Powering Off Your Inspiration

Clearance bins are a great way to vamp up your paper supply. The only problem with purchasing discounted or clearance items is that generally what paper supply is left—well that’s all that’s left! So you really have to make sure that when you’re creating projects you don’t ruin what limited supply you have of a certain style or type of paper. We use a lot of paper at Pazzles when we’re designing and creating projects for the Craft Room! Test cutting on more inexpensive paper is a great way to ensure your creations layer, fold, cut and line up just right. So what happens if you’ve got your last sheet on the mat and you’ve either made a mistake in the design or you’re just not ready to cut out the project yet?

I had one sheet of paper left in a specific paper line that I love. I was actually creating a card for a friend, but then realized I needed to add something else to my design. The Inspiration was just getting ready to cut the project, and I turned my cutter off to cancel the cut job. Is it ok that I do this, or will it damage my Inspiration?

Darcey M. Canada

This is a great question, because all of us at one time or another have worked on a project and quickly needed to cancel our cut job. You can simply click “Pause” on your cutter if changing out the paper on your mat is the only adjustment you need to make. However, if you’ve sent a cut request to your Inspiration and you aren’t ready to cut your project just yet then yes, you’ll need to turn your cutter off. While I wouldn’t recommend doing this often, it certainly isn’t going to cause any damage to your Inspiration. Paper can be very expensive. If you’re creating images and projects it’s always wise to run a test cut on scrap paper just to make sure the project comes out just the way you want it. I always say it’s better to be safe than sorry, than use up the last piece of your favorite cardstock or even worse, a discontinued line of your favorite paper.