I got a Silhouette Cameo!!

I am so excited to tell you all that I finally got a Silhouette Cameo.  I realize I'm a little behind the times with this, but I had to weigh out the options and be sure before I put out more money on a toy...I mean, necessity. I have used my Cricut Expression faithfully for many years and have worn that baby out.  About a year and a half ago, the Silhouette caught my eye.  Some of the blogs I follow had switched over from Cricut to Silhouette and their creations were super cute.  Since that time, I have researched everything it could do and decided I wanted one.  At Christmas, I got enough money to purchase one, so I did.

I. am. in. LOVE.

That's the best thing I can say about it.  There are obviously many differences between the Cameo and the Expression, but one similarity is the instruction manual.  It's not much help!  At lease the Cameo comes with a manual, unlike the Cricut, but it wasn't much help to me.  The first couple of days I used it, I actually regretted my purchase.  It seemed very complicated and tedious to me, unlike my Gypsy, at which I'm a whiz now because I've used it a gazillion times.  Once I started playing with the Cameo, it got better and better.  I watched several videos on YouTube and read several blogs and I'm learning pretty quickly.  

As time goes on and I learn some tricks, I'll be sure to share them with you.  For now, I thought I'd share my first project with the Silhouette.  As I mentioned in my last post, I missed several weeks of work because I was in the hospital.  I wanted to make little goodie bags of candy for my co-workers to say thank you because they covered my job and were so kind to me.  So, I downloaded a free file for a bag, made a liner and added some embellishments.  I forgot to take the pictures until I got to work, so pardon the ugly background.  Here they are:

   The bag was a free download I found on Pinterest, but I failed to save the link where I got it.  The flowers are from the Silhouette online store.

I made these flowers with graduated circles and the leaves from the above cut.

I made this rosette by cutting 2 strips of paper that were 1.25" x 12".  I then scored them every half inch, folded and glued together.  The heart was a free shape that came with my Silhouette.

The butterflies are a cut that came with my Silhouette.

These were simple little bags to make and I filled them with candy and little thank you notes.  I'm learning more about my Silhouette every day and I can't wait to share what I'm learning with you all.  In case you're interested, I bought mine directly from Silhouette on a promotion for $269.99.  It came with a mat, a blade, a bonus rolling tote (super nice), the software, a $10 and $25 gift card to the Silhouette store.  I am still recovering, so I'm not up to big projects or lots of work yet, but I will be soon.  

I wanted to let you know one other thing....

As I mentioned last week, we have to move.  I just received a call that our application was approved, so I will be moving at the end of this month.  Because of this, I will have to start packing up my desk (sigh...) and my beloved new Cameo (Boo Hoo) this weekend.  It will probably be a few weeks before I'm back to crafting, but in the meantime, I'd like to hear from you.  Do you have the Silhouette?  If so, do you like it better/worse than the Cricut?  What's your favorite feature?  I love to hear what other people think!  Especially you guys...

Have a blessed day!

Cheryl