Help - which die cutting machine ?

[Twohootsunderthemistletoe]

Thinking of getting one for Xmas but don't want to pay a fortune for it - am a little unsure about how much I'll use it tbh as the dies seem so expensive. Do you think it works out cheaper to buy the die cuts from places like ebay where they are already done for you??

I've seen an offer on the Quickcutz for £69 with a couple of simple dies - would that be enough for cards & scrapbooking? What's it like?

Or what about a Sizzix machine? They seem to be more universal? But bigger and more expensive...

Or theres the Big Shot but I think that's probably more than I need?

Also don't have loads of space so would prefer something a bit more compact. Anyone have the Quickcutz - do you find you can get dies easily and relatively cheaply for it??

Thanks for any advice - it's a bit of a minefield!

its also a downward slope. once ou start buying dies, you always want one more!
i went for the bigshot. its ligter than the sizzix. cn cut bigger things. and i prefer the thick dies rather than the thin cuts as you can cut several sheets of paper at once or card or material or foam or practically anything.

have a look at5 the stuff pixie is selling.

Hi - thanks for the reply. Saw what Pixie is selling - looks fab but I don't know where to start - am completely at a loss at all the jargon .

Tbh just been on UK Scrappers and am loving the look of the new Cuttlebug - it takes all dies and can cut thru almost anything apparently! Looks good to me! Have you heard of it?

Downside is I don't think it's available in the UK yet so wouldn't get it in time for Xmas!!

no i havent im afraid.
i find uks difficult to navigate, so never really got into it. will have a look. personally am very happy woith my bigshot.

ive looked at it, and it looks very very similar to my bs. you cn cut any dies in that as well.

as stitch mentions i am selling my Big Shot and loads of dies. The Big Shot will do everything as you can put big dies and thin dies in it for most of the systems that are available. Even if you don't buy mine I would recommend you get a Big Shot so that you don't restrict yourself on being able to use any of the dies.

You can choose between the;
Sizzix
Tag a long
Big Shot
Quicks cut
The wizard

The sizzix with a £5.00 converter will cut every make of dies sold. This has come down in price I think you can buy it of ebay for about £35.00 but it weighs a ton

The tag a long will only cut with thin small dies

The Big Shot will cut with all types of dies with the advantage of being able to cut on a piece of A5 card so you can cut an aperture, you don't need a coverter.If you've had the experience of using the sizzix the big shot could feel a bit flimsy and the plastic plates don't seem to last long. The plastic plates are about £6.00 for 2. I think the big shot retails about £80.00 £90.00 so Pixiefishes offer is real good

The quick cut will only cut with small thin dies this machine can make your hands ache

The Wizard will cut with all makes of dies it realy best used for embossing

oooopppps
Just got my Cardmaking mag this morning Quickutz have bought out a new machine or as I put Quickscut never been any good at spelling
Anyway I haven't realy studied it but it looks a nice @ £79.00

Thanks for replying, just to add a spanner to the works DH is now talking about a pc based cutter i.e. Craft Robo or Cricut but at around £250-300 they are v expensive. But then I guess you don't have the layout of dies afterwards - what do you think about these please???

Argh think the problem is there are too many to choose from!!

The Craft robo is £275 for the mark 2 and the mark 1 is £215 if you can get one.

The beauty with the robo as opposed to the cricut is that once you've bought it you don't need any cartridges or anything like that. Obviously if your blades wear out you'll need new blades and potentially a new carrier sheet but compared to the cricut where you have to buy caretridges @ £100 a shot the CR is inexpensive to run.

Dh sells the Craft Robo and to be honest you'll be extremely lucky to get one this side of Christmas as they've sold out of the new one.

Be careful of sellers on ebay selling the mark 1 but passing it off as a mark 2

Don't hesitate go for the New Craft Robo I think Pixiefishes husband sells them don't hesitate it's the best thing I've every bought. You only have to have basic computer skills.

I've also got the sizzix, big shot and wizard and I wound't part with any of them they all have there uses.
I love my sizzix pigeon toed alphabet so I need to keep my sizzix I lend my friend the big shot so she can cut me loads of dies. The wizard is brilliant for embossing with standard embossing plates.

Go for it girl get the best.

Thanks again - been to my local craft shop today and they are doing an offer on Cricut of £220 which is quite good. But like you say you then have to buy the cartridges which are £60 at most places - but you do get two lovely cartridges of alphas and shapes in with the machine to start you off and they are v flexible/usable - saw them today - not the usual 'free' rubbish you sometimes get with these things.

Re the craft robo - I know this sounds silly but the thing that actually does put me off is having to use the pc (use a laptop most of the time but could see me needing to use the desktop upstairs for that). Whilst I am completely pc literate I just find I can't be bothered with hooking up etc - the Cricut is great as you can literally sit in front of the TV at your coffee table and use! And love the way it remembers where you've last printed and prints in a different place on the paper so as to save paper etc.

As you can tell I'm still not sure - I've heard you can download templates for the Craft Robo off the net for free - is that right?

I'll end up with nothing at this rate....! And know I probably won't get one in time for Xmas but at least if it's on order....

Pixie - does your DH sell them then??? CR that is... Also can you emboss with the CR - I'm guessing not - don't think you can with the Cricut.

Thanks again for all your time - there really are too many to choose from and as they are so expensive you want to get it right!

If you have a laptop I think it might be a bit messy you'd have to connect and unconnect all the time.
Another thing, you do have to plot round the thing you want to cut, not the fonts there're already plotted and you get a few freebies.Mind you once you've plotted and save you got it for life. I got some freebies from cuddlybuddly and the ones to buy were'nt dear, some lovely teddy and things, bags, boxes, tags, daisies.

I was going to buy the circut but I liked the freedom of the RC. I bet the American circut dies will fit the UK circut, so it might be cheaper to find a supplier of the dies USA, you can bet even with postage they'll be half the price of UK.

Decisions Decisions

there are zillions of free templates for the cr plus you can use any font you want.

Dh sells them but they're out of stock till January although there is the possibility of 8 coming into the UK this week but won't know till tomorrow

oooh Pixie and Caroline it's sounds really fab. Just to cost is a bit much as we are a bit skint!

Pixie - is it the mark II version? If so how much is it and how do I know to look for that version on the net - is it called something different?

Also, does anyone have any links to a demo of the CR - i.e. a little video clip or something - that would be useful.

Thanks again for all your help - it's been invaluable

Where are the downloads?

Hmmm good point Carolinett. I'd love to see it in action before I make a decision...

Message withdrawn

Thanks YG - have had a look on there but they are in a format my pc doesnt recognise - guess it's formatted for the CR software type stuff....

I really only want a die cutting type machine to make things like the sizzix bitty girl/boy dies, animal dies and the odd scrapbooking title etc so am thinking the CR may be too much for me?

Do you have one? I;d love to see some cards that have been made with one to see what they look like - everyone seems to rave on about the ease of fonts with a CR but then what about die cut images?

Message withdrawn

with the Mark II its called the CC-200-20 . The old one is the 100. The main obvious difference is the colour, the old robo has a blue or a silver lid whereas the new one is white.

I have seen peeps selling the old one on ebay and selling it as if it is the 200- no direct lie but the implication is there iyswim.

It is actually cheaper than the Sizzix in the short term as well as the long term. When you think that the red dies cost a tenner and you'll be lucky to get an alpha for under 60 plus the cost of the machine.

As for sizzix or big shot I think its personal preference. Having had both I would never go back to the sizzix- you can cut more thin dies (6 at a time) and you can also cut much thicker material with the Big Shot plus you can cut the Ellison thick dies with it- these won't fit in the sizzix. Initially the range of dies was pretty crap but better dies are coming out all the time now and the ellison thick cut alphas are groovy

Thanks again for all your help ladies! I still can't decide - argh. I think it's now either down to the Cricut or the Craft Robo but I don't know which. I like the simplicity of the Cricut - just stick the cartridge in and your pretty much away. The thing I don't like about the CR is having to trace the shape before you can load up and then cut - seems a bit convoluted (sp?) IYSWIM! I suppose once the shape is there though you can then use over again.

I also like the paper saving device on the Cricut - I have heard paper wastage can be quite high with the CR?

I'd really like to see a demo of the CR - does anyone know of a video link on the net - I haven't been able to find one!

there's meant to be one on the graphtec site but its not there yet. twas on create and craft the other day and i have a copy. email me your addy- thepixiefish at yahoo dot co dot uk and i'll makle you acopy

I think when you get to this stage and you can't decide which one to buy, You may, for your sanity have to result to desperate measures like.

Sell the husband and if you have children sell them, sell the house, go out and buy the CR & Circut and live in Ecstasy in the garden shed. Actually thinking about it, don't sell the children, they can join in the fun.

Pixie - if you see this before you get my email I've tracked one down thanks so please don't worry.

Carolinett - I know what you mean but unfortunately can't afford both in terms of financially or space wise!!

Think I am going to opt for the Cricut - just love it's versatility and the fact it's so compact you can use it anywhere - even at Crops! Also I actually think that while the cartridges are expensive £60 ish a time, they have a lot on each one so you could get by for some time with say only 2 cartridges (and you get one with the machine anyway). Well that's the theory anyway lol!

Very many thanks for all your ladies' help - it's been invaluable .

YG - I was peeking at your LOs on UKS before - they are fab - really lovely. Esp like your last one you did - gave me a tear in my eye. Lovely for your DDs to keep xx