Today's Tip! - Card Crafting Basics - Cutting & Tearing

This is an excerpt from a July 2006 article in CardMaker magazine:
Card Crafting Basics
Card crafting is easy, creative and fun.  Collect basic tools and supplies, learn a few simple terms and techniques, and you're ready to start.  The possibilities abound!
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Cutting and Tearing:
Craft knife, cutting mat - Must-have tools.  Mat protects work surface, keeps blades from getting dull.
Measure and mark - Diagrams show solid lines for cutting, dotted lines for folding.
Other cutters - Guillotine and rotary-blade paper cutters, oval and circle cutters, cutters that cut unusual shapes via a gear or cam system, swivel-blade knives that cut along the channels of plastic templates, and die-cutting machines (large or small in size and price_.  Markers that draw as they cut.
Punches - Available in hundreds of shapes and sizes ranging from 1/16 inch to over 3 inches (use for eyelets, lettering, dimensional punch art, and embellishments).  Also punches for two-ring, three-ring, coil, comb and disk binding.
Scissors - Long and short blades that cut straight or a pattern.  Scissors with nonstick coating are ideal for cutting adhesive sheets and tape, bonsai scissors best for cutting rubber or heavy board.  consider comfort - large holes for fingers, soft grips.
Tearing - Tear paper for collage, special effects, layering on cards, scrapbook pages and more.  Wet a small paintbrush; tear along the wet line for a deckle edge.