Cutting Tools
- Scissors
These are fine as long as you are just cutting tapered strips of various sizes and you are not worried about presicion. Just don't use your fabric scissors for this. Standard 8" long scissors work best, even though I have seen paper scissors as long as 12" long which are made for scrapbooking.
- Rotary Cutter & Mat:
This is the one I use and prefer. I use a quilter's ruler which has a lip at one end which makes it work like a T square. This will help make for precise straight cuts. Of course you can use a T Square but I found using the quilters ruler with the lip on the end works great because it is transparent.
- Paper Cutter
I have tried Fiskars Ultimate Paper cutter and found it difficult to use for precise cuts. Plus the blade did not go all the way through the paper when I tried to cut just 1 sheet. I really don't recommend using a paper cutter for cutting precise strips.
For Tube Beads
- Cut each sheet one at a time for best results.
- With rotary cutter, TSquare and self sealing cutting mat, cut left margins off just to meet the printed edge. About 1/4"
- Lay paper onto cutting mat sideways, so the images are lined up horizontally across the top of the sheet and so it is perfectly lined up with the T Square or straight edge so that you will be cutting the paper into straight strips between the printed images. Tape the left corners to your surface taking care to only put tape on the bottom margin and not on the bead strip itself. That way the sheet will stay in place while you cut it.
- Use your rotary cutter to cut the paper into evenly sized strips moving the straight edge or T Square across the sheet from right to left.
- When you are done cutting the strips, remove the taped margin and discard or carefully remove the tape and make into a fun bead which you can decorate later. I would put the top margin with the cut strips if you are going to store them because if you set up your printer to print the page title and web url, you will then be able to identify the strips later when you go to roll them up and make the beads for a project later.
For Tapered beads
- Cut each sheet one at a time for best results.
- Do the same as for the tube beads but make your cuts diagonal from one side to the other.
- When you are cutting tapered beads, your images, if they are separated by white space, are easier to cut. Line up your ruler to the white space lines at each end so your ruler is diagonal. Cut along the ruler. You should end up with tapered strips with the image at the narrow end unless you printed your paper on both sides.
You are now ready to roll your bead strips.
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