Laura Vegas

i wanted to share a few tips today, on how to maximize your paper, when using your slice. i know when i first started using the slice, years ago, i went through a TON of paper. i was randomly slicing shapes all over my papers, without any thought or planning. and in the end, i was wasting a lot of paper in the process.

here's a great video on getting the most out of your paper, done by miss jenny weston of making memories.

here's a sheet that i was slicing on months ago. like, forever ago. i'm actually quite clueless as to why i saved it. lol! it shows some pretty good cutting. but there's still a lot of wasted paper there.

this paper is from last week, when i was working on THIS project. one big tip i have, is to work in rows. when i slice, i go from left to right, and from the bottom of the paper to the top. i like to work from the bottom, since the majority of the shapes start slicing towards the bottom of the shape. if you work from the top of the paper, you'll have to pay more attention to how much room you'll need, so that you don't cut into the space above. i also work in rows, so that, once i'm finished, i can simply trim off that strip of the paper if needed. makes more sense then to slice randomly all over the paper.

another tip i have, is to really learn to judge the size of your shape and how much room you need to slice it. this seems obvious, in some ways. if you're slicing a 2 inch letter, you need 2 inches of space. right? this is true. one way you can judge where the slice is actually going to cut, is to use the measurement guides on the mat and on the slice itself. the other way, is the way i do it. i eyeball it. after lots of use and a little trial and error, i think you can just really get a feel for how much room you need. i can tell you what 2 inches, 3 inches, or even 3.5 inches looks like. it just becomes familiar.

this isn't really a huge tip. but i don't usually put my paper directly up to the edges of the mat. half the time, i just drop the paper and slice where it lands. i don't really line it up with the grid lines. BUT. having said that, the grid lines are great for checking your measurements. one reason i tend to start with the paper in this position, is that i can start slicing directly in the corner of the paper. if the paper is all the way to the edge, you can't always start out as far down on the paper. 

ignore my first "a". it cut a little too low. just shows you i make plenty of mistakes. lol! after you choose your shape, and choose "select", the blade will get into position and the screen will show you an "x" on the shape. this tells you where the machine will start slicing. on some shapes, this will be directly in the bottom corner of the shape. but some shapes, it will be a little higher up, or a little to the left or right. this is what happened on my "a". it didn't start in the bottom corner, like i thought it would. it started halfway up the left side of the "a". so this photo shows where i'm started my new cut, leaving room for the bottom part of the "a". 

when i went to cut my next letter, a "b", i started out right next to my last letter.

usually, i would keep going, straight across the paper. but i wanted to show how i would go up to the next row. i'm cutting a "c" next, which starts the cutting halfway up the letter. so i positioned the blade to start cutting a little above the "a", leaving room for the bottom part of the "c".

and then i started the "d", directly next to the "c", since it started slicing in the bottom left corner of the letter.

i think this shows pretty good usage of my paper. i could have gotten these letters even closer together, if i tried. but i think this is good. we all love our paper and want to get the most out of it. so, with a little practice and learning to judge our shapes and how much room they'll need, you will be able to get so much more out of your papers.

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