On the second day of Diva’s birthday, her favorite thing to share was…..

QuicKutz Silhouette Digital Craft Cutter
Craft enthusiasts will love this digital craft cutter–it’s the perfect tool for scrapbook and school projects, making cards and invitations, paper crafting, home decor, and more. Use it to cut from a variety of materials including pattered paper, iron-on transfer paper, vinyl, magnetic paper, cardstock, wood paper, vellum, and sticker paper. By connecting the cutter to your computer, you can receive instant access to your entire digital design collection, transform designs anywhere from 1/4 inch to 8 inches tall, or cut any TrueType font on your computer. Best of all, it does not require any cartridges or CDs that can end up lost or damaged. The cutter comes pre-loaded with 50 shapes, and the Silhouette software makes it easy to log onto your account at any time and download more shapes at your convenience. The digital craft cutter measures 6 by 16 by 4-1/4 inches tall or 8-1/4 inches tall with the lid open. Though it’s only 16 inches wide, it does require 18 inches of desk space to make room for the plugged-in USB and power cords. It will also need 12 inches of clearance in front and back to accommodate the cutting mat as it feeds through the Silhouette when cutting. Users will also need access to a PC with Windows 2000 or XP operating system and an Internet connection.

Now…many crafty people prefer the Cricket die cut machine because it does not require a computer.  All of it’s dies are on cartridges.  My problem with that is purchasing all those cartridges for $60 a piece when I can go to the online Silhouette store and download to my heart’s content for $1.99 each.  AND my machine came with a $250 gift card to the store.  So I haven’t spent any money on die cuts yet.

A digital die cut machine is essential for any scrapbooker.  While some balk at the price, it MORE than pays for itself with the money you save in die cuts!  You don’t have to buy any more letters (which we all know is costly because you never get enough E’s or S’s or R’s and have to purchase multiple packs!), figures, shapes, words, WHATEVER.  You just cut em out yourself at home.  You can look at the sample cards in my sidebar to see the work I’ve done with mine.

Lesson of the day:

Don’t be surprised where your best piece of advice comes from.  The picture to the left is from my freshman year of undergrad.  The sister next to me is my sorority sister.  She made a huge impact on my college days and is one of the big influences on my choice to join a sorority.  Tonight another one of my sorority sisters came up with an idea that knocked me off my feet.  You see, after I joined the sorority the next line I brought through called me Big Sister SweetSpot (bunch of damn wimps said I was mean and only had 1 little sweet spot in me).  So tonight I was talking to Coya about needing a name for these here sweets I’m peddling.  Alyson had tossed out some names and one of them struck a cord for me.  When I ran it by Coya she liked it but she had a better idea….one that I’m going to take advantage of!

Today I am grateful for old television shows online.  Right now I’m on episode 3 of the first season of Scarecrow and Mrs. King.  I LOVED THIS SHOW!  One night I watched all of the first season of 21 Jump Street. You better be ready cause you’re running outta time!