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BEST TIPS & TOOLS that apply to any cutting machine...
(shoot us an email if you have a tip you would like to share)
* My #1 must have tool is my super sharp poker tool, otherwise known as an awl in some trades. It is the only tool that I panic if I can't find it. I use it to get every cut off my matt. On the intricate cuts I slide it under the thin parts & through...kind of thread it & pull away so the stress isn't on the thin parts of the cut.
* Another tool I love is my sticky stick. I have heard you can make these yourself by putting orthodontic wax on the end of a plastic stir stick, though I bought mine at a local scrapbook store. It is great for getting those tiny pieces where they belong. The picture of the one below is actually different than mine (and a lot more expensive), but same concept.
* I like to use my Easy Tack repositionable spray to glue my die cuts into scrapbook pages & will spray them on my cutter matt. That way my matt gets all that extra spray rather than a scrap paper that goes in the garbage.
* I'll often cut an entire file out of the same color paper, then use another color, then another. For instance on a file of all flowers. That way I can experiment with colors...and, I have extras that I can quickly throw on a card or a page later without having to cut it each time.
* Oh, and two more things I couldn't be without are my Zig 2 Way Glue chisel tip pen & my Sakura Quickie Glue pen. Between these two, my Easy Tack repositionable spray & my ATG gun there is nothing I can't tack down. I bet not a day goes by that all four of these aren't used.
* Keep your mat clean & sticky. I use an offset spatula that is used for icing cakes to get all my little bits off the mat after cutting. I goo-gone my mat, wash it with dawn (it really cuts the goo-gone grease) then put it in the sun to dry before I re-spray it. I cover it between uses with a large clear piece of acetate type plastic.
* Tip from Elizabeth at VDBC Forums: I use the cricut spatula to lift my items off my mat and to scrap the little tidbits leftover.
* Tip from Ginger at VDBC Forums: I use the cricut tools to lift and punch out things. The other thing I use is an emery board to sand off the little extras that sometimes don't get cut all the way. I also have a little file set my DH got me from some tool place. It has round, flat, triangled files. I use the Zig 2 way glue baby Biggie to re-sticky my mats. If you ever get a mat to sticky just rub a t-shirt over it.
* Tip from Chris at VDBC forums: I use my blue painters tape lots still, love my little gluearts gun that I got from Lori. I would be lost without my spatula by cricut but recently bought the pazzles ones but it has a point. I like it to. I have a spatula tied to a string attached to my cutter cord. My little ones fingers run away with things and this is one thing I don't like to lose. I also "hide" things under my cutter beds like the blue tape and spatula so they are handy right there.
* Tip from Melody at VDBC Forums: My most and dear friend is my 'Scrappy Glue' ...works wonderfully and dependable. Next few things I use most is..the 'pokey' thing that Darcy mentioned :o)my jewelry tweezers (very sharp points), "Lil' Chizzler" to remove items from cutting mat (I punched hole in it with the Big Bite, to place ring in and hang it up to be handy) for my mat, I clean, re-spray and all that, but also in between uses I use a lint rolller, seems it pro-longs the life in the adhesive, and keeps all the extra fuzzies off.
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