New Piercing Templates

I attended a SplitcoastStampers.com stamp/swap day gathering in my area this past weekend and had tons of fun hanging out with old friends (not that they are old, but you get my drift!).  One of those Texas sweethearts (even though she's about to move out of our great state, we'll still consider her a Texan!), Jody Morrow (aka TexasJodyLynn) brought the coolest tool I've seen lately.  It's just the plastic canvas that you can do yarn/needle work crafts on, but she put it to a totally different use . . . as a paper piercing template/guide!  Here's what I mean:

You know how hard it is to pierce holes around circle shapes?  Using the normal square piercing guide, you have to constantly turn it around the circle, hoping to keep somewhat within your circle shape.  But Jody found the plastic canvas in circle shapes AND with these shapes, you can just select whatever size will fit the circle shape you want to pierce around!  The only thing is that the holes are larger than your piercing tool, so you'll want to select a certain spot within the hole, to use consistently around your shape.

You'll see the smaller round template on the lower left of my photo above, laying on my small set of Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Circles -- it is 3" in width, so it will fit your smaller sizes of Nestabilities.

The larger template is shown on the lower right of the photo and measures 5.75" in width.  As you can see, this size will fit all the sizes of Nestabilities.

Now, what about the other dilemma we have with a too-small piercing template that isn't even the size of a normal A2 (4.25" x 5.50") card?  Just get this large (10.50" x 13.50") sheet of plastic canvas and cut it to the size you want!  This type of canvas comes in different holes sizes (for lack of a better description, like Aida cloth).  This size is #10, which is smaller than the shaped templates and your piercing tool fits perfectly in the holes.  Now I can make a template that is A2 sized and also have a separate square template!

The next best part of this fabulous discovery is the price:  I found a 10-pack of the small circles at Hobby Lobby (in the yarn crafting area) for $1.17!  The large circle was just .39 cents and the large square canvas was .79 cents!

So hop on over to Jody's blog and show her some love for this great idea!  She also has some photos posted from this weekend, but it looks like we forgot to get one together!  You can also keep a watch on her blog, as she does fabulous ribbon shares about once a month, usually with that luscious May Arts ribbon.  Thanks for sharing your discovery, Jody!

Comments

[Jennifer Love]

I had used these before because I had them leftover for like 20 years ago when I did the plastic canvas ornaments as a teenager. LOL! I didn't know that it wasn't a "known" source...I haven't used them on cards yet because I'm new to cardmaking, but I used them LOTS of scrapbook pages. Glad to see everyone will be able to use this fabulous and cheap, easy resource.

Tip for keeping it straight and evenly spaced is to rest your piercing tool on the same corner in each square of the canvas...if that makes sense...I'm not terribly good at explaining and I've written a book here. LOL

[Jennifer Love]

And PS--It also works well on the Coluzzle circles, too. :)

[Jennifer Love]

Sorry...geez...gosh...I keep going on don't i? Anyway, you can draw shapes on the canvas with a sharpie and make swirls and follow it as a template. :D HTH

[Jody Morrow]

Thanks, Sharon. :) You are a total sweetie!

[diane M]

What a brilliant idea! I just ran across a full sized sheet of the plastic canvas yesterday when I was reorganizing old craft supplies. I'll have to try this. Thank you!

[Beth]

Sharon- Thanks so very much for sharing this wonderful hint with us! I'm on my way over to give Jody a big cyber hug!

[Grace]

Sharon,

Thank you so much! I have been wanting some sort of template for paper piercing for a while now. I've got the tool and pad, but no template. This is a wonderful solution (and very inexpensive)! Thanks so much to both you and Jody!

[chris mott]

Well isn't that the coolest thing. I really wanted to make that gathering too, but my son had prom. Maybe next year. Would have love to met you all. Have a wonderful weekend. chris

[Otter]

OMG!!! How awesome!!

[emilymomto3boys]

That Jody is so awesome!!

[Maria]

great tip. they are on my shopping list for my next craft run!!!

[Teryl]

Great ideas! I've never seen the plastic canvas before, but will start looking. TFS

[Karen]

Does anyone know if you could run these plastic templates through a die cut machine? Just wondering...maybe I will go try it. Might be fun to do shapes with!

[Conniecrafter]

that is just so cool, love the round ones that has got to be the hardest! Thanks so much for sharing!

[Carolyn King]

Awesome--glad you found them--have to hit the Hobby Lobby today!

It was great meeting you last weekend. You are always an inspiration!

[Rose Ann]

What a great idea!! Thanks so much for sharing this, Sharon!!

[Emily]

Well, slap my forehead!! Gonna have to pick some of those up!

Thanks for sharing, Sharon!

[Charlene Austin (Willow01)]

I lucked out!! I read your blog this morning and then went to a craft store I had never been to before and these were staring me in the face. And it's great there are 10 in a pack so I have lots to share with my friends!!!

[Jennifer Rohkohl]

You and Jody are brilliant! Thanks for sharing your wonderful ideas.

Hugs,

Jen