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I'm about to feel really stupid. But I just can't figure it out and I KNOW someone (or someoneS!) here can help!
I got the new paper trimmer that SU is carrying now. And I know everyone seems to love it, but I'm mostly confused. Partly because I always feel like it's backwards/upside down. (I'm used to holding my paper at the bottom edge of the cutter and this one seems to use the top edge.) :?
My question is this - how in the heck do you cut and score a card? I'm talking about a regular 5.5x4.25 card. Is it just me, or is it really hard now to find the 5.5" mark to make that first cut? Am I doing something wrong? Everyone seemed so excited about the markings for different card sizes, but they don't seem to help me at all...
So yes, I do feel like an idiot for not being able to figure this out. :oops: But please - if you have any tips for me SHARE!!!!!
Yes, the 5.5 mark is hard to find. Grab a sharpie, find it and mark it on the swing out ruler at the top. Once you've got it marked, it's THERE and you never have to try to figure it out again.
I keep the cutting blade at the top (since I will be cutting at the 5.5 mark not scoring) and the scoring blade at the bottom, since I can find the 4.25 mark easily enough down there. HTH!
Thank you so much for being brave enough to bring this up! I too was excited to get the new cutter, but then was terrifed to use it! I'm a lefty, and I was used to having the paper at the bottom of the old cutter.
Then I had the same problem as you finding the 5.5 mark! I felt like a complete idiot sitting there for the longest time, afraid to make the 1st cut! Finally I just took a deep breath and repeated "it's only paper...it's only paper!" :lol:
I may be the only one that does this but I use my new cutter "upside down" I was use to the old one where the swing arm was on the bottom on the right. Then I get the new one where the arm is on top and swings out to the left. I just turned it upside down and it works perfectly for me.
I am a lefty so the cutter is set up perfectly for me! I use the swing arm on the bottom with the cutter on the left edge. I only pull the blade towards me. HTH
Suzanne
I say there is no "right" or "wrong" way to use it! If you can get the job done, it must be right, right?
A Funny Story: My dear friend and stampin' buddy (she got me started on SU!) was over to stamp one day and she was complaining about her 12" cutter because she had to "use a ruler with it to make the first cut".
I'll pause here while we all absorb this...
She never even knew it had an arm that swung out until I showed her!!
Now I'm not saying she's a dummy - she's actually a very smart gal - she just had never had a demonstration with the cutter before she bought it! Since becoming a demonstrator, I take the time to fully demonstrate this product and proceed as though nobody has ever seen it before. You just never know who might be too scared of feeling foolish to speak up!
Congrats to cincystamper for speaking up! That is SMART, not foolish!
I'm sitting here wondering what the heck you people are talking about - paper at the top... paper at the bottom... bottom right... top left... upsidedown... Next I go upstairs I'll have to go take a look at figure out why I never noticed anything different except for the awkwardness of finding 5 1/2" and just use this cutter the same as I did the last one. :?
It amuses me to see the different ways people turn the cutter. I swing the arm out to the left - feels natural to me. I have right handed friends who flip it over. We laugh about it when we're "sharing" because someone forgot theirs! Smart remembrance about where to keep the cutting blade! I wouldn't have thought of that until I lost a blade! And you're right about showing how to use - no question is too silly or dumb - unless it's asked 3x in the same 5 minutes when an answer has been given.
So I say, bring on the strange, unusual and whatever questions! I had to ask what DH meant!
okay, I've got my cutter in hand and now I remember wondering why the numbers on the swing out ruler were upside-down - never clicked that all the numbers were upside-down and gee, maybe that means I've got the whole cutter flipped around.
Location: Alta Loma, CA ~~ With the *Girls* ~~~~~~~ Rubi, BeckyZ and Bia
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Okay, I don't have the new one, I still have the orange and gray one. Which I have contacted Fiskars about it not cutting straight, and are they sending me a new one, of course not, just the clear ruler thingy. Okay, back to the subject, I have always swung the ruler out to the right and cut with the paper closest to me. I'm looking at it now and the numbers are sideways the way I use it. I too have a friend who has one and didn't know it had the pull out ruler until she loaned it to another friend when we where all stamping together one day. (I just said, isn't that neat? and pretended that I too already knew that it was there). Duh
I used my new one the other day, and I had the same problems. I tried using the way it is set-up--swing out ruler to the left, with my paper at the top--and (to my surprise) I found that I actually liked it better that way!! Once I found the 5.5 inch mark I find that I can spot it better in front of me rather that looking straight down at it... Sounds silly, but I always had a problem with looking straight down at it and one eye seeing it in one place and the other seeing it in another :?
I really love the new one. I contacted Fiskars the other day about my grey one and the notebook one that I have. The grey one the channel that the blade ran in was wearing down and cutting crooked, and on my purple notebook one, the ruler markings were off about 1/8th of an inch, and they are sending 2 new ones this week!! I will now own one of each!! I also have their large rotary cutter! I use that one when prepping for workshops and club...
duvallstamper - maybe you should be the SCS Queen of Fiskars.
Did you get the next candy order for the pharmacy yet? If so, were there any p/w M&Ms? I may end up driving out there to get some because I can't find any around here. Not even at Fred Meyer which is where I found them last year. I think I'll continue my hunt by phone - otherwise, with the gas I'm using to drive around, those candies are gonna cost me a fortune! :(
Thankfully, I always used my Old cutter upside down (with the ruler on the top left), so this one made sense to me. The markings WERE hard to see, too - for some reason, I kept cutting at 5 1/4" and ending up with two pieces the wrong size - one of which could be trimmed to 5 1/2, but the other useless as a card!
Thanks for the sharpie tip - I never considered marking on it!
I may be the only one that does this but I use my new cutter "upside down" I was use to the old one where the swing arm was on the bottom on the right. Then I get the new one where the arm is on top and swings out to the left. I just turned it upside down and it works perfectly for me.
Pam
You're not the only one that does this. I use it upside down too. Then again, I do EVERYTHING bassackwards!!
Has anyone been able to find a scoring blade in the stores? I meant to order one and forgot! :oops:
Another silly question but I have a hard time finding the 5" mark on the new cutter. It seems like it's in limbo land between the edge and the swing arm. Where is it?
look in the middle of the wide flat part of the cutter there is a 3x5 "guide" marked. You could use a straight edge and set in on the 5" guide line and then use a sharpie to mark 5" by the ruler.
I can't believe I'm asking this...
