Xacto Knife and Mat

More than just regular scissors and a ruler, a craft knife and mat are practically essentials to paper crafting!  What I love about this particular mat (Xacto- 12$) is that it-

• has a "sticky" back side, so the mat stays firmly in place on your work surface when you're working.
• has a lightly "rubbery" front so your paper doesn't slide while you work.
• has inches, half, and quarter inches marked out all over the board, so you know exactly how large your paper is.
• has degree markings across the board
• can be used to correctly align a ruler, so you can easily cut/mark a straight line, and know it won't be slanted or something
• has a very durable surface, so you can cut paper on it all you want, and the mat will definitely protect your desk
• about four millimeters in thickness

The knife (Xacto, about $2.50) is handy because-

• Sharp blade that cuts paper easily and mostly smoothly
• you can use it to cut something anywhere on a piece of paper without having to poke a hole around the area or cut the paper from the side!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*The blade does dull within a week of moderate cutting, however, the dulled blade is easily to work with- if you accidentally cut out of line, it probably won't cut through the area much, The dulled blade still cuts one sheet of regular printer paper easily, however.
Most scrap booking stores also sell replacement blades, blade caps, and knife grips for your convenience, too!

Have a funtastic day!