X-Acto and Elmer's (A Giveaway!)

A couple of weeks ago, a nice lady from the X-Acto company (famed for their awesomely sharp blades) contacted me and offered me a chance to participate in testing their new Z-Series blades and then talking about them. Being a lover of all things sharp and shiny- and a consumer of tons of X-Acto blades in my work- I jumped at the chance. She also offered me a chance to give two of my readers a 25.00 Walmart gift card, as well! I'll talk more about that at the end of this post!

They sent me a HUGE kit of goodies...

     ·         X-ACTO #1 Z-Series Hobby Knife

·         X-ACTO Z-Series #11 Blades – 5 Pack

·         X-ACTO 12 x 18” White Translucent Self Healing Mat

·         X-ACTO Designer Series Metal Ruler

·         X-ACTO Designer Series 8” Scissors

·         X-ACTO Designer Series 9” Trimmer

·         X-ACTO One Hole Grip Punch

·         X-ACTO Mini StandUp Stapler

·         X-ACTO Rotating Top Handheld Pencil Sharpener

·         Elmer’s Foam and Display Board (Mini Bi-Fold and Mini Tri-Fold Boards)

·         Elmer’s Craft BOND™ Permanent Dot Runner

·         Elmer’s Acid-Free Designer Tape (3 ct.)

·         Elmer’s Painters – 5-Pack (Metallics)

     ·         Elmer’s Glue All

... which I really wanted to photograph before tearing into, but the weather wouldn't cooperate and only gave me weeks of gray, dingy skies! Anxious to play, and bored silly living in temporary housing until the new house is finished, I finally gave up waiting for great lighting, and dug into the box, cutting, pasting, cutting again, and generally playing like a little kid.

 I had a blast and made a mess!

I treated all the elements in the box as a challenge... what could I make with just these items, some simple copy paper, and paint?

These three small-scale pieces emerged.

I cut up the foam core to make both the larger base pieces and the small (3" x 3") collage elements, which I then covered in painted paper using the Elmer's glue dots. I loved that product more than my usual brand because the dots hold tremendously well.

I cut up the display board, peeled back one layer of the cardboard and used the corrugation underneath as a stamp. I also cut up smaller pieces of the foam core, removed one side of the paper and created stamps with those, too. (Sorry- like I said, the days were rainy and gray so I wasn't taking photos of any of it, but both techniques are covered in my stamping tutorial!) Finally, I used the printed masking tape, which is really a beautiful washi tape, as embellishments.

I LOVE the new Z-series blades. Here is what Z-Acto says about them on their web site:

"The gold hue on the cutting edge is a zirconium nitride coating applied at the atomic level after blades are atomically sharpened.  The result is the sharpest blade in the industry."

I would have to agree, too- these blades cut easily through all the materials I used and stayed sharp throughout my play sessions. The guillotine style trimmer sliced through the cardboard bi-folds like butter, and the scissors were mega sharp, as well.

All in all, I really have to thank the X-Acto folks for saving me from weeks of boredom while I wait to move into my new studio!

So, for the awesome giveaway all you have to do to enter your name in the drawing is go over to the X-Acto page on Facebook and give them a shout! Then come back here and let me know you've done that (so I can track all of you, otherwise I might miss someone and then you wouldn't be entered to win!) If you don't have a Facebook page, that's ok... just comment here and I will enter you in the giveaway, anyway!

Happy cutting and gluing!