Die cut machines seem like they’re nice to have, but not really necessary (especially in your home). I’ve always wanted a die cut machine, but knew they were kind of pricey — at least the die cuts were. I didn’t think the machine itself was that expensive for a one-time purchase.

I am left-handed. While I am young enough that I wasn’t forced to switch my dominant hand in school, I was forced to make all my letters a VERY specific way (like an “o” had to be drawn clockwise instead of counter-clockwise, the way that felt more natural to me) and I was also forced to use right-handed scissors most of the time. This was a disaster. To this day, I am not a good cutter. Does it interfere with my everyday life? Ehh, no, because I have adapted. That being said, since I started teaching Yogalore classes and working weekly at a preschool and consistently at our local library, I have had to plan lessons that required cutting. Many copies of things. With no straight lines. It wasn’t that I was just working at a preschool every week, but it also meant that I was teaching about 100 children per week. I only have one art class specifically, but we also do some art projects as a sensory activity in our Yogalore classes. There was a pretty good chance I would get my use out of a die cut machine very quickly.

At the end of this summer I decided I was going to suck it up and purchase a die cut machine of my very own. After researching extensively I knew I would use it for other things and that you could use all different kinds of materials to use your die cuts with. It wasn’t hard to talk myself into actually purchasing one.

I went with the Ellison SuperStar Excel Machine. It wasn’t the most expensive but it certainly wasn’t the cheapest out there. I checked compatibility with different brands of die cuts to make sure my die cut machine was able to be used with the kids of die cuts I had planned to use.

I have been so happy with my purchase! I thought maybe that I would regret it but I haven’t for a second. One of the first artists we talked about this year in art was Henri Matisse and I used my die cut machine to cut out shapes we could use in making a simple Matisse collage. We’ve also used it to make a small project on positive and negative space, which the kids loved.

We also made a fall project using tissue as leaves and put them on a tree (which I had a die cut for!). We made butterflies (yes, die cut for that too!) when talking about the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and then that same week in art, we talked about how some illustrators (like Eric Carle) were inspired by works by Henri Matisse and we painted our own paper with different shades of the same basic colors and the kids picked out their own die cuts which we are using to create our own Eric Carle inspired artwork. I love that a few times I have been able to incorporate the same elements into both art and Yogalore classes. And I have the die cut machine to thank for it. And we’re just now headed into October!

One thing that really sold me on buying my own die cut machine was that you can use so many other things besides paper. Sure you can use cardstock and other thicknesses of paper, meaning you can cut more than one object at a time by stacking papers, but you can also use felt, sheets of foam, sandpaper, foam board, cardboard, and on and on. I already have more projects in mind and I haven’t even started looking on Pinterest yet!!!

The other selling point was that it would be such a time saver for me. Planning that many classes each week made my head spin when I thought about what I would do if I needed 100 of the same shape of something for a project we were doing in class. In addition to the time savings, there is also something very satisfying about cranking those die cuts through the press.

I will be adding numerous posts on projects I use the die cut machine for and also accessories and tips for using and purchasing a die cut machine. Sharing is half the fun!