Card Making

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Product Review And Giveaway (competition closed) – Silhouette Digital Cutting Tool

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UPDATED: We are giving you the chance to win your very own Silhouette Machine. Go to the bottom of this post to see how you can win

I’ve been wanting a digital die cutting machine for awhile now so when the folks at Silhouette asked if I’d like to try one out obviously I jumped at the chance! and even better we get one to giveaway to 1 lucky Craftgossip.com reader.

What’s a Silhouette you might ask? Well the simple answer is it’s an electronic machine that hooks up to your computer and cuts out shapes, but it’s really so much more………..

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Setting it up: When my machine came I couldn’t wait to try it out but first I had to finish dinner and eat with my hubby, I tell you I couldn’t finish eating fast enough 🙂 Let me admit I’m not the most computer savvy person, I get by but I’m no expert, good thing I’m married to an IT guy, huh? But setting up the Silhouette was really simple, the software was easy to download (I just followed the prompts), plugged it into my laptop, plugged it into the wall, went through the steps in the software for setting up a cut, the instruction booklet took me through all the steps and pretty soon I was ready to start cutting. I was also surprised at how light weight it is, easy to carry from room to room or take to classes or crops. It even uses an SD card so you don’t need to take your computer with you!

There are very handy tutorials on the Silhouette website to help with any problems or questions. I found myself using it a couple of times at first and was glad to see all my answers were easy to find. Click here for their tutorials.

What it can do:  The Silhouette can cut not only papers like card stock (even heavyweight like Bazzill) but pattern paper and vellum.  In addition to paper it can cut vinyl (which comes in lots of great colors) so you can make your own cool wall art or home decor projects that are so hot right now! It can cut heat transfer material, also in lots of different colors which comes in smooth or flocked, for custom clothes and fabrics, how cool is that!? You tell the machine the thickness of what you’re cutting (this takes a little trial and error but I quickly got the hang of it) and there are three blade depths to choose from, changing the blade adjustment cap is quick and easy to do.  Another neat feature are the sketch pens you can buy, you can replace the cutting blade with a colored sketch pen and instead of cutting out your image the Silhouette will draw it! And one of the coolest features has to be the print and cut feature, you can print images out on your computer and then use the Silhouette to cut them out. You can even use your own images or fonts to cut or print and cut, you really have complete control and freedom with this machine!

My favorite thing about the Silhouette is there is no need to go out and buy cartridges which might have lots of images you’ll never use, the software comes with a bunch of free images but when you’re ready for more you simply go to the online store and buy what you want and it’s instantly downloaded into your software! You can buy new images for only .99 cents each or they also offer subscriptions so you can save even more. Click here to visit the online store to see just a fraction of the thousands of images to choose from plus tools, vinyl and heat transfer material.

Another thing I like are the mats that come with the machine, they are already sticky, no need to spray adhesive on them. It comes with two to choose from depending on what you are cutting

My first project (shown below): If you know me you know I LOVE Alice in Wonderland so I was thrilled to see all the wonderful Alice images (I bought them all!) and so I decided to make a fun accordion fold card with all the cute images I cut with my Silhouette using card stocks and pattern paper. It was easy to customise my images and use only what I wanted, for instance Alice comes with a lollipop but I chose not to use it. It did take me awhile to learn that I could cut just the pieces that I wanted at a time, instead of having to cut all the pieces out each time from the same color, duh! Is there anything this machine can’t do? I adore how my card came out!

I want to sincerely thank the people at Silhouette for my new machine, I’m really enjoying it and can’t wait to make lots more great things with it. Be sure to watch for more project ideas from me using the Silhouette.

If your looking for ideas, inspiration and freebies don’t miss the Silhouette blog and also check out their Flickr group.

WIN WIN WIN

For your chance to win A Silhouette Machine (a $299.99 value)

And it includes…

  • Silhouette machine
  • Software for Windows XP/Vista
  • Power cable, USB cable
  • 2 Cutting mats (one for thick media, one for thin media)
  • One cutting blade
  • $10 gift card to the Silhouette Online Store

How to win: Simply leave a comment on this post

For extra chances (the more comments you leave, the more chances you have):

1. Tweet about this giveaway and make sure you come back and give us the link to your tweet via a comment. One extra point if you also decide to follow us – Make sure you mention that in your comment and if you already follow us, then let us know.
2. Share it on your Facebook wall and leave a comment here telling us you have done so (and link to it if possible).
3. Leave a comment on our Facebook wall and leave a comment here telling us so. Like our Facebook page and tell us.
4. Subscribe to our newsletter and leave a comment telling us you have done so. If you are already a subscriber, leave a comment saying so.
5. Link to CraftGossip. Leave a comment telling us where you have created the link to CraftGossip.

Competition Closes August 7th.

Competition Open to US winners only. Winner randomly drawn from all the comments and contacted via e-mail.

-Heather

(image by Heather Holbrook)

1) AWESOME PROMO (running from August 1st through August 9th at midnight)

Buy a machine and receive the following when you use promo code: GOSSIP
– $50 off the Silhouette Craft Cutter
– 2 rolls of vinyl (Valued at $15.98)
– 1 roll of transfer tape (Valued at $7.99)
– Scraper (Valued at $6.99)
– Home Décor CD (Valued at $50)
– $10 Gift Card to the Silhouette Download Store
– Cutting Blade
– 2 Cutting Mats

All for $249.99
A Savings of $130.96
Just think of how much you’ll save on gift giving this year!

2) GOOD PROMO (running from August 9th through August 14th at midnight)

Buy a machine and receive the following:
$50 off (receive for $249.99)
2 rolls of Heat transfer ($29.89 value)
$10 Gift Card to the Silhouette Download Store
Cutting Blade
2 Cutting Mats

All for $249.99
A savings of $79.98

follow this link to find out who won…………….Congrats!!

Next Idea:

Comments

  2. What a fantastic gadget! When I was young, someone drew my silouhette and it came out really nice!

  3. WOW! the possibilities are endless!! Would be honored to win this and share the end products with friends. Please enter my name to win…

  4. Wow, looks like just what I need and really want. Sure hope I win!! It would make my day!!!

  5. Oh my goodness! This is the first I’ve heard about this new machine and I think it’s FABULOUS!!! Winning this would be quite a treat! I have an almost-16 year old daughter so I would definitely want to make iron-on transfers for t-shirts as my first project. Kids love to “alter” their clothes these days so I’m sure my daughter and I would have a great time working together on some t-shirt projects.

  6. The possibilities are endless to what I can make. As a mom to 20 month old triplets, money gets tight and one needs to be creative and frugal! Lately I’ve been hooked on wall decals and there is so much inspiration out there. I want to customize their bedrooms with wall decals and hanging paper decorations. The boy will be all about automotive and the girls will have a woodland theme. I’ve been on my cupcake kick lately too and I’m all about really cool cupcake wrappers!

  8. Oh I would LOVE this. I’ve been wanting a cutting machine since forever! My list of projects is entirely too long and I could use some cutting help 🙂

  11. I’ve been looking at cutters for a long time but haven’t jumped in the pool yet. This one has so many possibilities, my head is spinning!!

  13. I would love one of these. Plus i just read on their facebook fan page that they will soon be coming out with mac software! yay!
    PICK ME! 🙂

  14. I see so many possibilities with this for my scrapping and card making and also for making wrappers for my cupcakes. Great little machine. Thanks for the opportunity to win!

  17. Hard to speak my mind…my mind is spinning with ideas!!! Please count me in on this terrific giveaway….I’ve been looking for a way to heat transfer for so long.

    Gloria McAllister
    Roanoke, VA

    [email protected]

  24. This is the first I have heard of this product. I sounds so wonderful and so useful. To me much more useful for my uses as to the Cricuit. Thanks for having this contest.

    Gale

  25. I would use this for EVERYTHING! I’m a new teacher on a tight budget and I could turn my classroom into a WORK OF ART for super cheap! Inspirational quotes, tshirts, take-home bags… OH MY GOSH I will go crazy with this machine! I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! I love that you can use ANY font. I just learned how to download and use new fonts, so I’m totally hooked!!!I’ve told everyone I know on facebook and twitter about this amazing product!

  28. Simply AWESOME……………My mind is spinning!!

    Thanks for the opportunity to enter!!

  29. I would use it to make vinly lettering for my home. I love the heat transfer option too! Thanks for a chance to win.

  31. I NEED this machine! I can’t even begin to list the things I could do with it! PICK ME!!!

  33. First, thanks for a fun giveaway!
    Second, I am crossing my fingers that I win this machine! I have wanted one for awhile.

    Kim

  34. OMG OMG OMG!! I’D LOVE TO WIN THIS!!! christmas is here!!! I can’t wait to see the result of this giveaway!

  35. What you created was really cute. I would oove one of these. Thanks

    appraising at hotmail dot com

  37. Not only am I a die hard crafter…during the day I work with special needs children. The amount of cutting and prep work I do to help adapt their curriculum is…well overwhelming! I can only imagine how creative we could all get with our lessons with the silouhette!!

  39. Would LOVE to make the cupcake holders for my son’s wedding. He’s marrying a lovely girl, and we priced cupcake holders out and decided they were too expensive with all the other wedding expenses. How surprised would she be if I made her hundreds of them in pink and navy blue for the wedding. LOVE IT! [email protected]

  40. WOW! I’m ecstatic! winning this would be absolutely wonderful!
    I would love to use it for some events that are on the horizon, youth room at church, and our adopted room at the life shelter could sure use some spice – this would offer an inexpensive but creative way to bring life to these projects!
    Thanks for the chance to win!

  41. Love this machine…..I have been eyeing it for sometime now! Thanks for an awesome giveaway!

  42. Endless amout of crafts to make. This would be a great way to get crafty with my little girl.

  43. I’d love to have one of these. Oh the things I could do for my boys’ birthday parties – invitations, cupcake wrappers, favors!

  45. Ohhhh! I’m saving my money as we speak to buy one of these… to win… that would be amazing! Then I could spend all my money on the onsies that would use heat transfer, the vinyl to cover my walls, and the glass I’d be etching! Can’t wait!

  46. Fabulous giveaway. I would love to get my hands on one of these, oh the fun I could have and the endless hours of crafting goodness. I don’t know if I would have time to sleep.

  49. I love the use of fonts on your computer – the options are unlimited! With the extras features of cutting vinyl, heat transfer, and rhinestones this machine can pretty much do it all! I could definitely use it to scrapbook, make gifts for family/friends as well as decorate my home!!

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