Do you have access to a professional media cutter?
I used to in a sense, when I worked at a craft store - as long as you bought the media in-store, you were able to use the die-cut machine free! For craft foam, fabric, felt, paper, vellum for scrapbooking or other crafty needs, you were able to choose a template (which came in the form of a wooden pad with the design in metal surrounded by thick rubber for safety) and use a table-top hand-roller to press out your design. (Similar to this product only not as, well, contemporary, this was a long time ago!)
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| I'm just here to break up all this text and be cute ^^ |
Simple, complimentary, and, well, limited. You were stuck with the size of the exact die and its style, as well as access to the device.
Enter the computer age, where you are no longer restricted to costly kits and die storage – you can do this at home! Small personal machines have been on the market for years in differing input types (Sizzix, Cricut, Cuttlebug) and accessible from your favorite craft store to your local Wally World. While price is often an issue, many of these machines would make up for their price tag with the ability to create limitless projects at home!
What has always made me turn up my nose in consideration of such a device is the idea of having to purchase individual dies or cartridges. Where do you store them? Why are they so expensive? Why can’t the initial investment be more of a catch-all?
Now I will admit I haven’t done substantial research beyond window shopping all these years, I love the idea of something that is CNC from a system I can access. No mill that is heavier than me, no business-level investment. This idea is most appealing to me not only for storage, but also functionality. Want that image smaller? Sure! Need to change that font? No problem! Now what type of product will meet those needs…
Enter The Silhouette SD!
The Silhouette is a digital cutting tool for personal use. It connects to your computer just like a printer, but instead of printing designs it cuts them with a small blade. With the machine connected to your computer, you'll get access to all of the fonts on your PC plus the thousands of cuttable designs found on the Silhouette Online Store.
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| Click here for the giveaway link! |
Humm Online Store, oh no not the upkeep again! Exploring the online catalog though does give me a sense that this really is an all-in-one device. Ohh and then they even have a comparison to the popular Cricut.
So I happen to be feeling pretty good about this machine – but now what, why am I sharing this with you? Well I want to tell you about the amazing giveaway over at Dollar Store Crafts! Stop on over through August 7th, 2010 to learn how you can win your own Silhouette SD package! There are also money-saving packages available to Dollar Store Craft readers, so if this sounds like the machine you've been looking for, utilize those promo codes!
