Brother Scan N Cut

Today I am posting a few of the cuts I made using a new "toy".  I have been looking at various electronic die cutting machines and a couple of months ago, I learned about the Brother Scan N Cut.  Many of you will recognize Brother as a manufacturer of scanners and/or sewing machines.  The product I am using is both a scanner and a die cutter.  I understand that this is a machine that will be of great use to quilters.  And while that is true, the model I used for these cuts is catching the attention of papercrafters.  The SnC does not need a computer. There are a number of images, words and fonts built into the machine.  The whale and starfish are images in the machine, so I chose those patterns on the little screen and the SnC cut one layer, then the next. That was quite easy and as the reviews I have read do say, this machine can be used right out of the box!  That being said, I designed the names of Brandon and Logan using the online Brother design tool, www.scanncutcanvas.brother.com.  I chose the font and laid out the letters so they could be welded.  Once the names were designed on the computer, I saved them to a thumb drive and put that into the USB slot on the SnC.  After cutting the names, I then made the layer for each.  (Now it sounds as if it was as easy as pie.  Well, for me it took a little more figuring out than that!!)   One of the reasons I purchased the SnC is this:  you can stamp an image and put it on the cutting mat.  The SnC scans the image and then you hit cut and the image is cut out.  Again, maybe for some people it is that easy, but I needed to restamp the image as the SnC really does the best job if the image is a dark, bold line.  I also needed to figure out how to get the mat the right size, etc.  Above are two stamps I used for practice purposes.  So far I am liking what the machine does.  I am disappointed with the cutting mat as it is so not sticky!  The first night I tried it, I strictly used the screen on the machine.  I do have problems with my neck and I found that my neck was "tired" after a couple of hours leaned over this little screen.  Then yesterday I used the Brother canvas and that was much better for me. I need a little more one-on-one time with the machine before I can honestly say if it is a keeper.  Have a great day and a nice weekend, too!