Our Sizzix Story

As we celebrate 25 years of the Sizzix brand, we thought we would take you down memory lane and fill you in on how our story began, from pioneering die-cutting in schools to filling homes with crafty treasures.

Humble beginnings

During the 1970’s, husband and wife Robert and LaDorna Eichenburg could never have imagined the impact they would have on the lives of millions of teachers and crafters across the globe. LaDorna, a mother of three, and an elementary school art teacher in California, resonated with the complaints of her fellow teachers who had the laborious task of hand cutting letters and shapes one by one to use in the classroom. This sparked an idea – a combination of a cookie cutter and a pull-down paper cutter. She talked through her concept with engineer husband Robert, who began experimenting and perfecting his design, creating the first Ellison Letter Machine, a machine which would leave an everlasting legacy in the Eichenberg family and beyond.

A new career

With a working machine now designed, LaDorna was the perfect person to get started on die designs. Her background as a talented art student paired with her experience in the classroom proved invaluable and led to their first ever collection of dies – Christmas and Easter shapes, along with 3” squares to create popular school calendars.

Convinced that sharing this new and exciting invention would help many other teachers, they invested their life savings into developing a business, embarking on an exciting new career in their 50’s. They started to lend the machine and dies to schools to try out, who loved it so much they didn’t want to give it back, cementing their vision that they were on to something special.

Growing the brand

With their savings invested into the business, they needed to produce more products for distribution in order to grow the Ellison Education brand.  They found a company to manufacture the parts and began assembly in their two-bedroom apartment. The couple started attending educational shows to showcase their new machine, however it was a slow start. Passionate about their solution driven product and knowing how this could help transform the education community, they just needed to be noticed. So LaDorna cut out a 6-foot-tall lady holding a pair of scissors with the tag line “are you tired of cutting letters?” This creative and powerful message immediately captured the interest of passers-by and conversations around the machine began spreading throughout the industry. Sales grew rapidly at each event they attended thereafter, and educators truly loved and treasured their machines, a fact that continued to amaze and delight LaDorna over the decades to come.

Reaching new milestones

Inevitably they outgrew their apartment as their manufacturing facility and moved into their first building in 1978 and continued to move every 2 years to support the rapid growth as the demand from educators continued to heighten. From a single page photocopied product list to a 100-page catalog, the brand developed more die designs to satisfy the needs of teachers and in 1984 they invested in their first laser machines to ensure the consistency and quality of their dies on a mass scale. With additional machines launched and continued growth, came a growing team of employees around them. They continued to see success throughout the 80s and 90s before the company embarked on its next adventure in 2001.

Sizzix is launched

With their children and grandchildren now firmly embedded in the business and leading the way, an opportunity was identified to spread the joy of die-cutting to the arts and crafts market. Having discovered demand for a smaller system for home use, the Sizzix brand was born in 2001.

Since then, our family of Sizzix machines has grown, changed and developed and leads us to where we are today with our family of machines ranging from 2.5” opening to 12” opening, as well as electric, foldable and starter kit options, giving our consumers plenty of choice when deciding on their new crafting companion.

Die-cutting….and beyond!

By 2011, the Ellison Education and Sizzix brands broke the 1 million machines sold milestone. From there we have continued to go from strength to strength with a catalog boasting an extensive collection of innovative dies and embossing technologies, supporting makers with an abundance of creative pursuits for all occasions. 

In recent years, to support a growing desire from customers to expand their making styles and opportunities, Sizzix has diversified beyond die-cutting, to develop a range of tools and making essentials, giving crafters a one stop shop for all their creative needs, while maintaining the quality and reliability that we are known for. Whatever the reason for making, to this day, Sizzix continues to nurture and inspire our community of passionate makers with shared making experiences.

Launching Sizzix® Studio

In October 2024, Ellison introduced Sizzix Studio™, a brand designed to empower creatives of all skill levels to unlock their artistic potential. With a focus on inclusivity, Sizzix Studio™ provides a blank canvas for artists to express themselves uniquely, fostering confidence, creativity, and courage. The brand believes in the transformative power of art to evoke emotions, spark conversations, and challenge perspectives, aiming to ignite curiosity and imagination.

The Next Chapter… 

Together with our talented team of creative designers, licensed artist collaborations, trade partners and influencers, we continue to inspire and influence the ever-growing making community, driving inclusivity through both hands on and digital experiences that captivate all generations. 

We’ve come a long way since our story began back in 1977, but our mission to continue the Eichenburg’s legacy lives on through the innovation of solution driven and inspirational products to support creatives globally. Inspired by their determination, passion and pioneering spirit, these core values live on in our teams to this very day.

It's all in a name...

Many people still ask us where the name Sizzix comes from. When driving one day along Interstate 15 between Los Angeles and Las Vegas the family noticed a road called Zzyzx. The road was intentionally named by a man whose aim was to make it the last word in the English language. It stuck with them and became the inspiration behind the name of our beloved brand, Sizzix. The fact the name sounded like ‘scissors’, the very tool LaDorna wanted to provide an alternative for over two decades earlier, was also indeed, a happy coincidence.