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Blistered fingers from using scissors to cut all those crosses in an elaborate project?    

NOT ANY MORE!!

HOW TO USE THE PCA EASY CROSS PROPERLY:

Gently wax the tool needles with paraffin based wax before use.

After pre perforating the basis of your cross with either the PCA FineQuad or PCA BoldQuad tool, ensure our thick Perforating rubber mat and a sheet of copypaper weight paper is under the parchment. The plain paper gives the tool the extra support that it needs as it makes your cross.  

TIP : Hold hand rested on pad and use only the fingers holding the EasyCross tool upright, SLIDE the needles (line up in previous perforations) gently into the cross to be.

The weight of the tool is almost sufficient to slide it through the paper with guidance, so LET THE TOOL DO THE WORK! 

NEVER a heavy or quick punching movement which would involve the whole hand,merely the sliding action of the fingers alone combined with the weight of the tool.

You will hear a slight "pop" sound when it releases the cross...remove tool at that point. Voila!  Practice makes perfect and it will become second nature when you get it right!

If any cross should not be completely removed, you may do so by rubbing gently at the rear of the area concerned. In the rare event that any residual parchment gets caught between the needles, gently remove with Uni tool or pin. 

 

NEVER USE THE PCA EASYCROSS WITH A WIRE MESH GRID! The needles will inevitably be damaged irrepairably!

I recently received the most wonderful testimonial from an avid parchment crafter and PCA user and I would like to share it with you.  Carol Maier (Canada) has mastered the EasyCross superbly and is using it for all her multiples of X's that create slots and channels... here is what she has to say!

 

"I've been experimenting with the Easy Cross and probably someone has already come up with this long ago, but I thought I'd share with you.  I no longer use scissors to cut bars or gentle curves.

To start with -  for bars I draw 2 lines on a sheet of white paper far enough apart to clear the ribbon I'm using or to the size of the bar I need.

Then I tape my parchment over this paper and draw horizontal lines in black pencil between these lines as far apart as I need the bars.

I separate the sheets and on the perf pad I "walk" the easy cross over the black line keeping the line in between the needles - sort of straddle the line.  The black line is very easy to see and disappears as you perf out the bar.

This can also be done on easy curves.  It might take a little practice on the curves because you have to skew the tool slightly to keep the black line between the needles.  It works like a dream."

THANK YOU CAROL!     Try it yourself and see!

EasyCross Benefits

Time Saving yet not at expense of quality results!

Confidence booster for newer craftspeople, simple to use! Never be afraid of trying patterns with lacework incorporating crosses again.

Easier and more comfortable to hold than scissors, great for those with arthritis or similar hand/wrist problems!