The punches I used were from EK Success: I don’t think any of these punches are still being made so I looked, and found them on Ebay.

Cupcake Ribbon Punch: https://tinyurl.com/4nrfdwnk

Open Scallop Punch: (I found this one that is similar, but I’m sure you can find this punch if you spend some time looking) https://tinyurl.com/3f4nxjn9

Lace Edger Punch: https://tinyurl.com/2acu9jxh (there are a lot of these on ebay and I found them under ek success scallop punch, and you’ll need to look at all of the images to find this. I gave you a link so you can see a good photo of one, not necessarily the lowest price.

When you are using a ribbon punch like the cupcake punch, you will have the best success if you use a longer piece of cardstock to cut your image, so you can lay it on your card and move the ribbon until the cupcakes you use cover the entire card front if you so choose. Unfortunately for me, I can’t punch a large image like the cupcake unless I put it on the floor and use my foot to punch it. I’ve never broken a punch doing this, and have done it for years. I don’t pound the punch, I just put enough pressure with my foot to make it punch.

I have only found that I can use EK Success/Stampin’ Up edge punches, as the other brands are too difficult for me to use.

I can normally punch the smaller edge punches with my wrists, but I guess today I’m not very strong. It could also have had something to do with punching on the silicone mat, that didn’t occur to me when I made the video.

The difference between an edge punch and a ribbon punch is this. Look on the underneath and you should see a gap between the bottom and top of the design and that will make a ribbon. A ribbon means the image will be free from the rest of your cardstock when you are finished punching it. If you only see a gap from the image to the top or bottom of the design (depending on if you have it upside down or right side up when you’re looking at it) then this will create an edge.

To make an border, you can turn your punch upside down and start your paper where your pattern begins, but that doesn’t ensure that your other end is a full image, so I believe the best way to ensure you have a complete pattern is to use a longer strip of card stock, maybe 7″ long if you want a 5 1/4 or 5 1/2″ image, and start either on the end, lining it up with the mark on your punch (if there is one), or start in the center and punch to one end, then punch to the other end. You always need to be sure that when you punch (after the first punch) that you line up the images you’ve punched on your cardstock with the images that are on the top of your punch to ensure you get a perfect cut.

Make sure you leave a portion of your design where you can’t see it so that you have a continuous punch, and don’t have parts that you accidentally skipped. If you do skip a section, put it back into the punch and line up the images as usual and you should be able to cut that piece without an issue.

When you are getting to the end of the cardstock, you’ll have a strip of paper that is loose at the top of the punch. Make sure when you are lining up your images to punch, that you keep that loose piece flat on the punch, otherwise your pattern will be wonky.

I hope this helped you to use your old punches. I know that a lot of us collected these and never used them, but they’re a great tool and easy to use once you practice a little bit.

• Uncategorized