Reviewing the Best Crafting Scissors !

" Scissors" - A Crafters First Love!

Crafting Scissors

Hi Crafters this month I am going to be reviewing the 2 most essential tools for a crafter - Scissors and Adhesives !
I think you will all agree that the scissors is probably a crafters first love - I love scissors and cant resist picking up all type of scissors I see in the local market and stationary shops! Many of these impulse  buys have landed me up with quite a few dumbo scissors which have given me crazy hand pain and even corns on my thumb at one time!
             Fortunately now we get high quality specialized crafting scissors in India and this is a review of 4 top brand Scissors
Its a super long post so pin it / book mark it and save it for later reference or grab a cuppa, sit back and join me !
The Best Scissors for Crafters?
           Fiskars and Tonic Studios are the top manufactures of quality scissors as they understand the different needs of a crafter and put a lot of research into making scissors for specific  needs : everything from the material of the blade and grip area, the shape of the handle, the sharpness of the tip, the spring action,protective caps and locking mechanism etc etc is tailor made to suit a crafters need and even age and medical condition!
             Every crafter has her own special needs- some like decoupage, some like stamping and fuzzy cutting.And each crafter will be attracted to a particular feature of a scissors!Some like me fall in love with a scissors which can cut cardboard boxes !And who can resist a scissors which can cut adhesive foam tape without getting sticky!And if you have never tried a spring loaded scissors...it is one you have to get as its so easy on your hands !
Scissors Review
There is an extremely tempting array of top branded Paper Cutting Tools at Crafters Corner and yes it can get confusing what to pick up.

I will tell you about  4  popular scissors from the "Kings of Scissor Manufacturing"  Fiskars and Tonic Studios, what I love about each and the most criticized feature of each scissors….yes its a completely unbiased review!

Tim Holtz Tonic Scissors Review

The Tim Holtz scissors is the most raved about scissors in the paper crafting world! If you google for its reviews you will find literally hundreds of 5  / 5 star ratings for this baby!

Salient features

Non Sticky - Have you have tried cutting double sided sticky foam tape with regular scissors  and tried to clean your scissors afterwards? Before we got the Tim Holtz scissors my kiddo and I have spoiled many a scissors cutting foam tape! Gummy residue inevitably remained on normal scissors and its literally impossible to clean it off! Hardly anything sticks to the cutting blades of the Tim Holtz scissors and even if a little adhesive gets on it...its easily wiped off!
For me the biggest advantage of the Tim Holtz scissors is this non sticky feature which allows you to easily cut :
1. Tacky tape - these are super sticky adhesive tapes and you can see in the picture that I have placed it on a brown wax paper to prevent it from sticking! 

Tim Holtz Scissors

2. Double sided adhesive foam tape - The yellow one is the regular one you get easily in the market these days and the white one is the special super strong thin foam tape stocked at Crafters Corner[ will review these later this month!]

Tim Holtz Scissors

3. Glue Dots - sometimes you want just half of a glue dot and you can use this scissors to cut your glue dot!

Tim Holtz Scissors

4. Adhesive backed foam and papers

Tim Holtz Scissors

Strong Scissors- Can cut Cardboard- yes I use it to cut open the sturdily packed packages I receive from Crafters Corner [ always marvel at the fantastic way the Crafters Corner team packs our orders!]

Tim Holtz Scissors

Can cut thick plastic  like the packaging of your Spellbinders dies !

Can use it to chop off the plastic backs of buttons to use on your projects! The pointed tips of these strong scissors can be easily inserted it into the tiny button backs to chop them off !

Chop Plastic

Serrated edge-One blade has micro-serrated edges which improves the grip of the scissors and allows you to easily snip through fabric such as felt and silk!

Tim Holtz Scissors

Pointed Tip - allows you to use it for special techniques such as Fabric Sospeso Transparente

Sospeso Transparente 

where you need a strong scissors with thin pointed tips which can reach into little corners to cut fine details!
Non Corrosive and Rust proof- so essential in a tropical country such as India!
Has a plastic cover - for safe storage!

Criticism against the scissors

Big Handle - The big handle is supposed to make it easier for people to grip the scissors and produce leass fatigue.But some people dont like the big handles! I really dont mind it!

Serrated cut edge -  Though a fantastic scissors...it does leave a finely serrated cut edge to the paper and some people dont like that. I too dont like that appearance and so use my guillotine cutter to cut card stock in card making.

Short Blade length - The length has been criticized as too short for cutting fabric and so recently Tim Holtz released the Tim Holtz Tonic 9.5 inch shears with all the best features of his original scissors + longer and wider blades! - that one is on my wish list now!

Fiskars Amplify Mixed Media Shears Review

 Amplify Craft Shears- 6 inch

This is actually the big Daddy of scissors as far as strength is concerned
The "Amplify" is a special technology in it which allows the blades to separate to cut really thick materials and later come back together!

Cutting wooden stick woven mat

Its called the Mixed media scissors because it can cut a huge variety of thick materials including paper, fabric, wood and metal!
Here are some of my experiments: 
Literally slid through while cutting several layers of a woven wooden stick mat!My little girl [who keenly assesses each new crafty toy] was so fascinated seeing a scissors cut wood!!

Cutting wooden stick woven mat

Could cut a wedge on a CD !!

Cutting CD

Cutting through several layers of cardboard packaging.

Cutting layers of cardboard

Could cleanly cut a thick desktop calendar made of chip board!

Cutting Chipboard Calendar

Can cut thin metal - Though a super strong scissors it is so gentle too! In the picture below you can see how neatly and cleanly I could snip off the hook of the metal charm!...No crushing or jagged edges and the hook  was cut off in a precise intact circle!!

Strong yet Delicate!

Shalini sent me the 6 Inch Amplify Craft Shears and what I especially love about it is that though such a strong scissors it is not heavy or big and perfect for crafting and home use!
Criticism expressed by crafters : the  tip's protective cover fits loosely and can slip off- this doesnt bother me actually since I have a tendency to loose covers any way!![ Have long lost my Tim Holtz scissors cover though it had a tight fit!]

Tonic Studios Decoupage Scissors  Review

Decoupage scissors

This is a cutie little scissors but I found the most mixed reviews for it online I think because of wrong expectations from this little fella !

Decoupage scissors

If you understand exactly what it is for you wont be disappointed when you use it. It is a delicate scissors and not meant for cutting fabric or plastic; so no you cant use it for  cutting Sospeso Transparente designs!

Its handles are certified with " Kushgrip" technology meaning the handle is soft to hold!

Correct way to hold scissors

When I first used the scissors I held it by the green portion and could not get proper cuts at all and was about to call Shalini and tell her the scissors was no good! My hubby actually guided me that for it to act properly [ physics principles and all!!] I needed to hold the scissors by the "white portion" as shown above!

Gently press and it cuts and on releasing it springs back...its actually very cool!You can work the scissors using just your fingers and it will delicately cut out your decoupage/ fuzzy cutting designs!

Another bonus: Its not a very expensive scissors!
Other decoupage / fine cutting scissors to check out:
Fiskars Spring Action Micro tip - I have read rave reviews about this one and am adding it to my wishlist. The tip and the spring action are the main attraction of this one!
Parchment Scissors
Gold handle Parchment scissors

Fiskars Hobby Snip Review

Fiskars Hobby Snip

The Fiskars Hobby Snip is a  big strong fellow with so many clever features!

Fiskars Hobby Snip

Best Features of Fiskars Hobby Snips

• Soft grip and Easy to hold
• Serrated blades for nice grip while cutting
• Hole for dowel/ wire cutting - awesome feature- see later in the post!
• Spring Action - means less aching hands while cutting!
• Easy lock which can be operated using your thumb!

  

  Fiskars Hobby Snip

  Can cut a huge variety of materials - Fabric, Cardboard,Chipboard, Zips,18 G Wire, Leather, thin Metal , Plastic, Wooden skewers

Fiskars Hobby Snip

 I 'll first show you my most favorite feature of this scissors - do you see that funny looking hole in the scissors blades?

Fiskars Hobby Snip Dowel hole

Those are meant for cutting wooden skewers and wire!

Fiskars Hobby Snip cutting dowel /wood

Just insert your wooden stick into one of the holes and close the scissor...hey presto the stick is cut in a snap! I demonstrated it to my hubby and boy was he impressed![Have you felt like kissing a scissors? I did at that point as I fell in love right there with this baby!]

Fiskars Hobby Snip cutting wooden rod

 Both the Tim Holtz and the Fiskars Amplify scissors can cut card board but how about if you want to keep on cutting card board / chipboard for hours together...the Fiskars Hobby Snip is the one you get because as it has a spring action...after each cut  the blades spring apart and your hands wont ache even with this heavy duty cutting!!

Spring action at work cutting cardboard

And the spring action makes even fringing thin cardboard a breeze!

Fringing thin Cardboard

Because its such a strong scissors you can use it for peculiar crafty needs...like chopping off the hook in a plastic crystal bead to make a round crystal[ going to use it as a flower center and it looks better without the hole]

Cutting beads

If you like working with fabric and felt...the serrated blades makes cutting easy

Cutting felt

and the spring action makes fringing felt ..easy peasy! Yes you can roll these up to make fringed felt flowers like you would paper quilled fringed flowers!

Fringing felt

And here is one more unique feature of the scissors - it has an absolutely flat lower handle surface and you can make it stand on a flat surface while cutting something lengthy like fabric or chart paper!

Fiskars Hoby Snip Standing!

And because of its spring action this baby even has an Arthritis Foundation Ease of Use Seal!!
Criticism of the Fiskars Hobby Snip : I am totally in love with this one so no you are not going to hear a word against it from me!Ha Ha!
If you stayed with me till now-- A big Thank you !! And I hope the reviews are useful to you.

Here is the link to more  Paper Cutting tools at Crafters Corner

Each scissors on the shop website has its own wonderful features and is pretty hard to resist!