Punch, Cutting & Sticky Tips

Published: Tue, 09/15/20

Today's email is full of tips & recommendations. Your questions help me know what types of things you want to know, so please keep sending your questions my way.

And don't any of you worry, I won't be leaving my stamping business to become a hand model!!!

Alter your Punches

With a few careful snips, you can turn your snowman into a snow child and change the sizes of your trees. Look at your punches to see if you can alter any of their shapes.

Sharpen your Punch

If your punch gets a little sluggish when punching, it may need a little sharpen. Punch through some aluminum foil a few times and then punch through some wax paper. The wax will give it a nice seal. You can do this for your dies too.

Sharpen your Paper Trimmer

You can cut aluminum foil with your paper trimmer too to keep the blade sharp. And don't forget to clean out the track under the blade with a paintbrush. You'll discover lots of paper fibers left behind.

Did you Know??

In case you forget which blade is the score and which is the cutting, there is an arrow on top of the cutting blade (dark gray) and a circle on top of the score blade (light gray).

Reinforce your Bells before you Cut

If you want the holly leaves to stay on your bells, place some regular scotch tape on the back side of the paper your want to use (silver foil shown) BEFORE you cut through your machine. You only need to do this for the two larger bells, the smaller one will be fine.

Another bell tip - you can color those holly leaves with your Blends Markers!

Seal Tips

When you come to the end of your Seal (the adhesive replacement of Snail), there is a red marking - no more guessing. Pop the case apart & replace with a refill. But before you replace.....

Clean both sides of the casing to get the "gunk" out. There will most likely be sticky residue on the edges of the case. Pull & wipe it away. If there is gunk, it will stick the the Seal you are trying to spread on your card stock and create unwanted issues. Even if you are halfway through your Seal, you can pop the case open & clean. ** Don't forget to clean gunk out of the cover too **.

This is one of those types of issues that can result. I think there was some sticky gunk on the case that stuck to the rotating Seal and loosened up the plastic runner. An unfixable mess!

Here is the difference between Seal and Seal+. The top is Seal (that replaced Snail). It's very sticky and strong, but you need to do a little forward wrist rotation before releasing the Seal from the paper to get a good cut. If you just lift up after using, you most likely will get a sticky string that will affect the inner workings of the Seal (photo above).

The bottom Seal+ is even stronger than the Seal (replaced the Fast Fuse). Do you see how it looks different from the Seal with the lines? Those lines are individual perforations that create instant cuts when you lift up the Seal+ from the paper - no wrist action needed and no gunky residue. If you are having trouble with the Seal, you may want to consider using the + for all projects, even though it's designed when you need a stronger hold, such as boxes or interactive cards. It does cost a few extra dollars, but you don't need to use as much since it is super strong.

Did you know there are two tips on the Multipurpose Liquid Glue? A fine tip and a glue stick. It's a surprise I love sharing because not many know about the glue stick option. **Try not to get any glue on the outside of the tube because it will remain sticky/tacky for a long time**.

My adhesive recommendations - Multipurpose liquid glue, Dimensionals and Seal+. I think these 3 will cover all your adhesive needs.

Some of you may have noticed I'm using glue more often in my videos. It's easy to use, gives you a moment to shift before dry if necessary and a little goes a long way which makes if a great value for $4.