Vinyl design made easy

I have been wanting a Circut or some other kind of vinyl cutting machine for some time now. Tyler and I had decided that we would save up to purchase a professional machine because they came with computer software. We always felt like the Cricut was really expensive because of all of the cartridges that you have to purchase with it. We had heard about the silhouette, but it was almost just expensive as the professional cutters we were looking at. Well, we learned about the software called Sure Cuts A Lot 2. It allows you to hook up any vinyl cutting machine to your computer to create and cut font, graphics and so forth. So, Tyler bought me a Cricut for Christmas. He purchased it from Overstock. He got the deal of the century. The larger size Cricut, 2 cartridges, 2 cutting mats, and the My Storybook Maker with the laminating paper, binding books and paper cutter. He got all of this for $240.

So back to the Sure Cuts A Lot software...we tested it out for the first time today, and it is fantastic! Tyler wanted to put a vinyl image of the Ashton Family Crest on his laptop. So, did an internet search, and this is what he came up with

He saved it to the computer, and then opened the Sure Cuts A Lot program

Then all he did was press the trace button on the main screen, and select the picture he wanted. This is what he was left with after the image had been traced

He then just re-sized the image, and cut it out. Seriously 5 minuets later, and he was done! Here it is on his work laptop.

This program also has a lot of editing feature that you can use once you import your picture. It also has a ton of fonts, and any font that you download is added to your library. Needless to say, I think that we are going to be using our new "toy" a lot!

What do you use to design and cut vinyl?

Oh and for those that were wondering, I am not getting paid in anyway for this post. I just thought I would share this great software find for those of you that already have a Cricut or other devices with out software.