Share your die cutting journey...

I was an active member of my LSS QuicKuts Club and attended the monthly meetings. The owners would come about 3-4 times a year and hold a special club meeting where they would give away a ton of stuff. I won an alphabet, dies, tools, etc. We would also get first dibs on new die releases and get 10% off our total being members. Oh and we all got a new die too, sometimes ones that were exclusive for club members only. 

I really do miss those nights. Gosh they were so fun.

I started card making and stamping in 1986 when I was a young mom, and I started scrapbooking in 1996. When we got an actual LSS, I started teaching classes there. I used the money I earned at the LSS to support my hobby, but my sweet DH also spoiled me. Keep in mind that the following die-cut journey and related purchases all took place over more than 25 years. I saved a long time for each purchase, and usually waited to buy what I wanted until I could get it on sale.

I started with an Accu-Cut machine, before we had any LSS. I took it to a local craft store, did demos, introduced crafters to scrapbooking, cut people’s paper and card stock that they bought at the craft store, and used the money to buy more dies. They were only wood dies back then, and they were expensive, so my collection accumulated slowly, and only as I could afford them. I bought a red Sizzix when they came out. I stopped working at the craft store eventually, and when we got an actual LSS, I taught classes there, and the money I earned went to support my craft hobby.

My first electronic cutter was a Wishblade. It was extremely challenging to learn, but it had been an expensive purchase. I couldn’t bear the thought that I had wasted hundreds of dollars, so I took a solid week when I focused almost exclusively on learning to do what I wanted with that machine. I can be a very stubborn, determined gal, and I learned to use Illustrator CS2 (a complex graphics program) in order to be able to create anything I wanted. DH didn’t have time to help me, so I learned how to use the complicated software by reading the manual. And I did learn to use both the software and that machine to their fullest extent.

The Wishblade only cut letter size, though, and I scrapbook 12x12. I did some work designing cutting files for an LSS owner in exchange for a Gazelle. It had far more capability than the Cricut, and it cut 12x12. I had to learn new software again, but I could create my own designs just as I had with the Wishblade.

Somewhere along the way, I replaced my red Sizzix with a Cuttlebug, then later got a Big Kick. I love dies, too.

When my Gazelle and my computer stopped communicating with each other, my techie DH couldn’t figure out the issue, so I bought my first Cameo and loved it. Somewhere along my craft journey, I bought a Cricut Expression for a good deal on Black Friday. I wanted their Disney designs.

After we moved halfway across the country to live closer to two of our adult kids, I bought a Cricut Explore Air 2 because it could cut soft leather, and I was now living near my son who designs leather projects. I like my Explore better than my Expression, but I still mainly use it to cut Disney files. That son got married and moved to another state, but I still have the Explore.

I had a ton of stamps with no matching dies, so I eventually bought a Scan-N-Cut. It’s great for cutting out stamped images. I hated the PixScan mat that Silhouette used. I could never get it to work for me. I can do just about anything else with my Cameo, but not cut out stamped images.

When a Microsoft update turned my original Cameo into a paper weight, I bought a Cameo 3. And I hope to never buy another die cut machine again. I use my Cameo a lot, but it is set up for ready use, not sitting in a closet or on a shelf. I am adept with the Silhouette software. I sometimes design my own files, but most of the time, I use Silhouette designs. With my subscription, I get 99 cent files for about 8 cents. When they have sales, it’s even cheaper. I love my Silhouette, but I also love the wafer thin dies and my Big Shot. I use both. A lot. And sometimes my Scan-N-Cut or my Cricut Explore. All are quick and easy to use, because I make a point to keep them ready to use. I have a decent sized craft loft, with a closet, but If I have to get something out of the closet, I am less likely to use it. Because the machines are ready to use, I can quickly use whichever suits my needs best.

Also, I don’t just papercraft. When our family has gone to Disney, I have made shirts and even decorated a few sneakers. I sometimes use my machines for making home decor projects, too.

And during COVID, it all helped keep me sane.

I think this is key - I know it is for me. I have both the Cricut Expression and the Gemini Jr set up on my desk, ready to use (and the QK handle and all of my dies - QK and thin metal) are right behind me at my desk within easy reach. All of my scrapbooking supples are within reach when I'm sitting at the desk and that was a deliberate choice.

Started scrapbooking in the fall of 1996.

In the beginning: Bought premade die cuts in the scrapbook store. Made out plain cardstock. Not packaged, just various bins of them to select from.

Made my own die cuts (mostly frames and filmstrips), using the die cut machines at the scrapbook store, had to buy the paper to use the machines.
The scrapbook stores that offered that DIY service, closed long ago.

Bought a We R memory keepers circle cutter to make DIY frames. It's a love-hate relationship. I love the results, but it's not easy to use. Rarely use it.

Currently: Buy patterned and various colors packaged die cuts from various manufacturers. 

Contemplating buying a sizzix big shot, with a frame (circle, rectangle, square) bundle. 

I started Scrapbooking in 1998.

At that time my budget for this craft was very very small, so I just used stamps/stencils and really did not use die cuts.

Then we got an LSS w/ a die cut machine you could use if you purchased paper. I used the heck out of that thing, and continued using my stencils/stamps.

After the LSS closed (around 2009) I eventually was thrifing one day and found a Big shot. I was pretty excited and purchased it and started picking up dies here and there.

In 2020 after being coerced by YouTube, and with a much bigger budget for my hobby I purchased a Cricut Maker 3. I used the heck out of it at first labeling everything in my house, using it on every page and even making some shirts. I kept my Big Shot because I have dies that I like still, even though I don't use it that often.

Last week I was thrifting again and found a sidekick. I have zero need for this, but it was 3 dollars so I could not leave it behind We shall see if I end up using it at all.

I started with the little Sizzix that used the thin die’s. I won a Qickcutz hand tool plus 2 alphabets at a scrapbook store event. Then I bought the original Cricut before upgrading to the 12in one that I got for Christmas a few years later.Then I went all in on a silhouette before getting a Cricut explore2. I also had the gypsy.

All of these are still sitting on shelves in my basement LOL. I used them much more for teaching than for scrapbooking, too. I have been using the explore fore home projects, and I recently started designing some cookie stencils on my Cricut, although I haven’t cut any yet.

I hope to retire next year, and I look forward to getting back into scrapbooking again. I have started printing sets of pictures and making notes about how I want to scrap them,but I don’t want to start the actual scrapbooking until I have time to clean out my craft room and finally make it a “studio.”

that is what i am hoping- that I will just love it. I picked it up and put it back a few times until my son who was w/ me said mom...its 3 dollars...i don't even know what it is but it seems like you need it lol. 

I've been scrapbooking for two decades & had only a QK Squeeze tool (plus a couple versatile QK alphas & basic shapes) before investing in a Sizzix Big Kick a decade ago (which led to the rapid expansion of my QK collection), a Sizzix Sidekick a couple years ago, & a Silhouette Cameo 4 a few weeks ago.

ETA: 
I can vouch for the usefulness of a Sidekick for quickly diecutting labels, tags, letters, numbers, etc. Enjoy!

I've been scrapbooking (or collecting) for a long time. I remember when Sizzix came out with their red machine and then Quickutz came out with their handle and dies a little later. I liked the fonts with the Quickutz better, but they were so expensive! Getting the upper case, lower case, numbers, shadows for all would cost over $500. I eventually got a Cuttlebug so that I could cut multiple dies at once and also emboss. And I jumped on the Cricut bandwagon, but hardly ever used it.

I still have my Cuttlebug, but purchased a Big Shot after my bug was unsuccessful at cutting a die, but the Big Shot cut it perfectly. I also have the Stampin up Mini die cutting machine (it was a gift).

I still collect dies and eventually want to get an electronic die cutting machine because I figure at some point, I am going to get too tired to hand crank my machines.

I don't remember the years things happened. I got a Cricut first and had that about 3 years or so. I passed it along to a friend when I got my Silhouette Cameo - this is version 1 and I still have it.

I recently upgraded the firmware so I could use it with a Windows 11 computer. I haven't been using the Silhouette very much the last couple of years but I still like it. It takes up little space, I can just type out whatever title I want and cut it. Usage cost is very low.

At one point, I was all set to purchase a Big Shot and backed out. I'm very glad I did not go that route. The cuts look impressive but I just don't want to spend that much on dies and then have to store them.

I started out as a stamper but started scrapping around 2002.

My LSS sold pre cut shapes. You had to draw on and color features.

I bought the red Sizzix machine. It had those super thick die blocks. I also used the Coluzzle which was a plastic sheet with shapes. You had to use a special knife to cut them out.

Alphabet dies were really expensive. A full set of Quickcutz was several hundred dollars and the Sizzix ones had to be bought individually so that was several hundred as well. Sizzix finally came out with several sets and they were reasonable as well as thin. To use these I bought the (at the time) new Side Kick.

Next was the Cuttlebug. It cut their dies plus the Side Kick ones and even Quickutz. It also introduced me to embossing folders.

Next was the original Cricket. I just never liked having to deal with the cartridges and having to set up how I wanted to print.

The Cuttlebug was a bit flimsy so I bought the pink and black Sizzix Bigshot. I loved that machine and it served me well for years.

I now have the Sizzix Foldaway. I also own the Gemini Jr. Great machine.

I never used any kinds of die cuts when I first started paper scrapping. I don't think I even really knew what a die cut machine was. I guess I saw a Big Shot at a LSS after I moved to the US but it seemed ridiculously huge and unnecessary to have one at home and I don't think I knew what they could cut anyway.

I also didn't associate the thing that the library volunteers used to make paper leaves with anything I would want to do. It had a big lever handle and cut shapes out of tacky colors of cardstock for displays. I never used it. I knew it had some kind of dies that did the cutting but it was ages before I found out that some people had those machines at home, not just in schools, libraries or stores.

A friend won a Cricut when they first came out. It was something I had heard about so she invited me over to try it out. All the stuff we cut got so stuck to the mat so badly we couldn't get it off, just a torn mess, and I recognized right away that I was not interested in having to buy all the cartridges to be able to cut things. She gave it away/sold it with zero regrets.

I had been cardmaking pretty seriously for a while (Kristie Marcotte style) and chatting here, learning from you all, before I decided that I might actually need a Big Shot. I still thought it was way too big and heavy for my small space but I really suck at scissors no matter how much Don told me I just needed to practice. I asked about what to get here and no one could tell me if a Platinum machine was better (they had just released the P6 and no one was using it yet) so I got a Big Shot with a Black Friday discount. I loved stitched shape dies, and still do. I didn't buy too many dies because they're so expensive but I started using my BS almost every time I made cards, usually just for a stitched rectangle frame.

It didn't take too long before I realized that matching dies for stamps were going to cost me too much so I justified the Brother ScanNCut as a business expense. I knew it couldn't give me the nice stitched details I like and tbh I've always hated the sharp cuts it makes - very unappealing to me. I also knew I would never have space to leave it set up. However fast it actually is to plug in it seems like a big hassle, the sound bothers my husband who was working from home 10 feet away, and my results were sometimes not great, so I've never really loved it.

Lately I've realized that the two things I enjoy most in crafting are purchased, pre-colored die cuts that go with a paper pad, and big bold dies that cut something I can put on a card without stamping and coloring (like HB Lovely Layers). I have gotten better with scissors but I've also moved away from things that I need to stamp and cut so I might re-home my SNC. My Big Shot takes up about one-sixth of my little desk but it's always out and used almost daily. I recently got the magnetic platform, so much easier to use than the extended platform I started with.

The first alphabet I bought for the OG red Sizzix you had to buy the letters individually. It was the Shadow Box alphabet and they were a big steel rule die, each die had the letter and a shadow for it. My mom and I would go with our Michael's coupons every week and I slowly got the whole alphabet. I remember I couldn't find the O and when I visited my brother in another state I stopped in the Michael's there and found it.