Craft tools I can’t live without

1. Hollow punch set
This little set is an absolute winner for punching holes. I works amazingly on thick card stock like box board, screen board or book binding board. It is also super useful if you want to punch a hole into paper in a spot that a normal hole punch will not reach.

2. Fiskars soft touch scissors
They seriously changed my life! I don’t know about you guys but being left handed if I was working on a big project with a lot of cutting involved I would get REALLY sore thumbs where the scissors would press into them. With these bad boys I can cut all day long with no ugly red marks on my hands! hurah! 🙂

3. Trusty stanley knife
This guy is also known as a box cutter, snap off blade or a utility knife. I love this one because they are cheap and being able to snap off the blades means you always have a new super sharp tip waiting for you. If you are cutting foamcore this is the ideal knife. You HAVE to have a very sharp blade when you are working with foam or it just gets messy. He is really good for cutting through rough materials too like box board or mount board.
There is a variety of these available on the market. They are all quite simular but as usual, with art supplies, you get what you pay for. So if there is one in the store that is going for $9 and all of the others are around $5 or less the more expensive one is likley to be much sturdier and last longer. The one in the photo there should only set you back $3 or $4.

4. X-acto blade
If you generally buy cheap supplies PLEASE PLEASE don’t go cheap on this one! Cheap scalpes will fall apart on you so fast it’s really not worth it. If you are tight on cash buy a cheap handle but the blades are the important part so get good brand name blades. Whenever I have used cheap blades the tip has snapped off within the first hour of using them. X-acto blades are really good quality.

5. Slide cutter
I only have this little one. It will cut A4 papers in half on the short side. At the moment this is all I need. I hope oneday to get a nice metal A3 one. But this one works fine for now. I use it to cut paper and card. It won’t cut anything to thick. I pull this guy out when I am doing simple straight lines. Being able to hold the paper up to the edge means you can cut straight everytime. (well just about…)

So there you have it. If you want any advice on brands or products please don’t hesitate to comment below or send me an email. get.crafted@gmail.com
I love helping you guys with you crafting questions so don’t be shy. 🙂