I have a friend who swears by her rotary blade sharpener, but it doesn't work well for me. I think the trick is to sharpen OFTEN, don't wait for a nick. I wait too long and need to put in a new blade which then cuts like butter. I also think that she isn't as sensitive to how well it's cutting.
For scissors, I do take my fabric scissors in to JoAnns occasionally to have them sharpened. I bought the Fiscars scissor sharpener that I use on other household scissors, and it sharpens them up so that I can actually cut fabric quite well with them. I still don't use it on my sewing scissors (Gingher), but I think I probably could if I couldn't afford to have them professionally sharpened. That said, the scissor sharpening person only charges $3/pr.