Electronic Cutting Machines

[jeni16]

I'm thinking about treating myself to one of the Electronic Cutting Machines this year for Christmas, ie: Cricut, Silhouette, etc. I feel I will use it mainly for scrapbooking (do mostly 8 1/2x11 & 8x8 sizes) and for projects for DS2 (working with letter's, number's, birthday parties, & eventually school projects). I would also like to be able to cut out little treat/gift boxes. I don't mind spending more up front if it means I will spend less over all.

For those that have one or who have multiple ones, which one do you like the best? There are so many on the market, I have no idea where to start.

Does any other company have Disney images besides Cricut? That would of course be a factor as well

Thanks for your help!

 

[concertkatie]

I have the Silhouette Cameo and before that the original Silhouette. I went with the Silhouette originally because I was interested in the being able to cut any font from your computer (I'm obsessed w/ collecting fonts) I'm not too familiar with the Cricuts to let you know a comparison.

I've recently gotten into SVGs and there's a lot of Disney "inspired" ones out there that I really like. They are graphics that people make (or you can make yourself) to cut out. I also sometimes will take logos and trace them in Inkscape so that I can cut them out.

 

[ashleysev]

I purchased the Making Memories Slice Cutter when it first came out. And hubby bought me the Silhouette for Christmas that year. It turned out to be not my thing. I consider myself an advanced user, but I felt like I spent more time finding files and setting the machine up than value. I gave the Slice to a friend and sold the Silhouette on eBay.

When I scrap these days (which is rare) I'm mostly hybrid. I like the look of flat pages.

 

[PrincessNancy96]

I have the Baby bug (original cricut), the Create (it's a step up from the baby bug), the E and the E2 (Expressions and Expressions2) and numerous cartridges that cost additional. You can buy digital cartridges now too.. My drawbacks are: most everything is tied to the use of a cart you own....and fonts are limited to what you have on the carts.

I also own the Silhouette Portrait and will by next year own a cameo.. I love the silhouette the most... I can cut out fonts on my computer for titles and layer them.. I can cut out svg files.. I have several disney svg files from a very dear friends and I can cut them out and they look fabulous on my scrapbook pages.

The cricut is great but I find myself using my silhouette more. There is a new Cricut out called the Explore but I have no first hand knowledge of its possibilities. I have heard it also cuts svgs but I don't know for sure.

If you think of any other questions feel free to ask.. Hopefully one of our members who has a Explore can chime in on how well it works.

I still use my cricuts but only for specific things I know where to find quickly.. I use my silhouette for all of my titles unless I know of a specific one of my cricut carts.

 

[jeni16]

Thanks everyone! I've been watching several YouTube videos and am leaning towards the Cricut Explore. The cut & print option just came out, you can cut svg files & use any on the True Type fonts on your computer. Several of the videos I watched directly compared the Explore & the Cameo. The Explore looked like it was more user friendly & that it had cleaner cuts.

 

[PrincessNancy96]

It all depends what works best for you.


The silhouette also has print and cut and all my cuts are perfectly clean.