Its true, I've purchased my fair share of expensive tools...a Cricut (and 12 cartridges to date), edge and shape punches, a crop-o-dile, a bind-it-all, etc.
I'm sort of an Alton Brown when it comes to buying tools for my scrap studio, tho. Everything has to multi-task. Circle punches = good. Sail boat punch = not on your life.(I'm still up in the air about a rock-ship punch, because technically I can cut a small rocket ship with my Cricut! And while I've purchased some butterfly punches, as a woman who scraps mostly boys, I tend to second guess that purchase to this day.) Even the shape cartridges I've purchased for my Cricut have undergone significant scrutiny before purchase.
You would be hard pressed to find a tool in my stash that ONLY made brads, or ONLY made tags, or ONLY attached things using those very weird clothing-style plastic attachments. Its just not practical enough for me.
Being a Cricut girl, I'm not often swayed to longing for other cutters. But I was wooed by the Slice. It was so very very portable...and I liked the thought of taking it with me somewhere to use. Even with my longing, I could never get my head around plunking down the $$$ for a Slice (and its shape cartridges) when I had a perfectly awesome (though, not so portable) Cricut at home.
Then I got an unexpected blessing.
Some time ago, during one of the CHA shows, the Making Memories blog ran a give away for a SLICE plus this amazing hands-free kit.
In terms of a free give away on a blog I followed anyway, it all seemed sort of no-harm, no-foul. So, I put in my comment not expecting to receive anything but the inspiration that the blog already gave me.
Much to my disbelief, I WON...(I like to tell people I never win anything. But to be honest, I do win things and it always seems to be just the RIGHT thing when it happens.)
Much to my disbelief, I WON...(I like to tell people I never win anything. But to be honest, I do win things and it always seems to be just the RIGHT thing when it happens.)
When I got it, I eagerly ripped open the packaging and followed all the instructions to the letter...and couldn't get the thing to work right. My images kept getting a cut right down the middle as the machine moved back to its "starting" position after a cut.
Well, being the customer service person that I am (this IS, after all, something that I do as part of my own job!) I proceeded to seek their assistance on getting the machine to work properly.
After many tries and lots of trading emails, I finally got frustrated and thought it might be best to put the cute little pink thing aside in my studio.
I went back to being a Cricut-only girl. Which, ok, seriously...I'm not a scrapper who goes off to lots of away events. Even my monthly scrapbooking group meets in MY home, so the whole idea of being in love with the portability of the Slice was not applicable to my lifestyle. It was just my delusional coveting that made me long for the thing.
But it didn't stop me from being disappointed in my little pink machine sitting off in the corner of my studio, when I had the time to think about it.
Fast forward QUITE a long time to last month. I was in the process of cleaning out my studio and getting rid of machinery and products I didn't want, need or use. And here sat my not-working Slice. I honestly wasn't sure what to do with it.
So, in one sort of hail-mary email to the Customer Service department at Making Memories, I explained the lengthy process I'd gone through to try to get my little pink cutter to work.
They asked for details and, well, because I'm THAT way, I sent them the whole email chain that I had saved off to one of my folders for my records. They asked me to ship them the machine to see if they could fix it for me.
And a week later a BRAND NEW ELITE arrived on my desk. (not just fixed, but UPGRADED!)
WHAT!?!?!?
Of course, I went straight to work again, trying out some new things. I've only got three cards for it, so its not like I've got a huge library to work with. But I've been messing with sizes, figuring out how to place it on the paper to get the shape to appear where I want, learning about the features.
AND, Making Memories is running this amazing sale until June 1 in their On Line Shop. Being the savvy (cheap) shopper that I am, I took advantage and bought 4 more shape cards plus a binder to put them all in.
And now, I've been playing...I'll post some results after I get this thing figured out!
Tell me, what unexpected blessing have you received lately? Or how are you playing right now? Or what spectacular purchase have you made recently???
Peace, ya'll!