Some handy hints of Craft Punches
Get creative with Craft Punches!
You can pick up craft punches just about anywhere these days - from your local supermarket to a number of online suppliers, and just about any stationary or office shop in between.
Craft punches are a great way to decorate many crafting creations. You’ll find plenty of uses for them when scrapbooking, jazzing up photo albums, invitations & yes, they are also fantastic to use to make your own greeting cards.
You can pick up craft punches in dozens of different styles & sizes. There are small “button punches”, decorative corner punches & even boarder punches. “Leaver” style punches were once quite expensive, but as their popularity increases, the prices have come down. These “leaver punches” are really good to use is you have weak or injured wrists or fingers, as they operate very smoothly with little pressure.
It’s a good idea to work on a stable, flat surface when using punches, somthing like a bench or a table is ideal, and it’s always recommended to use a cutting matt or at least some thick cardboard over your working surface to avoid damaging your table top.
When you begin using a new punch, it’s good practice to try it out on some scrap paper first, as this will loosen up the joints, insuring a clean cut on your chosen paper or card stock.
Some crafty ideas on what you can use with your punches include;
- Paper - anything from regular 80gsm copy paper to a medium thickness paper, around 150gsm or so, should give you a nice clean edge on you punched out shapes.
- Card - depending on the make and quality of the paper punch you’re using, some card stocks may be suitable.
Its always a good idea not to force your punch through anything that is too thick!
If you’re using 190gsm cardstock up to around 250gsm, you should be ok. Trial and error is the key here, and some craft punches even state their recommended paper thickness on the packet. - If you have to force your punch to cut through anything, then it’s too thick. If you over do it (like hitting it with a hammer, or jumping up and down on it!) you could wreck your punch, and/or injure yourself and/or injure an innocent bystander!
(I have a few old punches lying around with misaligned & damaged cutting edges... If this happens to your hole punch, you won’t ever get a clean cut out of it again!
Some other things you might not have thought of using with your hole punching crafts include;
- gift wrap (there are some wild colours & pattens out there)
- magazines
- textured origami paper
- wallpaper remnants
- even paint colour swatches (printed on paper or card of course) - Here’s a tip, check out you local hardware or paint supply shop for some free colour swatches!!
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