Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Sissix eClips

So, I finally did it!

I just purchased a Sissix eclips from Svgcuts.com.  Best deal I could find after days of searching, also Leo and Mary are some of the nicest people around.

Purchasing the eclips was a very big decision for me.  I am a very FRUGAL person.  I also have great difficulty buying something like this.

One of the motivators in buying the eclipse- It is a Mothers Day and Birthday present  to myself.

Some of the thoughts that had gone thru my mind as I wrestled with this decision:

You have a perfectly good cricut, why do you need another machine...

You ARE remodeling a house, the money should really go for the remodeling project...

Are you really going to use it, or is this just an impulse buy...

You could use the money to do something with the kids....

And, my answers-

Yes, I could use the money on the kids, but they are adults.  I could use it to help buy the grandkids their school clothes, they do have parents.

I am remodeling a house, maybe I could use the eclips to make some money to help fund the house.

I am going to use it, I have spent numerous hours making things on the cricut.

The reason for a new machine- I use the SCAL software, which due to difficulties with Provocraft, can no longer be updated to use with the cricut.  One of the big problems I have with the cricut, is when I purchase svg files from sources other than svgcuts. com, they sometimes do not work. I have spent numerous hours fiddling around only to find it cut the score lines, didn't align the pages, etc.  I know these problems have been fixed by SCAL, only I cannot get the updates to work with the cricut.

I have chronic pain issues, and have found the cricut can be a great distraction for me. There have been many times I have started making things, got so engrossed, I was able to forget about the pain for awhile.  It has at times also become a form of meditation for me.  I can leave the world and just concentrate on what I am making.

I bought my cricut about 2 1/2 years  ago, to make shapes out of fondant to use for cake decorating.  A day after I bought it, I was hooked!  I had found svgcuts.com the day I bought the cricut, and immediately bought the software to buy the svg files. I have not bought any cartridges during the time I have had the cricut, just numerous files online that I have downloaded.

Why did I pick the eclipse?  A scrapbook store about 30 miles away, now carries the eclips supplies.  It can also cut fabric for quilting and appliqué, which I also enjoy doing.  Another selling point is that I can buy the pen holder, and use various sizes of pens to decorate the objects I cut.  This I think was the greatest selling points.  I know it cannot cut the variety of materials that other machines can, but it is also one of the few machines that can stand alone and use cartridges as well as software.

I am very excited about the purchase, hopefully it will be here by the weekend!  It is supposed to rain this weekend, so I will have time to fiddle around.

I have found that I love to teach, one of the goals I have set for myself is to do some online tutorials for the projects I make.  One of my favorite items to make, is mini albums.  I spend hours and hours making little mini albums, especially the paper bag ones.  I am currently making a wedding one for my nephew, I then want to make a recipe one as a raffle prize at the MN State Fair.

Off now to make the album!