Product Review – Basic Grey Precision File Set

Today I am beginning a new bi-weekly series: Product Reviews. I will be reviewing products that I currently own and have been using in my personal projects, not ones solicited from manufacturers, so my reviews will be based on my crafting experience of the last few years.

From the manufacturer: Explore the “sharper” side of scrapbooking with the Basic Grey Precision File Set. All of those tiny ruts and spaces are finally within reach. Perfect for smoothing or distressing chipboard, plastic, paper, metal.. all with “sharpening” results. Each file in the Basic Grey Precision File Set features a rubber-coated grip for comfort and ease-of-use.

I confess that I not only love tools and gadgets, I also love to add distressing to my projects. So buying this set was a no brainer for me! I found the set easy to use, and it lives up to its promises. With two large flat files, and four smaller precision files, I found that I was able to get into even the tiniest spaces between my chipboard letters and shapes. The flat files are perfect for sanding the bigger areas, like the edge of cardstock, chipboard and patterned paper. I’ve used the larger files on Core’Dinations cardstock with a great result!

A few examples:

After covering this chipboard album with patterned paper, I was able to get a nice even finish on the edge with the flat file.

Other uses for the files include

Distressing the edges of photos
Filing off the little “nubbies” that stay when you press a shape out of a die cut sheet
Filing away painting “oops” on the edges of items

The files are easy to hold and use, and more comfortable than using a piece of sandpaper. They are very effective, it just takes a couple swipes to get a smooth finished edge. And the sound it makes while filing is less grating than sandpaper. I highly recommend this set!

Lacing is a great fine motor activity, and most kids go through a phase where they enjoy working with lacing cards. It helps promote focus and is a great quiet activity for kids to do in the car or to fill time in the classroom. And of course knowing how to lace is the beginning of knowing how to sew, which is great for all kids to learn (more on teaching kids to sew here).

There are lots of ways to make your own lacing cards. This one is just a pin but it’s easy to make lacing cards with any shape a child is into using cardboard and a nail to poke the holes. This could be fun for letter and number recognition or spelling the child’s name. Or try this version from Hey Azka, which uses a hole punch to make bigger holes so you can lace with shoe laces.

You can also just do lacing cards with paper, but it’s a great idea to print them on card stock and/or laminate them to make them sturdier for little hands. Homeschool Share has a set of alphabet lacing cards, which are free with email signup. Deceptively Educational has a set of number lacing cards with numbers 0 to 10.

Picklebums has some basic shape lacing cards, too.

Living Life and Learning has a bunch of cute printable lacing cards, including back to school designs, shoes kids can lace and learn to tie and ocean themed lacing cards. She also has tips for making your own lacing cards.

A Rose Tinted World made their lacing cards with craft foam, which makes them a little more durable than paper and you can cut it more easily than cardboard. They used a die cutting machine but you can also cut shapes by hand.

I also love the cat and mouse cards from Seam Whisperer. They also have some spring themed designs. So cute!

If you want to make lacing cards that are more open ended, check out this tutorial form Pretty Life Girls to make lacing cards that are more like geo boards. Theirs are made with wood but you can also do this with cardboard, craft foam or card stock.

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