Making mountboards

The mountboard cutter I had ordered a short while ago has finally arrived. So I spent the afternoon experimenting with it. Surprisingly, it was a lot easier than I thought it would.
Basically, in order to cut bevelled edges at a 45 degree angle, one needs to cut along lines marked out on the back of the mat. The trick is not to overcut (i.e. cut too far along the line) nor undercut (cut too short) so that once each of the four sides is cut, the middle falls out neatly.
The cutter I bought, after reading some reviews on different systems, is a MatMaster by Frame Co. The company's website here has very accessible instructions on cutting not only single mounts but a whole range of complex mountboards. I just bought a basic set with a short (66cm) ruler - I really wanted it to custom frame my studies and sketches that are odd sized - such as the sky and clouds studies.

WTTS # 3, mixed media on board, 11x11 cm

I have now cut the first lot, together with a base mat. All the studies are relatively small (such as 9x9 cm) and I mounted them so that they will fit a standard 24x30 cm frame. This means, the little abstract studies are centre stage within a rather large mount and frame - this way the framing adds some impact to the small pictures.