Love this!!!

Ok - so if you have not picked up on the fact that I am a bit of a perfectionist than here it is....

I am a bit of a perfectionist. There I said it - admitted it!

One of the things that I can't bring myself to do or if I do it, I'm never happy with it is

Fussy cutting around an object.

Fussy cutting = free hand cutting around a stamped image or other object

I just can't do it - it's not even, it's not smooth and I will not do a project because it has it in there....
I will stamp images in circles, ovals, squares or something else that I can use a punch, cut with my Silhouette or Cricut.

This is one of the reasons that I LOVE the Cricut cartridges from Close to My Heart....

Their stamp sets match their Cricut cartridges.
However, not every one and sometimes there is just that one I want to stamp, have seen a card or project created with an image that doesn't have a special cut.

I pulled out a stamp set that was the February 2015 Stamp of the Month set and I've seen several projects with the fox or the tree stump fussy cut.

I started playing around with it at a retreat a few weeks ago and tried to take a photo with my phone, then upload it into the Silhouette Software and make a cut from there....
Yes, that worked but it could be better.
That was when I remembered this new PixScan mat from Silhouette.

When it first came out, I didn't think I'd have any use for it, but

lo and behold - I LOVE IT!

I stamped several images to play around with it. First the fox, then the stump & then I grabbed another CTMH stamp set that I picked up at a garage sale.

The PixScan has an area of 8.5" x 11", so it works great with a standard size of cardstock.

I watched a tutorial on how to use this new mat at Silhouette School's blog.

Let me tell you pretty simple!
Easy Peasy!

Put your paper on the mat within the borders.

Take a photo with your camera - I used my phone.

Upload that image to your computer.

Click on the PixScan icon in your Silhouette program.

Find the image file you just saved.

And then all you do is Trace the image... I started out tracing each one individually until I figured it out. 

Once it's traced, you then want to hit the Offset button in your program and that will create a new cut line around your image depending on the size you choose.

The one below is at .06 and it's ok, much better than fussy cutting, but I wanted to get it a bit better.

**Make sure you remember to click on the original cut lines around your image and click the "no cut" button - otherwise it will cut it twice.**

After playing with it, I decided I liked .05 and then traced several of the foxes and cut them all at once. 

Now, it still does have it's flaws... sometimes it got too close to the edge of the stamped image.
But, I am pretty impressed.

Here is the tree stump I stamped & then cut out. 

Again with each image, I had to play with the offset to see what looked best.
But you can do no offset at all and it will just cut directly around the image.

And below are the shopping ladies images that I cut.

I am impressed so far with this little mat.
I think it will be great for my future project. 

And I can save the files for future use, so I can cut the shape out and then stamp.... now that will take some practice to get it centered on the cutout, but that is exactly what you do when you use the Cricut cartridges with the stamps.
Just takes some practice.

So now the possibilities are endless for me.
I just love seeing what this machine can do & learning all the new stuff.

It never ceases to amaze me.

Enjoy your crafty time!