Tim Holtz Rotary Media Trimmer

Hello friends...

I was so excited to receive my Tim Holtz 12.5" Rotary Media Trimmer as the perfect addition to it's smaller friend, the Mini Guillotine! They now proudly sit on my craft desk, side by side ready for action.

The Rotary Trimmer arrived in the morning and by lunchtime, I'd already put it to work and tested out exactly what it could do. I'd cut multiple surfaces and backgrounds of all different sizes and thicknesses to see how it would cope and yes, it definitely lived up to my expectations ~ it is amazing and here are 5 reasons that I love this trimmer!

1. During my crafting journey, I've owned a lot of trimmers and guillotines and I've also managed to write off quite a few when I push them too far ~ I can't tell you how many trimmers and guillotines I've managed to ruin with mountboard/chipboard!! 

But no more, that will be a thing of the past because this little beauty is a real workhorse and it did everything I asked of it ~ wherever you put that substrate, top or bottom, the geared, rotary blade just glided through a variety of substrates and media effortlessly including the mountboard ~ even that tiny strip was a perfect cut and all without any effort or pressure.

I also tried it out on yupo, vellum, Sizzix Texture Roll, cork, burlap and heavyweight acetate with no problem whatsoever and even managed to cut through 3 sheets of card at one time, each time creating a supersmooth, clean cut ~ no raggedy edges which is a pet hate of mine!

2. The trimmer is so lightweight and the size of the machine will fit comfortably in any craft space which is something that really appeals to me. As you can imagine there are times when I'm quite limited for crafting space, I can fill a table and a floor with work and end up crafting in a 5" square on my desk. It's also really solid when you place it on the desk, which is all down down to the placement of the pads on the base of the trimmer ~ this will not rock and roll when you try to cut!

3. I love the fact this has imperial and metric measurements. Here in the UK, we do tend to work in centimetres, so this is perfect for me as I no longer have to keep converting my measurements dependant on the trimmer I'm using.

4. On the majority of trimmers and guillotines that I've owned in the past, you will find that you get one extending ruler arm but this one has two, which makes life so easy when working with 12' x 12' papers.

5. If you've watched some of Tim's YouTube Lives, and seen some of my makes, then you might have heard that I do tend to make "Emma sized cards" and now I have a piece of machine that is perfect for cutting and making my own Emma sized cards with ease and here you can see card blanks that I've cut from Mixed Media Heavystock, White Heavystock and Kraft Heavystock, all measuring 20 x 15cm. 

So with my trimmer ready to put to work, I made an "Emma sized card" and hope you love the results...

One thing I've found difficult in the past with my previous trimmers, is being able to cut through pasted surfaces. Usually when I make the cut, the paste will flake away, or the trimmer will pull it off the card, so I wanted to see how this trimmer coped...

...and there were no surprises about the results, they speak for themselves ~ it did the job perfectly and it cut tiny 3cm square tiles with no effort, no flaking of the paste ~ just clean lines that I could use for my tiled effect card.

The background for this card is made by applying Crackle Paste through the Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Focus Layering Stencil onto a panel of Mixed Media Heavystock. Whilst the paste was wet, I sprinkled a combination of Weathered Wood and Prize Ribbon Distress Glaze over the top. After allowing the paste to crackle and do its thing, I then gently heat embossed the glaze on the paste until shiny.

Now for some trimming and I cut the background into panels of various sizes. The majority are 3cm square and then there is a smaller line of 2 x 3cm and a strip that goes across the card.

I inked the edges of each tile with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and then layered them onto a panel of black card, cut with the trimmer.

I also popped some of the tiles onto foam pads, layering them over the top of the first layer to add extra height and detail.

I layered the complete panel onto further mats of card before mounting it onto my card blank.

For the focal point of the card, I stamped a butterfly from the Entomology stamp set and coloured it with Distress Watercolour Pencils. I layered the butterfly onto a Optical Lens and attached it to my card front.

Finally, I added the "Use Your Wings" Word Plaque to my card and a tiny stamped 'type slide" label.

I hope you love the card I've made and found my findings with this trimmer useful! I can't recommend it enough but if you need more information about this trimmer, then head on over to Tim's blog where he talks you through all the details of what you can expect from this.

See you again soon and thanks for stopping by today...love Emma x