Cutter ?

[ZPT1022]

First, hi everyone I lurk here but I don't post often. Mostly because I don't scrap nearly as much as I want to, but anyhoo......

On Saturday DH and I were at JoAnn's alone, which is miraculous enough with three little kids. We had to get some stuff to finish DS's costume (which he won't even wear ) and of course we had to take a detour down the scrapbooking aisles. DH was happily suggesting things to me, and were I not going to WDW in a few days and would rather have that $$ for spending money, I would have taken him up on it. Well, we were walking along and DH noticed the Cricut and I explained it to him and showed him all the cartridges and was saying how I'd love to have one because I imagine it must be a lot easier than the Sizzix. So he says "well, there must be one that you don't have to buy the fonts for, but you can just use any font in your computer, right?" I said I think so but I've been a bit out of touch with what is the latest and greatest in scrapping. So I've come here to ask your opinions on the best cutters because he hinted that while it's probably not in the cards for Christmas (we focus on the kids), I can have one when he gets his bonus in early 2008! So, I have time to decide but I would appreciate advice

 

[MazdaUK]

I think you're looking for a Wishblade I don't have one myself but if you google it you'll find lots of info. And tehre are some clever ladies here who have one

 

[rlovew]

Depending on what exactly you are looking for size wise ans material wise you may want a wishblade, craftrobo, sillouette, Klik n kut, or a scrap savvy. There are subtle difference in which machines can do what but your best bet for that is to look at a comparison table on a couple of different cutter selling websites. I suggest looking at more than one site because sometimes they tend to make the one the sell sound better so if you look at a couple of sites it will be a more even comparison.

All of these will cut out any TTF from the computer as well as many shapes you draw or scan and trace in the program. You can also load jpegs into most of them (if not all) and then trace around specific parts of them to cut out pictures.

I have a craftrobo pro II which os about 30 inches wide and 14 inches deep. It will cut up to 18 inches wide and 30 feet long. I have never used anything bigger than 14 by 22 in it and then it was only bulliten board paper. I can cut chipboard as well as vinal and any kind of cardstock I have tried but my machine is one of the larger mnachines. Most of the small machines can cut cardstock but not chipboard.

Most of them do not take cartridges but there are many files available online both for free or for a small fee if you aren't ready to draw your own when you start. They do have some reoccuring costs in the blades (but I find I get at least 200 pages cut from 1 blade and I use the whole 12 by 12 page when cutting. Also carrier sheet need to be repurchased. i use a carrier sheet about 30 times before needing to spray it with repositional adhesive to continue using it and then I can do that a number of times before I need to get a new sheet altogether.

The smallest of these machines is about 10-12 inches wide and about 5 inches deep and will cut and 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper so it all depends on what you are looking for exactly.

They range in cost from about $350 up to well over $1000 depending on what you are wanting from it.

Rebecca

 

[ZPT1022]

Thank you for the input. Just having the names is a good place to start. I think we're looking to keep it around $400-500 so hopefully I can find something decent for that. I did realize the blades and mats would need to be replaced but I think his point was that there must be a better solution than having to buy a new cartridge every time you wanted a new font. He is really computer savvy so I know that he'll be a big help. Plus maybe I can finally get him to scrap with me