For heavy duty cuts and large pieces of paper, my trimmer of choice is the Tonic Studios 12" Large Base Trimmer.  The steel edge guillotine slices through 110-lb cardstock easily.  The large base is perfect for cutting scrapbook papers to size, but it also light enough to move around my worktable.  My favorite feature is the blunt-to-the-touch guillotine edge.  I have memories of scary sharp trimmers from elementary school day, those with the heavy steel bases and super sharp blades.  But with the Tonic Studios trimmer, I can literally run my finger along the edge and not hurt myself.  Safety first!  Despite the blunt edge, it is still as sharp as the day I bought it 5 years ago, truly making it a worth investment.  I have used it with chipboard, corrugated cardboard, and multiple sheets of cardstock, and it doesn't even bat an eyelash.

My second trimmer is the Fiskars 9" Bypass Trimmer.  This is my trimmer of choice when I'm working on a scrapbook layout.  I love the smaller portable size and how it makes it so easy to tuck away and pull out.  My Tonic Studios has its own dedicated spot on the opposite side of my work table, but this tiny Fiskars is always close at hand when I'm in my chair.  It's just right for trimming photos and mats down to size.

Crafting Essentials is a series of posts describing the crafting products I cannot do without.  You can check out more of my favorite crafty products here.

Because one of my great passions is papercrafting, first place on my scissors list goes to detailed scissors.  My favorite are the Cutterbee Nonstick scissors.  I have owned a pair of these since 2008 when I first began scrapbooking and have only replaced them this year.  Perfect for detailed cutting around intricate stamped images, they were also sharp enough to tackle chipboard and thick cardstock.  The nonstick coating was a definite plus when cutting out stickers or double-sided tape.

My second pair is these other Cutterbee scissors.  The non-coated pair are actually a bit more hefty and have retained their sharpness pretty well.  However, they do not perform as well for fussy cutting.  I use these mainly for the heavy stuff like my cardstock and chipboard.  I now save the non-stick pair for detailed cutting and sticky jobs.

TIP:  To keep your scissors at their sharpest, dedicate them to a specific job.  

My third pair is a set of fabric scissors.  I learned that I dulled my first pair of Cutterbees on cutting ribbons and bits of felt so now I have a specific pair just for fabric.  These really are used for nothing else.  I have even warned Nestor from using these for anything else since he has a tendency to wander into my craft room when he needs something. 

For all else, I use this pair of Tim Holtz scissors by Tonic.  The serrated edge seems to slice through all types of materials with ease.  They really are pretty amazing.  My favorite use for them is to cut through thick corrugated cardboard.  The wide mouth handles ease a lot of the strain on my hands when using a lot of force.  However, because of the serrated edge, it leaves tiny marks when used on paper.  Not super noticeable, but they are there.  For that reason, I don't typically use them for general crafting.

At any given time, you can probably find several other pairs of scissors in my tool bucket, but these are my essentials.   

 

Crafting Essentials is a series of posts describing the crafting products I cannot do without.  You can check out more of my favorite crafty products here.