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I broke down and bought a silhouette yesterday, opened up the box this morning and read the instructions, my eyes glazed over, I re-packed the box and am just sitting here looking at it. I am not very computer literate, just know the basics. I love the IDEA of this machine but it is scaring the bejeezus out of me. Am I over-reacting, and will I grow to love it??? I seem to be more about the acquiring of tools and stamps and paper and embellishments than about the actual USING of all this stuff. I have a sickness I know.
Thanks
Carole
I've had my Silhouette for a while now and honestly I remember putting in the software CD, plugging in the cutter into the USB port and cutting a shape all in less than 30 minutes.
Take a deep breath and you'll be fine.....start out with the basic functionality and then you can always learn more later on.
Carole, I think you should unpack it and go through the instructions one step at a time. Take a break after you do one step, if you need to. I just opened mine up a few days ago to make sure it worked. I cut the "wish" word that came with the machine. I love it and can't wait to use it. I was a little discourage for about an hour because the "wish" word didn't all cut in one swoop. The machine took about three rests for about a minute at a time. I thought something was wrong so I turned it off and then tried again. And it rested again. While it was "resting" (I thought I got a broken one.) I got into a mild panic and was looking through SCS for any info and then while I was looking, the machine continued to cut a little more. Then I joined the yahoo group for Silhouette users and while I was going through the whole process, the machine finished doing its thing. I found out this was normal. I have a cricut and it does not act like this at all.
Anyway, lots of people love the Silhouette and I got it at such a good deal, that I'm going to keep it no matter what. It would be great if there was more chatter about the Silhouette on SCS. I seem to have a hard time following the yahoo group message boards the way it is set up.
What made you choose to buy the Silhouette? Are mainly wanting it for fonts?
Thanks for the encouragement! I got it because I was looking into getting The Slice....then decided that it made more sense to get something that I did not have to buy cartidges for...I like the idea of downloading just what I want. And yes, the loved the idea of being able to use the fonts already in my computer and not having to buy different alphabets. And I had read good things on SCS about it, and my birthday is coming up, so I went to a dealer here where I live to ask some questions, and they happened to have one left in stock, so I took the leap. I know that it is like a knitting pattern....if you read too far ahead you would just quit, so I know I need to take it a step at a time.
Thanks for the help.
Carole
If you need any further help, PM me and we can learn together. I am by no means an expert but I am definitely wanting to learn. I am concentrating on catching up with my scrapbooking this year so I am hoping to use it much much more.
Thanks, I will do that! I will unpack it again, and go through it slowly. I think the part about all the different color caps threw me for some reason. I guess I thought is was just plug it into the computer and cut. I know I read way too far ahead instead of just doing it slowly.
Thanks again,
Carole
Hi,
I have had my Silhouette for almost a year, and I really like it. I primarily use it to cut titles for my scrapbook pages and had no problem doing that, using various tutorials from the web. I have recently gotten braver about trying to design titles with clip art integrated and am coming along slowly. However, the more I practice and play with it, the more comfortable I am. I just wanted to point you in the direction of some websites that have good information and tutorials. They really helped me.
http://www.ilovecraftrobo.com/Tutorials/
There are some good documents on the Silhouette, and an especially good tutorial on Inkscape. That is the program that I use for welding letters and making titles. You can download it free.
http://www.paperthreads.com/forum/
You have to become a member of this forum before you can see the section on the Silhouette, but a lot of your questions could be answered there. There is also a gallery.
I broke down and bought a silhouette yesterday, opened up the box this morning and read the instructions, my eyes glazed over, I re-packed the box and am just sitting here looking at it. I am not very computer literate, just know the basics. I love the IDEA of this machine but it is scaring the bejeezus out of me. Am I over-reacting, and will I grow to love it??? I seem to be more about the acquiring of tools and stamps and paper and embellishments than about the actual USING of all this stuff. I have a sickness I know.
Thanks
Carole
i'm in the same boat. ordered one from QVC. sent it back unopened. all i can do on the 'puter is type w/ one finger. email you only after you have emailed. that's it.
I got mine a couple weeks ago and I am loving it. It only takes about 10 minutes to hook up. The one thing I was surprised about was how loud it is. But I seem to be getting used to it. I have downloaded fonts and some images as well as bought some (or a lot) from QK! I have used it for titles as well as decorative pieces. I just cut some Superhero kids today - they are so cute. I also cut the new Cake Slice box, Cupcake holder, lantern and pillow box!! It's a lot of fun and just follow the instructions and try it out. It is very easy to use!
Oh yeah, I find I keep the red cap on. If I am cutting cardstock I put it at 33 thickness and 3 speed. If I am cutting something small, I reduce the speed to 2. If I am cutting finer paper I just reduce the thickness a bit. Not sure if this is right but I am getting nice cuts!
Thank you all for your suggestions....and I will check out all those websites etc. I knew I would feel better about it, and after reading all your helpful stuff, I do. Will hook it up today and get started.
Thanks again.
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