Paper Art Matting Tool

I laser cut a set of mat tracing wheels for use in paper art, scrapbooks, journals, etc.  They are a rip-off of the Puzzle Mates Magic Matter.  The tool I am mimicking was originally steel.  This seems to be one of those art business ventures that never got off the ground.  I bought mine in a big box store many years ago and the packaging says “Patent Pending”.  Puzzle Mates is now Designs by PM and their website indicates their URL is for sale.  Originally a four piece set, the Magic Matter is available as a three piece set on eBay for $5 – $10 USD.  The weight of the steel is helpful with the original design; the transparency of the rip-offs lets you see the lines you are drawing.

I am not selling these; I am just mailing them as freebies to my mail art and artist trading card people.  Contact me if me if you want to swap for a set or laser cut your own.  The set I cut are: 1/8″, 3/16″, 1/4″, 3/8″ line tracers [by 1/8″ thick. Thicker acrylic did not work for tracing.]  To use them:

1. Use glue, two-sided tape or another adhesive to put an image into place.
2. Hold a mechanical pencil or fine point pen upright [90° angle] and drag the matting wheel along the outlines of a photograph or cut out photograph.  It is easier to use on photographs or cardstock papers, the wheel needs to glide along an edge, the thicker the better.  A ruler makes matting a photograph or shape with straight edges easier.
3. Cut out your matted piece.  Erase your pencil lines if necessary.

You can use patterned papers and various colors for matting.  Mix up the matting with different width borders.  The tool basically removes the tedium of using a rulers or a T-square to get borders or trying to center a photograph on a piece of paper you already cut.

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