Hi Everyone!! I have a wonderful surprise for you all today :):). This post is not about Halloween if you can't tell ;). You get a small break for now... but new tutorials will be returning as we are getting the house ready for the party day by day!
So this new surprise is a quilting tool I received as a belated birthday gift from my amazing family.
I don't know about you but I have a hard time making up my mind about what I would like for my birthday, or Christmas or basically any holiday... I always say you don't need to get me anything (I truly mean this) however I do understand that presenting those you love with meaningful gifts can be rewarding for the gift giver as well. Therefore, I am able to give in when I know that the gift means something for them too.
Sooo back to the original story haha.
| My stories may be roundabout but I will always get there ;). |
My birthday was in July and I was having a hard time deciding what I wanted... mostly because I have everything I need. I suggested possible gifts such as a gift card for a craft store or a bundle of fabric. However, the point was made that gift cards are not a meaningful as a specific gift and as for the fabric bundle... well my family has an amazing point that I usually create something and give it away to friends and family or I would use it for a commissioned project. Which is very true ;) (they are so smart). Therefore, I needed to think long and hard for an important meaningful specific gift that I would be able to use and maintain for a long time.
And I found One!!
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| Aren't the colours amazing!! :) |
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| Always the best!! |
Well here we are !!!! My most amazing family gave me the Sizzix Big Shot die cutter and embosser, and the best part is that I was able to find a 50% off coupon! Frugal and Fun ;)
I want to tell you about the Sizzix Big Shot and what I will be using it for and also why I chose this cutting machine over all of the others. It took a lot of time and research but it was actually a lot of fun! Hopefully you find this informative :).
I did a lot of research trying to determine what machine I wanted and what exactly I needed the machine to do. I was also able to read a lot of reviews and go into a few stores to speak to the sales people and learn more about each cutter... I know I know it sounds like a lot of work for such a small thing but it was a bit of money and I wanted to make sure that I was not making a rash decision and that I was not choosing something that I would not use. Trust me I have learned my lessons over the years... I am sure that you all must have at least one item on your home that you were sure you would use but now it is covered in dust because it just wasn't right for you (I know I do!!! so I try to avoid that happening again haha.)
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| This is why research is so Important!! |
I reviewed a few electronic cutters such as the Silhouette cameo, the Accuquilt GO! electric cutter and the Cricut cutter. I learned right off the bat that I did not want a machine that required my computer or an internet connection to work all the time. This is because I did not want to be limited by the ability to transport everything or if there was an outage in service or if someone was using the computer when I wanted to cut or quilt... I know I'm impatient haha so for those reasons the machines were not for me. To be honest I am not ruling these cutter out forever, but for my first cutter they were not the right choice for me at this time ;). Never say Never!!
***One side note is that the Go! cutter didn't need the computer but it was for making a lot of cuts and it is a larger machine. so for the space I have right now it just wasn't right. Also the price was really high lol***
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| Accuquilt! |
So moving right along! We are down to the final two contestants.
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| Big Shot! |
I ended up settling my choices between the two die cutters.
A die is a specialized tool that is used to cut or shape materials when placed through a press. That is exactly what the Sizzix Big Shot and the Accuquilt GO! were made to do. You are able to purchase specific dies in various sizes, shapes and dimensions and run them through the machine to cut them out :). I will give you the run down for why I chose the Sizzix over the Accuquilt.
Here are the reviews!!!
Accuquilt GO!
Pro:
-The Machine was created for quilters by quilters.
-The Dies are made specifically for quilting to make it easier and more precise
-Hundreds of Dies to choose from
-Each Die has a pattern attached so that you can start quilting right away
-Folds up to transport
-The Foam of the dies are two tone to make sure you know where the blades are.
Con:
- The Machine is too light, when you move the die through the press the machine moves and sometimes start to collapse a bit where it can fold up. (you can even see this for yourself on their videos)
-You are only able to purchase from the accuquilt website meaning there are limited discounts. (you know how much I like those ;))
-This machine only accepts accuquilt dies.
-They have only designed this for quilting and not paper crafts.
-Duplicated shapes on some of the dies (it doesn't make sense to me to buy the same shapes on two different dies)
So overall this machine was not what I needed, the cons outweighed the benefits. Don't get me wrong this machine was wonderful for what it was designed for but I wanted my machine to do just a little bit more.
Now onto the Final Review!!
Sizzix Big Shot
Pro:
-Coupons can be used for this machine and the dies
-It is found in Canada and the US and there are many stores that carry the dies
-It is made for embossing paper or cutting cardstock for scrapbooking and papercrafts
-The Bigz dies can be used to cut almost any material including fabric, aluminium and sandpaper
-Many different types of dies (new crafts I can branch into with the same machine ;))
-Newly released quilting specific dies!!
-You can use a shim to use the accuquilt dies in this machine as well!!
Con:
-It is a little heavier and is not able to fold up so you need to have a spot to keep it (not always in the workspace)
-The dies are not two tone
-Not all dies are able to cut fabric, but most are ;)
Can you tell which one I liked better???? I admit that my Con list is a little pathetic, but to be honest that is why I went with the Big Shot. It was everything I needed. It has been amazing and it was the most wonderful gift!!!. I will be able to show you more tutorials soon and show you how exactly it works!
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| The Final Winner!!! |
Overall it was fun to research and I hope you found this post interesting, if not entertaining ;). You will be hearing a lot more about the die cutter soon!!
- All my thoughts and reviews are based on my personal experience and are my opinions only-
Do you have a die cutter? If you do I would love to hear about your experiences!!
-Happy Crafting!!!-
-xo-
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