Wow, I was amazed at the number of comments that centered around paper cutters and many of you asked to know what cutter I swear by!! I thought I would throw in a post dedicated to my opinion on cutters and what I’ve found that works for me. I don’t want to beat up the other company whose five cutters I purchased before saying enough, but I changed after seeing them put out yet another cutter that said “new and improved”. I decided, I wanted a model that was stable, proven and that all the testing had already been done on so that every six months there wasn’t a “new and improved” on the mechanical workings.
I started with the type of cutter that has a blade that slides up and down a rail. I learned the key to SOME of those cutters is the groove that develops in the plastic piece underneath the blade. Although I was very careful I found that often there would be a bow in that path or that there was enough play in the plastic arm that I could not control the accuracy. Then I purchased my first guillotine cutter and closed the door on my hunt for the right tool for me.
I chose the Tonic brand of guillotine cutters. I like them so much I have three of them. They are each accurate and the smallest one is my secret weapon :-) I start out each project on my 12″ x 12″ cutter and whittle down my card size. Once I have a smaller piece of paper, I move to the tiny cutter to even up edges and fine tune. These cutters manage to cut the smallest sliver of paper you can imagine. If you remember a little over a year ago when I was unexpectedly stranded in San Antonio for two months with John in the hospital. We had our RV with us and this was the cutter I had sent to me so that I could do some crafting. It works just as well as the 12″ x 12″ but for obvious reasons I didn’t need another large cutter and this was perfectly sized for travel :-) By the way, I use these cutters (not the smallest) one with a triangle ruler because I’m not coordinated enough to keep things square on the cutter bed. With the large triangle ruler, I eliminate my habit of slightly tilting my paper and get square, precise cuts every time. (Ruler from Office Depot)
Just another tidbit about my cutter journey that I think is very telling. . . I was exasperated with the cutters you could buy the local craft store and when the first new and improved came out – they said it cut straighter. I called the company and asked if I could send them the old model for the new and improved because in my eyes they corrected what I considered to be a defect. Well, that didn’t turn out so well – they said no. Contrast that to the last time I went to CHA and stopped by the Tonic booth. I was interested in seeing if they had a different cutter and I heard a rumor that they were going to further segment the grids on the cutter beds. I told them I already had a cutter and really liked it. I mentioned to the rep that I had gotten an aggressive adhesive on the blade and that I think it dulled it down. He asked me to leave my name and address. A month later a new blade arrived in the mail :-) Just a signal to me that they stand by their product.
Now, so you know, there are more expensive top of the line cutters that are equally as accurate, but this is one of those cases where I got enough bells and whistles for the additional price and wasn’t interested in investing more. And not to cast a bad shadow on cutters that have a blade on a rail – I do have a heavy duty 25″ Carl Cutter that I love but it is not my everyday cutter. It is reserved for cutting mat board, cardboard, foam core, multiple sheets at once and large paper up to 25″.
Thanks so much for stopping by, this was a treat to talk more about my tool junkie-ness; I hope the details help. Oh, I know you’ll ask where you can get these and they are not carried in my local craft stores but they are on Amazon.com and Overstock.com. I’ll be back later on with something else to show!!
GORGEOUS layers Becca!!~
This is sooooooo beautiful. I just got my Parisian Motif Spellbinders and I have to make one TODAY for my sister !
Becca, this is gorgeous! Now I want this set too! I’d love to make something this pretty for each of my sisters. Thanks for the inspiration.
This is another absolutely fabulous card…couldn’t get much sweeter than this! Thanks so much for your gifted inspiration to us all.
These two colours go wonderfully together Becca and brig about another stunning card!!
Love Sheila xx
Just gorgeous!! I really really want these new Spellbinders Parisian sets as well as the Fleur de Lis sets. They make such pretty elements for cards.
This is absolutely G E O R G O U S ! The color combination is great. I really love the Spellbinders dies us use. You are such a talented woman. Thanks for sharing.
As always Becca, your card designs are fabulous!
Love the dies, the sentiment and of course your beautiful bow, and the pearls are the crowning touch.
Another stunning card for sure….the colors and the layers are great….what can I say but thanks again for shareing…Barb F
Beautiful Becca..Love this frame. Where you able to use a nestibilities to cut out the center of the frame or did you use a craft knife ?
Great new stamp set. This blue/brown combo is fabulous togenter. Gotta love these spellbinders. All the layering adds so much.
Marcie
Absolutely beautiful, Becca. Love it Love it. Wow. Thanks for sharing.
OMGosh you knock my sox off again. Stunning color combo and layering. Love the new Justrite stamps. I think it’s just wonderful that so many stamps are being designed to work with Spellbinders.
Blessings Bernie
Oh that is soo pretty! You never cease to amaze me with your creativity and the design process. I love your colors, layers and the stamp!
Thanks for sharing. j
LOVE this card it is just perfit for someone special another must make
Becca,
Your card is so beautiful!!
I love how you add all of your dies on top of each other to make such extraordinary cards!
This stamp set is wonderful!
Hugs, Candy
HOW VERY BEAUTIFUL!!!! I LOVE the blue & brown together!!!!!!!!!! Makes me think of when I was a kid & learning to knit—- I chose to make my mother a pair of slippers & blue & brown were the colors she chose! I’m just LOVING those dies!!!!!!!!!!!
Beautiful card. Love the focal sentiment with the layers and ribbon.
Becca this card is just lovely, very elegant indeed.
Hey Becca! What a beautiful card! And the colors are gorgeous too!
Hugs Jessica
What a gorgeous card and I love the way you used all the Spellbinder’s die along with this wonderful sentiment!
Becca, this card is so pretty. Blue is my favorite color and this
really is a sweet card! As always, thanks for the inspiration!
Your card is so pretty!
Gosh, that’s pretty. Who knew brown and blue would go so well together. Another winner!
Love your definition of a “simple card” Absolutely gorgeous!
Gorgeous, gorgeous – I love the blues and browns.
Becca – Beautiful! I love your new tutorials on the flowers. Your design work is exquisite. The way you build layer upon layer, bringing depth and dimension as you craft and design your projects is just so inspiring. I am studying you and a few scrapbookers that have the same eye for detail and it keeps me spurred on to new depths of thinking. Keep inspiring us Becca. Wow, this card is a stunner!
Stunning! Another gorgeous card and sentiment.
What’s not to love about this card. Love the colors and the die cuts and the flowers are so pretty. Beautiful work Becca. As always Becca, TFS!!! :-D
Oh Becca…….. How beautiful!! I love that card!! It looks so elegant. The color combinations and that background paper, it is so lovely. You make me feel like I need to go out and find that paper and make a card. Thank you so much for sharing your talents and the beautiful cards. Hugs, Linda
Beautiful stamps to match Spellbinders products. Who could ask for anything more?
this is simply stunning and exquisite Becca. Of course!!!
Paula, Derbyshire, UK,. xoxoxo
becca becca another beautiful card with special meaning if only you had
a sister. i have a good friend that i call my sister so i could make a card on
this order and send it to her.
cynthia
BEAUTIFUL!!
I was blessed for having my sister for almost 6l years. Some people go through life and never experience the joy and wisdom my sister, Bev, brought to me. Her soul went to find a healthy body almost two years ago but I know she’s still with us. I know she’s shining down on my new granddaughter, and all this love makes me feel so good. Yes, Sister’s are blessings!
I need those stamps! I would love to have that card to send my sister! Great inspiration.
What a pretty card! I love that new stamp! The entire set looks amazing!
cute card. I love to look daily at your cards and other stuff.see your cards tomorrow.
Wow! So gorgeous, Becca! Love the wonderful layers and your beautiful bow!
Mercy, Becca, this card is lovely. The colors are so pretty together and the layering is a perfect background for such a special sentiment. Perfect all around!
This card is gorgeous Becca!! I just love it!!
I love everything about this card from the colours to the stamped words…….another masterpiece from Becca!
LOL Eileen
beautiful, i need this stamp set. i’m going to a stamp show w my sister this Sunday, it’s only fair i got her into stamping since she got me into scrapping lol.
I love all the dimension to this card. Lovely.
Once again your layering is terrific, beautiful card, love the colors!
This is absolutely stunning! I love the look of layering all those Spellbinders!
Becca; I was looking back at some of the first cards you made and I seen the ormare templates where did you get them?
I meant to comment on this card earlier when I first saw it, but after scrolling your blog to see if I’ve missed anything, this one caught my eye again. I’m such a fan of the way you layer dies, and the fancy elegance of your style. This card is another perfect example of why you are the first blog in the list that I follow!