Proving that 3 into 1 does go! ... Confessions of a technophobe!

3 machines:

1 Prints,1 foils,and 1 cuts.

Sometimes I even make myself laugh! I wanted to write this blog post, about experimenting with the machines at the studio and show you how my mind works sometimes. 

It was only after I loaded the pictures in order, that I remembered this post about resisting change and technology  and how I do everything in my power to avoid it like the plague. In fact, I'm one of those that is the last to get anything, not the first... and usually this is because I HAVE to have it in order for things to still work.

After seeing that Blogger was changing to the 'NEW BLOGGER' in April and fearing I would be the last to leave 'Old Blogger' and wouldn't have a clue how to post, add pictures etc. I was extra brave a couple of weeks ago and bit the bullet! 

Then Google kept telling me to upgrade to Google Chrome.... again I resisted, until my hand was forced. 

After being told repeatedly that Facebook was going to change whether we like it or not, I clenched my bum cheeks as I installed, never to be able to return, to the NEW Facebook timeline.

Now all this above may not seem like a big deal, but as a self confessed technophobe who hates change and prefers the comfortable and stable these day, it was one hell of a big deal.

Which brings me to this..... I wanted to blog about my idea of bringing 3 machines I employ on minimum wage, to make one complete thing. These 3 machines are not really designed to work together but the more I did with them the more I wanted to push boundaries. Now that's something I DO like doing.....taking things to their ultimate capacity and beyond....just to see if the techie heads have got the specification sheets right, you understand. 

Anyway....it was then and only then I realised that actually I am more a techie headed geek than I thought I was. 

Are you with me so far? 

I have a laser printer, a foiler and a plotter (which cuts vinyl and card).... 3 machines, bought for very different reasons. Each I have used in their own right..... but what could I do if I worked all 3 together? I had an end product in mind.... I just had to work backwards and see if I could get it to work.

Here's what I did.....

First I used the plotter software adding my design....

. then printed it off......

Then I foiled it....

This is what the sheet looked like. 

Nothing special....it's how I print and foil all my Wedding Stationery

Then back to the plotter software,

in the hope that I had told the plotter where to cut around my design....

It didn't work....

Somehow the trace facility is still open to error 

and there has to be a bit of technical knowledge 

behind the thinking.....

A few buttons later and a quick test cut, showed that this time it did work! 

Here;s a close up so you can see that I have left a border around the image, 

I think cutting on the lines would have made for a long cutting time....

I'm fairly pleased with them and as usual can't resist folding the wings up!

Butterflies just don't look right with flattened wings.

Learning all this has made me feel like an expert......

But the best laugh????

I haven't the foggiest idea how I got it to work!

I guess I'm not as clever as I think I am!!! 

So... back to the drawing board :o)