fingertip mania

Designer:  Lisa Storms

Fiskars has expanded their fingertip tool line to include a Fingertip Swivel Knife, Fingertip Rotary Cutter, and Fingertip Craft Tweezers. These innovative designs put complete control at your fingertips and are sure to be a conversation piece!

The Fingertip Swivel Knife is perfect for very detailed or free flowing designs.  Hold it as you would a pencil and point your finger where you want to cut.  It has a very natural feeling that avoided the index finger fatigue I get with a regular craft knife.  This knife takes blade style K and can be easily replaced by unscrewing the handle to remove and add blades. Be sure to protect your work surface with a cutting mat, and keep the blade cover on when not in use.
 

I am in love with the Fingertip Craft Tweezers! It makes dealing with the tiniest embellishments a snap.  Hold it as you would a pencil and simply squeeze it to open and let go to close.  Lately I am addicted to little gems, buttons, and beads, and they always end up on the floor or my fingers end up covered in glue.  That's all over now.  Once I grab those little guys, they are held securely until I choose to let go at their destination. 

The Mini Rotary Cutter is just plain fun!  I couldn't stop cutting all kinds of materials testing it out while it passed every test.  It cuts smoothly through delicate materials and works great for freehand designs.  Foil, silk, and tissue are no match for this smooth cutter.  As with the others, simply hold it as you would a pencil for a natural feeling and point your finger wherever you want to go!  Be sure to protect your work surface with a cutting mat, and keep the blade cover on when not in use. 

When I heard the Mini Rotary Cutter cuts delicate materials easily, I knew the first thing I wanted to try out was tissue paper.  I love lots of texture and lately I seem to want to use anything other than regular paper!

To create these fun flowers, I folded my tissue paper so I had six layers and cut a large freeform circle from pink and smaller from orange for each flower.  I wanted organic, random circles with personality so this freehand technique was perfect.  I took each stack and turned the circles in random directions so different parts showed through from behind and then I just stapled them together.  Simple heart embellishments cover up my lazy-girl adhesive!  I cut leaves in the same manner which were sewn on, though a staple instead could have worked easily for a no-sew card.

I put the Mini Rotary Cutter back to work paired with a cutting mat and ruler to create a felt background for my card.  I always have difficulty cutting felt into perfect shapes with scissors or a trimmer because the felt warps, so I will get a lot of mileage out of this technique.  While I was at it, I used it to cut a freehand curve from green paper for my grass.

To test out the new Fingertip Craft Knife, I decided to try my hand (okay, fingertip!) at cutting out a title.  When I began scrapbooking, I used to cut out every single title in this way.  And by the end, my index finger was in pain.  But I loved the look and flexibility of creating my own titles, so I suffered through.  I wish this tool existed back then!  It handled the curves beautifully and had a natural feeling.

To create a title, I printed out my desired title (I like using cursive fonts so I end up with one piece instead of individual letters) on the back of my paper in reverse (a WordArt flipped horizontally in Microsoft Word).  This way I can cut away without worrying about staying inside the lines perfectly since the printed part ends up on the back.  It's easiest to cut out the interior pieces first and work your way outside.

But don't throw that leftover title paper away when you're done!  It becomes an automatic stencil so you can get two for one!  Be sure to keep any of the little inside pieces, too.  Here I repurposed my handcut title from my previous card for a super simple title on my next one by adhering it down with temporary adhesive and dabbing a very lightly loaded foam brush through the mask.  I followed up with a little white paint, too, for a snowy effect before removing my stencil.

The rest of the card came together quickly with a little help from my new fingertip friends.  The Tweezers made easy work of adhering small crystal gems to my tree, the Swivel Knife very quickly created a freehand tree and branch (I just cut without any planning which is fun to see what you end up with!), and cut my snow hill (covered in Li'l Davis Glitter Glaze) and felt scarf for my super simple and super cute bird made with the Comma Comma Chameleon punch using the Mini Rotary Cutter. 

This final project put all of the new fingertip tools to the test once again, this time using Cloud 9 Finleys Estate papers. I began with an ultra soft photo mat made from tulle for a beautiful effect and to add to the wedding theme for my layout.  Could the Mini Rotary Cutter handle tulle?  Of course!  No snags, no tearing. I cut three sheets of tulle to craft my mat, adding one at a time under my photo while freehand cutting around the edge in ascending sizes for a layered look.

To make a flat sheet of patterned paper into a show stopper, cut out part of the designs and flip up for lots of dimension!  Here I cut the flower petals and leaves with the Swivel Knife to flip up and reveal a pop of black from behind. 

And finally, I used my trusty Fingertip Tweezers to pick up and adhere tiny seed beads to my layout randomly to mimic rice with a little bling!  This would have been a messy nightmare with them. 

Get your hands (fingertips!) on these new Fingertip Control tools that are sure to create an easier and more comfortable crafting experience. 

By Lisa Storms