Heidi's Favorite Tool: Marvy Scalloped Punches

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Reported by Heidi Kingery

Favorite tool, favorite tool, come on Heidi, what is it? Think quick! It’s gotta be the Cuttlebug dies. Nah, not my most used. What about my Prismacolor pencils? No, not a tool. Alright, so I think I have it down to my push pin or my Marvy scallop punches. Alright, I’ll flip a coin. And scallop punches win!!! Seriously though, my push pin for paper piercing is a super close second!

Ahh, my sweet, sweet scallops. I honestly don’t know what I would do without them! Going with the latest fads hasn’t always benefited me, or my bank account. I have over 10 different embossing powders sitting in a drawer because of what I saw everyone else was doing with them. Gorgeous work, just not something I ever got the hang of. Kind of like my shrink plastic, and my corru-gator, oh yeah, and my pile of spiral clips that I can’t seem to ever use right. However, over a year ago when Marvy came out with the scallop punch shapes, I must admit I was intrigued. Once again, I saw amazing things done with them in the Splitcoast gallery. I tried to resist but I couldn’t, I just had to give in. I ordered the Giga scalloped oval first, just to make sure I would like it. Well, I did, and 3 more punches later (with a few still to get!) I can’t seem to put them away. I was one of the lucky ones to be able to have them when so many were unable to buy them. But, just when I thought I was catching up with the ones I had, Marvy Uchida had to go and release the scalloped heart and the scalloped rectangle. Geez Louise! Marvy, you’re killing me!

Talk about killing me, it doesn’t just stop with the punches. Gina K and Paper Trey Ink have both released stamps that match up with ALL of the punches! Are you kidding me? Just how am I supposed to resist these? There is a very simple answer to that, you can’t! However, if you don’t have any extra money to spend on the stamps that correlate with the punches, a pen and some doodle techniques can work just fine! I also use my push pin to pierce holes inside the scallops. It gives an extra umph without spending any more moolah.

These punches really do make such a difference on a card! I am personally a fan of no layer cards. I have the 'hang of them' and I think the finished product usually looks good. But, sometimes you want to make a card with a little more to it than just one layer but you don't have a lot of time to do so (usually due to kids 'claiming' they are hungry or a husband who is wondering where his clean underwear is). Slap a few layers of you scallops on and you get some depth and color! Plus, those edges are just so darn cute!

If you’re curious on the sizes of the punches here is a quick run down. The following are the only sizes the scallop punches come in. These are approximate sizes.

Giga (largesest, purple) – 2 7/8” to 3”
Mega (next largest, pink)– 2 3/8” to 2 ½”
Super Jumbo (3rd largest, blue)– 1 7/8” to 2”

If you want to know some clever ways to use the scallop punches search the Punch Carnival link right here on Craft Critique!