Is there a foolproof way to cut an aperture?

[Marie]

I'm working on my niece's birthday card and it's based around teh idea of a very pretty little picture inside an aperture with some matting and layering. Of course if my cricut (grumppp!) was working like it should, I could of course cut one out of a piece of card but it won't so I'm trying to do it the old fashioned way, ie with a pair of scissors or a craft knife.
Anyway I've already ruined one lovely piece of mirri card with lots of imperfect apertures. I've tried all sorts of things to get a perfect cut with my craft knife but just can't - there's always a bit of paper sticking out here or there.
Has anybody any ideas for doing this? I've got to get this card done by Friday and really don't want to have to come up with something completely different, I've been planning this for weeks!:confused:

[Prudence2]

If you are trying to cut a circle, you have the perfect tool with your We R Memory Keepers mat, this will do a circle for almost any size and makes it very easy to do.

[LorraineJ]

I have the X Cut nest of apertures. A separate blade in a cover whizzes round the outside or inside depending on the size. The templates come in circles, squares, rectangles, ovals and diamonds with about 4-5 templates in each set. The whole kit is around £25 when they are on a special, but can be bought individually. You need to do the cutting on a mat.

[sugarplum]

in the past I have drawn the rectangle on the back side then draw diagonal lines from corner to corner Pierce through the centre and either use scissors or a craft knife and metal ruler to cut along the diagonal to each corner then cut the straight lines from corner to corner

[Marie]

Unfortunately Prudence it's a rectangle, so my WRMK cutter won't work. I think I'll have to go and get some templates - I've seen them before and thought they would be handy to have. It's such a pain - I was all set up to do it with my cricut and determined not to spend anything else on crafty stuff for a while. I've got all my bits out this evening and wanted to get it done so that tomorrow I could get on with other stuff, you know what it's like.
Anyway I'd better stop, i've already wasted one very nice sheet of mirri card. Don't want to get cross and waste more for want of trying.

[Marie]

I've been trying the diagonal method Sugarplum but still keep making tiny tears. It's probably not helping that I'm wanting to use mirri card which shows up every little imperfection but I really want it for this design. I've been using my WRMK cutting board with the little magnets to keep my hands and the card still, but I just can't get it right.
Anyway it looks as though Samuel Taylor has a variety of the XCut templates in stock and other Fiskars templates, so it looks like I'll be doing a quick trip up there tomorrow. They are £4.99 a set so I shouldn't have to spend a whole lot of money.
Not that I'm complaining about doing the crafting, which I love, but I hope the card I'm making turns out to be nice after all this palava, lol!!

[blarf]

Have you not got a large punch you can use to start you off? Then extend the lines out using a knife and metal ruler?

[Phree]

This is how I cut a retangular or square apperture.

1) mark out the rectangle with a pencil and ruler on the back of the card
2) use a pricking tool to pierce the 4 corners LIGHTLY from the back
3) flip the card over and deepen the pierced corner holes enough so as they are inverted rather than raised. (the pricking from the reverse side will have made them raise a bit if you see what I mean)
4) take a steel ruler, or steel edged one, and line up from one pricked corner hole to the next then cut by inserting the tip of my knife into the pierced hole and cutting along the ruler to the other end.

TIP 1 : Made sure you have a really sharp blade in your knife, paper and card stock blunt blades faster than you may think.

TIP 2 : if you are not easily acheiving a full depth cut at the first pass of the knife cut 2 or 3 times if required along the same line rather than trying to press so harder on your knife. Trying to acheived a full depth cut on thicker card will result in tearing. Make sure you do not move your ruler between cuts.

[sheilaj]

I would cheat and stick something around the aperture edge after you have cut it!!

[Little Jan]

I use the fiskers shapes that Lorraine mentioned, They can be picked up for about 4,99 a set
and they do a starter set with the blade tool in it, they are good but they do need a bit of presure to go throught the card and a even movement to keep them for tearing the cardstock oh and a cutting mat but after a few goes they are brill:)

[Julie]

I would cheat and stick something around the aperture edge after you have cut it!!

Me too, that's what frames are for !! :D

[Rentochops]

Me too, that's what frames are for !! :D

yup or buy a card with a ready cut aperture!

[Wellington]

I have the X Cut nest of apertures. A separate blade in a cover whizzes round the outside or inside depending on the size. The templates come in circles, squares, rectangles, ovals and diamonds with about 4-5 templates in each set. The whole kit is around £25 when they are on a special, but can be bought individually. You need to do the cutting on a mat.

I've looked at those before - are you happy with the results Lorraine? I like aperture cards, but barely ever do them cos of the palaver of measuring & never get to do round/oval ones cos I just don't have the equipment...

Marie, I agree with everyone's advice, in particular the sharp blade bit from Phree :) I have a terrible habit of not noticing how 'blunt' my blade is until I ruin some decoup I'm cutting out, change the blade & realise that I really shouldn't have to lean so hard to cut some paper :o

[LorraineJ]

I've looked at those before - are you happy with the results Lorraine? I like aperture cards, but barely ever do them cos of the palaver of measuring & never get to do round/oval ones cos I just don't have the equipment...

Marie, I agree with everyone's advice, in particular the sharp blade bit from Phree :) I have a terrible habit of not noticing how 'blunt' my blade is until I ruin some decoup I'm cutting out, change the blade & realise that I really shouldn't have to lean so hard to cut some paper :o

Yes I am, you do need to have the blade sharp and also I'd make an experimental cut first to make sure you have got the right pressure before you do a 'good cut'. Going round circles or diamonds takes a bit of practice, as its easy to knock the aperture slightly off.

[Marie]

Thanks everyone for those comments. I think the advice about teh sharp blade is important and I know I'm being perfectionist about it. But it occurred to me that most of the "slips" occur when I'm going to the end of the line, you know where you lift up the knife and when you relieve the pressure, the card just looks as though it "tears" slightly. And I'm talking about tiny bits of paper, I know I'm being OCD about itl! Anyway I've been practicing a bit this afternoon and realised that if I do the end corners first, then start on the other end of the line and effectively join the 2 cuts together in the middle of the line, I get a much cleaner result. I've now got a couple of quite acceptable pink mirri board frames!
So there you go, with all your advice and my own determination and practice, I've learnt a bit of technique this week!