Rip punch...

Well, it doesn't happen often, but sometimes things go wrong and you've got no option but to bin it.

I had to bin a Martha punch - Vintage Ornament, I think it was called.

Pity because it was quite pretty.

The binning could've been avoided if I'd've just used some cooking spray before I punched. I knew it was sticking a bit in there...

Anyway, as you can see, a lot of work was done on it to save it by Andrew and his dad. Andrew checked it one night and then the next day before work and his dad checked it during the day while he was here fixing the computer. He and I worked on it for an hour, but he deemed it unfixable.

Sad.

We tried.

"When in doubt, take everything out," he said. And he did. All the bits came out and were checked over and put back in.

I was in charge of the silicone spray. Andrew brought up the big guns from his tool box downstairs before he left and I sprayed it at will.

Could've done with it in the very beginning like I said...Don't do it to yourselves! Get up! Spray those punches...they'll thank you for it.

And what do you do when you've tried everything and you know you have to throw it away, but you just can't right then?

You have a cup of tea.

It fixes everything...

Bye bye punch, you were good while you lasted.

In for repair...

Well, howdy!

Yesterday we talked about punch maintenance and today I want to talk about punch repair.

Sometimes the punches break and this is how they get dealt with in this house.

(On that note, yes, punches break sometimes. Place punch on desk top to operate. Seen that sticker on the Carl punches? If you put the punch on the desk and press the button, you're pressing the button only, which stops the plastic housing from breaking.

Hands up if you've squeezed a Carl punch in your hands to punch a shape?

Go on, admit it. We're all friends here.

We've all done it, but just be aware they won't hold up to the pressure after a while. The plastic around the toggles that secure the housing onto the metal will break. If it starts to do that, put a bit of sticky tape there and it'll hold it for a while longer. Make sense?

To explain: the Carl punches have plastic tops and metal inside. The plastic housing gets snapped onto the metal, and stays there, because little toggle things on each side hold it on. The plastic around those metal toggles will break away first. Have a look at the sides of some of your CP2 punches. See any hairline cracks? That's what I'm talking about. Put your sticky tape there.

I've broken about five CP1: 3/16" Circle punches over the years due to overuse. The shank (the actual die that goes down through the punch to punch the shape) has simply broken and fallen out. Hasn't happened with any other punch, only that one. Well used!

As far as other brands go, I've had no real problems that I can think of now. My Carl punches are the ones I've used the most over the years for the books and teaching classes. They've been hammered, so a couple of breakages is nothing, I reckon.

Read on below for my breakages report...)

As I was saying...

Sometimes punches break and this is how they get fixed in this house.

Firstly, a card.

(Sorry about the dark photo)

I like this card because it's simple. I've been saying that a lot lately.

I also like this card because it explains my husband to a T. He's all boy as you'll see below.

Here's my husband in his workshop. This is where he fixes things, builds things and basically fluffs around doing stuff. I fluff around doing stuff at my desk too, so I'm allowed to say that.

(Fluffing around is also called "chookin". What are you doing? "Just chookin")

This, as you can see, is a man's workshop. And in a man's workshop, things get fixed the man way.

Case and point.

See this punch? It's 2" circle and it got used so much the button started cracking. If you squint a bit you can see the crack on the left. See it?

Okay, so this punch still worked, but it hurt my hand because of the cracked plastic.

Andrew took it into the man's workshop and fixed it.

And I'm so sorry, but I just chucked the punch out when I did the move 'em on out a little while ago! And I'd been keeping it too. Well, I kept it because it still worked, and because it was funny.

He'd literally taken a block of wood (didn't sand it or anything - man's workshop, remember?) and stuck it to the punch button with a huge glob of red construction adhesive! That's the stuff they build houses with!

I ended up with a punch that worked, but was very unsightly.

It worked, but I couldn't store it in any of my drawers.

It worked, but it wasn't colour coordinated. Red and purple don't go together.

It worked, but I got splinters when I used it.

Men.

Next problem?

My Carl Punchmate broke.

What to do?

Get the man to fix it.

Got a pic this time!

Oh, there it is...

Yes, that's a garden stake.

When I saw it I asked if he was going to cut the pointy bit off the stake and sand the handle.

He said, "I didn't want to wreck a good stake until you approved the design!"

We both burst out laughing...

"What about splinters?" I said.

He didn't seem to worry.

Later I saw he'd painted it pink to try to rectify the situation in some way.

But it still had the pointy bit.

And the handle hadn't been sanded.

Would you use this? :o)

It works well, but it hurts!

(Insert laughter here)

Oh, man...

Oh, men!

Thought I'd finish off with this pic.

While trying to work out the best place in the house to take photos, we decided to try the workshop. Here's the set up we had. Thought the fluro lights above might've helped. They didn't. Not enough light.

Oh, well.

See you with another Christmas card tomorrow!

I'm going to be posting Christmas cards regularly, with a concentration on them in December. I'll post other Christmas things too.

Stay tuned for a blog promotion in a couple of weeks!

:o)

Punch Art Fun 1 - Look in the Book - Page 4

Well, hello! How are you today?

Today is LB - page 4.

So, what's on page 4?

More bits and pieces that I thought would be helpful for you to know!

(Got your book open?)

The other thing I didn't mention about page 3 was that we kept some designs at full size and reduced others. I talk about that in the little Space Savers section. I really wanted to give value for money and put a lot of things in, but was concerned that it might cause some confusion, well, because the designs were smaller than in real life basically. Hopefully it wasn't a problem.

The whole book was an experiment really. I made the best judgement calls I could according to what made the most sense to me. And then hoped it would make sense to you.

So, back to page 4.

Here's a card from page 4. I've always liked this simple daisy card. So nice and easy and simple and good.

And I've just realised that the version above is simpler than the one in the book. Hmmm, unusual. Usually they get more complicated...

So, page 4 talks about punching techniques/lingo. Repunching (from page 3), Cut and Paste, Mounting. I did this to give background info and just to help you out. Hope it did.

As I type now, I'm looking at the Trimming Punch Pieces section.

It was important to me to give as much info as possible in the book, so you'd obviously know which punches to use, but also what to do with them. For example, CP2: 1" Circle (trim for pot). I put little bits of info like this throughout all the instructions in the book. I think it worked well.

Just out of interest - I've got a copy of each of the books designated as the "to be fixed" books. If I find a mistake, or one is pointed out to me in class, I fix it in those books in big, black pen. My personality needs to do that!

I added the flower card above because of the pot. In the Trimming Punch Pieces section there's pictures of how you can turn a circle into a pot. I did this a lot. When the book was made, there were no pot or vase punches in the Carl range, so circles and squares were used instead. They made (and still make) good pots and show that you don't have to have every punch to have a nice card. What do you think?

The pot in the above card is an Emaginations one. Have you heard of that brand? All their punches were a maroon colour. I don't think the company exists anymore.

Now I'm looking at the Tips and Tricks section. Ah, tips and tricks. Knowing a few of these can make all the difference.

This is why I always encourage people to come to a class with me if they can. It's amazing how much sense something makes when it's explained to you in person...and I like sharing all the tips and whatnot I've picked up over the years. It's what I'm here for!

Tip 1: Complete card designs look good as a decorative element on a scrapbook page. Turn to page 38 as an example of this. The Merry Christmas card is actually doing dual duty - decorative element and title.

Tip 2: Borders become versatile when chopped up. The present/party border in the book can be shortened to the simple birthday card above. Easy.

Tip 3: Enlarge or reduce the designs you see in the book by changing the size of the punches.

We're all a little more punch savvy now. Back then we weren't. I wanted to mention all the basic things to get the creative juices going. And the brains ticking over.

Tip 4: Okay, this one's a kicker. All punch pieces have a right and a wrong side. I didn't know this in the beginning! I'd been doing punch art for about 10 months or so, and one day just noticed there was a front and a back to the punch pieces in front of me. What a revelation that was.

Tips about tip 4:

When you punch out a shape, it comes out bad side up. That is, if you put the punch flat on the table, put the paper in and punch, the punch piece will come out bad (wrong) side up.

On the wrong side the edge is rough and curved down slightly.

On the right side, the edge is smoother, rounded and curved up slightly.

If you punch a daisy, and then turn it over a few times on your desk top, you'll see what I mean. Makes a difference, hey?

Tip 5: Yep, always draw the face before you glue any hair or ears on. Particularly if you haven't done any in a while!

Tips 6 and 7: Maintaining those punches.

A lot of people get this one confused.

Problem 1:

Your punch is new, and it's sticking.

Lubricate it.

(You don't need to sharpen it because your punch is new and not blunt)

Problem 2:

Your punch is old, and it's sticking.

Lubricate it.

(This is normal. It happens)

Problem 3:

Your punch is old, it's sticking, and the punch pieces are more raggy than normal around the edges.

Lubricate it.

Sharpen it.

Lubricant - is that a word? - options: cooking spray (my go-to choice), sewing machine oil, white candle, white crayon, wax paper.

To lubricate - go to pantry and get cooking spray. Ask yourself for the 100th time why you don't keep some in the office. Spritz a couple of drops into the back of punch. Grab a tissue and wipe around the metal. Push the button into the punch as you walk back into your office. Punch on white copy paper until there's no residue anymore. Punch away!

Sharpening options: aluminium foil, very fine grade of black sandpaper (my go-to choice).

To sharpen - Find sandpaper that you bought for that very reason and congratulate yourself that you didn't have to go down to your husband's workshop to find some. Put the sandpaper in punch and punch 3 times. Turn the sandpaper over and punch another 3 times. Punch out some card to see if it's punching more easily. Repeat if necessary.

Note: I don't sharpen my punches very much at all. They hold up really well and rarely need any maintenance. I might sharpen something once a year? Honestly, it's not very often.

And I'd lubricate a punch or two a couple of times a year. Not very often either. I know of at least one that needs some work, but I never remember until I go to use it. And then I flick it and choose another one...

Talk soon.

:o)

4:10pm Edited to add:

Guess what I just did? Yep, went to the kitchen and used ye olde cooking spray to lubricate a punch.

And it was the one I knew that needed it.

You know, the flicked one...

That one.

It's happy now because it's back in the rotation. It's what punches live for, afterall.