How to Use Punches in Crafting

Along with stickers, die cuts were the original scrapbooking accents, often used to embellish photos and dress up layouts. Paper punches produce die cuts on a smaller scale, making shapes up to 3 inches tall. Use the hand-held devices to create a variety of designs and effects with paper, paint and ink.

Things You'll Need

• Punches
• Cardstock
• Stamping ink
• Paint
• Glitter or microbeads
• Thin plastic
• Stencil brush

Instructions

1. Gather punches to create basic shapes or images that suit the theme of your greeting card, bookmark or scrapbook layout. In addition to basic shapes, punches are also available to create letters, numbers and most any image you can imagine from tiny frogs to super jumbo Christmas trees.

2. Create simple shapes to adhere to greeting cards, scrapbook layouts, bookmarks and picture frames by inserting a piece of cardstock or patterned paper into the punch and pushing down on the round button or handle-style lever. Affix the resulting shape to your project with a dab of glue or an adhesive dot.

3. Embellish the punch pieces by brushing the edges with stamping ink or coating the surface with microbeads, glitter or paint.

4. Combine punches to design tiny paper-pieced accents. Just study an ordinary object and consider ways to recreate it with punched shapes. For example, a large red heart punch piece topped with a small green sun piece looks just like a strawberry.

5. Design decorative borders for scrapbook layouts, photo mats, greeting cards and bookmarks by punching shapes along the edges. Leave them as is or back with a contrasting color of cardstock or weave ribbon in and out through the holes.

6. Punch shapes into pieces of thick cardstock or thin plastic and use the sheet as a stencil to create patterns on tote bags or pillows. Just use a stencil brush to pounce fabric paint over the sheet.

7. Use punch pieces as masks. Adhere the shape to a card or cardstock bookmark with temporary adhesive, pounce paint or ink around it and remove the shape to allow the original background color to show through.

8. Produce shaped confetti with tiny punches. Use it to fill small gift bags or shaker box accents or become glitter to adorn tags or greeting cards.

Tips & Warnings

• When using punches to create borders turn the punch upside down and move the piece of cardstock into position for more accurate placement.

• Keep punches in top condition by periodically punching through pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil and sheets of wax paper.