More Must-Have Tools!

Welcome back to Sweet Notes blog! Today, we are going to go over a few more tools that as a fellow crafter I feel like are essential to your crafting experience. Next week, we will offer our first how-to tutorial!

Today, I want to show you what types of bone folders and scissors work best for me and why I think they are important.

Bone Folders

When I first starting making cards, I didn’t know what a bone folder was or what it was used for. In a nut shell, a bone folder scores paper (usually cardstock) so the crease has a sharp and clean edge.

These are my two bone folders that I use. I have two because I always seem to lose them under piles of paper scraps and sparkly card embellishments, and my office has two work stations.

Historically, bone folders were actually made of (surprise!) bone. Today, you can find them made of various materials such as plastic and wood. I recommend plastic. Both bone folders pictured above are Martha Stewart brand and run about $5.99. I prefer this particular brand because the plastic is inflexible and very sturdy. You’ll notice on the white folder, I have actually shaved off part of the plastic so it is more flat. This is so when I am scoring hundreds of things in one setting, the sharper edge doesn’t hurt my finger. Shaving the plastic bone folders to customize it to your hand is pretty easy with some sort of a multi-tool, such as a Dremel.

Scissors

Both a regular pair of craft scissors and a pair of precision-cut scissors are essential to doing any sort of paper crafting project. Above, I have a normal pair of craft scissors you can purchase at any craft store. I don’t have a specific brand choice on the craft scissors, just pick ones that look sturdy and not super cheap. This type of craft scissor also works really well on most fabrics and would be helpful if you like to make cards with fabric elements.

The black and yellow scissors are my favorite, and my go-to pair for almost everything I make. These are EK Success Cutter Bee’s Precision-Cut Scissors. The are small, extremely sharp, and cut very effectively all the way to the tip. Some people call these little scissors nippers, because they are used to cut tiny pieces of paper. These can run you around the $10 mark,  but if you remember my tip from the last post, you can get them as low as $6 with a 40% coupon!

Well that’s it for this post! Next time, join me for a few more tool must-have’s and a short tutorial!

Must Have Crafting Tools

Welcome back to Sweet Notes!

I thought before we got started posting up some fun how-to’s, I’d go over some tools that I would consider “must-haves”. Ever get frustrated because you can’t quite get that straight line? (Guilty!) Or maybe you are circle-impaired and can’t cut a perfect circle by hand. (Also guilty!) These are tools that I recommend everyone out in the crafty world at some point acquire because they will make creating something beautiful much easier and make your experience fun, not frustrating.

Tool Must-Haves: Paper trimmer, self-healing cutting mat, bone folder, paper snips, scissors, metal ruler(s), hole punch, mini hole punch, pencil, x-acto knife, and dry adhesive.

As you will see above, I have a assortment of tools and brands I like. In the next few posts, I will go over each tool and why I prefer that specific type or brand.

Paper Trimmer

One of my biggest obstacles in starting out making invitations and cards was being able to cut straight. I definitely can’t do it by eye, so I was measuring with a ruler, marking a line with pencil on the paper, and then cutting with regular scissors. While this works for people with a very (very!) steady hand, most people don’t cut as straight as they think. It also presented a few problems: my cards had pencil marks all over them (product I was hoping to sell) and it was a tedious and time consuming job to cut out more than one piece.

Cue paper trimmer.

Pictured above is a Fiskars brand paper trimmer. This specific one you can find in local craft stores such as Michaels and is a great starter trimmer. In my area, it runs around $60 brand-new, but believe me, it’s worth every penny! I used a 40% off coupon at Michael’s and purchased this puppy for $35.99. It has replaceable blades and cutting strips, but unless you use it for hundreds of pieces of paper, those shouldn’t need replacing any time soon. I recommend this specific trimmer because the measuring grid on it is essential to accurate cutting. There are many trimmers out there that only give you a few inches of measuring, then have an additional ruler that swings out, but they aren’t very accurate for quick cuts and time consuming to line up. Also, this trimmer has little grippers on the corners, which keep it from sliding around.

Now, if you are already an avid crafter and/or make invitations and cards on more of a production level, I can’t recommend the next trimmer more. I used the Fiskars trimmer for a good year or so. I started getting orders for a hundred invitations at a time, with several pieces to cut out for each order. You can imagine the carpel-tunnel like symptoms I was experiencing cutting over and over, hundreds of little pieces of paper. Ouch!

Cue the Rota-Trim Mastercut 2

I won’t say much about it in this post, except that my husband has dubbed it “The Lamborghini of all paper cutters”. Yes, it’s that good. It takes no pressure to cut, and can slice off slivers of paper so thin it makes little curly-cues. It also has a price tag of about $250. Not for the faint of heart.

I’ll end this post with stressing the importance of coupon cutting in the crafting world. I know these tools take money to buy, and some (most) of them aren’t very cheap. I’m not encouraging everyone to go out and buy all these wonderful tools at once and spend oodles of cash. (Unless you can, which then I say more power to you!) My business motto on purchases is: Never pay full price if you don’t have to. My three main crafting stores I buy product from is Michaels Crafts, Jo-Ann Fabrics, and Ben Franklins. Two out of the three of these stores weekly publish 40% off coupons. So, cut those coupons! Sign up for that email list! It will make your tool purchasing that much less painful, and is definitely worth the few seconds to find them.

Thanks for reading, and we will see you next time!

Welcome to Sweet Notes Boutique!

Welcome to the blog portion of Sweet Notes Boutique. We are a custom paper crafting and invitation business based out of Springfield, Oregon and I, Amy Bowling, am the owner, designer, assembler, glue-er, cutter, puncher…(get it?)

This blog is being created to draw out the inner crafty person in you! I want to bring you tips, tricks, and how-to’s for all kinds of projects such as DIY invitation creation, party favors, and card creation. Comments and suggestions are encouraged! Is there a technique you’ve always wanted to learn? A die-cutting machine you’ve wanted to get the skinny one? A brand of craft tools you want to know is worth the price? Let me know! Above all, I want this blog to be fun, inspiring, and helpful.

As this is a blog to let you in a little on my life, I also will have fun and quirky posts about my real life, what inspires me to create, and why I am striving to be a self-employed small business owner.