What is your crafting (technique) weakness?

[Annek]

Last night I was working on a card & my design required me to cut out some images. I like the effect of popping images with dimensionals so I painstakingly cut out these small images only to discover (yet again) that even with good scissors & paper snips - I am weak at cutting!

I try to follow along the lines & turn the paper vs. my cutting instrument but I feel like I always have to snip little points of paper here & there to get a more smooth cut to the image.

I know I just need to practice more - but if you have any advice, I'd appreciate it!

Ok, so share your technique weakness here - there's help amongst numbers!

Anne

[shadowkat1283]

I think my weakness is the same as yours, I'm pretty bad at cutting things out. I hesitate to do it because it never looks that great. I took a class last weekend and we had to cut out wreaths around the outside and the inside. The inside cuts looked like a 2 year old did it! LOL. Then when I tried to fix it, I just seemed to make it worse. Maybe, I just need more practice!

Kathy

[sharonji27]

I ditto the cutting thing. I am working on some cards for a friend and silly me included this design in the options she could choose from. Note to self... don't do that again! They are very pretty though. It is the leaf print from Wonderful You. So I am very worried about cutting off a leaf at some point.

[Frenchy]

I love to cut!! My weakness is anything that requires measuring. I have to be very careful because I tend to fly by the seat of my pants and only measure to fold certain cards or boxes.

[KathiR]

I'm terrible at cutting with scissors or using an exacto knife. That's why I bought (all) my diecutting machines!

[MaryAnnK]

I love to cut. I'm always going back to trim little edges, but I don't really mind (I'm a little **** about my cutting). My weakness is sometimes not really thinking through my design. I get all my layers down and then realize I wanted to add ribbons or brads. So many of my cards don't end up the way I originally planned.

[stampwithdiane]

Cutting is my absolute favorite! But I know many people hate it and I think it's because no one ever teaches us how to cut correctly.

It sounds like the OP already got some good advice -- moving the paper, not the scissors. The other is to cut as close to the center of the scissors as possible and continuing the cut until you get to about 1/3 of the blade length from the tip, then moving to the center again. Cutting from the center gives you a ton more control! The only time you want to use the tip is in tight corners and places where the rest of the blade will not fit.

My weakness is anything using the watercolor wonder crayons. I've seen other stampers do wonderful things with WWC but they just do not work for me.

[onelightningchic]

I love to cut. I think it is relaxing and many times will sit with a pile of little things and just trim away while watching a movie. DH thinks I'm nuts to cut when I have all those stamps! My weakness is card arrangements. I seem to have an **** need to line everything up and much as I love the "cattywompus" look of casual arrangement, I always end up lined up again! I dont know HOW to get over that! LOL

[carmenv]

I'm with the previous poster...I'm an engineer, so tend to want to line up everything and have everything perfectly centered and symmetrical, which does NOT always lend itself to a fabulous card. Sigh...I TRY to be less precise, but....it doesn't always work!

[irisheyesmiling78]

My weakness is the measuring too. I can't wrap my head around numbers and fractions so I have never been able to easily reproduce mats or card designs. I usually trade with a friend where I'll cut things out and make bows for her, if she'll do my measuring! If I had templates, no problem...but usually I just have to wing it.

[Crafter 4 Life]

The most important thing about cutting is to have precise cutting implements. After having many 'badly' cut items, I discovered that the scissors I was using didn't cut straight. No matter how much I tried to cut close to the outline, the further I got from the 'V' of the blades the more 'off' I was. I bought the Cutterbee pink scissors for the smaller items or more tight places and the medium Martha Stewart scissors for the larger items and now I am having more success.

Another thing that I found I needed to replace was my paper cutter. I have bought several paper cutters since I have started to papercraft in earnest. One didn't cut straight every time, one didn't cut a clean line all the way from top to bottom, one didn't have enough measurements, etc. Having a reliable paper cutter is a must to produce an acceptable product.

I am fairly new at papercrafting so I have LOTS of room for improvement on everything but am enjoying myself.

[BillieDee]

Ugh. My weakness is getting around to using all the stuff I've been buying! Rather lame, actually.

[mm9772]

Cutting is actually one of my fave techniques - paper piecing and paper tole. I probably do some sort of cutting on almost every card I make!

I say go *really* slowly, make sure you have good lighting and really sharp, fine tip scissors. I really love my squishy scissors - they're so easy on the hands. Also, cut off the excess often so it doesn't get in your way.

Oh yeah, and I don't see anything wrong with going back after and cutting off little bits to make it cleaner. I do that all the time too!

My biggest weakness is design. I'm constantly using sketches or other people's cards to figure out what a pleasing layout looks like, or how to add embellies and stuff. I very rarely can come up with an "original" layout!

[Jaspere]

I love to cut and layer and find myself wanting to do it all the time. My weakness would have to be watercoloring. I haven't really gotten my feet wet yet and am intimidated by the whole thing.

[Ruby-dooby-doo]

Where do I start!!!
I can't do layouts where the image isn't straight.
I'd love to be better at watercolouring (though I have improved thanks to you lot!)
I should think through my designs better and add ribbons etc before I actually stick things down.
I could go on ... and on ... and on!

[KLF]

My scissor cutting is about average, I think, but I am seriously exacto-knife impaired. Don't even hand a knife to me--I am just as likely to slice the table, my hand, or any random pens lying around as I am the paper I'm supposed to be cutting. When I have to do an "inside" cut, I punch a few holes so I can fit my scissors in and use those.
Karen

[Em. x]

I like cutting out. I think a lot of it is to do with finding scissors that suit you and cut well. I used to have a pair that just didn't want to cut where i wanted them to and seemed to have a mind of their own. The ones i have now are great and always give a great cut.

As for my weakness i think it's the arty/vintage look. I really like this style but everytime i try i tend to fail miserably.

[Stampin' Annie]

I totally suck at coloring. I have tried and tried for four years, and I am still really bad.

[karatphs]

My SU Demo turned me on to using curved nail scissors. I do much better using them.

Kathryn

[scrapamiga]

Among my weaknesses are measuring, using an exaco knife, brayering/sponging, creativity as far as coming up with ideas... I have many more but that's a start!

[Imbeasmom]

I stay away from cutting out and coloring/blending as they take me too much time and I'm not a patient stamper.

[LateBlossom]

1. Distressed or shabby chic. I just can't pull that look off. All my cards end up looking dirty or something. I sponge, ink, rough up edges, crumple, etc. And it just looks bad. I finally gave up and just admire those who can pull it off.
2. Watercoloring. I think more practice would help, but I have so little patience with this. Sigh. I like sharpies, though. And colored pencils. And my SU markers. So it's okay.

[nltolonen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillieDee

Ugh. My weakness is getting around to using all the stuff I've been buying! Rather lame, actually.

I second this ......it seems lately I spend more time surfing SCS than I do creating anything ! I need to do something about that.

[twinwillowsfarm]

I am completely glitter challenged. All attempts look like the dog barfed on my card. Sadly... not an over exaggeration.

[tay0479]

I have to talk out loud to my self when I am doing measuring and then once I get it figured out I have to write it down. My next weakness is emblishments. I can never seem to use the right one or if I do I don't put it in the right spot.

[ibaa4food]

My weakness is the actual stamping! Gasp, I know, who can't pull stamping off? Apparently I can't! I have to try it a TON of times, stamping a single image before I get one that looks halfway decent. Imagine how many tries it takes me to stamp the images for an image swap! I think it takes out all the fun out of the swap.

[SDiegoGal]

I have two. I can't watercolor and I can't emboss.

[jukie]

• I am challenged in actually using my products rather then hoarding them.
• I follow the measure 6 times cut once theme......it works for the most part.
• I struggle to come up with designs that are in anyway intricate, therefore I tend to do a lot of sketches.
• I have lots of embellishments and struggle to know where exactly is the best place to put them on my card.
• ......and so many more

[stamphappy1650]

When I started I hated to cutout anything. I'm pretty stubborn (aka pigheaded) and will stick with something until I get it. For cutting I took up paper tole (nothing but cutting) and now I can cut with the best of them. One thing that helps it that I don't use one the little craft knives. It hurts my hands, not a big enough handle. I use a Husky Utility knife. Yep, its big but at least mine is pink. I get titanium blades so its extremly sharp. I've never cut myself since I got this knife.

My biggest issue is not to ruin the card when I'm almost finished. I will but a smudge, add a fingerprint, a glue spot, etc. Sometimes I can fix but usually it means adding an embellishment or something to hide the ugly mark. I think I may be Pig Pen's mother!

[swandog-4]

I think I can help you guys out with cutting....I'm a dog groomer and this is how you get control of your scissors.... Place the scissors in your cutting hand....your index and second finger should be in front of the finger hole... your third finger should be throught the finger hole and your pinkie finger should be behind the finger hole... your index finger and second finger support the front end of the scissors. It may feel ackward at first but with practice you should start to get a feel for it. Now for my nemasis....that would be shading with twinkling h2o's. Any help out there with that?
Lori

[Moosekrazy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swandog-4

I think I can help you guys out with cutting....I'm a dog groomer and this is how you get control of your scissors.... Place the scissors in your cutting hand....your index and second finger should be in front of the finger hole... your third finger should be throught the finger hole and your pinkie finger should be behind the finger hole... your index finger and second finger support the front end of the scissors. It may feel ackward at first but with practice you should start to get a feel for it. Now for my nemasis....that would be shading with twinkling h2o's. Any help out there with that?
Lori

I'm not getting the finger placement!!! Can you post a picture. I'm at work and only have trauma shears!

[GwennieJo]

I just can't seem to use ribbon. I have lots of it and love they way it looks WHEN OTHER PEOPLE use it but it rarely looks good when I use it. I can't tell you how many times I've cut ribbon and tried to put it on a card only to take it off again and use something else. Ugh!

I'm not very good at using Prima-type flowers, either. Like ribbon, I have lots but don't seem to use them very often. And I'm not hoarding, I just get frustrated trying to use them so I'll switch to something else.

-Gwen

[swandog-4]

OK....this is the best I can do at taking a picture by myself...
Lori

[toodlesyall]

I have a hard time using different patterned paper on the same card (or layout, for that matter). I see all these beautiful samples where it just works so well together, but when I try it, it just looks like "paper sneeze".

[GreenDragonLady]

My weakness is embellishments. I'm not sure if it's because I'm a hoarder and don't want to use them, because I'm afraid to use them, or I don't know how. Take your pick!

[StampinMama1204]

I'm good at cutting stuff out, my weakness is those stupid Watercolor Crayons. Sorry to those who love them but I have had these for 3 years and still cannot get the hang of them. I have bought every blender and watercolor pen out there and I still get crappy results. I can color fine with colored pencils and markers so I think I'm just WCC challenged.

[stampwithdiane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by StampinMama1204

I'm good at cutting stuff out, my weakness is those stupid Watercolor Crayons. Sorry to those who love them but I have had these for 3 years and still cannot get the hang of them. I have bought every blender and watercolor pen out there and I still get crappy results. I can color fine with colored pencils and markers so I think I'm just WCC challenged.

We so need to go to WWC therapy together! I can tell from the "tone" of your post that you feel about them exactly the same way I do. I don't know what's wrong with me that I can't figure out how to use a crayon! And, like you, I'm fine with pencils, blender pens, aquapainters, etc. It's just those WWC I can't get!

[Cathy H]

Coloring with pencils. I have a hard time doing any shading.
Thanks for the cutting tips

[Brianya]

I can't color/blend to save my life. And not that great at the cutting either. Although I am definatly going to try your scissor handling, swandog! Thanks for the tip!

[Soozie4Him]

Diane, I take the color from the END of the watercolor crayons with my Aquapainter. Kinda like watercoloring with reinkers, but use the crayons to get your color. You can also color on the WC paper - just scribble in that space, and be sure to use enough color, and blend with your Aquapainters. You probably know all this, but thought I'd add my two cents!

I normally watercolor with my reinkers, though - just because it's easier, and I don't have to get out my WCC! <G>