The Scor-Mat

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Reported by Julia Stainton



For the longest time, a Scor-Pal was on my wish list of things to buy. Perhaps this sounds greedy (hope it doesn’t!) but my crafting wish list is always so long that I never seemed to get around to buying it. I guess that is just part of an industry with so many new products released each year. Last year I finally broke down and purchased one and then I was kicking myself. Why did I NOT buy this sooner?! It’s a great tool and well worth the investment. After all, it’s going to last you forever! Now this review is not on the Scor-Pal but just bear with me for a minute…I’m getting there! Last summer, I found out that the Scor-Mat had been released to go with the Scor-Pal. I just had to have one and it arrived in my mailbox shortly thereafter. No waiting this time for me! The Scor-Mat is a fabulous addition to the Scor-Pal and well worth the asking price. You may be wondering…what exactly IS the Scor-mat?! The Scor-Mat is a work surface that fits right into the recessed area of the Scor-Pal. Designed by Diana Crick, this dual-sided product is a great surface for a variety of paper crafting applications. Do you need it? Keep reading and decide for yourself!


Some great features of the Scor-Mat:

• Dual–sided for twice the value
• One side is a self-healing cutting mat for your precision cutting needs
• Cutting side has a grid in 1/8” increments in white, 1” increments in black for ease of use
• Sturdy weight but not too heavy
• Almost a 12x12” workspace
• Shiny work surface flip side is easy to clean and remove adhesive

My Scor-Mat arrived quickly in the mail and I pulled it out to get right down to business. I love so many things about it and it fit so perfectly into my Scor-Pal. I really love having a work-surface that I can move around with me. I often bring my project downstairs from the craft area to stitch on it and the Scor-Mat is perfect for that, allowing me to finish my design without taking it back upstairs. I also love being able to lay it on my lap and work from there if the need arises. Some days my desk gets so cluttered that I have no work space left. This lets me stay in my creative groove until I’m ready to clean up. Using the Scor-Pal and Mat combo together also means that I no longer have to store my Scor-Pal but can leave it out all the time. Having it out and available reminds me to add some scoring when I’m looking for some subtle texture to my design. I don’t do a lot of cutting with a craft knife in my designs but when I do…the reverse side of the mat works perfectly. This side is also great for laying out projects and making sure that the layer is exactly straight and on grid.

While I love this product, in all fairness, I need to mention a few things. The Scor-Mat is not silicone and is therefore NOT heat resistant. That means no heat techniques should be used on this surface such as hot glue guns and heat embossing. I’ve always heat embossed by protecting my desk anyway so it’s really not an issue for me. Scor-Pal suggests using only a craft knife and NOT a rotary cutter on its self-healing cutting side. In my opinion, this is not too big of a deal as for the most part, the paper crafting industry uses a craft knife system to ensure precision cuts.



I tried quite a few projects and techniques to give this product a thorough testing for you. Here’s a few notes on what I found…

• Dye inks: stamping or inking with dye ink on this surface works very well. The ink is easily wiped away. One problem that you may run into is if you overstamp onto the Scor-Mat. Make sure that you wipe it away or it will transfer onto another paper surface. This surface works great with sponging and distress ink techniques.

• Pigment or Craft Inks: These wipe off well with the same details as dye inks.

• Acrylic Paint: This will come off the Scor-Mat with some effort when dried. I suggest wiping immediately for ease of use.

• Glimmer Mist: One of my projects was to spray on Glimmer Mist. I love this product but it is known for being very messy. The Glimmer Mist added a cool look to my project and was extremely easy to clean up off the Scor-Mat

• Stazon Ink: I must say, I was a little nervous about getting Stazon ink on my beautiful clean Scor-Mat. Anything for you though! So I stamped right onto my mat with Black Stazon Ink. It was super easy to wipe off right away. I tried leaving it for longer to dry and it still wiped off leaving me pretty impressed. I’m not sure what would happen if you left it for days but I definitely no longer have any reservations about using this ink on the Scor-Mat

• Copic Markers: Copic markers are a product that you WANT to bleed through onto the back of your paper to ensure even blending. Like the Stazon Inks, the Copic markers wiped easily off the Scor-Mat. As I design often with Copics, I’m a happy girl!

• Adhesive: The nature of papercrafting means that we use a lot of adhesive. And I do use a LOT! Unfortunately, I’ve ruined the surfaces of two desks with messy adhesives. I love the fact that adhesives clean off the Scor-Mat so easily saving my permanent work surface. Depending on the adhesive, it can be scraped off, removed with Goo Gone, washed off or removed with an adhesive eraser.

• Glitter: One of the problems I have with using glitter is that I get it everywhere! It is so hard to clean off a desk and not leave some remaining. Glitter is extremely easy to remove from the easy to handle Scor-Mat. Just wipe off. If you still have some clinging, simply run water over the mat.

Pros:

• Very flexible and easy to use
• Makes the Scor-Pal an even better product
• Very reasonable price
• Easy to clean
• Very portable
• 12x12 size makes it perfect for cardmakers

Cons:

• Its portable size makes it unsuitable for larger projects
• You can’t use a heat gun on it
• I’m stretching here but I’m supposed to come up with three ;) … it would be great to have a clip to keep the Scor-Mat in the Scor-Pal when traveling

The Scor-Mat is a really great product and well-priced at $15.00 US. I’d rate it as a 9 out of 10 for its practicality, value and high quality. The Scor-Mat is available in many on-line stores as well as independent crafting stores. You can also buy directly from Scor-Pal If you’re looking for a Canadian Source, Scrappin Great Deals is one I’d recommend with a price of $15.00 CDN.

All in all, I feel that the Scor-Mat is well worth investing in, especially if you already own the Scor-Pal. If you’re looking for more information on the Scor-Pal, you can check out the Scor-Pal website as they have a wealth of information and tutorials on the site. Stay tuned as well to Craft Critique as we have an upcoming review on the Scor-Pal for you in the days to come!

Do you own a Scor-Mat or other portable work surface? We’ love to hear your thoughts on this product as well!