Craft Rulers and How to Use them!!

Rulers are one of the most basic of craft supplies ...you and me have used it from childhood.

But in this post I am going to be talking about special features of craft rulers that make crafting easier and more fun for us crafters!

Rulers

Exploring the various features of craft rulers was both challenging and exhilarating!

 I fervently hope you find this post and the  video Tutorial useful !!

Special features of Craft Rulers 

Metal Edge 

The metal cutting edge is a super useful feature for papercrafters as it allows you to use a rotary cutter or craft knife with a cutting mat to easily and snugly cut along your ruler without slicing off a part of your ruler!

Metal Cutting Edge 

This allows you to use your ruler to get a nice straight cut on paper , fabric, chipboard etc

Cons: you need to hold the ruler firmly against your paper/chipboard so that it doesn't slip

You need to use a cutting mat when using the craft knife/rotary cutter!

Clear Acrylic Rulers

Being able to see under your ruler is an indispensable feature !

Pro : You can see exactly where you are cutting and measuring and only acrylic rulers can have the feature of a grid

Con : Scratches, Breakage, markings wearing off over time

Grid Feature

You can use grids to

• Easily and quickly draw parallel lines by using the grids as guides
• Easily create mats and frames for your pictures as I have shown in the video

Centering Feature

This is the feature I find most useful and its something which you will find indispensable once you start using it!

Centering Feature

How to use Centering : refer to the video

Uses of centering

• Hanging something precisely requires finding its center point!
• Centering an image
• Scrapbooking -precise centering of photos
• Card making- Matting and Layering precisely and easily

• 

  Using Grids of rulers

Card with mats created with ruler grids

• 
  

Card making- making layered cards and card bases easily and quickly

Card layers

Card Base made with help of Rulers

• Adding embellishments at equi distances.

Adding brads/eyelets/pearls perfectly at equi distances

Centering eyelets on a tag

Using the centering feature its super easy to mark the exact center of you tag/ photo-frame etc

Christmas Tag

• Precise placement of a sentiment

  

  Centering a sentiment

Here is a Video Tutorial  I made to show you how to use grids and the centering feature.Its my very first video with a voice so please do forgive my mistakes.

Piercing Holes in the Ruler
Stitched shapes are the vogue in the craft world right now and there are so many dies which can give the beautiful pierced hole edge feature but how about if you don't have a die cutting machine or want the versatility of being able to create your own customized pierced lines...well then pick up a ruler with the piercing holes feature.
Things you can do with the piercing feature

1. Add a pierced hole border around your cards/ layouts
2. Stitch through the holes
3. Create a lattice of holes
4. Create patterns and even letters with the pierced holes
5. Play with spacing of the holes

   

   Piercing feature in ruler

In the Tim Holtz ruler, holes are placed at 1/8 inch intervals so you can create stitch lines on your cards or layouts by using a needle tool [ I have used a humble thumb tack] and a foam base .

Pierced Border using ruler

You can create a stitched border all around!

Pierced frame border using ruler

And you can play around with the distance and create rows and even create patterns!

Piercing patterns using ruler

Now that I have discussed the features of craft rulers here are the salient features of different popular brands of rulers.

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Design Ruler
12 inch clear acrylic, centering ruler, with piercing holes, grid and metal edge.Sturdy ruler.My crafter friend Melissa said the markings wore of in hers and she had to get several of these. I have been super careful with mine and store it in a foam lined box I made for it so mine is holding up good!
Cons : Difficult to use the line where the piercing holes are as it is a difficult to see through in that particular area. Also the 1/4 inch tapered edge on the centering edge was not very easy to use to get a 1/4th inch line if you are using the grid feature to draw let's say parallel lines.

Creative Impressions Acrylic Ruler

This is my personal favorite among the lot!
12 inch clear acrylic ruler with metal edge,grid and Centering ruler  with 1/4 inch measurements on one side and 1/16 th measurements on  the other side
Pros : The markings are only 1/4 inch on one edge and that gives a nice uncluttered look
You also have the option of a centering of 1/16th inches which is an advantage over the ideaology Tim Holtz ruler
It is also 2 inch wide which is wider than most rulers
Also comes with a nice plastic cover which you can  use to store the ruler and also hang it .
Cons : It doesn't have piercing holes so keep this in mind if that feature is very important to you

Universal Crafts Metal Edge Ruler

 30 cm clear ruler with metal edge , grid, centering feature and piercing holes.
You can get centering to millimeter accuracies!

Westcott Wooden Ruler with Metal Edge 12 inch

• Lightweight wooden ruler which is super cheap costing just 70 rupees!
• Has a Metal edge on one side and is calibrated in both inches and centimeters
• The groove in the center allows you to firmly hold the ruler and press it while you use your craft knife this protecting your fingers and decreasing the chances of the ruler slipping.
• Manufactured by the pioneers of ruler making, the Westcott company who have been making rulers since  1872 .Here is the link to a wikipedia article about the brand for those interested in a bit of history : Westcott Scissors and rulers