All About the Cricut

Scrapbooking Die Cut Machines are the latest rage in Scrapbooking, I am going to review the Xyron Wishblade machine and compare it to some of the other brands of electronic die cutting machines currently available, like the Cricut Expressions Machine and the Making Memories Slice Machine.

The popularity of scrapbooking die cut machines at the moment makes the decision hard with all the types on the market. A die cutting machine can make life so simpler and faster for keen scrapbooker and they produce outstanding scrapbook pages that are unique yet less time consuming.

The Cricut Machine, at the moment I would have to say is the leader in the computerized die cutting machine market. However there are other brands on the market, like the Xyron Wishblade, that I honestly think need to be considered as well.

However with the popularity of the Cricut range of die cutting machines, like the Cricut Create, Cricut Expression and Cricut Personal, many people don’t both looking twice at other brands. However some of the lesser known brand names, like the Xyron, do have some wonderful features to offer, as long as you can handle not having the designer brand name.

The Cricut range of die cutting machines main issues are the expense of having to always buy additional cartridges so that you can have a good range of fonts and shapes, to suit your variety of scrapbooking projects. The cost of a Cricut machine is pretty reasonable, however it is the cost of each Cricut cartridge, at around US$80, which can easily skyrocket for even the most basic scrapbooker.

To get the most out of your Cricut die cutting machine, you would need more than two cartridges. To get a good range of shapes and fonts for various project, most scrapbookers like to have around 10 Cricut Cartridges. Unfortunately that adds up super fast, so it is out of the range of many budget 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 having a huge range of various images for many of your scrapbooking projects is a priority for you, but without the ongoing expense, then seriously consider whether the Xyron Wishblade Machine is perhaps the better machine for you. Since it has no going costs, other than consumables, it makes it a very attractive die cutting machine, compared to the Cricut Die Cutter Machine.

However we cant do a proper review of the Xyron Wishblade, without also looking at its one downside. There really is no one perfect machine out there that suits everyone unfortunately. Xyrons Wishblade is great, as certainly cuts the same as the Cricut Machines in most cases, but is far less expensive in the long term. It does however have one 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 computerized machines though do not need to be connected to a computer to have access to all the fonts and shapes. That is why they work on cartridges which are more portable. If having a portable die cutting machine is a major concern for you, then unfortunately the Xyron Wishblade cutter may not be for you. If portability is not a concern if you own a laptop, then seriously look at buying the Xyron Wishblade if you require a die cut machine that enables variety at a great price.

Related posts:

1. what are the differences between xyron wishblade and pazzles inspiration?
2. Has anyone tried the Xyron Personal Cutting System?
3. Cricut, Wishblade, Silouhette?
4. Choosing The Right Die Cutting Machine