A big Toot for the Big Shot

Morning everyone....did I have a nice relaxing day yesterday....did I heck as like.....the idea of snuggling up on the sofa with the crossword and a cuppa went pear shaped....the old brain just couldn't get into gear and I very quickly became bored with that idea.    The demo kit needed tidying away... not my most favourite of jobs....and believe me folks...I should have listened to my instincts and left it for another day when my brain had recovered from all the waffling on Saturday....decided to have a little tidy out and shift around in the cubbyhole...isn't hindsight a wonderful thing....bigga mistake-a to make-a....ended up in the biggest guddle ever....stuff everywhere and finally got finished around 9.30 in the evening ...absolutely shattered...won't be doing that again anytime soon...and there are now spaces folks and you know what spaces mean....so I fear I will have to hide the credit card where I can't find it.
But now it's time to share my mind blowing discovery and I am shouting from the rooftops today....."I LOVE SIZZIX"....now don't get me wrong I am not criticising any of the other Die Cutting Manufacturers being the proud owner of the Cuttlebug and Quickutz....but I have just discovered that the Big Shot is really the big daddy of them all.    I must confess that up until now I didn't often use my Big Shot Express....always seemed to be drawn to my cute little Cuttlebug....but once I got my Tim Holtz Alterations....that has all changed....because this workhorse of a machine will cut through 4 layers of 400gsm cardstock at one time....no kidding

OK it's a fairly simple shape so how will it fare with something a bit more intricate...

it wasn't too happy cutting the flourishes with 4 pieces.....making a bit of a groaning noise so I reversed the sandwich out and removed one piece of cardstock and it happily cut out 3.

By now I am intriqued to try more materials...grunge paper 4 sheets...sticky back canvas 4 sheets....chipboard 2 sheets.....is there no end to this machine's talents.....now I know why Tim chose Sizzix to launch his Alteration Dies...but I bet I am preaching to the converted....you all probably knew this already.    What a time saver for this busy old crafter....I'm going to cut out loads and loads and store them in plastic containers...gone are the "cut one out at a time" days.  I was making some Tattered Floral flowers when I stumbled upon this miraculous discovery after seeing a fantastic tutorial over on my bloggy buddy Carol's blog....you can find the tutorial HERE.....made with Distress Inks and a Mini Mister full of water....and a word of warning you really do need to use the plastic glove as shown in the video....and I am left thinking who needs to be buying Primas anymore.

love the dimension and all that gorgeous sparkle.

Catch up with you all tomorrow but I can't promise any more mind blowing discoveries....maybe just a plain old card.....but definitely some fun pics from my demo day at Simply Create

Hugs kath xxx
Edited to add: sorry folks....I didn't intend to mislead anyone but apparently the Cuttlebug will also cut several layers with the Sizzix dies.....according to Dawn it is the die that is the daddy of them all rather than the Big Shot.....off to give it a try.