Hand Cutting Titles...

This is a tutorial I wrote for Serendipity Scrapbooks. Every Tuesday, a member of the design team posts instructions for a technique or project in their "Totally Technique" forum. So, here's mine...

Handcutting titles is easy and eliminates any need for a die cut machine. You can create the title you want in any color, pattern or size. Now, there are several different methods, but this is the one that works best for me:

1. Create your title on your computer. I used Word Art in Microsoft Word. Insert>Picture>Word Art.

This is what the title looks like on screen.

2. Print it out. I print onto the back of scrap paper, but you can use anything you'd like.

3. Staple your title to the paper you wish you to cut your title out of. Be sure to staple outside of the letters (in the waste space). Use a lot of staples. This is what keeps your template in place while you're cutting.

4. Using an exacto knife, cut out the insides of any letters. I like to use a glass mat (which is just a piece of glass from a photo frame). The reason you have to do this first is because it's the most delicate part of the cutting, so you want the most mass around it at the beginning.

5. Using a pair of micro tip scissors, cut out the letters. Here's a tip: move the paper, not the scissors.

6. Voila!

For demonstration purposes, I have used a block-y font, but you can use any font you’d like. It just depends on how steady your hand is.

Happy Cutting!

Comments

[Nat]

awesome! Great tutorial!

[Patter Cross]

Very cool but I am horrible with an exacto knife! I cannot use one for the life of me. I love my Quickutz!!!!!! :)

[Jan Connair]

I only wish I could use an Xacto as precisely as you do in your tutorial! Perhaps practice will make perfect for me? Thanks for the directions.

[vee]

awesome!!

[Sarah C.]

Great instructions! :)

[Linda]

I love using this technique, I wish I had the patience to use it more often.

Fabulous tip Julie - thanks.

[mary leeson]

Great idea - will have to try this! TFS and blessings to you~