New Tool: The Mat Cutter

As I've mentioned before I love Ikea frames. However, I hate to knock Ikea because I think they rock, but I find their matting yellow. It may be because my walls are uber white, so I notice it more, but the matting isn't as "bright" as I would like. Another element is, that I've also wanted to start experimenting with store bought frames by adding new window mat sizes to them to create visual interest. The look of custom framing, at a fraction of the cost. :)

So the solution to the yellow matting, and to create new window sizes is to get new mats cut to fit in store bought frames. But, going to get mats cut at a art store is surprisingly expensive, and not to mention time consuming. Fast forward to now....You're going to start seeing me do a lot of "frame" hacks, because we have the Logan 450-1 Artist Elite that I got c/o Logan Graphics. 

The mat cutter unopened, waiting for me to get the courage to open



I'm getting the hang of it I have been experimenting with cuts, getting used to this new tool. So far I'm getting used to cutting matting to size (super easy) like for my Flamingo print where I just cut a new mat board to size and rested the print on top of the matting. I'm kind of in love with this mat cutter as it has opened a whole new world of creativity.

It is big, but I slide it under my studio couch, so it is out of the way. And because of baby Oscar, we put all of the blades away somewhere out of his reach/find. So this is the lovely tool that is allowing me to do some fun things with my graveyard of unused frames in the basement.

A big tool like this isn't for everyone, but if you're like me and crafty, and kind of want to find ways to creatively use frames in your own home, this mat cutter is kind of a huge deal! Anyhow, I wanted to show you this tool to understand all of the fun framing projects coming up.