Guest Author - Michelle McVaney
A very frequent question from new scrappers is, "What is one thing you cannot live without?"
My answer is always, "My Straight Edge Cutter!"
This tool is so practical! I am horrible with scissors, and couldn't cut a straight line if I tried. But, when trying to mat photos, you usually want your edges straight, so this tool comes in very handy.
My favorite straight edge trimmer is the 12x12 Making Memories Trimmer It is a sliding blade as opposed to a guillotine type that you pick up and push down to make the cut. The sliding blade is much safer, in my opinion. With the sliding blade, slip your paper underneath to the very convenient measurement line that you want, and then slide the blade down the paper to make a cut. Each time you make a cut this trimmer self sharpens the blade! It really does work. After years of using other trimmers that ate up blades, and hundreds of dollars in replacement blades, I am so excited to have this self sharpening trimmer! I have been using my trimmer for two years and it is still working like a charm. With other trimmers I was replacing blades at least once a month and sometimes more.
This trimmer has a full 12x12 measuring grid. However, it folds in half for easy storage and traveling. It also comes with a magnetic ruler that sticks neatly to the trimmer. The ruler is nice for scoring. Since it is magnetic it
works really great to hold your paper down on the trimmer while you are making a cut.
The measurement lines I mentioned are an extremely helpful feature of this cutter. The cutting grid has pre-measured templates for 4x6, 5x7, 8x10 and 8.5x11. The measumrents are marked in both inches and centimeters.
The Making Memories 12x12 trimmer is on the higher end price wise. However, as mentioned earlier, the blade is self sharpening. With any other trimmer you will be going through blades quickly and the replacement price of those blades adds up fast. I have been using the same blade on my Making Memories Trimmer for 2 years! My trimmer has more than paid for itself because I would have easily spent 3 or 4 times the trimmer amount in replacement blades.
