QuickTips

A guide to loving your Quickutz

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I sometimes forget that not everyone has had a Quickutz since the beginning of time and knows what to do with her first die!

1. Never cut with your die until you add the foam! The foam goes on the side with the shape, not the smooth side.

2. Always put the die in the handle face DOWN. Center it between the two round magnets. You will feel the magnets pull it into place, just get it close and let go!

3. You should get a clean cut with one squeeze, but if you are using thick or textured paper, it may take two or three.

Finicky dies

Most dies work perfectly first try but occasionally you might get one that doesn't, or stops cutting perfectly after many cuts. There are several things you can try to get a better cut.

1. Turn the die 90 degrees and try it again

2. Peel the excess foam from around the shape. You might want to do this on all your dies anyway. It makes it much easier to get a clean cut with only one squeeze of the handtool.

3. Add a shim. Oh. What's a shim, you ask?? You know that little sticker that you probably threw away when you got your dies? Yeah, that! Um, keep them. They're shims. You won't need them on most of your dies, but it's good to keep a stash on hand. If one shim doesn't do the trick, you can add up to two more, for a total of three shims.

4. If the die is old or well-used, remove the foam and try it with new foam.

5. If all else fails, Quickutz stands behind their dies! Contact them for a replacement if none of the above works.

Xyron is your friend!

You've cut all those itsy bitsy pieces, now to glue them down! Glue pens will work just fine but they don't dry immediately and it's not hard to overdo it and get a gooey mess occasionally. Xyron!

You will love your Skinni Mini's much more if you run your paper through the Xyron first. With larger dies, it's your call! Sometimes I run paper through first, other times I cut the letters first, then add the adhesive. The first is faster, but it uses considerably more adhesive.

Or, do it the really easy way. Use Quickstripz! Strips of your favorite shades of Bazzill that already have the adhesive on them. Just grab it, cut, and peel off your letter.

What do I do with the cradle?

Well, if you're stronger than me, you can leave it in the box and use the handtool without it. Me, I'm rather wimpy in the arms so I use my cradle and Komfykutz. The Komfykutz cushion is optional, the tool works just fine without. It gives you more leverage, but I find the biggest advantage is comfort when I'm doing a lot of cuts.

You can place the cradle under the komfykutz on the handle, or under the mouth of the handtool. Try both and see which is more comfortable for you.