Gettin' Made: Cut It Out

I got a message via Facebook over Christmas asking for crafty advice, and I thought I'd share my thoughts! Anne Kuo Lukito of Crafty Diversions writes:

"I'm looking for a good paper cutter, but I can't afford a $300 commercial one. I've tried one of the fancier Fiskars rotary ones and am not impressed by the combo of the quality and its price. Do you have any recommendations?"

A very-nice-lookin' Fiskars rotary cutter. Image from the Craft Critque website

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After the jump, let's cut (paper) to the chase.

The good news is I have a fairly inexpensive recommendation for a paper cutter!

The bad news? I have almost no other paper-cutter expertise to offer. Instead, I'll give you a couple of links to get you started in your quest to find the perfect cutter for you.

The paper cutter I've got is the Carl brand 12-inch Personal Rotary Trimmer. I'm pretty sure I bought mine at Michael's a couple of years ago, though I can't find it on its website now. You can pick one up here, though. My paper cutter's been good to me--I've used it to cut cardstock, fabric, multiple sheets of paper, photos and more. I like this one in particular because it's small, doesn't take up a ton of space and has different cutting wheels available for special fancy cuts! It's also got a swing-out ruler arm to help you measure as you cut.

The Carl 12-inch Personal Rotary Trimmer. Image from Buy Online Now

​One great place to go when you're considering craft-supply purchases is Craft Critique. They've got gobs of online reviews of crafting products, including this article about a Fiskars paper cutter. Anne had mentioned she wasn't interested in Fiskars, but there are mentions of a couple of other paper cutters that could be options in the comments to this post.

I would also check out Purple Cows, who has a whole slew of cool-looking paper cutters that could be great options for you! I've seen its stuff in action before, and all were pretty slick.

Good luck with your cutting adventures, folks! Have a crafty question or conundrum you'd like me to answer? E-mail me at heartsandlaserbeams@gmail.com.