Tearing problem solved!

Hi there! Just would like to show you the results from cutting an intricate shape from my ecraft. You can see clearly the tearing around the four corners of the cardstock. This is Bazzil Basics cardstock and it's quite thick. I have visited a few websites to get some help and the one that helped me the most was Denise's at PurplePaperParadise.com. I have tried all possible settings for this intricate shape but it was fruitless. Finally, I have included a stabiliser (another similar cardstock) and voila! the tree was cut 98% perfectly. The 2% is only on the smaller branches which tend to curl up. Hey, but that's OK.. this is intricate shape at the smallest size we are talking about! You can see from the picture above the tree which was successfully cut in the middle of the cardstock.

For those of you who owns an ecraft and want to try cutting using this method; you would notice that the blue light at the blade and pen trolley would not appear as it is not cutting through the stabiliser. What I get was just indentation but that's OK, you can still use the stabiliser over and over again; as long as your pressure settings are correct, of course! You would know when your pressure settings are not correct when you are cutting the stabiliser as well or you are not cutting the cardstock at all! Really quite simple!

I didn't have a hard time figuring out how to use the machine since it's very simple and pretty straightforward too. But, of course, successfully cutting shapes and what I mean is intricate shapes; you need to go thorugh the learning curve. And! you need to sacrifice a lot of papers LOL! So, be aware of that ..and be mentally prepared!

Oh and another thing, it is equally important that you understand the paper that you will be cutting as well! Cutting by the grain or across really makes a difference. This was highlighted in PurplePaperParadise.com and also Tom Meeks at Create & Cut. Check it out!
My ecraft came without the blade housing and according to Denise at PurplePaperParadise.com; it makes a lot of difference if you cut with or without. Luckily, Craftwell USA is happy enough to send me one for no charge at all. Thanks Craftwell!

My next challenge will be cutting from the PC instead of from the SD-card. I have not tried that yet but I do hope it will turn out smoothly....

TFR&L!

Ciao!