Hello from Canada

[bcjewel]

Hi there, I'm posting my introduction here just to say hi! My name is Julie and my good friend, Angelique, just received a Wishblade for Christmas from her dear hubbie. I have Sizzix, Sizzlits & Quickutz dies and would love to trade up for the Wishblade or Robo, but that is not viable for me right now, so I will just have to go visit Angelique a lot and try hers out... depending on how much I like it, I may have to sell my dies!

I'm looking forward to learning lots from you!

[Shirley803]

Hmm, you will not squelch your desire for a cutter here! :) I wonder how long you will last before getting a cutter of your own? ;) LOL

Welcome!
Shirley803

[Paperthreads]

I sold off all my dies :) And I've never regretted it one little bit!

[anniew]

Hi Julie, Welcome!! I'm Annie, from B.C., Canada, what province are you in?

I just paid for my craft robo today, so I guess in time I'll be selling off my sizzlits and quickutz, its amazing how fast they pile up!! Maybe you could add up the value of all your equipment, you might find you have a very good start on the cutter of your choice.

This forum is awesome, everyone is so helpful......its definitely a good place to learn for someone like me. I haven't even had a chance to test drive a cutter yet, so you're way ahead of me already!
~ Annie

[lovelyleti78]

Hello nice to meet you,

I never owned any other die cutting system before my wishblade just becuase i chould not see my self endlessly investing so much into them. But when i found the wishblade i knew it was for me. Once u get to play with your friends you will be hooked :) Welcome and hope to see you around :)

[bcjewel]

Hi Julie,Â* Â*Welcome!!Â* I'm Annie, from B.C., Canada, what province are you in?

I am also in BC, in the Okanagan. Whereabouts are you in BC?


I just paid for my craft robo today, so I guess in time I'll be selling off my sizzlits and quickutz, its amazing how fast they pile up!!Â* Maybe you could add up the value of all your equipment, you might find you have a very good start on the cutter of your choice.

Where did you find the craft robo in Canada? How is the price comparison to the wishblade? Also, what is the difference between the two? I have only seen the wishblade here. Also, I'm sure I could add up this die-cut stuff and maybe even pay off a wishblade... I have 6 sizzlits alphas, 4 sizzix alphas & 1 qk alpha... I just have to convince myself to actually list them on ebay because I do use them a lot... and I've been collecting them for about 6 years.Â*

[Paperthreads]

We ship to Canada, and it depends on where it is shipping on the cost for the shipping.

However, our supplier also has a distributer set up in Canada, and that might be a better price. You have to order based on what you feel most comfortable with.

The number to call for pricing in Canada is 407-880-5774.

If you want pricing on shipping out of the US, you can also email us direct at support@paperthreads.com

[anniew]

Hi Everybody!! Julie, I live in Harrison Hot Springs, not all that far away, and my in laws live in Winfield, and I have sisters in Penticton, where are you in the OKanagan?
I think its so nice of Michelle to give us the ph # of the Canadian supplier......I talked to Gary twice, and he maybe came in about $10 CAD cheaper, but I still went with Paperthreads.......the after purchase support is 2nd to none here, and she throws in extra stuff. Gary is great to talk to, but he doesn't return calls very well, and Michelle always gets back to you with answers.......and there is lots of help on this forum.
The Craft Robo is on sale here $335, and Paperthreads were very competitive with their shipping, only $15 Fed Ex, so when you add it all up, by the time I pay the taxes and customs fees, it will come in very close to Gary's price of $459 CAD to the door.

I also have lots of dies to sell......but I'm waiting til I'm at least a little familiar with my cutter before I let them go......I want to know I can at least cut titles etc as good as I could with my sizzix (I'm sure it will be a LOT faster once I get the hang of it) and I loved what someone here said about affixing the glue while the letters are still on the carrier sheet........, then just flipping title over onto your page........wonder if that really works for people.......
I do a lot of embossing (lasting impressions stencils) and I'd have loved the CR Pro which does embossing I think, but just couldn't go that high, and besides, I rather enjoy doing it anyway. I also like to cut out 3D images.......so hoping the CR will help me with that.

So to sum up Julie, I think its better to buy here, than thru that Canadian supplier, he's actually in Orlando, or close to it.........I guess they've just prepaid the fees, but you really aren't saving anything, and you don't get the extra's..........besides, I feel we should support the forum that is supporting us.......I love it here!!

You're ahead of me, cuz you have already used a cutter.......by the way, Gary says to buy the Craft Robo, definitely, cuz you buy it once, and you're not always buying more cards for it like with the WB, and basically, they are the same machine. HTH
~ Annie

[jadkinsmd]

Annie,
Even with wishblade you don't "have" to keep buying cards. It can hook up to the computer just like the craftrobo. Basically same machine different manufacturer. Craftrobo just semed to be originating from a more commercial application/manufacturer where as wishblade has come from xyron for the home user.

[Paperthreads]

Actually, they were both intended for the home use, or small business. The Wishblade was purchased by a small company, owned by to ladies in Minnesota. They bought the rights to be the sole distributor in the United States until January 2006. They sold that right to Xyron in the summer of 2005. when they purchased the rights to distribute the machine, they had a few changes made to the software to allow them to distribute graphic CD's made specifically for the machine. These are the same type of files that CR has, they are the "template" files. Only the software was re-written so template files could only be read from the memory cards.

They also renamed the machine at that time from the Craft Robo, to Wishblade.

In Craft Robo, you also get a set of template files with your program. But they are built into the software, and not put on an outside memory card. so you only get the one set that comes with the machine.

So, the machines are EXACTLY the same. The difference is the label on the machines, and the software that drives the machines. while the CR software can not read the graphics cards that you can purchase through Wishblade, it has other features, that I believe make it more powerful. One is that you can LOAD DXF, which is integral to being able to make your files in other programs and then open them in your cutter program. this is how we were able to eventually get programs like Inkscape to work so good for us.

The other advantage to the CR program is that the CR readily distributes the BRIDGE for Illustrator program. Wishblade charges for this. They also still have the driver that allows you to cut directly from other programs, such as MS Word or Illustrator, but using it like you would a printer. Although this isn't recommended unless you really know what you are doing. The WB software does not allow for any of this. The other thing that I completely like and respect about the Craft Robo is that when they released their new software, they FREELY released it to ALL owners of the machine. where as, rumor has it that when WB releases it's new software, they will only release it with the new machines, for those with the older models, we will have to pay for the software upgrade. Of course, that is a rumor, but based on past experiences, I would say it is very likely this will be the case.

Of course, this is all mute points for those buying the machine now, becuase they are all out of the current model, and are now only selling preorders for the new model.

By the way, our current stock of CR's is very low, we will then be out until April...that is the expected release date for the new model.