inside: Get my first look at the Brother Bellissimo as I try out the features of this new cutting machine.
This past week I received the brand new Brother Bellissimo cutting machine. I hadn’t heard much about it before trying it out, but I knew there were a couple very fun features on this machine. I decided to try it out and give you my honest feedback so you can decide if this machine is a needed addition to your crafting and making space.
Brother Bellissimo review
The new Brother Bellissimo cutting machine is an app based cutting machine. It runs exclusively through the Brother Artspira App. If you already use and enjoy this app, you are going to LOVE how easy it is to use this cutting machine. It seems pretty fool proof as the app guides you through every step!
I’ll show you how it guides your cutting in the photos below. You can also check out the full video review embedded here, it’s my recorded first use of the machine to show you how simple it is to you. If a setting isn’t correct, the app will tell you to change it before cutting, no guessing.
This machine has a lot of similarities to the ScanNCut, so if you are familiar with those, this will be even easier. The Belissimo has matless cutting for vinyl, can cut perfect stickers, and uses the SAME MATS as the ScanNCut so you don’t have to buy new ones!
Below I will show you the three main features of the Brother Bellissimo, Cutting Vinyl {all kinds}, Cutting Paper, Creating and Cutting Stickers!!
Video first cuts!
Here is my real life experience of using the machine for the firs time… enjoy!
Other cutting machine projects to try
What can the Brother Bellissimo Cut?
Ready to check out cutting cardstock, vinyl and stickers? You can buy the Bellissimo where ever Brother products are sold or on Amazon here.
Let’s start by cutting some card stock. I just some plain white {sorry its hard to see} and some shinny blue. The machine comes with a standard tack mat, but I also used a low tack mat that I already had. {any SDX mats seem to work with this machine}I used the Artspira design space to create a curved LOVE cut file.
When moving to cut on the app, the default settings are below. Mat off, and a half cut. If you push this arrow, it will take you to the cut settings. Turn the mat ON to have a full cut for the paper/cardstock.
When the settings are to your liking, hit the transfer button. From there it will walk you through all the settings you will need for the type of cut you are making. After you load the mat, it will put up with another button.
I had to change one setting for this cut, and the app walked me through changing that and told me exactly what to do. The mat loads SO easy, no issues at all. The cut is smooth and all auto-settings.
The cut was great! You can see the letters I cut here!
Cutting vinyl is also easy. I LOVE the matless feature. For curled material it is recommended to use the feeder accessory. I used the cutting design editor again and set this pre-made design from Artspira. Transfer the design when prompted.
The rolled material attachment just clicks on to the roller, it helps to guide rolled material under the sensors.
After the vinyl is in place, remove the guide before pushing the start button. The start button will only work/start flashing when everything is set correctly to cut. This time we are using the default settings of half cut, no mat.
Another perfect cut that peels away easily.
The final main cutting feature is to create stickers. Buy any sticker paper compatible with your type of home printer. A color printer is if course more fun. I have a laser color printer, so that’s what I used.
Once you have connected the Bellissimo to your Artspira App the sticker maker feature will appear with the design editors.
Open a new creation space and open an Artspira design or a photo from you gallery. I used AI to remove the background from these girls on my phone, saved it as a new picture, then imported to the sticker maker. It will convert upon import to work for the sticker.
Once it was open in the design space, I resized it much smaller.
Duplicated it a few times.
You can use auto layout, or drag and drop. I manually placed the stickers and the app said they were too close, but it ended up cutting fine. Play around with layout for your designs to maximize space.
First step is to print, the app found my printer automatically. My phone is connected via wifi to this printer for other things, so it was right there when I hit print. I’m assuming any wifi printer that will connect to your phone for other printing will connect for this, but this is just my working theory.
Print and let dry according to the sticker paper instructions.
Next step is to load into the machine. The app will guide this and then transfer the cut lines when prompted.
When everything is set the start button will flash green. It will cut the close line half cut first.
Do not remove the sticker sheet from the machine. Continue to follow the app prompts to cut the second full cut to make the sticker individual from the sheet.
After the second cut you can remove from the machine and punch out the stickers.
The punch out so you can hand out or use, and then the half peel of just the print is ready to peel and use as desired.
I tried a mix of photos, Artspira designs and graphics for my sticker trial. They turned out so cute and being able to make custom stickers is a fun addition to my crafting game.
Ok! That’s my full trial and review. Let me know if you have questions. Also check out the attached YouTube video for more tips.
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