I have a special post for you today all about the Personal Cutting Machine VS. Punches/Die Cuts

First I want you all to make sure when you are done here, you go and see what Kristin Bueter has to share today using the Pretty Packaging © templates: Welcome Home ©

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From Kristin: Spring is in the air! Well, a girl can dream can’t she?

I made my own little spring dream house using the Welcome Home © template. Come see all the details —>HERE!

OK back to business 😀

Many of you are on the fence about a personal cutting machine. Many of you already have one!

Some of you may be scared to try it out. This just may be the push you need to see that it is not only easy but in the end, more cost effective.  . I am SO computer challenged and I was able to work my Circut seconds after watching the video that comes with it-and figure out the SCAL all by myself! Let us not forget the TIME you save on cutting, and the SPACE you save on storing.

Today I want to talk about our Pretty Pieces© Cut Files and what an AMAZING value they really are! I don’t just mean “talk” about it, but I am going to actually show you ! Many of us are more VISUAL, so when you see it all laid out, you will be amazed!

This is a visual of the value in Pretty Pieces©  Cut Files vs. the purchase of punches or dies. Don’t get me wrong, I adore my border punches and other die cut type of products, but we are talking about the difference and how you are SAVING MONEY, SPACE and getting the MAXIMUM product for the $.

 As I share all this you can certainly add this chatter to the many benefits to having all my Pretty Packaging © templates in a cut file too 😀 The templates can be easily resized to suit you projects! Larger or smaller, you are maximizing your use from an already AMAZING template. Plus NO CUTTING!! A dream come true. Granted the PDF version of the templates do come together rather quickly, but when you eliminate the CUTTING, you saved even MORE time, which will enable you to make MORE and spend the minutes you DO have designing a FAB project/gift.

When you purchase a  Pretty Pieces © Cut File for ONLY $2.50 you are getting a WORLD of value in that purchase!

Let me SHOW you!

Our first cut file was Flutters and Flowers.

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 This cut file has 2 different butterflies,

 some layering flowers, and leaves.

In that cut file you begin with the EXACT size butterfly that you would use for the All A Flutter © stamp set. The butterfly in the Pretty Pieces © Cut File match the stamps perfectly! Now you would use that cut file INSTEAD of a butterfly punch!

You can also get SO many different sizes from one purchase. Anywhere from the smallest of cuts, to the LARGEST!

Take a look below:

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This is the 1 1/2 inch solid butterfly next to the resized version of the SAME butterfly at 11 1/2 inches. WOW! That is so cool.

Here is an example of the resizing options from ONE cut file

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I took the solid butterflies, and started at 1 inch. I began resizing the butterflies by a 1/4 inch.

So I have 1 inch, then 1 1/4, then 1 1/2……you get the idea.

I started sizing my butterflies at 1 inch. I increased the size by 1/4 inch, up to 11 1/2 inches. That would give me a total of 42 butterflies! That is AMAZING.

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This punch is ONE size, bulky, and cost me $15.99.

By NOT purchasing only 17 punches I could have the Cricut Expression AND the Sure Cuts A Lot software!! (Show THAT to your hubby!)

Think of how much it would cost you for 42 different punches! Let alone the STORAGE! 

This is my punch collection.

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There are MORE than 42 in this photo alone.

I have more on the other side of this door, and in 3 large tupperware bins

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 If I purchased 42 of those punches it would cost me $672!! And I wouldn’t even have the variety of options that the Cut Files give.

 A punch comes in ONE size. Costs anywhere from $5 to $22.

 A die cut often comes in a pack of various sized dies, but is PRICEY, needs a machine (which limits the size of the cardstock you can use, the placement of your shape, and is often not the right size you wanted or needed.

 You can resize these by ANY measurement you wish. You can also add windows or shaped cut out to your projects and templates!

Using your personal cutting machine to create with literally CUTS your costs for supplies!

You may not have ever even thought about how much you can save, and how much MORE you actually get from a cutting machine.

Hopefully this helps you see the value in the products we are offering. I love sharing things I personally love. and that make my life easier, and expand my spending $$ and TIME. This is definitely ONE of those things. My personal cutter was one of the BEST items I have ever invested my $$ in to.

Now how about some projects that utilize the NEWEST Pretty Pieces Cut Files © Cute Critters: Whooty-Love and Heart Stealer Raccoon.

I dream papercrafts. I don’t say that as a euphemism I REALLY do. I have a notebook that I keep on the counter so that I can quickly jot down an idea in the middle of the night. Jay will wake up in the morning sometime and say, I take if you didn’t really SLEEP to well since it looks like you were busy dreaming of work!

If everyone had a job they enjoyed as much as I do mine, the world would be a HAPPY place. 

I am constantly thinking packaging. It doesn’t end.

Sometimes you have a dream….and it is just that! One crazy dream of something that makes NO sense once the fog of sleep disappears. Then sometimes the reality is better than what you imagined it to be!
That is exactly what happened with the Pretty Pieces Cut Files © Heart Stealer Raccoon, and Whooty Love.

When I began working with the tangible stamp form of Critters with Heart, all I could think ablout was HOW to make them into a BOX. I knew I wanted to do something, but wasn’t really sure WHAT. I’d seen some brown paper bag puppets in the store, and that was MY AH! HA!! moment.

To me, the bags were a bit cheesy. A great kids project, but I wanted cute and durable!

I KNEW at that moment that I wanted to do some sort of box body, and use the elements of the Critters with Heart © set to create these. That proved to be a whole other task! Upon reviewing the animals I have to decide WHAT would be the cutest for the boxes.

It was decided that the Raccoon and Owl would be the best for the task.

Without further delay here is Heart Stealer Raccoon

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Is he not the SWEETEST creature you have ever seen? I love him to pieces.

This Cut File coordinates with our Under Cover © template (which has many uses of its own :D). I will share some uses for that box by itself another day.

I made my Under Cover © template, and the Raccoon head, ear base, arms, legs and tail from Sleuth cardstock. It is a pale grayish color. Assembled my Under Cover © Template.

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I used my Raven Cardstock and cut his tail again, inner ear, and belly.

The Cut Fileincludes the PDF printed version of the face, but there is also an ALL cut file piece for those elements should you wish to do that. I went with the PDF version of the face as it is perfectly cute and QUICK 😀 The eyes have black pebbles from Cloud 9. PERFECT fit. I used some pastels to add some color to the cheek.

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I then just added all the elements to the box. I chose to use dimensionals for a 3D effect. How cute can one box get? Imagine a class of kids making these for Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, any friends birthday! OH! ADORABLE!

Even my SON approved! Now you KNOW its good 😀

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For the tail, I cut that twice (as stated above). The base of the tail was in Sleuth. I then cut the Raven colored tail into 1/2 inch strips and adhered it to the main tail! I even scored it down the center and curled the ends a bit 😀 Imagine adding Fun Flock or Flower Soft?! OH!! LOVE!

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He is holding a felt heart sticker. Tag has You stole my heart from the Critters with Heart © stamp set. I stamped the heart image from the You’ve Got Mail set 😀

Would you believe this goes together in like 10 minutes, once the file is cut?

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I don’t think this could get any cuter! (actually it CAN! LOL! I will share more of that another day).

Now how about some Whooty-Love?

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I love unexpected colors, but when you design with a bird I guess there is no color limits. I wanted something BRIGHT and CHEERY.

This project was inspired by this one….

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I have SO many ideas for colors of this owl!! (this was from another post the other day)

I used a teal colored cardstock for the Under Cover © base, as well as the owl head base, wings, and tail (you can’t see that in the photo). I then used the lighter aqua colored cardstock for the 2nd face layer.

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I decided to use the PDF version of the face (printed, layered, and cut twice) and the adorable printed belly 😀 I colored the eyes lids, beak and belly with my copic markers. I added glitter to the belly, and the smaller wings I decided to add.

Of course flowers make everything heavenly.

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My sentiment is from Critters with Heart ©.

 Supplies:

Pretty Packaging templates:Under Cover ©, Heart Stealer Raccoon ©, Whooty-Love ©

Pretty Impressions Stamps: Critters with Heart ©

Cardstock from Couture Cardstock

Copic Markers

Gingham ribbon, Craft Seam binding ribbon from Martha Stewart

Prima Flowers, Glitter, Felt heart sticker

Epoxy sticker by Could 9, adhesive rhinestone

Well that is it for today. Believe it or not I have much more yet to share 😀 So stop by tomorrow.

I hope you enjoyed everything I had to share today.