Martha Stewart Punches !

I have the 'Monarch Butterfly' corner and border set - and it is driving me crazy!! In spite of folowing the instructions to the letter I cannot make them 'punch around the page' as they are supposed to do. I am always left with either a gap or a butterfly with a wrecked wing !

Yes - I know I can just use them for corners or single borders - but they were bought specifically for the whole page effect and are far too expensive to be left sulking in a drawer.

Was delighted to see this weeks 'Thursday Technique' dealt with a similar idea and tried following those instructions - with no luck.

Has anyone any hints/tips please ?

Have you tried it with all the different sizes of paper? I know it should work with all of them, and if you find just one that works it doesn't really help, lol, but if you try it with all of them then you can categorically say that it's not working, in which case I would take it back to wherever you bought it from.

Also, looking at the Thursday tutorial, there are more measurements there than will work with MS punches. Starting from 3 1/4", you need to go up in 1 3/4" increments. So the next size will be 5", then 6 3/4, then 8.5, then 10 1/4, then 12. The sizes in between won't work.

Having said all that, it sounds as though there's something not quite right with your punch, because as I said before, it should definitely work with all those six sizes.

ETA: I have noticed quite a few similar complaints from people on other forums as well :(

I haven't got the butterfly one but I do have a couple of others. I'm guessing that you've followed the sizing & instructions of the leaflet that came with the punch? If the sizing is right on the paper/cardstock it should line up correctly after you have punched all four corners first and then do the sides, lining the punch up with the pattern on the actual punch itself.
Would this video help?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p1p5yV2NpI

ETA - I've just looked at the measurements that is on Carol's instructions. If you're following these measurements they won't work with a MS punch, she's using Stamping Up punches with her instructions.
As Helen mentioned and also in the attached video the measurements need to be 1 3/4" increments for the Martha Stewart punches.

Measurements have to be accurate to get the around the page look. I have quite a few and they all work when I get measurements right:0)

Thank you all for your helpful comments and a special thank you to Gwyneth for the video - all sorted now, you have saved my sanity !

Now I will have go and make something to dazzle Carol in the 'Thursday Technique' section !

You're welcome :) Glad you got there in the end and that's a lovely card you've made.
There'll be no stopping you now LOL.
I don't make that many cards now, I concentrate on scrapbooking but I do like the idea of just using the corner only punch to punch the four corners of the card that's on that video too.

Oh Martha! I had to return my first corner/edge set because it would not cut in one spot. Back to you. Have you tried using it upside down? I have found that I cant always rely on given measurements. I dont know how many times 12x12 paper wasnt 12x12 and those little bits can really make a difference. I would get a piece of thin printer paper and watch how it cut the corner, and re-adjust to get it just right. Line up the edge with the perfect cut corner. Trial and error seems to work for me lol