A: In general, I usually center a smaller or shorter sentiment about 1/3 of the way down on the panel - that gives me enough room to write a greeting above the sentiment and a message below. For larger sentiments, I would center the top line about 1" - 1 1/2" from the top of the panel.

A: I have a rotary cutter from Fiskars that has a perforating blade. An alternative can be found at a fabric store with the pattern making tools - it's a tool called a tracing wheel. It's also a rotary tool, with a toothed wheel which leaves a row of close perforations or piercings when rolled over paper. A sewing machine can be used without thread for a pierced row as well.

A: I prefer ink pads over markers for watercoloring with ink, in general. When I watercolor I find it easier to work from a palette rather than coloring and blending directly on the paper The ink pads are easy to tap onto an acrylic block for a quick palette. Blending with a regular paintbrush or waterbrush is often more effective than trying to blend ink out from a colored area - not all watercolor papers are equal, and some will hold the ink instead of allowing it to move and blend. Ink pads are also easier to apply to a craft sheet for Wrinkle-Free Distress backgrounds. These techniques are a great way to stretch the use of your ink pads, beyond traditional stamping. Markers can be great for 'direct to rubber' coloring where more than one color is needed, so that is one thing to consider. I prefer the 'real brush' markers to felt markers, which can tend to fray or smell over time.

A: I have bent a couple of dies in my BigShot by running over them with other dies (twice!) - they are badly dented and they still cut fine. I would think that running the bent die through the machine a few more times might flatten it out - if it's an open die, you can reshape it gently with your hands (they're steel - I don't think you're going to break one). I hope that helps!

A: This was fun to figure out! I started with a 6" square piece of paper. Mark at 3" on 2 opposite sides, and on the other sides mark at 1-3/4" and 4-1/4". Connect those lines with a pencil to create the angles for the corners. Before cutting, though, trim off 3/8" from each side with the 3" marked sides up and down. Then cut along the angled lines to create the hexagon. If you're wanting a different size, the ratio of the measurements is 8:5:1 (so above, that translated to 3":1-3/4":3/8" - it may be easier to use centimeters to adjust the size).