use them you need a cutting machine - this can be a simple hand cranked one or an electric one like mine. You make a ‘sandwich’ = base plate, cutting plate 1, magnetic shim, die, card/paper/fabric, cutting plate2 - and run it through the machine. Hey Presto - fancy shape!
Yes - the boxes and a lot of the fancy stuff you see on my cards are made using my trusty machine. It is 6yrs old now - and I wish I had 50p for every sheet of paper/card that has run through it in that time - I would be very rich!
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Thanks for the explanation Tabs. Fascinating and I would imagine really rewarding and satisfying making something of your choosing.
Is there a good selection of shapes to chose from with the dies?
Oh yes - everything from flowers to animals, transport to buildings, numbers, texts, you name it and someone will have made a die that does it! At the last count - I had over three thousand. Some are quite cheap others more so. The most I have paid for a single die set is £25 - but that was exceptional. Some of the cheaper ones are good but soon become blunt. Dies need to be sharp to make a clean cut - especially with some of the lovely lace ones.
It took eight dies to make the star gift box.
Gosh Tabs - over 3,000! What fun choosing something from all those! You often say your ‘rubbing your hands with glee’ when doing something and I can visualise you now rummaging around in those 3,000 dies. .
£25! Do tell what that one is, I’m intrigued… 
I will take a photo of the die set - and an example of what it does - and put up a post tomorrow for you.
Thanks petal… will forward to that 
You need a sign
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Thank you, Bruce!