Paper Saving Tip

We all love to get the most out of our precious papers, right?  Well, today I figured out how to make punching and stamping more cost efficient.

Stampin' Up! Regional's are coming to Phoenix - Yayyyy! on February 11th, so that means it's time to make some swaps to exchange with the other excited stampers there.  My card involves little 1" and 1 1/4" squares and I was having a hard time knowing where to stamp so I could stamp first and then punch out what I stamped.  If I punched first, then I had a hard time stamping on that little square and not making it look just awful.

So... here is my solution.  Brilliant if I do say so myself!  No doubt someone else thought of this and tried it, but I haven't seen it anywhere, so I'll assume this is my very own creation!  Ha! 

I took a piece of 8 1/2 by 11 and punched across the short edge as many squares as I could fit with giving enough room between to be frugal but also give enough room for straightening if I stamped a bit crooked.

Using a little bit of Dotto (103305), a temporary adhesive, I was able to attach the template to my paper for stamping.  My original small template I tried at first was the same color, Whisper White, but I discovered having a different color cardstock made it easier to find the center.

After I have a row stamped, I remove the template and punch them out.  I did all the 1" ones first so that I didn't have the space you see in between.  As soon as I punch that row, I trim off the little excess and start stamping again.  Then when I was ready for the 1 1/4" punch, I just turned the template the other way.

I hope this little trick helps you like it's helping me.  It's working like a charm!  So now, I'm heading back to stamping and punching so I can get my swaps assembled.  Regional will be here before I know it!!

~ Donna