christine-murphy dot net

Just about a week left…

October 8, 2007 2:32 pm Christine (Who am I?) contest, stamping and scrapping

…to enter my contest! Click the link, or the banner above, for the full scoop!

Some people have asked me, “what IS this little gizmo you’re giving away?” I was going to do a video demo, and I still might…but I didn’t get it done last week. One of my cats got very sick all of a sudden and died.

So, I ‘ll explain to you what this thng is. The one I’m giving away is pink and it’s called the Ellison Tag-A-Long machine. Ellison and Sizzix have merged into one company, and many of the Ellison labeled items have been discontinued. This same machine has, and still is, being sold by Sizzix under the name of SideKick, and this machine is red. This is the one that I personally own. But the SideKick and the Tag-A-Long are really exactly the same machine.

There are instructions on the Sizzix website about how to use this machine; you can see them HERE.

Basically, this is a mini-die-cutting machine. The winner of this contest will receive a few dies to start out with, so you will be able to use it right out of the box. There are so many dies that are available for this machine, and you are NOT limited to Sizzlits/Ellison Thin Cuts brands of dies. Sizzix also makes embossing dies and stencils, the smaller ones of which can be used in the SideKick/Tag-A-Long.

But you can also use some other brands of dies in this little machine. The smaller sized Cuttlebug dies will fit. You can also use the regular QuicKutz and the smaller BossKut dies, as well, with the Sizzix adaptor. I will be throwing a couple of those into the grand prize package, so if you have or plan on buying these thinner dies, you’ll be good to go!

Sizzix and Cuttlebug dies are easily found at most chain craft stores, such as Michaels. But you should also check the Sizzix website, they have TONS of stuff all the time in their Savings Zone. I get much of my own stuff that way.

Also, if you are looking for ways to embellish your die-cut shapes, check out the websites of all of the die-cutting companies that I’ve linked to in this post. The have samples created by their own Design Teams, as well as instructions for projects.

If you scrapbook and go to crops, you will love this little machine, because it tucks easily into a tote and doesn’t weight much. I went on vacation once and brought it and a binder full of QK dies along…and made my own postcards to send to friends. We were up and Moosehead Lake, in Maine, and I set up shop on the porch of the Pleasant Street Inn, where we stayed…

And here is one of the postcards I made, using QuicKutz die-cuts…

The life preserver (Posh Impressions) and “Wicked Good” (Silver Fox) are rubber stamps. “Mewshead Lake” is the “Sunshine” QK alphabe tset. I took the antlers from the QK moose die set and put them on the QK cat head. Photo corners also from QK. Squiggly lines, I drew freehand, and I gave the card a slightly distreesed look by using, what else…Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads!

So now that you have a better idea of what this thing is that I’m giving away, I hope you will consider entering the contest.  For full details, click that banner up there!