When I was a kid, I used to accompany my dad on his weekend errands. After breakfast at one of our small town eateries and visiting my grandmother, my dad and I always ended up at the hardware store where he would stand gazing at all the shiny tools. I supposed he was imagining what he could do with all of the tools and gadgets if they were in his work shop. These days, I tend to do the same thing, but I find myself gazing at tools in the art supply store instead of the hardware store. There are some pretty nifty, new-fangled craft tools these days and I thought I'd show you a few of the ones I find the most useful in a new showcase that I'm calling Name That Tool. Most of the tools in this showcase are for paper crafting.



This is a paper crimper; it makes folds in paper like a metal roof. 


These fringe scissors cut paper in thin strips. I can imagine using this paper fringe for Easter grass, doll hair, cowboy fringe or for streamers.


This multi-purpose tools works as a paper folder (also called a bone folder) on one end...


and a paper awl on the other end. You can use the paper awl for making holes for brads, for preparing holes in cardboard for children's sewing crafts, and for poking holes in patterns for pattern markings.


This is a nifty little paper punch...


...it punches a doily pattern. There are many patterns of paper punches available; they're great for decorating stationary, invitations, making beautiful page tabs in art journals and other paper projects.


This is another handy multi-purpose tool: 


It contains a small knife on one end...


It contains a bone folder one end, which is part of the area the hidden tweezers are.


Hidden tweezers and last but not least...


It contains a dotting tool in the middle; great for nail art!


This is a glue pen, good for gluing very small and detailed areas of work.


This has been a very useful tool; I call it a picker. One end picks up small pieces of paper and beads with a gum-like substance; these small pieces would be nearly impossible to grab and properly place with your fingers. The other end of this tool has two types of pointy tools for pressing down the paper or bead you've just picked up with the sticky end.

These two punches are not new, but ever so useful in all kinds of crafting. The small paper punch on the right punches holes in regular paper for brads or for pages you want to put in a binder. The heavy duty punch on the left is for punching holes of varying sizes and shapes in heavier materials like cardboard and leather. It's special design makes it very easy and effortless to make holes in heavy materials. I've used this big punch to add more holes to my belts and for layered leather projects-it also works on paper.

Stay tuned for the next round of Name That Tool, when I showcase another group of craft tools:)