Simple card making can be accomplished with scissors and a ruler. However, as craftier individuals advance in skill, they often upgrade to more complex tools possessing extra artistic capabilities.

Members of Scrapbooking, Papercrafts and More have access to different brands of die cutting machines, including an extensive library of metal dies that are used in conjunction with the machines.

Club president Lynne Marion recently provided a workshop on how to properly operate the club’s die cutting machines. The machines consist of a moveable board with additional removeable platforms of varying thickness depending on whether a crafter wants to cut shapes out of paper using metal dies or to run plastic embossing folders through it to impress dimensional patterns into paper.

The order and sequence in which the platforms and dies are used is vital as a wrong combination can damage a portion of the cutting machine. Marion’s demonstration and useful tips on how to sandwich the paper in the proper combination to get precision cuts and not damage the tool’s cutting plates were appreciated by the members new to paper crafting.

Learn how to make greeting cards, papercrafts or scrapbooks (traditional or digital) by joining SPAM in the Beardsley Center’s Agave Room on Thursdays (10 a.m.-3 p.m.), Fridays (10 a.m.-3 p.m.) and Saturdays (10 a.m.-5 p.m.).

Call club president Lynne Marion at 440-666-6386 for more information.