Tuesday Tip Take Your Pick Tool

It's Tuesday Tip: Take Your Pick Tool. First, if you are new here welcome! It's my job to make this site your go-to place for basic stamping tips, hacks and ideas. Today we are going to focus on the first one. The Take Your Pick Tool is one of the most used tools in my craft room. I use both the piercing and and the putty end for poking, picking up and even holding things in place. If you use this tool or a similar one be sure to read the Advanced Tips – these are things I've found very helpful that aren't in the instruction manual.

First what's this tool all about?

The basic tool comes with five tools. The first is a wide piercing point that you can use to not only make decorative holes in projects, but also poke die cut “bits” that get stuck on your die cut or in the die itself. You can also use it to move small objects around on your project. This can be especially helpful when something already has liquid adhesive on it and you just need to move it a smidge. Finally, you can use this end to secure small bows. Simply poke two holes fairly close to one another, loop each end of ribbon through and then tie your bow.

Next is the spatula tool. You'll fine it on the other end of the piercing tool. Simply unlock and pull the piercing tool out. Flip it around and now you have a spatula. You can use this to get under a layer to release adhesive so that you don't tear your project layers if you need to take them apart. You can also slide the spatula under a Mini Glue Dot or Stampin' Dimensional to release them from your project.

The third and fourth tool are two ends of another insert. You need to remove the piercing/spatula insert to use the wide and narrow score tools. You can use these score tools to make decorative lines on a project. You can also use the wide score end in your Paper Trimmer if you'd like wider score line than the tool provides.

The final tool fits into the opposite end from all the others. The putty tool can be used not only to pick things up, but also to hold them in place. Imagine that you have a scrap of card stock that is just a little bigger than the punch you are trying to use. You can use the Take Your Pick Tool – putty end – to move the scrap around and get it into the perfect position. But wait! There's more – this putty end can be your personal clean up tool for all those bits that end up on your craft table. How about those Stampin' Dimensional release hexagons? I find them everywhere! The putty tool can solve that problem before you walk away with one stuck to your shoe.

Here's the quick rundown:

Five Tools

Putty Tool
Piercing Tool
Spatula Tool
Narrow Scoring Tool
Wide Scoring Tool

Basic Uses

decorative holes in projects (piercing)
poke die cut “bits” (piercing)
poke die cut “bits” (piercing)
release Mini Glue Dot or Stampin' Dimensionals (spatula)
release card layer (spatula)
decorative lines (scoring ends)
deeper score on Paper Trimmer (wide scoring end)
pick up embellishments (putty)
clean up craft area (putty)

Advanced Uses

Pierce two holes to tie a bow (piercing)
Hold scrap inside a punch (putty tool)

You can also add the Die Brush Tip to your Take Your Pick Tool – whoa, that's a mouthful! This handy brush, which comes with a foam pad, quickly and easily removed all the pieces stuck inside an intricate die. You can also use it to remove those pieces, I call the “bits”, from the card stock that you ran through your die cutting machine. Just use a little restraint so you don't bend your beautifully cut die on the foam pad.