as i'm out of the office tomorrow due to our spring holiday, i thought i'd take the time to have fiskars friday a day early. you won't complain, right? speaking of not complaining, thanks so much for your kind words and understanding concerning my lack of blogging lately. was fun to send out a whole pile of envelopes this past week for those that took the time to drop us a note. because i was able to send out shape templates as a goodie to those of you that responded, this week's featured fiskars friday product...
Ultra ShapeXpress and Shape Templates
have you tried either of these products before? i've heard from many of you that you have some of these items because you thought you had to have them, but yet they sit in your craft space still in the package as you're confused on how to use them. have no fear! i'm here to show you how to put them to good use!
first things first, the indispensable ultra shapexpress :
think of this tool as your ergonomic craft knife - so very cool. i love demo-ing this tool for my classes or at consumer shows as once you show someone how to use it, they're hooked! this tool is great for use with our templates - i'll get to that in a second - or freehand. freehand you say? indeed! when you're ready to use the tool, you first take off the tupperware like lid on the bottom. it's clear, so not easily viewed in this photo. you'll then notice an orange spacer of sorts. if you're going to cut freehand, you'll leave this spacer on and you're pretty much set! make sure you're blade is aligned in the direction you're going to begin cutting in and you're off to the races. now you're asking... but why would i want to cut freehand? you are, aren't you? well, you know how cool it is to freehand doodle on all of your paper crafting projects? think about how cool it would be to create your own doodles from whatever paper you want! very cool.
now onto the shape cutting templates :
believe me, the possibilities are endless for this template as well as with the tool. and there are LOTS of templates to choose from. obviously, you can use your ultra shapexpress to cut out the shapes that are offered by the template - super easy. but what might not be obvious is what else the template offers. see the funky shapes that are on three sides of the template? think of these as a more grown up version of our decorative scissors that everyone loves. you'll simply use your ultra shapexpress to trace along the border of the template to create an easy peasy border that looks amazing! and if you consider the value you get in one template, you're getting a great deal. a tool that you'll use forever.
we also offer what we call super sized shape templates which offer you another way to create designs that offer big impact yet you can reuse the tools over and over and over and over... with four templates per pack, you're actually getting 8 different sizes as you can use the inside and outside of the template when shape cutting and each size is noted on the template itself. these super sized templates come in circles, squares, hearts, rectangles and ovals. i just taught a class with the hearts and they were a BIG hit.
so, let's review...
- can use the tool with templates
- can use the tool freehand
- can use the templates to create the desired shape
- can use the edge of templates to create decorative borders and designs
and did i mention that the templates are also great for kids to use as stencils when coloring? a great project for those of you who craft and are also home schooling or are teachers. 
for more instructions on the ultra shapexpress :
http://fiskarscrafts.com/tools/ultra-shapexpress/instructions/instructions.pdf
for a how-to video about the ultra shapexpress :
http://fiskarscrafts.com/tv/
under how to videos, select next
select ultra shapexpress
shape cutting templates @ the superstore :
http://store.scrapbook.com/shcute.html
other shape cutting templates available :
http://fiskarscrafts.com/tools/s_shape-templates.aspx
