Fiskars are Your Friends: Snipping Tips for Beginner Scrapbooking

Ahhh Fiskars.... You make my scrapping life SO much easier.  My once crooked eye has become straight, measuring is my friend, and that sharp blade of yours takes to photos like melted butter.

Beginner scrapbooking friends: today's short-but-soooo-sweet tip is the importance of a good quality trimmer (you can pick one up at any craft store for about $15).  I've mentioned my Fiskars trimmer many times, but I thought it deserved it's own post.  That vertical clear plastic strip you see below actually lifts up (without detaching).  There's also a blade that fits perfectly in the groove of the vertical strip.  And that baby is sharp, so watch your fingers (and kids' fingers, too, if you are working on any projects from Kids Scrapping). For a perfect cut, simply slide your photo, mat, or whatever else needs a little snipping, under the vertical strip, position carefully (more on positioning below), hold the vertical strip firmly in place to prevent slipping and sliiiiiide the blade along the groove.  Voila!  Perfectly trimmed papier!  (Isn't it nice that out of three years of French, I only remember "voila" and "papier"?!)

Now, not only does the Fiskars trimmer have measurement capabilities across the top, the vertical plastic strip doubles as a secondary ruler.  You can essentially measure one piece of paper horizontally and vertically at the same time.  And if inches and centimeters allude you, there are also columns and rows to help line things up. 

Beginner scrapbooker tip: As much as I love the Fiskars, the one slight issue is that the side arm (which raises and lowers for ease of storage) doesn't lock in place once it is extended.  My suggestion is to give it a little nudge while you're getting everything lined up to make sure it is fully extended, in order to avoid "crooked-straight" lines.  Happy trimming!  Now if only trimming bangs was this easy....