Thanks RachelRose have looked at the "cuttlebug meltdown link", will give it a try and see what comes of that.
Thanks also Boss, my husband is over in the states at the moment and has picked up some heavy embossing mats, unfortunately he couldn't get no more shims, so hopefully I might have the success that you had.
Provocraft told me that they don't offer a repair service, but if my machine was less than 12 months old that they would replace it, unfortunately it's not
Will keep you posted on what happens next.