Ellie, I'm not sure if this is going to make you feel better or worse but here goes... I also had the X-Cut, in fact I tried three different machines and not one of them would cut properly. If I was using a big die, it would cut, then not cut, then cut and then not cut all along the same die, very weird.

The first machine went back and Docrafts said it was faulty and there was an 'acceptable' 3% that wouldn't work. The next machine was the same and so was the one after that. I thought it was just me not being very good but eventually they changed the machine to another make and it works like a dream.

I was lucky that the company I bought it from were amazingly understanding and I can send you photographs of the problems I had if you want to see if they are similar to yours.

What I wanted you to know is that it probably isn't you, it may well be the machine. Don't forget, these machines have a lifetime guarantee on them so if it isn't fit for purpose you should be able to return it. I know other people think they are the bees knees but for me to have three machines that didn't work says something.

I doubted myself so much I took it into two craft shops that sell them and they couldn't believe it and when they went back to the on-line store they couldn't get them to work either. Smaller dies were not much of a problem if I used them right on the outer edge just bigger dies, would you like to see a photo if that helps? By the way, I watched the tutorials too, but they won't help if the machine isn't working properly.