Craft-Lite Cutter: A Review

The Craft-Lite Cutter is the new As Seen on TV paper trimmer. I ordered a few of the trimmers (a couple for myself and as a gift for a fellow paper artist). Since I placed a couple of orders from two vendors, I can provide a diverse review for you!

Use
The paper trimmer is like any other trimmer, it cuts paper and cardstock. It can cut through chipboard with a few pressured trims. It's unique feature is the light that creates an illuminated guideline for accurate cutting. It is battery operated or you can plug it in. It comes with 5 interchangeable blades for various cuts. There is an extended arm to measure up to 12" x 15". You use the light to align your straight edge to make the perfect trim. However, do not use the light for decorative trims or scoring, your measurement will be off.

Ordering
If you think you really would like a Craft-Lite Cutter, you should not order through their web site. I would suggest the "As Seen on TV" on Amazon or another vendor, such as EBay. When I ordered on the Craft-Lite Cutter web site, it was an outdated ordering process and did not allow for mistakes; therefore, I ended up ordering a product I did not want. When I tried to communicate with customer service, no solutions were offered. When I decided I needed another Craft-Lite Cutter, I ordered via Amazon, using the As Seen on TV seller. The Amazon ordering process, for me, was familiar and welcoming. Although I placed my initial Craft-Lite Cutter order on their site, I received the Amazon order first. Additionally, the pricing was more competitive on Amazon. However, you could only order special additional blades on Craft-Lite Cutter's web site.

Additional Information
The Craft-Lite Cutter is lightweight and easy to use. You can make a variety of cuts using the different blades, such as scallop, wave, perforate, deckle, and score. You must use a couple of AA batteries if you do not wish to use the cord to plug it in an outlet. An important factor to keep in mind, when the blades get dull (after you have re-sharpened using the tip trim a piece of foil), there is no where to pick up a replacement blade. This should not be a serious problem because it uses a rotary blade, which for the most part, does not need to be replaced. There is also a storage issue with all of the blades. Therefore, you may have a lot of blades, but store them away and end up not using them all.

Other Options
There are so many paper trimmer options to select. The Craft-Lite Cutter is not the best or the worst option, but it is simply a trimmer. A lot of people have complained about the trimmer; however, it has worked fine for me because it's not rocket science to engineer a paper trimmer. If you like your Fiskars, by all means keep it. I have one too and it works great! Just do your research on the best trimmer that fits your needs. However, I do find that most people with a Fiskars trimmer must replace blades often to prevent the torn edge look. If you want a straight edge, the Craft-Lite Cutter does the job and aligns cardstock well. I also have a Carl RT 200 that I used to use faithfully, but somehow during a move to the new house, it cracked. I think I am going to replace it as I really liked it and it always cut straight! Sometimes, these trimmers do not align smoothly with the measurement lines and you get a crooked cut, well at least I do! But, with the Carl trimmer, I did not have that problem. The Carl trimmer can be purchased at Staples, along with replacement blades and specialty blades, such as scoring.