I love, love, love playing with new crafting tools and am so excited that we now carry one of my absolute favorites – the Silhouette SD Digital Cutting Tool. It’s similar to a printer in shape & size and connects to your computer, but instead of printing images, it uses a tiny blade to cut them out of your choice of media – paper, vellum, vinyl, oh-so-many options!
Our text weight paper works the best, and our cover weight paper and entire line of note cards can be cut with a little tweaking of the settings. It definitely takes a few practice rounds to perfect the art of placing the media in the right spot on the mat and finding the perfect the blade settings, but if you love card making, scrapbooking or just general crafting, this tool is a must have!
The tool comes pre-loaded with 50 shapes, and can cut almost any font you already have loaded on your computer. Additional images are available for download (iTunes style) on the Silhouette website. The samples shown here were created using Silhouette shapes. A patterned background and layered message (all cut out of text weight paper) make for a fun thank you card.
Floral cutouts xyroned to a brightly wrapped package with coordinating card create a fun gift presentation any girl would love! For those of you who want to take it to the next level, the Silhouette can also be used to cut your own designs, which is the feature I use the most. I have been creating hand-cut designs for years and now use my Silhouette to do the work for me.
I start by hand-cutting my design, then scan the final piece and import the file into the Silhouette software. I follow the easy step-by-steps to create the outline, and I’m off to cutting pieces that would normally take hours upon hours to cut. Several steps, but I promise it’s easy to do! With our entire line of colorful papers and cards to work with, projects with the Silhouette have so many possibilities and are so much fun!
— Stephanie
PS colors: fuchsia & night
Latest fave: Silhouette SD Digital Cutting Tool, of course, and Fingertip Swivel Craft Knife for those extra special projects needing a hand-cut touch!
It’s a bummer though they don’t have it for the Mac. I’m an Apple girl.
Wow, this is so cool! I’ve been making cards & I’d love to try designing with the cutting tool. I’m putting it on my wish list!!
Cheryl, here’s a little more information on using the Silhouette with a Mac. The Silhouette website says the hardware can be connected to a Mac, though the software is not compatible with a Mac. They do offer a way you can use Adobe Illustrator software in order to use a Silhouette with a Mac. They also say they are working towards a Mac-friendly solution!
Read more from their website: Is the Silhouette Macintosh compatible?
for those with a Mac, check out Kristina Werner’s blog – she uses a Mac and a Silhouette
http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/?p=2841
I’ve had my Silhouette for 1 year and a half and LOVE it.
What a great tool! I might have to pick one up and implement it in my designs for future brides & grooms!
@ Paper Source: Do you know how often we would have to change the blades (if that’s even possible)?
I’ve had mine for about 4 months and use a Mac. It works great! Even though the included software doesn’t work with Mac, Illustrator (CS3 or CS4) has much more functionality, anyway. And all of their designs can be opened in Illustrator. It’s fantastic!
Regarding changing blades (info from Silhouette website):
How long should a Silhouette blade typically last? The blades for the Silhouette should typically last up to 6 months depending on usage and the type of material being cut. Please note that thicker materials will wear down the blade more quickly and the average life for heavy users will be closer to 2 – 4 months. The thickest material the Silhouette will cut well would be 80 – 90 lb weight cardstock, such as Bazzill cardstock. Attempts to cut thicker materials or certain materials the Silhouette is not designed to cut that are more dense (such as shrink plastic, foam, chipboard) or fibrous in nature (such as fabric) may ruin the blade or result in the blade dulling very quickly. Additionally, certain papers with bits or particles of foreign objects (such as glitter chunks), may immediately impair the blade. We strongly recommend against cutting materials with additional foreign objects embedded into them which may harm the blade.
I have a question, is it possible to use your own images and cut them out? I have some Chinese and arabic caligraphy to cut. Is this possible?
Asif, yes, you can use your own images with the Silhouette Machine. Here is some information on using external images with the Silhouette Machine.
Just got mine and LOVE it. Now they have software that works with the Mac and it is fantastic. The possibilities are endless and the quality of the designs is incredible.
i was wondering what setting you set your blade on with the text weight paper. i was thinking maybe 2.