You CAN Punch Cardstock!!!

After over 35 years of secretarial work my wrists can get quite weak when punching.  And I don’t know about the rest of you but sometimes I just want to use good old cardstock with my punches.  But most of the time the cardstock is so thick that it’s difficult to punch through.  Well, today I want to tell you about my second favorite Kreaxions tool.  It’s called the Punch Mate!  As you will see with the layout example below, I was able to punch through Bazzill cardstock with ease!  I never lost strength in my wrists and I never lost the little details that the Kreaxions 4-in-1 punches are so famous for!  I’m attaching pictures here to show you how easy it is to use this fabulous tool!

First, let me share my example with you.  This two-page layout uses only ONE 4-in-1 Kreaxions Punch 909 – Polar Sun.  I used lots of the negative pieces as embellishments as well.  All of the cardstock that I punched through was Bazzill or equivalent thickness.  I used the Jasmine font on my Cricut to cut the title and the wavy border was cut with my wavy Creative Memories cutter.  The circles were cut using the amazing Kreaxions Circle Cutter.

To use the Punch Mate, simply lift the handle, line up your punch with the icons on the base of the Punch Mate. 

Once you lift the handle you’ll see two icons.  This is where you place the punch.  Larger punches go on the larger circle, smaller punches go on the smaller circle.

Place your paper into the punch and pull the handle back down so that the roller lays on top of your punch and press down firmly. 

When you’re using thicker papers, it sounds like you’re going to break something.  Have no fear!  Once you feel it go through, lift the handle and pull your punch and paper out.  Voila!  You’re done!

The borders for this layout were created with Kreaxions Punch #909 with Insert A.  I simply punched using the Punch Mate and then lined the next punch up against the end of the first punch. 

Here's how I lined up my punch to create the borders.

The corners were punched with Insert C.  I cut a 1×12” strip, cut the first corner, cut at 1” and repeated as many times as I needed to for the number of corners I needed.  I used the negatives from the border punches to fill in the holes on the corners. 

Once I had all of my elements attached, I added a dot of Crystal Stickles to each center. 

I hope this encourages you to try the Punch Mate for yourself!  It has certainly changed my punching life!

Happy Punching!