A New Machine I Want!

It seems there are a plethora of cutting machines on the market and new improved models come out every few years, this year being no exception. Of course I think everyone has heard about the Cricut Explore, and to be honest if it does everything it is promised to do *okie smirks thinking about how ProvoCraft aalllwaaayyssss keeps their promises* it will be a fantastic machine. However, with all the bad taste they have left in the mouths of many consumers it might be a hard sell to get some of their customer base back into the fold. With that said I do want a new machine! But not the Cricut Explore...

I recently got an email from Pazzles and they are coming out with the Pazzles Inspiration Vue! One of the features on the new machine is that it has the cut and print feature which has been intriguing me for quite sometime! The new Cricut Explore is promising the same feature...sometime in the near future *okie scratches head and wonders how long near future really is*. Another selling point for me is the sliding out tray extention. My machine sits on the top of my cardstock paper shelving and I sometimes have to hold the mat so it doesn't bend down so the tray would be awesome for me. And the last selling point for me is "new colors", okay a selling point if one of the colors is red *okie closes her eyes, holds her hands together in prayer and says a little prayer "God please let one of the colors be red"*. So you think it is trivial to pray for a red machine? Well I love red! Don't judge....

• Precision print and cut with new optical eye
• Slide out tray extension
• Shorter waiting time for large projects
• Tray tabs for improved mat feeding
• Mac compatible software
• Compatibility with existing Inspiration tools, mats and accessories
• New colors
• New lower price

I have found out they will have several methods of payment on the machines, much like they do now, where you can pay part of the cost for the machine and then either make a 1 year or 2 year commitment to the Pazzles Craftroom website and get the machine or you can pay out right for it.

Before I saw this machine I was convinced my next machine would be a Zing but since I know how to work a Pazzles and I have gotten use to the settings I am thinking this will be the right step for me!

There will be one breaking point from me getting this machine, other than money that is...If it doesn't work with Make The Cut then it will be a NO GO!

If anyone wants to get this machine for me I am more than willing to accept the generosity and you can just click that little donate button in the right hand column and donate away! *okie falls out chair laughing*.

Pazzles Cutting Strip

A few months ago I cleaned up my Pazzles machine, ya know gave it a good dusting and cleaned out all the cracks and crevices, something we should all do to our machines much more often than I do to mine! One of the issues was the "cutting strip" which is the little line where the blade cuts. Mine looked dirty and nasty!

I was already in the process of cleaning the strip area when I took this picture. I was trying to get rid of the dirt and some of the curling on the clear tape and the tape started coming off. I wasn't even sure what the heck was going on and thought my machine was ruined. But after posting a few people put my mind at ease that it was the cutting strip and needs to be changed occasionally.

This is how it looked after I got it all cleaned. Someone had suggested using alcohol and that seemed to work pretty good. I also got an exacto knife and cut away at some of the clear tape that was curling up. I knew I would need to order another cutting strip in the near future and I did find that you can get them from Pazzles.com and I found an instructional video on how to change the strip so I was prepared for when I ordered a new one.


I finally broke down and ordered another strip last week when my Pazzles kept missing cuts. Well not missing, but not cutting all the way through the vinyl. It was always around the same place on the mat and I tried a new mat and that didn't resolve the problem so I gave up and ordered the strip. It wasn't hard to change out the strip, just a little icky because of the adhesive and thank goodness for Undu! If you don't have Undu and you are a scrapbooker then you need to get some! It is the most awesome stuff and most Walmart stores are carrying it now so it is a lot easier to find.

With the video loaded on my laptop and my Pazzles on my table I went to work on changing out the strip. I got the old tape and strip off and all the adhesive removed, although it took me a lot longer than the 1.35 minutes it took the lady in the video.

Once all that was done I put my new strip down and made sure it was in there good and then grabbed the clear tape out of the box. When I unrolled it I saw a two wrinkles! I just knew I was totally screwed until I could order another strip and redo the process. Of course I was not happy about just receiving this and it having this wrinkle so I was actually kinda pissed too. But I was more upset about the thought about not being able to use my machine for probably at least another week.

I posted on Pazzles Facebook wall about the issue and also posted the picture, asking if I could still use this. I figured it would be a problem since the curling tape was a problem and this was a huge azz wrinkle. After sitting and thinking for a few moments I came up with a solution.

I decided that since I had cut away part of the tape that curled on the old strip that I could just cut away the wrinkles out of the new strip! Sometimes my enormously over-sized head that holds my gigantic brain comes up with a good idea. Now I can at least use my Pazzles until I can get another cutting strip ordered. And yeah, I am still a little peeved since the dang strip is $15 and the stupid shipping was over $8!

Getting Use To The Pazzles!

I was so excited when I got my Pazzles and that excitement went away quickly when I tried cutting some things and a few times I almost cut through the dang mat! One of the reasons I wanted the Pazzles instead of the Cameo was because of the power, not realizing the very reason I wanted the machine was going to be a like a toothache when ya don't have to a bit of Novocain around!

With that said I would like to say I am LOVING the Pazzles now! It took me some getting use to because there is a very large range in the pressure, a 0-50 range to be exact, in the Make The Cut software cutting options. I finally started figuring out some of the settings and then I would forget them so I decided I needed to keep them recorded.

After just writing on scraps I decided to use my Stampin Up Tag punch, the large one to be more specific, and writing the settings on those. I do try to write the company name if I know it, such as Stampin Up, DCWV etc. The one that says "designer" would be papers like Basic Grey, Bo Bunny, etc. When I get more ambitious I am going to punch holes in the tags and add the tags to a ring or something so I can just flip through them. For now, they just stay stacked up on my crafting table where I can grab them easily.

Oh and thank you Tuki for asking me to post this! She wanted to "pin it" for future reference.

Pazzles Arrived!

I got my Pazzles via UPS yesterday and of course I immediately unpacked it. I also got the different tools - distressing tool, engraving tool, pen tool, etching tool and embossing tool. Of course I havent had time to try those out but will try to get to them eventually. My main concern was getting the Pazzles hooked up and seeing if it worked.

It was no problem getting it out of the box and plugging it in. I installed the software, which I haven't tried either, updated drivers, etc and tried a cut in Make The Cut. IT WAS A FRIKKIN DISASTER! I am not quite sure what I did wrong, other than probably not read all the directions and follow all the guidelines but it was cutting very weirdly and making terrible noises. So in order to fix this problem I promptly took a 2.5 hour nap! HEY! After seeing 33 people I was very mentally exhausted! Of course finding out Walmart messed up where my spare tire goes and me having to go to a junk yard and get the tire out of there and then to the tire shop didn't lessen my mental stress for the day either.

After waking up I was dreading a bit about even trying the Pazzles again and I was on the phone with Carmen talking to her about the issue and she kept asking what I needed to do and trying to give me suggestions...because ya know she is an expert on Pazzles - NOT! Anyway after some frustration and me pushing this button and that button I decided to push the little red button where the blade housing is and the pulled it and then pushed the blade housing back *okie wonders if that was the order or if she could even possibly remember the order she did things since she was pushing everything constantly to get the thing to work*. Finally after that the blade housing lined up right and I was able to get a proper cut...NOT! Guess what? The mat orientation is different so it was in the wrong place *okie gives herself a V-8 smack on the forehead*.

After getting the mat orientation set correctly I first I just cut a simple plus sign and then I thought I would try something a little more difficult and cut a happy birthday image I had in MTC format. Chuck was rather hilarious at telling me I was messing up and he grabbed the manual, put on my reading glasses which I am quite sure almost gave him a headache, and proceeded to try and tell me what I needed to do. I changed the pressure settings and was able to get a nice clean cut. After getting Chuck's approval that I was able to use the machine and him leaving to go play his Xbox and leaving me alone I decided it was time to cut something a little more difficult.

I tried a very intricate cut after a happy birthday cut went well and these were cut at 2.5". I tried, from left to right - speed 5, speed 4 and speed 3. As you can see in the picture speed  3 seemed to do the best but 4 was not far behind. Speed 5 at something this intricate is a definite NO NO!

I cut the shadow in a darker color of some very cheap thin cardstock, which did cut beautifully in the Pazzles, so I could show the contrast well.  I am not sure how well the Cricut would cut these at this size but I might have to try it so I can do a side by side comparison between the machines and handling intricate cuts.

I do know the Pazzles is going to take some getting use to but the different pressures are going to be awesome! Carmen was nice enough to look online and find me a cutting guide that will come in handy! I am going to give their software a shot and see if I am able to do anything with it but if not...I always have Make The Cut!!