My favorite punches

I've been kicking around the idea of doing this post for a while - I often get questions about the size of my punches, and I think in general it's hard to know which ones to buy and how they nest together. For those of you looking to beef up your punch collection, this post is for you! Circle Punches:

I own (and use quite frequently) the following circle punches:

3/4" - Stampin Up

1" - EK Success

1 1/4" - Stampin Up

Here is what these punches look like when punched out:

1 3/8" - EK Success 1 1/2" - EK Success 1 3/4" - Stampin Up 2" - Marvy Uchida

Here is what these punches look liked punched out (sorry, I forgot the 2" one - but you get the idea)

Here is what all of these circles look like when nested together, starting with the 3/4" going all the way up to the 2" circle. (I don't ever really do this many nested circles together, but I wanted to illustrate for you the sizes so you can see how well they all work together)

Regarding brands that I own: some of these punches are from Stampin Up (they are all the older forms of the punch - not the new compact design). That's mostly because at the time I bought them, it was the best availability and/or price. Once I knew I liked circle punches & wanted to have a collection that I use interchangeably, I tried to find better bargains. So, I simply purchased them directly from EK Success (they are called "EK Success Paper Shaper Punches")- either in a store like AC Moore - or online when they had sales going on. (FYI: Stampin Up punches are actually made by EK Success - so they are exactly the same. It's just that there are some punches EK Success makes & sells exclusively through Stampin Up - mostly the shaped punches. But circles are just circles - so who cares where they are from, right?)

Quite possibly the most used punch that I own: Stampin Up 1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punch:

It nests wonderfully with several of the circle sizes: Here is the Scallop punch with a 1 1/4" white circle, on top of a 1 3/8" green circle:

Here is the Scallop punch with a 1 1/4" white circle, on top of a 1 1/2" blue circle:

And lastly, one of my favorites: here is the scallop nested on top of a white 1 1/4" circle, nested on top of a green 1 3/8" circle, nested on top of a blue 1 1/2" Circle:

Note: I have NOT tried or used the newest Stampin Up Scallop Punch which is much larger - so I can't tell you much about that. I don't really do much with square punches (isn't that odd? LOL!) I do own a 1 3/8" square punch. But I hardly use it. Other favorite shaped punches:

Stampin Up Word Window Punch: there's lots you can do with this one. It's great for stamping or punching out printed greetings onto a small strip...

or even to create an opening to slide a gift card or small treat into (in this photo, the Kit Kat bars slide into the holder via a window that was punched using this punch)

Stampin Up Round Tab Punch: this is great for adding greetings & also in scrapbooking you can add captions to photos. You can also use it for other things like the topper of a Christmas Tree Ornament, or to join 2 circles together to make a circle card: (NOTE: in this pic below, you can see that I nested a 1 1/4" circle onto a 1 3/8" circle onto the SU! Scallop Punch. The Reindeer stamp is from "Deer Friends" stamp set from SU! and fits *perfectly* into a 1 1/4" circle punch)

Oval Punches: I own a few Oval Punches through Stampin Up which I also think are great to have. They don't really nest that nicely, but they are still fun to use together:

Here is what they look like punched out & nested on top of each other just to give you an idea:

They are the 2" x 1 3/8" Oval Punch and 1 3/4" x 7/8" Oval Punch. I used them in this project to create these mittens (I stole this mitten idea from my SU! Demo Michelle. If you are looking for a SU! Demo to order through I highly recommend her! She does long distance clubs I believe too!)

Border Punches: I love me some border punches. They are such fun. I suppose I have a slight obsession with ones that are scallop-like in shape, no?

The ones pictured above are from (left to right):

Fiskars Apron Lace Punch

Stampin Up Scallop Edge Punch

Stampin Up Scallop Trim Border Punch

Fiskars Threading Water Border Punch

I own many more border punches. Mostly all EK Success, Fiskars, Martha Stewart. They are all great brands.

My recommendation for most stampers would be to build your circle punch collection. I can honestly say that I consistently use most all of my circles. (there are many stamps designed to fit inside circles - so it helps to have various sizes on hand so that you can make it work to whatever stamp you're using) Look for bargains (Joann.com usually has great sales & I believe they carry the EK Success Paper Shapers).

As for larger circles - I don't have any punches larger than 2". Once you get up over 2" the punch becomes somewhat cumbersome to use. At that point I will either use a circle cutter or my Cricut/Silhouette to cut the size out that I want.

I hope this post answers some of your questions. If I have let anything out, please leave me a comment & I will try to get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks!