It used to be that to make an aperture you either had to be very handy with a craft knife or buy cards with apertures already in them.  With die cutting machines, both electronic and manual becoming more and more popular, Fiona Haigh-Gannon shows us some examples from both.

With most crafters now owning or having access to one (or two!) die cutting machines, it is now fairly simple to make your own aperture cards and you can make them as simple or intricate as you like.

Using a manual die cutting machine

Cuttlebug manual die cutting machine

If you have a Cuttlebug (or similar) and a set of Nestabilities (dies) it is easy to create aperture cards like these.

Just place your card blank in the Cuttlebug on the correct plates, place the Nestability die where you want your aperture to be (use low tack masking tape to hold it in place if necessary) place the correct plate on the top to complete the sandwich and run it through the Cuttlebug machine. To make a frame for it, use the same die again that you used to make your aperture but position it inside a bigger scalloped die using a magnetic sheet to hold it in place. Make the sandwich using the correct plates and the paper of your choice and run it through the machine.  This is then ready to stick over the front of the aperture and will have exactly the same size hole as your handmade aperture card blank.  For my cards I used stamped images to go behind the aperture but a photo or sentiment could be used instead.

Here are some other examples of manual die cutting machines:

A) Boss Kut
B) QuicKutz Squeeze
C) Sizzix Machine by Ellison
D) Sizzix Sidekick by Ellison
E) The Wizard™ Embossing and Die Cutting System™ by Spellbinders™
F) ZAZ™ by AccuCut®
G) Zip’eMate™ Personal Die Cutting Machine by AccuCut®

Using an Electronic Die Cutting Machine

For these cards I used a Cricut Machine with the ZooBalloo cartridge.

Cricut Electronic Die Cutting Machine

To make the cards set the size on the Cricut to the largest setting; select the “Card” option on the key pad and then your choice of aperture card. You can see the different options available in the booklet that comes with the cartridge.  For my aperture cards I chose the Monkey (Shift M) and the Happy Birthday. The monkey card I cut twice, once in green for the card blank and once in brown so that I could cut out the brown monkey to stick over the green one. The frame I made in the same way as the manual aperture card by using Nestabilities and the Cuttlebug. I then added Peel Off stickers to finish.

Here are some other examples of electronic die cutting machines:

Xyron Machine

Silhouette by Quickutz

Craftrobo

Tags | aperture cards, Boss Kut, craft knife, Craftrobo, Cuttlebug, die cutting, electronic die cutting machine, Fiona Haigh-Gannon, manual die cutting machine, Nestabilities, peel-off stickers, QuicKutz Squeeze, Silhouette by QuicKutz, Sizzix, Sizzix Sidekick, The Wizard, Xyron, Zaz by Accucut, Zip'eMate by Accucut