Have you ever sat down to work on your paper crafts and found yourself in between holding down your paper in the perfect spot and not having your glue anywhere near you? For any crafter it’s important to have your tools ready for work, and readily available.
When I first started creating cards, I wasn’t even aware of half the crafting tools available to me. Some of them are incredibly ingenious and fun to work with, but there are some that have become a staple for my crafting needs. Here is a list of the top 10 paper craft tools you’ll need to make our crafts beautiful.
10. Crafting Tweezers: These are just like regular tweezers, but have a longer handle. Now you may wonder why it is that you need tweezers, but it will become apparently clear when you attempt to handle small items such as beads, or other small embellishments. They are great for positioning items that you may otherwise find difficult to handle with your bare hands.
9. A Crafting Knife: Think of this as a glorified box cutter knife. The main difference is that this tool allows the blade to swivel, allowing you to cut curves. It comes in very handy when you’re cutting shapes by free hand.
8. Cutting Board / Mat: With all the cutting, gluing, and other things you’ll be doing, you’ll need to use a cutting board or mat to protect your work surface. These can come in various sizes depending on your needs. Some of the cool features to look for when purchasing this item are boards that are self-healing. This means that when the board gets cut, it will heal itself so the cut on the board does not become permanent. Another great feature is to have a board with a ruler or grid on it. This can help you with aligning your projects properly.
7. Fine Tip Glue Stick Pen: I know you’re thinking, how important is glue? “Can’t I just get regular all purpose white glue?” The answer is no. If you’re planning on working with paper and using small pieces, using a fine tip glue stick will help keep your project looking neat and clean.
6. Craft Scissors: You need a good pair of sharp scissors that are easy to handle and comfortable to hold. If you’re creating crafts that require cutting, a good pair will go a long way to making your craft projects fun to make. In addition to this, there is a great deal of patterned craft scissors out on the market now, providing decorative cutting patterns. They can add a great deal of personality to any project.
5. Metal Ruler: I prefer a metal ruler to a plastic one for the simple reason that it does not wear away as you cut along it. It also has the added advantage of the ink not wearing away also.
4. Paper Folder: This is absolutely one of my favourite tools for crafting. It’s ingenious because it creates a clean, neat fold that just looks so polished. One of my pet peeves is to receive a great greeting card, but ruined because the fold has broken the paper, or the fold has not been measured out properly.
3. Hole Punch: For whatever reason, I often find that I want to create holes in my paper craft projects. I need them to loop ribbon through, or use for other embellishments. A great paper hole punch is important to have. They come in various sizes so it’s important to have the sizes that meet your needs.
2. Tape: This may not be considered so much a tool as one of the materials that you would use for your crafts, but I’m listing it as a tool because it’s something that just has an enormous and invaluable use. Finding a good tape adhesive that can hold things in place, but can be gently removed, is a great tool.
1. Paper Cutter: Lastly, who would be a true crafter of paper if you didn’t have a paper cutter? This tool is great because it can cut large items if you’d like, and it can cut a larger quantity at the same time. That means it saves you time, and it saves your hands from having to do a lot of hard work.
Now that you know what you’ll need, go out there and start creating!
Showing posts with label Paper folder vs. Bone folder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paper folder vs. Bone folder. Show all posts
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
Paper Folder versus A Bone Folder
One of my greatest passions is creating cards. It allows me to create something that is visually artistic, and also gives me the opportunity to express feelings in the written word. It’s the perfect marriage of the two, culminating in the form of a greeting card.
What I’ve found however is that you can create something beautiful, only to have it ruined by an unprofessional fold. To remedy this, you can use a simple tool called a bone folder. It’s called this for the simple reason that it actually is made of bone.
A bone folder tool can cost anywhere from $5.00 to $15.00 approximately, and of course, if you’re opposed to using something created from bone, they also make plastic and Teflon versions.
The bone folder is essentially used to score your desired paper by running it along a ruler line. You can also just manually use your hands to start your fold by rolling one edge over the other. Using the score line as a guide, you can create a crease and sharpen the fold by using your bone folder to run along the fold. By adding slight pressure, you can create a very professional look. I know this can be difficult to visualize, so the good people at www.artbabe.com have itemized the steps and instructions on how to use a bone folder.
A paper folder is a different tool that can give you the same finished look, but from my experience, is much easier to use. It has a board to work with that has a built in ruler to help guide you. It also has a zero point on the ruler that marks the centre. This allows you to easily determine where the centre of your paper is, which is usually the point at which you normally would fold.
Essentially, there is a metal spike that runs along the board. All you need to do is place your paper over top of your board, using the ruler as your guide. Then you would use the wooden tool that comes with the board. It has a groove where the metal spike fits. When you run it along your paper, you create a perfect fold.
Now the cost of a paper folder is markedly increased from the cost of a bone folder at approximately $90.00. But in my view, it’s worth every penny. When you create cards from scratch, having the ease of the paper folder more than pays for itself. It takes away more of the manual aspect of having to hand fold your paper, and using the bone folder to finish the look.
So the big question is, Paper Folder vs. Bone Folder? Your craft needs will determine your decision. In the meantime, just keep creating your wonderful crafts.
What I’ve found however is that you can create something beautiful, only to have it ruined by an unprofessional fold. To remedy this, you can use a simple tool called a bone folder. It’s called this for the simple reason that it actually is made of bone.
A bone folder tool can cost anywhere from $5.00 to $15.00 approximately, and of course, if you’re opposed to using something created from bone, they also make plastic and Teflon versions.
The bone folder is essentially used to score your desired paper by running it along a ruler line. You can also just manually use your hands to start your fold by rolling one edge over the other. Using the score line as a guide, you can create a crease and sharpen the fold by using your bone folder to run along the fold. By adding slight pressure, you can create a very professional look. I know this can be difficult to visualize, so the good people at www.artbabe.com have itemized the steps and instructions on how to use a bone folder.
A paper folder is a different tool that can give you the same finished look, but from my experience, is much easier to use. It has a board to work with that has a built in ruler to help guide you. It also has a zero point on the ruler that marks the centre. This allows you to easily determine where the centre of your paper is, which is usually the point at which you normally would fold.
Essentially, there is a metal spike that runs along the board. All you need to do is place your paper over top of your board, using the ruler as your guide. Then you would use the wooden tool that comes with the board. It has a groove where the metal spike fits. When you run it along your paper, you create a perfect fold.
Now the cost of a paper folder is markedly increased from the cost of a bone folder at approximately $90.00. But in my view, it’s worth every penny. When you create cards from scratch, having the ease of the paper folder more than pays for itself. It takes away more of the manual aspect of having to hand fold your paper, and using the bone folder to finish the look.
So the big question is, Paper Folder vs. Bone Folder? Your craft needs will determine your decision. In the meantime, just keep creating your wonderful crafts.
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