Hi Hollowers!

I have mentioned a few times recently that I decided to invest in a Brother Scan n’ Cut.  I know it seems like quite an investment, but I did the maths and for me at least it worked out to be a no brainer.  I always want the dies to go with my stamp sets and these can average around $30 each.  Sometimes I may only want one or two dies in the set, also if I stamp a combination of images I can use the dies to create and cut a scene, not easily anyway.  Then there is centering the die, I have lost count of how many times I have colored a lovely image and ruined it with the die, cutting off an edge because it wasn’t quite right.  Over the years I have developed a few tricks to help reduce this but its still a problem.  The Scan n’ Cut was $300, so I only had to buy 10 stamp sets and save on the dies for it to break even.  I did my research and Amazon is the best deal right now, they sell it with or without the wireless card, I decided without was best for me as it was purely going to be a scan and cut machine, you may want to hook it up to your computer in which case the extra $17 is well worth it to have it wirelessly connect, its $50 if you don’t buy it with the machine***currently on sale for $36.99 linked below***. (I may wish I had bought it down the road but we shall see).  Today I have a video for you on some features I have used already and how to cut around a shape with or without a border, center on a basic shape and also cut out details within a shape or image.  Don’t get me wrong, I still love lots of my dies and I will continue to buy basic dies (shapes, tags, etc.), words, card bases and anything that really takes my fancy! But I would rather buy 3 stamp sets rather than one plus the coordinating dies.  I’m going to do this back to front of my normal format, but you shall see why, first up is the video…

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Oooops, you see why I said I normally stick it to the mat on my desk! But I know it happens on any machine and the beauty with this is I can line it up and cut and it goes again perfectly!  Now for my reference sheet, I cut the MFT unicorns at the different 0.04″ intervals and laminated them as a quick reference guide, if you would like to create you own, here is a picture for you:

I am going to recommend buying your machine from Amazon, I know HSN stock it but Amazon have it for the same price, in fact I was lucky and got mine for $30 off, below I am going to link up both the machine and wireless card which is currently on sale.  I also recommend you use Honey, since I added it to my browser it has saved me a fortune particularly on amazon, you can’t use it on a tablet yet but any laptop or desktop is fine and it works with pretty much any internet browser out there.  You all know what an Amazon addict I am! With Honey it tells me which is the best price for the item, whether the delivery date would be earlier, later or the same; it also looks at whether each purchase option would require sales tax and/or shipping so it’s comparing your total price rather than just the product.  It’s also great on other sites: Macy’s, Target, Simon Says Stamp even! It checks for available coupon codes from the web and checks which will save you the most money….pretty awesome! Plus it checks for cash back and it tracks price history on amazon and advises you when is best to buy! If you fancy giving it a try you can use our HH link: http://joinhoney.com/ref/v94oxp.  Also, how about a bonus $5 Amazon credit? Amazon has launched a great new app, sooooooo much better than the old one, I can even filter on prime at the touch of one button! They are offering you a $5 credit if you download the app and checkout using the HH link just click here.  We all love a freebie don’t we?

I hope this was useful to you, whether you have a Scan n’ Cut or whether you are considering purchasing one.  I can thuroughly recommend it and really wish I had caved long before now and invested! I look forward to being able to buy more stamp sets! Join us again on Sunday when I will have a lovely card using another Neat & Tangled March release.  They don’t have a release this month but i’m really looking forward to seeing what they have for us next month!  The card I am making wouldn’t be possible without my Scan n’ Cut, so stay tuned to see what treasure I have in store (hint, hint).

Happy Stamping!