I have a Cricut machine, but was unhappy with the fact that I had to buy cartridges for any new designs or fonts I wanted. With the Silhouette you can use any font on your computer. As a collage artist and computer graphic person, I have collected thousands of fonts and dingbats as well as images. The software was pretty straightfoward and I figured out how to convert files for use in the Silhouette, so the possibilities are endless.
First, I bought a couple of the designs from their online store and started experimenting with the cutting machine. Not wanting too get to elaborate with the print and cut function, I printed paper patterns onto cardstock on a laser printer and then cut the image files using the printed paper. Because I have tons of small scrap collage pieces, I laid a piece on the inside back of the card. With the collage scraps all being different, each card is unique.
I then attempted to create designs in the software to make similar die cut cards. I'm getting a feel for what works and doesn't work. I'm pretty pleased with the results.
