Getting Punchy: Product Review and Card Idea

watercolor cards

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Of all the things I got in my goodie bag from EK Success at the Craft Gossip Fork & Talk meetup, one of the ones I was most excited to try was a large flower punch (it’s the EK Tools Scallop Frame Large Punch, to be exact, and retails for $16.49). The shape is really awesome and I had lots of ideas for how I could use it in various craft projects.

So I pulled out the stamp and a piece of card stock that happened to be sitting around. And I punched. And nothing happened.

Well, nothing isn’t exactly accurate. But almost.

paper no punch
That's not exactly what I was going for...

So I tried regular paper. And newsprint. And slickish advertising paper. And paper that had watercolor painton it. And index cards. None of them made a clean cut.

punching paper
A variety of partially-punched paper.

Some of the pieces came out enough that I could tear or cut them apart. And once I got a new X-ACTO knife, I could easily slice away the stuck parts.

X-ACTO trimming
Beautifully trimmed flowers (on a really loud X-ACTO mat!).

The ironic thing is that I decided I could use the flower still attached to the paper as a cutout on a card (like the cutout Valentine’s cards I did for the Bit’s teachers), but the first card I punched was the first (and, so far, only) time it cut perfectly cleanly.

punched cards
One card punched properly, and one didn't.

And it is really pretty when it works. I wanted to say here that my punch must be defective, but then I read the reviews on the EK website (which is linked at the top of this review) and every person said it didn’t punch evenly, so I guess it’s not just me. I do not know that I would buy this punch knowing that, but because I already have it I’ll probably still use it and just take the effort to cut out the pieces that don’t punch evenly.

watercolor cards
The punched cards with watercolor paper behind.

So here’s a preview of the cards, but with and without the interior flower bit. I like both of them, but the one with the detail is a little more dramatic. The paper behind is random watercolors from the Bit left over from my wall art project. What do you think?


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4 Comments

  1. I had that problem the first few times I tried to punch with it, too. But then I realized that I needed to be pushing straight down, pushing it down until I heard the “whunk”. If my arm is angled any, I’ll get a mis-punch like the ones you show here. But if my arm is straight up and down when I punch, I get a good clean cut. I think it might be because it’s such a detailed punch that pushing down at an angle, even a slight one, will push the pieces into each other instead of down past each other.

  2. I had the same issue until I figured out the right angle. With detailed punches or large shapes, I find I usually get the best clean cuts when I stand and press straight down instead of sitting at my workbench. Two cents!

  3. I agree with you 100%! I was so excited about this gorgeous punch. It was sold out at my LSS, and I anxiously awaited the call that they were back in. I rushed to get it, couldn’t wait to use it, and … yup … same as yours. I was so disappointed. Shouldn’t they quality test these things before they put them on the market?

  4. Thanks, ladies! I actually tried stepping on it so I would punch straight, and that didn’t help, either. But I’ll keep trying!

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