Since Die Cutting Machines are all the rage at the moment in scrap booking, I thought I should review the Xyron Wishblade to see how it stacks up compared to some of its other popular electronic die cut machines, like the Cricut Expressions Machine and the Making Memories Slice Machine.
A die cutting machine makes like for a scrapbooker amazing easy and lets you create wonderful scrapbook page designs. Choosing the right die cutting machine then becomes a difficult decision.
Cricuts range of die cutting machines by Provo Craft are certainly the market leaders at the moment for computerized die cutter machines. However when considering which model you would like to buy, you need to seriously look at other brands that are available, but perhaps not as well known, like the Xyron Wishblade, which has some super features.
The Cricut range of die cutting machines, like the Cricut Create, Cricut Expression and Cricut Personal are so popular due to their effective marketing, that often many people don\’t consider the lessor advertised brands on the market. It is a shame as many of the lesser known brands, like the Xyron, have great sets of features to offer, just as long as you are comfortable with not having the Cricut designer brand name.
The main problem people come across with Provocraft\’s Cricut range of electronic die cutters is the constant ongoing expense of the wide range of Cricut cartridges available. Most people would like a range of different fonts and shapes for their various scrap booking projects. The initial purchase of a Cricut machine is not to expensive, but it is the high cost of the Cricut cartridges, which can easily add up for anyone who likes just a small variety.
With one or two cartridges, you probably wont think you are getting the most out of your Cricut machine. Most like to accumulate around 10 Cricut Cartridges so they have a good range of shapes and alphabets available for various projects. Doing this though adds up quickly and is not in the budget of my scrapbookers.
If we consider the wonderful Xyron Wishblade Cutting machine though, you will notice that the initial purchase of Xyrons computerized die cutting machine is just slightly more than a basic Cricut Machine. However the Xyron has one big advantage and that is that it needs no cartridges. You can cut any shape you can find and also cut any true type font you can download online. With this amazing cost saver, a group of Wishblade users have joined online to enable other users to share and swap images.
If you are the type of scrapbooker who likes a wide variety of fonts and images for your scrapbook projects, however you are working on a budget like most, then the Xyron Wishblade Machine should definitely be considered. The Xyron machine has only consumables as its ongoing cost, so it makes it a very attractive computerized die cutting machine, when compared Cricut Die Cutting Machine and the ongoing costs
However when we weigh up other features of the Xyron Wishblade, it would be prudent to also point out its one downside. Unfortunately there never is one perfect machine that does everything for everyone. Although the Xyron Wishblade is fantastic and cuts the same as the Cricut range of machines, without the massive expense, it does however have one tiny disadvantage.
If you are the type of scrapbooker who likes to attend large scrapbooking group days or scrapathons and share your great tools with your friends… you will have to consider that the Xyron Wishblade isn\’t as easily portable as the Cricut Die Cutting Machines. The Wishblade relies on computer memory for storage of all of the graphics it can cut, so access to a computer to be functional most of the time. If you want to take your die cutting Wishblade with you to your group days, lets hope you own a laptop, as the computer must go along too!
The Cricut Die Cut Machines on the other hand, do not need a computer, only the cartridges. So if it is portability you are after, perhaps the Xyron Wishblade won\’t be your best choice for a scrap booking die cutting machine. If it is variety at the right price you want, then take a serious look at the Xyron Wishblade.
Purchasing a Scrapbooking Die Cutting Machine is a big decision. Reviews can be found at die-cutting-machines.com, where you will also find a great priced Xyron Wishblade Die Cutting Machine Machine.
Do you have any scrapbooking tools you recommend for new scrapbookers? Or websites that a new scrapper should be visiting?
My personal must have favorites are a 16 inch paper cutter, a set of exacto knives, a rotary cutter and cutting board… but mostly I collect healthy supply of scraps from everyday items around the house, loose buttons to add as embellishments, parts of cards I receive in the mail, stickers and stamps that people send out as advertisements in junk mail and empty plastic containers to store stuff neatly in.
This website is great for beginners and of course for great forum conversation and more ideas visit WeScrap.