Addicted to Die Cutting

I'm sure that for many years I saw demonstrations on the home shopping network and infomercials on weekend mornings for the Cricut cutting machine. I was always pulled in by them and watched intently, contemplating the amazing things I could do with a die cutting machine. Of course, I saw them as largely being related to scrapbooking, a hobby that I have resisted because it seems as though it could take over your life and all the free space in your home. (I realize that could probably be said about any hobby, especially a craft-based one, but scrapbooking seems particularly vulnerable to craft-creep.) With no immediate use for such a machine, I only admired them from afar.

My attitude, however, started to change in November 2013. Our department had decided to make a wreath for a silent auction fundraiser and I found myself at a colleague's home getting my craft on. She too was an avid crafter who sold some of her knitted and crocheted items, and she had a Cricut. When we finished our wreath, she thought we should make a tag for it and naturally turned to her die cutting machine. There's little question that I was enthralled with the close up demonstration of how it worked and what it was capable of. She was aware of my new bookbinding hobby and suggested such a machine could be valuable for designing custom covers for the journals I was making. She had a point.

For the next month or so, I thought about die cutting machines. I conducted some research on the latest models and the features available for each. How large was the cutting mat? Did I want to depend on cartridges which can be expensive, but I could share with my friends? Or was I content to use it near my laptop and be able to purchase only the designs I knew I would use? What fonts were available? There was much to consider. I read reviews. I checked and rechecked prices. And while I was home over Christmas and brought the idea up with my father and sister, they both asserted that there really was no contest: I should purchase the Silhouette Cameo because it would allow me to import and cut my own designs. And so the first Saturday of January 2014, I made my way to Michaels and purchased my die cutting machine. 

The set up was simple and the software was relatively easy to use. For my first project, I made a bookmark for a friend. Over the next few months, I tried other projects, including several designs for envelopes. But it wasn't until November 2014 that I really got serious about the cutting machine. Earlier in the year, I'd seen a beautiful Christmas village that fit over battery-operated tea lights and I knew that I needed to make one to decorate my apartment. I purchased the designs for the church, cottage, and townhouses. The designs were intricate, so they did take some time to cut, and putting them together required some patience as well, but I was thrilled with the result (I lined them with waxed paper to create frosty windows).

About the same time, I became intrigued by the idea that it was possible to buy sketch pens to use in the Silhouette Cameo. Again, Pinterest was my introduction to this feature. I had seen online examples of envelopes addressed by using the sketch pens, creating a beautiful calligraphy effect. This was enough to hook me. I located a set of 24 sketch pens on Amazon.ca and began watching them. When the price was right on Boxing Day, I added them to my cart and had them shipped to my apartment. I couldn't wait to get back and test them out.

Of course, the best laid schemes of mice and men oft go awry. Not long into January, I was stuck down by an evil virus and it put me out of commission for a month. Now that I'm feeling better, I've had the chance to test them out. Sunday night, I removed the sketch pens from the package, loaded one in my cutter, selected a design that I thought would work for a test, and printed a few snowflakes on card stock. Snowflakes seemed particularly appropriate, since we have been hit by so much weather lately!

I have to say, I was surprised. First -- and I suppose I should have realized this by the name -- the sketch pens were actually ball point pens. Somehow, I had expected something different (markers, perhaps?). Second, the colour I chose for the test had a beautiful shimmer to it. This impressed me greatly. Finally, the consistency and intricacy of the drawing were impressive. I cut the print out into several small gift cards.

Last night I viewed a tutorial for how to draw with sketch pens and then cut the design, without removing the mat from the machine. I can't wait to test this out sometime very soon!