Circle Cutters November 10, 2007

Today I invested in circle cutters from Creative Memories. I can’t wait to try them out. When the consultant demonstrated it, the circles were pretty easy to cut. I tried it myself and thought it worked pretty well. I think the set I bought comes with 3 different cutters, a cutting mat, a plastic circle grid, and a template. The grid  is used when you have to cut photographs so that you can see which cutter to use

I’ll try them out and let you all know what I think of them.

My original circle cutter was the Coluzzle. I actually like this cutter except for the fact that the rotating blade on the cutter broke and I haven’t had a chance to replace it. My Coluzzle set came with templates for circles, rectangles, envelopes, and tags. It’s pretty easy to use. The problem that I’ve encountered is with those “tabs” that are left when you cut out your shape. You have to trim them off yourself. The thing that bothers me is that sometimes cutting off the tab is a little tricky since it makes your shape look crooked. Has anyone else encountered that problem?

I’ve thought about using punches but those have problems too. My large circle cutter is always getting stuck. It’s a pain. I tried to use wax paper to “grease” the punch but that wasn’t really effective. So as of now, my circle punch is useless since it’s jammed.

Now that I have a circle cutter, I can get back to scrapbooking and card making.

My dream tool of course is a die cutter type of machine. But those babies are expensive! I’m sure those things make great circles and you probably can make a lot more with less effort.  I’ll put that on my wish list for when I go back to work full-time.

Does anyone else have suggestions/recommendations for circle cutters that are easy to use and effective?

Time Bound November 10, 2007

Isn’t it sad that our lives revolve so much around the clock? We are so bound by time constraints and schedules. I’m not saying that schedules are bad because I do enjoy structure for the most part.

The thing that is bothering me is my lack of time or maybe my poor use of time. Ever since taking this part-time job, I’ve been feeling so busy. I mean I’ve always felt busy being a mother of a toddler but now I feel like I hardly have any down time for myself. In the few spare moments that I do have, I’m reading and responding to personal emails or reading blogs or posting to my blog.  I really want to find more time for scrapbooking. I have been making cards though but it’s because I have upcoming events that require them. Not to mention I can’t see spending money on a card when I can make one.

Scrapbooking requires time. I don’t know about the rest of you but I take a long time to ponder a layout and what I’d like to include in the layout. I have to decide which photos to use and whether I should crop them or not. I have to decide the best colors to use or what embellishments enhance the “story” of the layout. Then I have to decide what my journaling will be like. Then I have to put it all together. I’m the type of scrapbooker that has to look at everything in my “stash” to see what would be best to use so I like to spread out. That takes space…which by the way ends up creating a “mess” of stuff on my table. Then that needs to get cleaned up and organized.

I guess I’d better learn to make better use of the time I have now. Especially since it’s getting so close to the holidays and close to baby’s birth. When baby makes 4, I’ll really be strapped for time! (I think moms with multiple children are amazing! I have to get some tips from them!)

P.S. I wanted to share a thought from a money expert on Surviving Motherhood ( a tv show on Discovery Health). She said “don’t allow money to define your choices, money should support your choices.” I thought that was quite profound.