and the winner is...

the Silhouette/Wishblade! Wondering what the hay I am talking about?!?!

It is no secret that I am a huge fan of Digital Die Cutting machines. I absolutely love that technology has advanced so far that I can cut virtually anything I can dream up. I have owned a Cricut Expression along with Make the Cut for several years and have been quite happy with what it could do. Sure, I knew it had limitations, but I was still content with what I had.

This was until I saw an eye opening post on Kristina Werner's blog comparing the Silhouette and Cricut. It got me thinking and wondering. Maybe I should be a little more demanding of my Cricut. After all, it did make some of my scallop shapes wonky and misshapen. After more research I began to realize that I wanted a Silhouette to test shapes for myself. Was I ready to spend more money on another die cutting machine? No way.

More research led me to find out that the Xyron Wishblade is almost exactly the same machine as the Silhouette. They are both made by the same manufacturer and are "Craft Robo" machines. Lucky for me, I got my hands on a Wishblade that no one wanted. Want to know something? That discarded little Wishblade is amazing. I had it not only running on my machine within a half an hour but cutting too. I immediately saw the difference in the detail  that it produced. I still have some learning to do but, so far, my results have been spectacular.

Here are a few examples:

"Finally" is a thin little script font cut out of red Bazzill. My Cricut would have shredded this trying to cut it out of cardstock. I may have gotten it to cut out of thin vinyl but it would have never been as acurate or even. I love that the machine can go this thin and not tear the title.

(Recognize Shelly Brewer, former WIP DT member? Yes, her son is THAT cute.)

I cut all three lace doilies on this page from my TwoPeas Die Cut kit on the Wishblade. Again, the evenness and detail of the cut was stunning. Looking at these in real life, you would think that they were a manufactured die cut.

After using both machines, I definitely feel that the Silhouette/Wishblade is a superior machine. I understand that if you already own a Cricut, purchasing another machine may not be feasible or necessary. But, if you or someone you scrap with are considering a die cutting machine purchase, I would highly recommend getting the Silhouette! I would recommend the Silhouette over the Wishblade because it has more accessible software, a great library to download from and many more users and forums to learn from. If you ever have any questions about digital die cutting, please don't ever hesitate to contact me through here or my personal blog!