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Can you make shadows with this thing like with the Cricut? Or, do you just have to cut your image in 1/2-inch increments to get the shadow effect? Also, how well do the embossing tips work? Just curious...I love my Slice, but miss some of the things my Cricut can do.
__________________ I DID learn everything I need to know in Kindergarten!
The newest cards being released have the shadowing feature. They also speed up your cutting, and have a mirror feature, too. The just started releasing them in August. Go to www.whyslice.com to see them.
Yes, the older cartridges do not have a shadow feature, but the newer ones do. I am pretty sure the newer ones indicate on the packaging that they offer shadows.
I have not yet bought the embossing tips, but I have heard good things on some of the message boards. I am curious about them as well. I'd like to see them in action!
__________________ Connie Petertonjes
Proud to be an Artist-In-Residence for Art Declassified
I have a SLICE and really love it! I don't have a Cricut, however, to compare it to. I like the slice because of the easy storage, affordability of cartridges and available images and fonts.
__________________ Sharon S. "A child is not a vase to be filled, but a fire to be lit." - Rabelais My Gallery
I just sold my cricut and bought a slice. I have no room for a cricut and I need portability. The slice is more hands on but it cuts easily. I was sick of the cricut mats too. I'll use repositionable adhesive on the slice mat plus it's glass, so you can use it for other things.
I bought my Slice a couple months or so ago. I like it fine, and when I get even more of the new cards, will probably like it even more. I like the price, and I like the size. Still learning how not to waste paper, but am hopeful the potential to economize paper use is there.
I shared it with my sister who has a Cricuit. She is now thinking of getting rid of her Cricuit and getting the Slice. Maybe she doesn't know how to use it efficiently, but she says she wastes a LOT of paper with the Cricuit. With 40+ cartridges, it's a tough decision though.
As I understand it, with the Gypsy and SCAL and so on, there is lots of flexibility with the Cricuit. When all is said, it really depends on what is important to you (price, size, portability, design options, etc.)
I think you're kind of trying to compare a grapefruit to a watermelon. There are a several threads about the Slice. Just do a search in the forum and I'm sure you'll find them. Much has been shared about the machine(s). Personally, I really enjoy my Slice.
I played with my slice today and love it. I put together a Christmas card for the pop up Christmas tree die. I think it's great and cuts perfectly. I bought it used from someone on two peas in a bucket for 150.00 plus 13.50 shipping and it came with basic 3, noteworthy, basic one calibration of course, and a special seasons card. I got an awesome deal. I bought fa la la and just got falls back to school for 20.00 on ebay. My next card will be mistletoe.
no difference except that it comes with the calibration card. My blue one cuts perfectly. Any upgrades will be made so you can download them onto an SD card and insert it into the machine. I think they are also working on something so that designs can be downloaded from the website onto sd cards.
Just a note as far as "wasting CS or paper" when you use the Slice--I had to cut a whole poster's worth of alpha letters for my daughter, and I found that, because the Slice typically starts the cut in the lower left corner, if you start the cutting at the bottom left of the paper and after each cut design, move the Slice to the right, you get a really good idea of where you need to place the Slice to maximize paper useage. HTH.
__________________ Brenda
<-My sibling kitties, Milo and Rousseau
no difference except that it comes with the calibration card. My blue one cuts perfectly. Any upgrades will be made so you can download them onto an SD card and insert it into the machine. I think they are also working on something so that designs can be downloaded from the website onto sd cards.
The initial Basics 1 cartridge that came with the Slice was reissued with a calibration step in it. The new pink Slice comes with that card already. Those with the original card had to get new cards and return the original.
I got my Slice for Mothers day....... I am very happy with it and have not bought a punch, the type that makes one shape, My Slice has made shape punches obsolete for me....... The design cards are quite reasonable if you look for a sale...... and i dont have store a mountain of shape punches and I can make the shape any size I want.
I have a Cricut, and i like the Slice for its spantaneous use....... just grab a scrap and cut.
Just a note as far as "wasting CS or paper" when you use the Slice--I had to cut a whole poster's worth of alpha letters for my daughter, and I found that, because the Slice typically starts the cut in the lower left corner, if you start the cutting at the bottom left of the paper and after each cut design, move the Slice to the right, you get a really good idea of where you need to place the Slice to maximize paper useage. HTH.
Thanks for this tip, Paper Junky. Always looking for a way to get the most out of supplies!
What new cards are you getting? I have a slice and have found there are several new cards coming out, but don't know which are available. I love my slice, just don't have time enough to use it. And wish I didn't live so far from a dealer and some demonstrations on the different ways to use it.
Farm Life, Under the Sea, Mistletoe, Spooky Alley, Words & Expressions (holiday), Music & Dance are among some of the newer cartridges. I just purchased the Think Pink and I surprisingly love it! There are some fabulous fancy labely shapes that I know I can use all year round and the alpha font is great. I just used Spooky Alley for my last Slice class and am using Mistletoe for my November class. Haven't planned beyond that since I'm taking December off from teaching.
What new cards are you getting? I have a slice and have found there are several new cards coming out, but don't know which are available. I love my slice, just don't have time enough to use it. And wish I didn't live so far from a dealer and some demonstrations on the different ways to use it.
I'm waiting for a good price on faith, under the sea, mistletoe, spooky alley, holiday words & expressions & maybe vintage findings. I also like farm life and jungle, although I'm not sure how much use I'd get out of those. This last release had lots of animals in my IMO.
I have that international travel one and love it - the colosseum is awesome! I also have the USA travel and love it for the states, but my fave so far is probably noteworthy.
international will be fun, as a friend of mine is a travel agent, so we can make things for her business! and i have "cyber pals" in England and Australia that i want to make cards and stuff for. i think it'll be cute for that as well.
i saw the drawing tips on a website for sale already, but darned of i can remeber who! i was surfin one sleepless night so bet i wont be able to find again!
has anyone tried the emboss tips? like or dislike?????
Can I ask a dumb question? What is the best way to attach small letters, numbers, whatevers, to cardstock. The slice letters, shapes, etc, are great, but I have a hard time with my big clumsy fingers, getting them where I want and keeping them there. Do you use a specific glue, glue dot. . . ? Thanks so much for any info you can give me.
get a good pair of tweezers and a glue pen with a narrow tip. thats what i did when i had tiny die cuts from the cuttlebug, and have been doing for the slice too. you can even get a glue pen from Michaels, it looks like a regular ball point pen, but is glue. it is so cool.
Sakura makes it i believe. find it in the craft glue isle, near the scrappin stuff.
i think my tweezers are called Tweezer Bees. they are big and open when you squeeze them, then clap down on the item when you let go. sorta the oposite of regular tweez.
and they have a sharp pointy tip which helps in picking things up.
Can I ask a dumb question? What is the best way to attach small letters, numbers, whatevers, to cardstock. The slice letters, shapes, etc, are great, but I have a hard time with my big clumsy fingers, getting them where I want and keeping them there. Do you use a specific glue, glue dot. . . ? Thanks so much for any info you can give me.
Sempermom gave some good advice; I do that too. But for gluing little things I also often reach for my Xyron - the 1.5" primarily, but, of course, that depends on the size of my die cut.
Sometimes I squeeze out a puddle of Aleene's fast grab glue and apply with a toothpick; that works well if I have a lot of adhering to do. And sometimes I use the mini glue dots. There are lots of ways!
You guys are soooo good to help this ole woman out. Thanks so much for your quick responses. And if anyone can give me advice on the Cuttlebug, I would appreciate it. Do you use it more than the slice? Does it work in conjunction with other products?
One more question, then I won't bug you for awhile! My slice calibrates with the Basic card-do I understand that I need to get another card for that? Thanks again A TON!
You guys are soooo good to help this ole woman out. Thanks so much for your quick responses. And if anyone can give me advice on the Cuttlebug, I would appreciate it. Do you use it more than the slice? Does it work in conjunction with other products?
One more question, then I won't bug you for awhile! My slice calibrates with the Basic card-do I understand that I need to get another card for that? Thanks again A TON!
Okay, the Cuttlebug. Yes, I use mine more than I use my Slice; I use it primarily for embossing and cutting Spellbinders' dies. As far as how-tos and what-fors, do a search. There are many (and some quite long) threads on just the C'bug. You'll probably learn lots more than you even want to know.
Your final question I'm not sure I understand. Personally I waited and bought the "new generation" Slice (still blue, but not in need of calibrating), so I didn't need/use a calibration card. But my understanding is that once you've calibrated with that card, your machine is calibrated for good. In other words, you should be good to go and not need any more cards for calibration; just buy the cards you want and play away!
Your ?s are not a bother. The only suggestion I would make is that if you have an off-topic question, especially a lengthy or open-ended one, start a new thread. With a new thread, the original thread won't be "hijacked;" it won't be muddled with multiple topics and you'll have the answer to your question in one place.
Again, questions are not a problem; we all have them and, more importantly, we all learn from the answers from time to time at least.
And if we're not old already, we're getting that way, LOL. ;)
Hey Oldie,
i agree with binx, you are not a bother!!!!
i use my cuttlebug alot, for embossing more then cutting, since i now have the slice. and yes, you can use them together. you could cut out a shape on the Slice, then run it through the Cuttlebug to embosss it!!! it seems all machines have a special use and can work together, sorta like all those hotrod tools my hubby has HA HA HA know what i mean?
when you bought your Slice, did you go to www.whyslice.com and register it? if you did then you should automatically recieve the free calibration card, IF your serial number starts with
G6 or Ga. any machine with a GB does not need to be calibrated.
i am waiting on my card but it should be here soon they said. that is also a great site for how to videos, and they are suppose to be adding new ones soon.
old? well, i say i am over the hill and on the downslide now ha ha ha..i will be 42 in Dec. some days i feel much older and others i feel 5 again .......esp when i get to play with my new toys ;)
I have a question or two... I just sold my Cricut. I really wanted to get the Slice when the talk was out there before the company had a backer or whatever. It didn't seem like there was going to be a slice. So, I ended up getting the Cricut. I hardly used the thing, maybe cause of the space consumption and the price of the cartridges. I'm asking you all that have the slice, do you use it a lot? Can you use the images and fonts on your cards (for those who are card makers) ? I'm a card maker, but I also do some scrapping. I haven't scrapped in a while now. What do you like about the slice vs the Cricut machine and the other electric machines out there? I like more feedback before I dive into buying the Slice.
Thanks
arubberstamper
Have you registered your Slice with Making Memories and then gotten the new Basic 1, which includes the calibration update, from them and installed it?
__________________ Brenda
<-My sibling kitties, Milo and Rousseau
Just went to a Making Memories Slice class at my LSS today and we played with the embossing tips. It was interesting to try but I'm not sure it has convinced me I 'need' the embossing tips. We used the tips on patterned paper and then sanded the image on the raised side to make it show up better.
I did have to send my Slice in for repair (blade was not retracting back up) but it came back quickly and works better than ever! I really, really, love using this machine.
No, I haven't received the card to calibrate my machine yet. I just got it Thursday and it stopped working right Friday. I registered it that night....Thanks for the words of encouragement everyone!
A couple suggestions: If you can, leave it plugged in when you use it. It discharges its power pretty quickly, especially depending on the complexity of the cuts and the thickness of the paper. If it is even slightly low on charge, it will mess up the cuts.
The other thing: Did you home the blade as the manual said to do? That gets the blade mechanism lined up right so the electronic instructions make it go the right direction.
The only other thing I can think of is that of making sure you've evenly coated your entire glass mat surface with the adhesive and then let it dry thoroughly before using it, which should only take maybe 5-10 minutes.
HTH.
__________________ Brenda
<-My sibling kitties, Milo and Rousseau
The other thing: Did you home the blade as the manual said to do? That gets the blade mechanism lined up right so the electronic instructions make it go the right direction.
HTH.
More good advice from Paper Junky. At one point, I thought I was having a problem w/my Slice - wonky cuts on small items. Turns out it was just me! I thought I could skip the homing step - not so.
Just caught the infomercial for the Slice and it looks interesting.
When I'm in Hobby Lobby, I always stop to look at it, but not sure how it compares to the Cricut.
I'd love to hear your thoughts if you have one. Thanks!
__________________ I like mayhem! Southern Heart-my blog
Slice Advice; comparisons to Cricut? *merged*
