Paper, Cardstock, and cutting on a Cricut.

I'm still trying to get back into the scrapbooking thing and re familiarize myself with my Cricut who had gathered dust for a couple of years.

Paper, cardstock and the Cricut. Wow! If I had known that I would get into such trouble with the quality items I was using I wouldn't have been so shocked by the results!

I decided to be thrifty and bought a pack of cardstock that left me crying! I had bits and pieces of ripped paper in my C, had problems cleaning it(arthritis), lost a lot of time and found that just adjusting the pressure and cut depth doesn't do the trick. The cardstock in this pack had different weights within the same pack making it a little difficult to gauge where the settings go if you have to do it for every other sheet.

Paper. Now that was a monster! I got this baby pack over two years ago when I first re entered the scrap world. Very pretty, lots of great looking pieces but a very thin paper. Not good for cutting. I did a layout that took forever with this stuff! I got it down but then packed up the rest of the paper and set it aside for a donation The NICU at the hospital my son and I were at does a night once a week for new NICU mommies.

Now that I have vented. here are the Q's:

• What in your opinion are the best brands of card stock to use?
• What settings are used for superfine paper?
• What settings would you use for handmade papers?
• what settings might you use for a textured paper almost cardstock material (see link at end)?

I hope someone has the answers. Here is the link to the handmade paper company neat stuff for anyone interested! : http://handmade-paper.us/

This specifically is the true questionable paper/card of all http://handmade-paper.us/page/CPO/PROD/clearance/gpc_K yes, it was on clearance.

PHEW!! okay, THANK YOU ALL for being patient.

Paper! It's so aggravating sometimes! I'd suggest that on really thick cardstock (like Bazzill) you change your blade depth to 6 and your pressure to high or max, depending on how old your blade is. On thinner paper keep the blade depth at 4 and your pressure to minimum or medium. For the hand made paper, like the one you linked, I'm not sure I'd cut that with my cricut, it might not stick fully to the mat very well because it's so bumpy. You really need good adherence to the mat for proper cuts. HTH

There is a blog named AboveRubiesStucio http://www.aboverubiesstudio.com/and she has a chart for cutting most paper types.

I have the Cricut Cutting Guide from Above Rubies Studio and love it. I love to use Bazzil paper with my Cricut. But I also use Walmart Paper and the cheaper paper from Michaels. I find when I use the Walmart paper it always tears. But when I use other paper it doesn't.

I have always liked Bazzill for its quality and awesome color selection- but i have found it too frustrating to use with the Cricut ( mainly, font or small cuts ) so i use regular ( no texture )cardstock in the Cricut.