Looking after your punches
As my regular ladies know, I just love the Stampin' Up punches. They are so much quicker to use than a Big Shot, and they are virtually indestructible. You do need to do a couple of ongoing maintenance things with them though. Sharpen them You need to sharpen them. Like knives they can go dull. You can sharpen them with any aluminium foil, a flattened soft drink can for instance, or a disposable aluminium baking tray. Here I have used a piece of aluminium foil, like you wrap sandwiches in, about 20cm of it folded on itself multiple times.
Don't expect too much of them They aren't made to cut really thin paper, because thin paper (like the paper we get as padding in our Stampin' Up parcels) doesn't have the structural integrity to hold together while the blades of the punch pass each other. If you are cutting really thin paper, you could try doing two or three pieces at once to toughen up the paper.
Alternately, kill two birds with one stone, cut some aluminium foil while you are cutting a couple of sheets of thin paper. I have also done this with Stampin' Up!'s envelope paper, you save time preparing two at once adn the punch is much happier with more paper fibre to grip. Equally, they aren't made to cut anything thicker than thick Stampin' Up card stock. You probably can't fit anything too much bigger than that through the slot, but remember what they are made for.
Clean them When you cut paper you create paper shavings and fibres, so just like your Stampin' Trimmer you need to clean your Punch. The little bits of paper get caught in the punch and make it jam, which will only frustrate you. To clean them you could tap them on their side to shake loose bigger bits of paper, or blow on them to get little paper fibres out.
See the paper fibres caught in the Stampin' Trimmer to the left here? That will catch the blade so it doesn't cut cleanly, and so no matter how sharp my blade it I won't get a clean cut.
Help, my punch is jammed If your punch gets jammed firstly try tapping it on a table, not too hard because your punch is probably more solid than your table and you don't want to damage the table. If that doesn't shake it loose, try dropping it on the floor either on carpet or, if you have hard floors, on a towel on the floor. Generally they get jammed because a piece of paper is between the two blades, but you can't get it out until you get it unjammed (frustrating right). Dropping it a couple of times should shake it loose. Don't use WD40 or cooking spray as internet chat rooms suggest, this will leave greasy marks when you punch in the future. If it is still stuck, call Stampin Up support (1800-SUSTMP or 1800 787 867).
Don't get it wet This probably seems obvious, but I am not just talking about putting it under a tap. Don't try to punch through an image that you have only just stamped while the ink is still wet, and don't punch through a part of the card that you have just put liquid glue on. Not only will it damage the punch, but the card or paper won't have the structural integrity to hold together and will simply rip instead of punch (see comments about thin paper above).
Maintain them, like your kitchen knives
The main thing is treat them like your kitchen knives, don't wait for there to be a problem, keep them maintained. Whenever you get an aluminium tray under some baked goods you can think oh good, I will clean that and sharpen my knives.
Just wash and dry your tray (don't get food or water on your punch) and cut off the thick rolled edge with a pair of scissors as this won't fit through the gap on your punches. After you have washed it and put it in the rack to dry, take that opportunity to go and clean your punch with a soft brush of with a bit of air (blowing or a hair dryer) before cutting and sharpening.
The edges of the aluminium will be sharp so, as tempting as it is, don't let anyone play with the shiny cut out pieces.
Want more information?
If you want more information about the Stampin' Up! punches, or if you want to join my mailing list to have information like this sent to you regularly, please email me on janis.creationcraft@gmail.com
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