A New Toy - and some winners....

So look what's found it's way to my house.......

Yes, it's the Cricut Explore. Now back in April I was trying to choose between this and the Brother Scan N Cut, and plumped for the SNC, my reasoning being that I didn't want to spend time on the computer, and the Explore is unusable without computer access....

So what changed my mind? Well, it seems as though every machine requires a computer these days, the Brother needs a lot of messing around with the dreaded computer to upload files for cutting, the Silhouette software sort of defeated me last year, and I kept returning to my trusty Expression with my George cartridge firmly plugged in (I reckon I probably hold the world record for the most cuts done with the George cartridge - oh the  stars and hearts and basic shapes I have cut from that cartridge....

I kept reading glowing reports of the way the Explore cuts, so in the end, curiosity got the better of me, and here it is. I am taken with the thoughtful design of the machine - there are spaces built in to hold your tools, a big plus for me as I am notoriously messy when I craft. You can slide your mat under the machine for storage - and I keep the clear cover under there when the mat is in use - I used to toss it on the floor. Shiny acetate, wood floor = one twisted ankle, one slipped disc, one badly bruised rear end! 

Much more to come in the future no doubt on the fact that it can write, and has a newly released print to cut feature. I like the idea of being able to write a message or sentiment wherever I want on a card - sometimes I see cute sentiment stamps, or a great sentiment on a card in a shop, it will be nice to lift those sayings right onto my own cards.  I will not be doing 'how to' videos on the Explore,  there are masses of very talented people doing some very informative instruction videos on YouTube, but you are going to be seeing the results of my 'eureka' moments! What's more, the software is so easy to use, and I love being able to browse all the images in colour on the computer. I feel re-energized and full of ideas!

 Now this is going to be a very positive post, because I LOVE this machine. Those of you who have followed me for years, know that I don't design as such - welding circles and shapes together to make pretty intricate patterns has never interested me, although I greatly admire those with the skills to do this. No, my interest in die cutting is browsing through shapes until one leaps out at me and I think 'eureka' and then I do my thing with the cut. I like using die cuts with other techniques, so I often cut in white, and colour with my Promarkers, I distress, I sand, I ink, I emboss. The one thing that is paramount is that it cuts well, I don't want to spend hours poking out tiny little bits that haven't quite cut through. The reason I strayed from my beloved expression was the frustration I felt when I was trying to cut two inch high letters and it tore and chewed them up. 

So look at this....... that smallest snowflake is 3/4 of an inch! These were my very first cut, and they lifted right off that mat,  there wasn't a flaw in the cut and all the tiny bits just stayed behind on the mat when I lifted the snowflakes off...

The other thing I wanted to see was if it would cut perfect circles, a pretty basic sort of demand really, but that Expression never got it quite right, the scallops were always just a tiny bit wonky. So I pulled up this image from Paper Trimmings 2

Cut it in black, look at those perfect scallops and circles. I used promarkers in lime zest, lime and lush green, and oasis, cool aqua and duck egg to colour the white layer behind the butterflies, then popped it all up with foam pads

 and added some liquid pearls to the bodies of the butterflies...

Right, so on to a couple of winners 

The winner of the two sets of blending colours from my last Letraset post is

JENNYH

and the original winner of the 24 set of limited edition markers from my 3,000 followers giveaway still hasn't come forward, so I did another draw and the winner is

HELENA (GVENDALEN)

Congrats to you both, email me at enfysc@yahoo.co.uk and I will get your prozes sent to you

See you all tomorrow with another video.....