QuicKutz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
quickutz is a manufacturer of die cutting products for the hobbies of scrapbooking and other paper crafts, based in Orem, Utah. Its portable die-cutting system consists of a Squeeze hand tool and its accessories: mainly cutting dies (alphabets and shapes) and GooseBumpz embossing dies. Other accessories include QuickStampz, Icing RubOns, the QuickStick and storage options.
Most QuicKutz products are made in the USA at their Utah manufacturing facilities. Products are sold all over the United States and Canada, as well as in the United Kingdom, Australia, Norway, Japan, Germany, Netherlands and France. QuicKutz products are available only through retail scrapbook stores, often referred to as LSS for Local Scrapbook Stores.
Contents |
[edit] History of the Company
Natasha Hixon, a long-time scrapbooker, was searching for a way to create cut-out letters for layout titles without having to either hand trace and cut out the letters or going to a scrapbook store to use an industrial die-cutting machine. Those were the only options available at the time, and she decided there had to be a better way!
Natasha discovered the perfect dies for her purposes, then asked her husband, Mark, to help her find and develop a tool that would make the dies work for scrapbooking. They spent six months researching and developing the first QuicKutz prototypes. QuicKutz, Inc. was founded in the summer of 2001, with Eric Ruff as CEO.
The QuicKutz Personal Die-Cutting System was launched on the QuicKutz website in the Spring of 2002. In August of that same year, the QuicKutz System was made available in local scrapbooking stores.
[edit] Quick Facts
The QuicKutz Squeeze tool was released in 2005. This new tool has longer arms than the original blue tool and is therefore easier to handle because less strength is needed. This tool comes in pink and black, though other colors might occur such as yellow, part of the 'Golden Squeeze' contest, of which only 10 were made, and purple, a recent QVC release.
The QuicKutz Squeeze is a hand tool that weighs under 3 pounds and is portable. It can be used as a tabletop die cut machine press or just squeezed.
QuicKutz dies are 2" x 2" and thinner than a credit card.
QuicKutz releases new products every month. Shape dies are released the most frequently; they also have a large selection of alphabets, theme kits and innovative products to choose from. QuickStampz is a system that allows users to create foam stamps from their existing dies. Icing RubOns are design transfers that coordinate with different shape dies.
[edit] Revolution
In October 2006 QuicKutz announced the Revolution table top die cutter as part of their Memory Trends release. This die cutter is operated by a rotating handle and can cut dies of 4" x 4" or cut 4 2" x 2" dies simultaneously. The new alphabet size that consists of 4" x 4" dies is called Grand size.
[edit] Silhouette
At CHA Winter 2007 (January), the electronic cutter Silhouette was announced. To use this cutter it needs to be connected to a PC using a USB cable. The software allows you to use all your TTF fonts on your computer as well as Quickutz Silhouette shapes. A bundle of shapes is included with purchase of the tool, additional shapes can be bought.
