Looking back on the art I’ve been making for the past few months I’ve done quite a bit of digital work. I started really delving into Procreate when we went on Vacation earlier this year, and I haven’t stopped exploring the possibilities since. While planning for our vacation in late February and early March of his year I opted to take only my camera and iPad. No knitting, no sketch book, no art supplies. This was the first time I’d ever taken only my iPad, with the intent of creating art while on a vacation. I had a plan to limit my supplies and challenge myself to only using procreate. My plan worked, I learned a lot about procreate and I enjoyed to process. The biggest thing I learned was how very freeing being able to sit on the couch or the porch at night with just an iPad and a pencil was. There was no figuring out where to put supplies, or how to juggle a sketchbook on my lap, or being confined to the table. The other bonus ...
If you're like me you'd rather spend your dollars on stamps, dies, and inks, tools may not make it to the top of the list when your shopping. I tend to research and ponder the purchase of tools. Rarely do I buy them on a whim, like I do with a stamp set. As By Grace Everett pointed out to me not too long ago, tools help make the end result easier when we're creating. Today I want to talk about die cutters, scan and cut, and trimmers.
Die Cutting Machines:
In 2015, I purchased the We R Memory Keepers Evolution manual die cutting machine. The Evolution has been retired, but I adore this machine, as there's no "sandwich" making. There are two plates and a dial to adjust the pressure. I'm sad that it's getting harder and hard to find replacement cutting plates so will be looking to upgrade in the near future.
I am currently researching Spellbinders' Platinum and Platinum 6. Spellbinders has also recently come out with a universal plate system that makes their machines more appealing to me. While I'm not crazy about moving to a "sandwich system" this one seems more appealing that the others on the market.
Brother Scan & Cut:
I mentioned that I have the Brother Scan and Cut CM250, a discontinued model, in Monday's post. This machine makes cutting my own stencils a breeze and has eliminated any need to buy coordinating dies completely.
Most of the things I cut take one to three minutes, making cutting multiple images quick and easy. My Scan and cut makes creating multiples of a design a breeze.
Paper Trimmers:
I've had a Fiskars Premium Cut Line trimmer for YEARS (left photo in collage below). I still love my Fiskar trimmer with the wire guide and I use it regularly.
I bought the smaller Fiskars guillotine style trimmer a few years ago. It was an experiment, to see if I would really like having a guillotine trimmer (top right photo in collage below). It's perfect to do fine trimming on a project or cutting a quick sentiment strip.
The third trimmer in my studio is the large 12" Tim Holtz Trimmer. I used this trimmer most often for cutting card bases and panels (bottom right photos in collage below).
Scissors:
My go-to scissors are the Fiskar Easy Action Scissors. They are small with a micro point and are easy on the hand because of the handle style. They're great for fussy cutting too (scissors on left).
My scissors for sticky tape are a pair of what I would call school scissors. They're from Academic and have a slightly rounded tip. (scissors in middle).
The backup fussy cutting scissors are the Small Precision Scissors. They have a tiny tip with a sharp point (scissors on the right).
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