Silhouette Cameo Essentials Starter Bundle, 1 Each

This machine does everything I need, and this kit comes with all the essentials and then some added perks. My only complaint with it is that the set up instructions for the machine ARE NOT in the manual. It basically relies on you to have previous knowledge or just wing it when you're installing the cutting blade and stuff. I found youtube tutorials super helpful. That being said, I have used this machine for so many different projects, I LOVE it!

Before talking about the machine, I should tell you how I plan to use this machine. I consider myself a computer expert, especially with Photoshop. My wife is an expert in photo books and does an occasional scrap book. The Silhouette will be the perfect tool for adding superfine multimedia elements to her scrapbooks. But my primary interest in this machine is to make 3D pop-up books with photos and other accouterments. However, there is this big question in my mind about whom this product is designed for. This product is complicated! It demands quite a bit of computer knowledge and a devil may care attitude toward experimentation with computer driven device. Does this sound like the typical scrap booker to you? Most of my scrap booking acquaintances would rather do hours hand cutting with scissors over learning the computerese you need to work with this instrument. Even if you were a computer expert, you would find the super terse documentation to be daunting. You can pick up some knowledge from YouTube, but that seems like the wrong way to introduce people to this machine. OK, I've done my duty. You have been warned! That aside, I want to describe this otherwise wonderful product. Although it has been compared to a printer, it is really an X-Y plotter that has a knife (or a pen instead of a knife). It unpacks easily and installs easily, even for a novice. Just take out the many foam shipping pieces and throw them away. When you have read the whole manual, you are told to download the PDF version which is more informative, but hardly complete in my opinion. There are no “Getting Started” instructions. The company website has some overview information but you need to search for helpful videos posted on YouTube by experienced users. You need a lot of space for the machine and it needs to be close to your computer unless you buy a longer USB cable. The hardware and software installation worked flawlessly. However, registration of the machine at the Silhouette website failed 3 times. I gave up on that since I'm not interested in the benefits from the company from registering. I started a test project using a couple of the installed clip art pieces. The Studio design program is very comprehensive but also very complex. However, if you know Photoshop or other graphics programs, you will feel at home. I used the Studio program to print out my design with alignment marks on card stock on my ink-jet printer. I put the card stock on a super sticky cutting mat, fed it into the machine, and cut out the design. Don't try anything thinner than card stock since you will never get it off the super sticky cutting mat. It did a beautiful cutting job – exactly why I wanted from this machine. Job well done Silhouette! Now, this is not the only computer cutting machine on the market. Again, YouTube is a good source of information for comparisons between machines. So, my conclusion is that this machine will satisfy my needs for the pop-up book project and will be helpful for my wife's scrap booking projects. It installs easily and cuts card stock and thin cotton material well. I just fault the company for documentation and lack of learning materials for new users.

We are thrilled by the Silhouette CAMEO Essentials Bundle. It is a crafter's dream, and the possibilities for art projects are endless with this amazing product. It is precise, easy to use (if you follow the instructions!), and sleek. It comes with everything one needs to start crafting – the machine, a CD to install design software (mine required updating, which was easy to do), a blade, a cutting mat, and a free month subscription card. Not only that, but this Walmart bundle generously includes a ton of extra stuff, like an extra cutting mat, a replacement blade, a $25 design store card (to download designs for printing) and several tools that assist with various projects and needs: a hook, scraper, spatula, and pick-me-up tool. The CAMEO has a touch screen, which is a nice and easy update to earlier models. I have been using it primarily to cut out shapes for my toddler to assist in educational activities, but am soon planning to dive into more complicated projects, like greeting cards and iron-on appliques for clothing. It is capable of cutting into several different textures, like vinyl, cardstock, and paper, and it is easy to adjust the blade in order to do so. The blade is also protected in a cylinder, making it impossible to access, and making it very safe (always something to be looking out for when you have young children at home!). This is a product that will give back as much as you are willing to give to it – the instruction book is incredibly helpful, the design studio offers plenty of ideas, and there are tons of excellent tutorials online to help anyone become a pro. The more I get to know this machine, the more amazed I am by it and by what it can do. I would recommend it to anyone looking to take their crafting activities to the next level.

Silhouette CAMEO Essentials Bundle includes: •Cameo Cutting Tool (latest version with touchscreen controls and storage drawer) •Black & White Sketch Pen Set •Scraper Tool •Hook Tool •Spatula Tool •Silhouette Studio design software with 100 cutting designs plus 40 additional Blick-exclusive designs (compatible with Windows XP/Vista/7 and Mac OS X 10.5.8 and higher) •Silhouette blade •12" × 12" Cutting mat •USB cable •AC adapter and power cable •Basic instruction guide •Instructional DVD •One month basic subscription to the Silhouette Online Store I love my new silhouette. It was shipped fast and product had everything according to description. Site made it very easy. The Silhouette CAMEO is an amazing little machine. Another point I would like to bring up is customer service. Their customer service is amazing! If you email them during business hours, they respond within 5 minutes, if that. Now that's customer service! Another example is when I called their 1-800 number. I was expecting to wait on hold after pushing numerous buttons to get to the right Person. I dialed the number and I heard, "thanks for calling Silhouette...". Shocking! They were very friendly and helpful. Really... there's not much more to say about it. It was a bit tricky for me to use at first, but I made sure to use it once a day for a week or so and now, it's pretty simple. It is a big machine though, so it's hard for me to find a permanent place for it.

This is a serious machine for a serious crafter. Fortunately, I'm a serious crafter, with more craft projects in the craft room than I can handle by myself with a pair of scissors and my imagination, so I've wanted a "cutting" machine since they were first introduced several years ago. Like many crafters, though, I waited for the bugs to get worked out and a little competition to drive prices down. The wait has now paid off with the CAMEO by Silhouette. Took a chance on ordering this without knowing too much about it, though, based on the fact that you can supposedly "cut" cured polymer clay with a Silhouette, something I'm just thrilled about, clay being my favorite craft. I have not gotten comfortable enough using this machine to try it with clay, though, because if there are any drawbacks to this (or any other) cutting tool, it's that you have got to devote some serious time to learning it before using it. To be fair to Silhouette and the other manufacturers, if your crafting is sophisticated and serious enough to lead you to buy a cutting machine, you then are absolutely forced to enter the complicated world of high-tech computer graphics. So if you would love to give a cutting machine a go, please know that you should be pretty computer literate and able to understand common computer terminology in order to function at any level with something like a Silhouette. When I unpacked all the goodies that came with this bundle, I was so excited I wanted to start making custom cut-out cards for everyone I knew right away. Instead, it was two days of devoted study and Pinterest-reading before I made the first card (see photos) (and my first attempt was embarrassingly bad because I put the cutting mat in backwards). Okay, don't get discouraged, people. It happens to everyone, probably. This thing is just complicated. The "quick start" guide is a few dozen pages, and I was so confused after reading it I had to print off the online guide, which is 48 pages long! Keep in mind, though, that there are just so many options with this machine that a printed guide is almost a must if you want to use this machine at all. There are soooo many options, too, like making cut-outs of your own work and vinyl lettering.... the vinyl lettering options are so plentiful that that alone justifies the costs. There are a few complicated maneuvers with this machine I found right away, like adjusting the rollers inside the machine to allow for odd-shaped pages. The rollers didn't want to move when I tried to move them... they eventually did, but it was complicated. I'd have to say, again, it's worth it, though, and I don't think there could have been an easier way to do it; it's just something you need to put up with, and I'm willing to considering the high quality of the cutting and the end product, in my case a very nice looking fall-themed card. I actually put the blade in upside down on my first try, once I got the cutting mat figured out, because the illustration in the start-up manual was not very clear, in my opinion. After my first graphic "printed" and came out with no cuts on it, however, I had a face-palm moment, switched the blade around and re-inserted it, and no problems, it cut fine. Other than that, however, I have had no problems understanding the instructions. I did print out the home screen description of all the functions and laminate it, though! It's turned out to be very helpful. What is the most helpful, I've found, is typing "Silhouette CAMEO" in the search box of Pinterest and letting the experienced crafters/bloggers tell you their tips for using this thing. I spent about six hours the first day going through all the different posts on this product and was amazed at all the tricks and wonderful projects out there. Trust me, you will learn a LOT about using this machine on Pinterest! As long as you stay organized, take things slow, and allow yourself time to research and take advantage of all this machine has to offer, you will love it as much as I do!