We have added another tool to David's tool chest, a Brother Scan N Cut, and I cannot tell you how much he loves it. Well, maybe I can. As you may have noticed, David does a large amount of intricate cutting for a lot of his artwork. Up until now, he has done all the cutting by hand with a small pair of very sharp embroidery scissors. While doing the cutting over several days, he still winds up with bruised  hands from the scissor handles and cramps in his fingers from doing the delicate cuts.

He resisted, but I took money out of our business funds and purchased a Scan N Cut. I wanted to see if it would work for some of the more detailed cutting. I am here to tell you that it works great! There is a slight learning curve and it does help to review the videos online for your specific application, but I can tell you that we are going to put this product to good use in the future.

The height of "U" in equality is only 1/2 inch. David does much of his design work on the computer and then has a master pattern printed. He then uses the freezer paper method to create his pattern pieces. In the past, he has been limited to available stencils for getting his lettering on quilts. With the Scan N Cut, he designed his own font and had the machine cut it out. What would have taken him days to cut by hand took only about 30 minutes by this machine. That includes, unboxing, reading instructions, doing some test samples and then final cut.

This is not an inexpensive tool, but it will be a time saver. I am sure that David and I will get a lot of use out of this tool in the future. It opens up a lot of possible design options that we have avoided in the past. Go to your local shop that carries Brother Scan N Cut products and check out which model will work for you. This may be a great tool for your designs. 

David and I have added a new and much needed tool to our toolbox, a new Artograph LightPad. 

Up until now we have both used the sliding glass door for our light table when we needed to trace from our master pattern. This works pretty well for most projects. A positive is that you can have a very large design on one surface, but there are some negatives with this method. The first is, don't get inspired at night. There is no way to get it back lit enough for tracing a pattern. The second (and third) negative is keeping the pen at a good angle for the ink to continue flowing and it is tiring for shoulders to keep your arms raised when tracing.

We had a much smaller and a much thicker light box, but this was very difficult to use for larger pattern drafting jobs. Enter the Artograph LightPad 950! The LightPad 950 measures a whopping 17 x 24 inches, but it comes in several other sizes. I was at a local store (Sewing Machines Plus in San Marcos) and saw one of smaller LightPads. Not only is it nicely lighted across the whole surface, but it is very thin. This makes it very easy to move a larger pattern across the panel. David is currently using it for a new project and declared it a huge asset for his work. Since the LightPad lights with LEDs it does not get hot like our other light box. There is also a battery pack available so you can use it without a socket being available. The battery pack can also be used for charging other 5V products like a phone or camera. How awesome is that?

The Artograph LightPad is very sturdy and extremely well built. Artograph has a video of someone standing and jumping on it, driving over it, and throwing it off a building. Do not try this with the other brands.  The LightPad is not inexpensive, but I do feel it is worth the extra dollars if you are serious about your art and having a product that will go the distance.

Does this product sound like a perfect solution for you? If you are like me, I first try to buy local to support my neighborhood businesses. Depending on where you live, the Artograph LightPad might be hard to find. If you don't have a local store that can order one for you, you can shop online. Check out several options as the prices can vary depending on the retailer. Your local dealer may not be able to match the internet price, but don't forget you will have to factor in shipping in the total cost. Even if the price is a little more locally, I will pay it. I consider this the convenience factor of having a store I can count on for last minute supplies.

Of course you can always find these types of products on Amazon, but don't overlook dedicated online art supply stores like The Fine Art Store in New York. I love looking at all the available art products and wondering what else I can do with them when it comes to fabric.

Do you own a LightPad? What is your favorite thing about it or how has it made your art easier to create?