Shoshi -
You don't ever have to apologize for not replying in what seems to you a timely manner. I know you will when you are up to it and that's fine. I appreciate that you keep us all in the loop and let us know what helps and what doesn't and what you are still struggling with. We appreciate the feedback as the hardest thing for me is to try to help someone and never hear anything back. So we don't know at times if we have been of help or not - and if a solution was found if that is the issue. So I so appreciate that you give feedback. Thank YOU!
Your shutter cards are lovely and I am glad you tried the origin cutting. I promise you - the more you do it, the easier it will get. I would say the majority of us cut origin for normal cutting -it's just easier. You will get there.
I think you are getting in your head too much trying to figure out it all out before you try it - like mentioning doing smaller pieces of paper. Try to think of each project/cut in relation to the paper you are cutting and not the mat.
Let's talk about the small pieces of paper. Let's say you have a triangular shaped paper for ease in explaining. It's 3-4 " in the middle and tapers down to nothing on the ends. And you have a 2" circle to cut out. If you set the origin on the outer edge of the triangle, the circle will cut into the mat because you wont have enough paper. But if you set it more toward the middle of the paper and at the bottom of it, you can envision the 2" circle fitting in that space. Here is an example - it's rough but maybe it will make sense. Chances are your paper scraps will be squares and rectangles, but I made them triangle shaped to try to make a point. Not sure it helps! I may have just confused you more!
I am working on a birthday card for my five year old grandson and it's all Lego blocks - 3 dimensional. That's easy to design because it's all easy shapes . I am NO artist. But I share that because I will share what the file looks like and the card when I am done to try to explain more about the origin cutting and how easy it made this project for me. (will be gluing for a few days now!!) LOL
Keep playing and experimenting and you will get there- I promise. I can remember things that I really struggled with and some things just didn't click in my head until I did them a few times and then the light bulb made sense. Once you get there, it will be smooth sailing. And you can always cut WYSIWYG if that is your comfort level - just sharing what could be easier in the long run!
Hope you feel better. Take care.