First of all, I'd like to apologize for my lack of artwork being posted recently. I've been busy creating samples for the upcoming Craft & Hobby Association show which is Feb 10-13 (what fun!) and will be able to share those with you, once the show is over on February 14.
Another reason is that I've been moving very slowly this week is that I spent 4 hours Saturday night in the emergency room finding out I have a superficial blood clot in my leg. Thank goodness, if you're going to have a blood clot the superficial kind is the "better" one to have (no medical danger), but extremely painful nonetheless. So until it gets better (which I'm told could be 2-6 weeks), you may not see as much artwork from me. I still hope to have some fun later this week, celebrating my one year anniversary of blogging though!
So in the meantime, I thought I'd introduce you to my new boyfriend I brought back from my Phoenix Spellbinders training trip:
The Wizard Embossing and Die Cutting System. I've named him Harry (as in Harry Potter, who is a wizard -- get it?) 
He may not Cuttle, but he's a lot more powerful and easy to use than my last boyfriend!!
Let me show you how easy it is to use . . . a lot less "sandwich recipe" and plate switching to remember than with other machines (as most of you know -- I used to use the Cuttlebug for my Spellbinders die cutting). First of all, I'm building my sandwich on the right. To cut, start with (from the bottom, up):
White Mat, White Spacer Plate, Die (rough side up -- mine is under the red cardstock and you can barely see the cut I've already made), Paper, White Mat on top (mine is laying to the left and yes, yours will look like this, too, with use). Run through the Wizard.
What I've noticed with the Wizard's cutting mats vs. the Cuttlebug's acrylic plates, is that the dies don't stick as badly (if at all) into the Wizard's mat. I used to have to pry some of my Spellbinders dies out of the Cuttlebug's acrylic plate with a knife (have you been there and done that?)!!
Then to emboss, there's one simple step. Slip your White Spacer Plate out from under your die (mine is off to the right in the photo), and place the Tan Polymer Embossing Pad on top of your cardstock -- that's it! The paper and die are still underneath the tan pad, exactly as they were when you were cutting and you always use the same two White Mats on the top and bottom of your sandwich. No worries, though -- the die will not cut through your tan pad (another question I get asked quite often). Then place the other White Mat on top of the tan pad and run through the Wizard again.
I will say -- I have noticed a nicer, deeper embossing with the Wizard than I was getting with the Cuttlebug. I'm sure that has to do with the 3,000-something pounds of pressure (I'm trying to find my exact details on that figure and when I do, I'll be back to edit) the Wizard exerts!
That's it -- easy peasy, isn't it?! And remember, the Wizard is a universal machine, which means you can use any manufacturer's dies in it. It's an all-metal construction, which means it's virtually indestructible, but yet very lightweight.
You can also emboss with brass stencils (think of the hours you'll save hunched over a light table, using a stylus to dry emboss), replicate charms, perform image transfers (as in, easily apply rub-ons!), set eyelets, smash bottlecaps, and so much more!
I look forward to showing you some of the things this amazing machine can do, so please keep a watch out for tutorials I'll be showing you in the future! And to take a look at some more Spellbinders inspiration, be sure to check out the new blog roll list I added on the left sidebar of my blog, which lists all the Spellbinders designers' blogs & galleries!
