You’ve seen the term but you’re unsure what it means. Maybe your quilter friend has said it but you’re a paper crafter, how does it apply to you? Well fussy cuts can mean different things to different kinds of crafters ( just to keep it interesting!)
Originally it was a quilting term. Meaning to intentionally cut a piece of fabric that features a specific detail or image leaving nothing to chance. If you wanted to make sure a specific image on the fabric showed how you wanted to you would fussy cut the fabric so you could highlight what you wanted. People make some amazing things in the quilting world using this technique.
In paper crafting its a similar idea. Cutting out a specific image to emulate the quilting technique in a way so you can highlight that image in your paper crafts. Be it scrapbooking, junk journaling or collage. Papercraft supply creators like myself make packages of fussy cut images in themes. You still have to cut them out and use your creative energy in making the item you are working on but you don’t have to hunt though hours and hours of garage sales, or flea markets to find the images you want ( unless that’s your thing in which case, hello fellow image hunters!)
You can get collection of digital images you can print out and use however you like, collected for you. I tend to give you a cutting edge in a neutral tone but not all paper craft fussy cuts have a cutting edge. You can collect different themes (vintage birds, Christmas, florals) and then apply them as you feel that would work best on your projects. Imagine a whole library of fussy cuts for you to use over and over.
The quilters may have pioneered the fussy cuts but the papercrafters have made it their own!