Look what I did...

I've always talked about this ever since My Acrylix were introduced but I almost never do it...I [gasp] CUT my stamps!

You may be surprised that I did this. Even if you think it's a great idea, it's totally out of character for me. But (1) this stamp set, From The Heart, just screams (it's October after all) to be cut. Those of you who attended September's $5 Friday probably wish I would have taken this step on Thursday. We made this card...

...and I made the ladies mask the flower to include just the sentiment. But in all fairness, this isn't particularly difficult masking. When making just a few cards, masking is a useful technique, but if you're making several of the same card, cutting the stamp may be more practical. Even if I made 50 totally different cards with this stamp set, for 50 envelopes I would still find benefit in cutting the stamp for flap embellishment.

Here's a few tips for cutting your stamps:

1. Be careful! CTMH doesn't cover scissor misplacement. 
2. I like using my Micro-Tip Scissors. A large shears may have "fat" blades that don't fit between the images.
3. Don't cut "neatly."

Cutting a stamp doesn't mean you can never use it "whole" again. But to make it easier to reassemble on your block, don't cut "neatly." Try to cut in a puzzle like shape so the pieces only fit together in one way. The slight curve to the cut I made on the From The Heart image make it easier to get the flower centered under the sentiment. If I'd cut a straight line, the flower could move left or right. For the sentiment above, there weren't a lot of choices. But cutting at a slight angle instead of perpendicular to the phrase, will make it easier to see the top and bottom edges when put together. The angle also helped to avoid the letter images and keep the cut in the margin.

This is rather addictive...I'm fighting the urge to go through my collection and do a little "plastic" surgery! Have you ever cut your stamps??