“S” is for Silhouette Portrait

This is the 19th post in the A-to-Z Blogging Challenge.

I’m tired tonight and almost put this post off til tomorrow. But what the heck. the challenge is to post even when you don’t feel like it. And I definitely don’t feel like writing right now, but I’m writing anyway. Because I’m tired, there are no pictures to accompany this post. 🙂

So, almost 2 years ago I saved up and purchased the Silhouette Portrait. It’s a machine that cuts a variety of material — paper, vinyl, and some fabrics. You can use it make all sorts of things — cards, t-shirt transfers, glass etching, you name it. Instead of printing, it cuts. So, it is vaguely like a 3D printer, but not really. You can buy new shapes from their online store, or use any vector shapes or true type fonts already on your computer.

The catch is, I haven’t used my portrait yet! 🙁 It’s been sitting nicely in a storage box on my craft shelf, but I’ve been too afraid to take it out, set it up, and start using it. Not sure what the hold-up has been. I think I’m just wary of the entire process of getting started. One of the pitfalls of perfectionism. Also, I might have been afraid of needing to spend even more money on additional supplies once the cutting starts. But maybe now I’ll take it out one weekend soon and take the plunge.

Comparing the Silhouette to a 3D printer might not be that far off. The company recently came out with a new version of its more advanced model, the Cameo, which is capable of producing 3D prototypes. Here is a cool video.