Martha Stewart Punches

Reported by Megan Lock

The woman we love to hate: Martha Stewart. Regardless of how you feel about her, she has some fantastic people creating beautiful products with her name on them. One of the most popular products these people have designed are, of course, the punches.

There was the goo border punch at Halloween that was seen on ebay for upwards of $100. There was the illusive twig and snowflake punch at Christmas that only a few were able to nab. There was the Valentine border punch that was (and are currently) very scarce, except by the lucky few who stalk the shelves each day. There will soon be a wonderful new design where some projects will boastfully laugh at our projects because they didn't get to taste the new MS punch.

All of that to say that their unavailability is the greatest con for these punches. Don't worry, though... I have fourteen other cons to share with you. I scoured the internet to find the problems papercrafters have been having:

  1. handle fell off
  2. sticks in locked position, won't open
  3. can't get them at Hobby Lobby
  4. some Archivers quit selling them
  5. MS website is not helpful in ordering or showing product options
  6. they are made by EK Success, a reputable punch producer, and the decreased quality with a comparatively substantial price tag leaves consumers wondering
  7. it should be of higher quality with Martha's name on it, a continuation of #6
  8. not available in the UK
  9. the cupcake punch is difficult to place after punching, the parts don't fit well together
  10. works on thinner paper, but not with card stock
  11. embossing punches are very faint
  12. quality control problem, some punches work well, while others do not
  13. need seasoning, a few hundred run throughs with card stock to get them working
  14. Walmart's selection is pitiful

Before you Martha lovers come after me with a hot glue gun, there seems to be an equal number of users who either don't have, or don't report problems with their punches. They say they haven't had any problems cutting through thick cardstock and they would gladly purchase more. I fall in this category! I have three MS punches. I have cut through Stampin' Up! cardstock and I have always had beautiful results. My only beef is that I can't get my hands on them!

Here are a few tips I've found useful: 1. Center your cardstock in the punch. Here, I used SU's Mellow Moss cardstock.

2. Push down with the palm of your hand, hold the paper with your other hand, all while the punch remains on the table.

3. Line up the image with the image on the punch. I've found that some punches require you to turn it over to line up the image, but the engineers got it right on these. You can trust the image on these borders.

4. Create your project:

(Turtle Tots, Stamping Bella; Designer Paper, The Paper Studio, heart brads, Spare Parts)

Pros:

  • wonderful and popular designs
  • the good ones punch well
  • the single punches (not borders) are box-shaped, for easier storage

Cons:

  • listed above

Overall, I think these can be good punches if you can get one and if you get a good one. Would you risk it? Do you get frustrated that you can't find the punch you want? Is there a punch you think is a "must have?" If so, let us know!! We want to hear from YOU!

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