Fussy Cutting Technique using Utility Knife

I absolutely love fussy cutting! I have to admit that I can be a real freak in fussy cutting! Undeniably, it can be really therapeutic. Your brain will just shut off and only focus in cutting, as if your entire world is only about you and your scissors. While investing in a good pair of precision scissors is a must for fussy cutters, for some reasons I do like to fussy cut using my utility knife. Mainly due to the intricate, smooth and detail cuts I can achieve which scissors is unable to.

I didn't realize I've been cutting things the wrong way till I was taking my pattern-making modules during my footwear design course, where we've to use utility knife to cut our patterns out from cardboard and scissors are strictly prohibited. This is where I learned the proper way to cut things. If you didn't use the right tool and cut things the wrong way, it's no doubt it could be a potential health hazard. For this weekend, I'm sharing this short tutorial in how to fussy cut using the utility knife. Sit back and enjoy!

Below here are 2 utility knives I used frequently for all my cuttings:

Martha Stewart Utility Bone Folder

A multi-functional craft tool that allows you to score, trim, emboss and pierce. It comes with a detachable tweezers as well which you can use to pick up stuffs. This tool is also known as the 5-in-1 craft tool. Below is a YouTube review by Jenny of CraftTestDummies.com.

What really attracts me to get this tool is it's versatility, plus the blade itself is extremely sharp. I use this for most of my fussy cuttings which I demonstrated explicitly in my video. While I love to use this tool to fussy cut, unfortunately it doesn't has any auto-lock system in place to hold the blade. There're several occasions where the blade flew off when I exert too much pressure as I cut. SOooo I won't really recommend this tool for cutting chipboard.

I bought this tool at full price and now it seems to me that Martha Stewart is going to discontinue this product, so everywhere is having some sort of clearance at great discounted prices. Great news to those who are interested to get one, but the bad news is the blades don't seems to be available abundantly and they are pretty expensive for a set of 3.   

Amazon.com is selling at $16.99

Martha Stewart Crafts Australia is selling these blades at AUD$6.60

This seems to be really great tool to have, especially when you are travelling. This tool will seriously save you the hassle to pack so many tools into your luggage. I do find the tweezers pretty useless as I don't really use it, mainly 'cos I tend to work on small stuffs and very much prefer a sharp pointed tweezers over this. Other than that, the clean and sleek design does make this a really classy tool to have.

NT Cutter A-300R/RP

Considered one of the best utility knives ever available. Artists preferred cutter, and it's also one of the world's best selling product. The tool has this ABS exterior body which is extremely durable and it's designed to provide a good grip. Comes with Ratchet-lock slider which automatic lock the blade as you push up the blade. Definitely not as pretty as Martha Stewart's.

This utility knife only cost $5.80 at Amazon.com

I got to own this tool from my father about 15 years ago and that's exactly the one I featured in my video. This really shows how durable this tool is and it has yet to fail me. Once you own a good tool, you will very much prefer to use it for as long as you can survive. There's a reason why this NT-Cutter is consider one of the best selling product. Though I didn't really demonstrate how to fussy cut using this tool, the same technique still applies. 

The precision blades are available at pack of 50-100 pieces at Amazon.com. These snap off blades are made of high quality carbon steel which is definitely of a much better quality compared to Martha Stewart's blades. Despite of it's standard duty, I used these blades in most of my chipboard cuttings without much problems though it tends to get blunt easily. 

I'd have to say in the long run, investment in this tool plus the blades certainly has a much better economic value compared to the Martha Stewart's. In terms of the price and durability, you are certainly paying for quality and functionality. Unlike for Martha Stewart, you are actually paying mainly for the brand and design itself, not exactly the functionality. 

Though I do like Martha Stewart products (mainly due to her sleek and clean designs), sometimes I do really find them rather expensive. She does produce some good quality products, however for someone like me who cuts stuffs a lot, it's always better to get a utility knife that's solely designed for cutting.

I hope this has been helpful. If you've any questions, feel free to ask by leaving a comment below. 

Happy crafting and  Good Day ahead!!!

Every Occasion Cookie/Candy Gift Box

Though the festive season is over, everyone seems to be busy shopping trying to grab great deals. It seems to me everyone is still in a very much holiday mood. For this very reason, for I'm a poor girl, so there's not much shopping for me to do. But I do have lots of junk and definitely Graphic 45 goodies. Nothing beats handmade and I can assure you the personal touch is something no amount of money can be bought. Here I'm showing a dainty gift box for everyday occasion which can be done with 2 large ivory tag, a few sheets of pattern papers and some ribbons. Click HERE to view the full tutorial.

I hope this tutorial can be useful for your everyday, any other day occasion or last minute gift packaging. To further expand my sweet treat labels, I've created more sweeter treats which can be purchased at my Etsy store HERE.  

Let Them Eat Cake

"Qu'ils mangent de la brioche" - a traditional French translation of "Let them eat cake" is a common attribution to Queen Marie Antoinette. While it’s not on record that this phrase was ever said by her, it has indeed become very popular for modern art as well as for tea parties and bridal showers. As random as I could be, this phrase hit a nerve of mine and decided to do up a wall display plaque for this. This was a project done for Faber-Castell & Graphic 45 blog hop this week and was featured on Graphic 45's blog yesterday...

It was my very first attempt to use gelatos, so before I can really get use to the usage and function, I took it slow for this attempt. Gelatos feel like rich textured watercolour crayons to me. I've seen quite a lot on how the several Faber-Castell mediums are used online, hence I decided to give a try using their whipped spackle and gel medium. Love the smooth texture of whipped spackle and it has a subtle shimmer on it!!!

I hope you've enjoyed the blog hop as much as I did. The various projects done by my fellow DT members as well as Faber-Castell DT are simply amazing!!!

Graphic 45 Gilded Lily Sneak Peeks and DT Tag Exchange 2015

What's coming up next is this absolutely gorgeous Marie Antoinette inspired, Baroque vintage style collection by Graphic 45... I absolutely adore this Gilded Lily collection!!! And what's so amazing about this collection is that my suggestion of seeing a Victorian/Baroque paperline come true... I've never seen a company that truly value every of their DT members so much and take in their suggestions so seriously besides gifting us generous pack of their products and other goodies... Being part of their DT is just simply jaw dropping and utterly speechless... 

Even before the new 2015/16 DT announcement (which is this coming Thursday), I already have tons of project ideas at the back of my mind... I shamelessly admit I hope to see myself in the list again so that I can greedily get another year of goodies... This is just mind blowing and I can't wait to work with this collection... 

Hop over to their blog here and here for more sneaky peeks...

Very soon my very first year with Graphic 45 will end this May and surely I'll miss my fellow DT members... Because the team will be disbanded soon, somewhere this January, one of our fellow teammies Nichola Battilana suggested a tag exchange and a few of us decided to do this for a little keepsake before our team disbands this end May... As sad as it is, I wish we can never part...

Here are the several ATC tags I've made for them... Still obsess with crates, I'm bringing them onto these tags and I hope they will happy when they receive their crushed packages... They'll need to uncrush to see their tags...