Let’s dive in today with a huge essential product: Cutting tools!

Everyone needs to be able to cut paper (and ribbons and stickers and everything else).  There are definitely lots of cutting tools out there to choose from.  Here's my round-up of tools:

Product Description: Cutting tools come in all shapes and sizes.  Most people start out simply with a pair of scissors. But as your crafting experience grows, so does your collection of tools.

Choices: As evidenced by the pictures above, I have multiple different types of cutting tools.  They each have their own specific purpose.

• Scissors -- A comfortable, sharp, and sturdy pair of scissors goes a long way in crafting.  I picked up this pair of Fiskars scissors about three years ago and they are still going strong even with almost daily usage.  I have a tool caddy sitting under my desk, but these stay front and center in my pen holder for easy access.  Some people prefer short paper snips, but I love my big handled long scissors.  I imagine that when they get dull, I will just got out and buy another pair.

• Ribbon scissors -- You do not want to use the same scissors for ribbon cutting as for paper cutting.  For ribbons cutting, I have a small, short pair of Fiskars scissors.  They are marked on the other side with sharpie so I can remember to only use these for ribbons.  I've seen others mark their ribbon scissors with a bow.

• Patterned scissors -- After my regular scissors, this set (they are actually two more, but they are packed away for an upcoming class) was my next cutting tool purchase.  I found this EK Success set at Target, but I've seen similar at most craft stores.  Originally I used them to cut my pictures for traditional scrapbooking pages.  Now, I mainly use them to add fun edges to my greeting cards. Very versatile set!

• Paper trimmer -- The most expensive cutting tool purchase I've made is this paper trimmer.  I realized eventually that I wanted to be able to quickly made straight measured cuts.  This is the best way to do that.  I bought my Fiskars trimmer at Michael's years before I became a Stampin' Up demo.  This one is great with the easy to swing out extended ruler, but I've noticed that my lines are starting to wear off.  It may be time to upgrade to Stampin' Up's version.  I've heard really nice things about it.  Plus, I can easily buy and switch out the blade for rotary trimmers.  And it doubles as a scoring tool.  As with all paper trimmer, you must buy replacement blades every once in while.  The more you cut, the faster you need to replace.  For this Fiskars trimmer, I buy a pack of twp replacement blades about every other month.

• Exacto knife and paper piercer -- My last two cutting tools are nice to have but in way a necessity.  Both my blade and pierce came from Michael's.  The blades are replaceable, but I've never replaced them.  I don't use these tools often, but they do come in handy.  The blade can be used for small precise cuts (i.e. cutting out a stamped image).  The pierce is most often used to pierce holes for brads.  I also occasionally use to pick up small jewels, especially those that really stick to the plastic.

My Choice Brand(s):

• Stampin' Up -- Of course SU has a great selection of various cutting tools.
• Fiskars -- Any from Fiskars is guaranteed to be nice quality.  They know their cutting tools.
• EK Success -- My patterned scissors are EK Success, but I can tell they are aren't as sharp or well-constructed as my Fiskars supplies.

Where to Buy:

• Stampin' Up
• Michael's
• Joann's