Sunday, November 20, 2011

Electronic cutters ... Help!!

Hi there ...
I really need your help and advice here ...
I had for the longest time been contemplating buying an electronic cutting machine ... not least of all because of the stunning projects I see you guys sharing ... but preparing a project each week for a large group of special needs adults - men and women ... it is very time consuming cutting out 30 of this 30 of that etc.,  after seeing my friend's Cricut Expression in action ... I relented. These machines are not cheap here in the UK ... and the model I finally decided on was £440 ... about $695 ... Sure it came with a couple of cartridges as they are about £40 each ... that was a bonus ... But one of these did not work .. no worries ... a phone call confirmed that I could return it for a replacement ... 
Now, over the years I have bought many PDF files and digitals images ... from many of you ... So I thought I now could buy (very inexpensively) SVG files instead ... after all when I want 60 pieces of holly for example ... I'm not going to buy a £40 cartridge for one item ... so reading up till late last night ... watching your brilliant tutorials and tuition ... I then realised  I needed SCAL ... no problem I could buy that too ... 
Imagine my disappointment when I learnt after several hours of searching ... that Provo Craft in their "wisdom??" have put an end to SCAL for Cricut  machines ... I guess they want us to buy just their cartridges ... 
Well that decided me ... and now my Cricut Expressions is all packed up and ready to be collected for a full refund ... But it still leaves me with with a dilemma of what I should now go for ...
That's where I need your help ... I have watched videos, tutorials read up on articles and reviews  till my head aches! Silhoutte, Eclips, ECraft ... what do I do?
Please ... if you own a die cutting machine that is supported by SCAL ... that allows me to use SVG flies from my Imac ... that you find efficient and easy (ish) to use ... can you let me know?
In the meantime I have a lot of cutting to do ...

Thanks so much

~ Ros ~