Tooling Around with Teri: Say Goodbye to Frayed Ribbon

Teri Anderson

Ready for another round of Tooling Around with Teri?

Ribbon is a staple for us paper crafters so I’m talking today about the i-magicut, a cool tool that cuts and seals the ends of ribbons.

Imaginisce just introduced this cool tool a few months ago. At around $20, this tool won’t break the bank. In my opinion, it’s a must-have for any paper crafter who loves using ribbon.

The tool is simple, really. It consists of two pieces connected by a hinge. The bottom piece serves as the tool’s base and has marks so you can line your ribbon up when you go to cut it. In the top piece there is a button and hot wire. You press and hold the button down to push down the wire to cut and seal the ribbon.

Let me show you how it works.

Turn the battery-operated tool’s on and off button to the on position. You’ll know it is on because it lights up.

Insert your ribbon inside the tool. You want to line the ribbon up with some of the guides on the inside of the tool. For a straight cut, line it up with parallel guides. For a diagonal cut, place the ribbon at an angle.

Close the tool and press the large button on top of the tool and hold it down. What you don’t see here is that inside the tool is a hot wire that is now touching the ribbon, cutting it and melting the edges to seal them.

And the end result looks something like this here!

Quick, painless, and no frayed edges! Ooh la la!

One of the cool things about the i-magicut is you can also create notches.

You first need to fold your ribbon horizontally.

Then, place the ribbon at an angle inside the tool. Just like before, you’ll press and hold the button to cut and seal the ribbon.

The end result will be something that looks like this: a notched piece and a “v” piece.

Cool, huh?

I used the tool to make all three of these cards.

Here I cut all of the ribbon at an angle to make the borders.

I used both the notch and leftover “v” pieces to create the ribbon design on this card.

And here I used a bunch of scrap pieces of ribbon to make the frame around my sentiment.

I cut and sealed them each one of them with the tool. You’ll notice some are notched, some are cut at an angle, and some are cut straight.

I’ll be back tomorrow to talk about a fun distressing tool from Prima.

Can’t get enough tool talk? Then leave a comment for me! Tell me which three tools you use most when you paper craft. I’ll pick one of you to win a copy of Cool Tools for Paper Crafters, a special issue from Paper Crafts magazine all about tools. All comments must be received by Wednesday, April 4th by 5 pm MST.

Teri Anderson

Paper Crafts Go-to Gal

P.S. Head to my blog today to get some additional tips for using the i-magicut. I’ll also have some bonus projects I made with the tool!