Basic Skills

Eyelet setters can come as separate tools or all-in-one. You can have spring loaded ones that require very little effort to use, but are more expensive to buy, or manual ones where you need to use some force use.

I have the manual type so all of the following instructions are using this. I do not have a special craft hammer, just a light weight DIY one as I found this to be a little heavier and therefore you do not need quite as much force.

Once you have your card layout ready and as you want it, you need to first make the holes in the pieces you wish to attach.

You can get different size hole punches and eyelets so make sure you have the same size. Place the card onto a solid surface. I found it best to work on a non-carpeted floor. Hold the punch tool in the place you want the eyelet and hit it straight on, firmly. You need to put in at least two of the holes in, so that you can keep it still and level whilst attaching the eyelet.

Push the eyelet through the hole you just made and turn the card over. Place the setter in the eyelet and hit it firmly with the hammer. Making sure you hit it straight.

The back of the eyelet can split so you will need to attach an insert to the card to cover up the sharp edges.

Brads are placed in the same way only they do not have holes all the way through.

Click here for an example of a card using eyelets.