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by Ginny Harvey, Ginny's Happy Cuts
I love making 5x7 cards. There is more room for embellishments and sentiments and they are closer to the size of purchased cards. What I didn't love was having to use 12x12 paper trimmed to fit my Silhouette mat so the 7x10" card would fit.
One day I was working on a card and had my screen set to 8.5x12 because my 7x10" card hangs over the red line when the setting is on Letter or 8.5x11. Without thinking I loaded my mat with 8.5x11 paper and cut my card. When I removed the mat I saw that there was about 1.5" at the end of the cut card and I realized what I had done.
There was adequate room to cut the card which means there is a little "play" in the space between the blade and the rollers where you can still cut without the blade going off the end of the paper and with the rollers still on the paper. If you'd like to try it here are a few things you need to know.
1. Make sure your paper is at the top of the white part of the mat. If you place it lower you risk going off the edge of the cutting area on the mat or of the rollers moving beyond the end of the paper.
2. Make sure the workspace on your screen is set at 8.5x12. This isn't a listed setting so if you haven't done so already you'll have to create it in the custom settings in your software. If you leave the setting at 8.5x11 the blade will cut the design only up to the red line and whatever is on the other side of the line will be uncut when you remove the paper from the mat.
3. Don't go too far beyond the red line. I haven't tested the boundaries to see how far is too far but I know that I can cut 10" past the starting point successfully.
This is also helpful when cutting a border for a 12" scrapbook page placed diagonally on your workspace because it gives you a little more room. So give it a try and save money when making your 5x7 handmade cards!
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