Crop-A-Dile Review

As the mother of two active boys under the age of ten, I often find myself desperate to get out of the house to do my scrapbooking just so I can concentrate. Unfortunately, when you've been scrapbooking for almost a decade, you tend to accumulate a lot of tools and taking them with you to a crop can be a nightmare. That's one of many reasons I absolutely adore my We R Memory Keepers' Crop-A-Dile!

It has so many functions it's one of the best tools for a scrapbooker on the go or someone who doesn't have the money or space to invest in a lot of tools. If you think I'm exaggerating, let me begin by listing just the basic functions:

1) Hole Punch for both 1/8 and 3/8" holes

2) Paper Piercer

3) Eyelet Setter 

4) Grommet Setter

While this doesn't appear to be a long list, the functionality of these uses is much longer. You can punch holes for eyelets, brads, grommets, and almost anything else you may need a hole for. You can also punch holes from 1/16" to 1" from the side of your paper, and the ruler tool you use for this locks into place so all your holes are equidistant from the edge of your paper.

The setting mechanism at the top has four different "male" and "female" settings that will essentially fit any type of hardware you are using, and requires just one light squeeze to secure. Even someone with arthritis has almost no problem using the Crop-A-Dile.

The handles are covered in rubber so they're easy on your skin, and they move easily and effectively. Although the handles are relatively large, it works so well that only a child would be concerned with the size.

If nothing you've read so far has captured your attention, perhaps this will: You can use the Crop-A-Dile to punch through almost any crafting product: Chipboard, cardboard, acrylic, plastic, even Compact Discs! So far, I haven't found anything in my craft room that the Crop-A-Dile doens't punch right through like butter! It's amazing how easy it is to use, and because of the versatiility, its uses increase exponentially!

From chipboard mini-albums to personalized 3-ring binders, I've used the Crop-A-Dile for at least 100 projects in the two years I've owned it. Whether I'm at home or at a crop, it's compact, lightweight and plays a lot of different roles. It's popular amongst my friends, too, because it's virtually silent. The days of being sent out into the hallway to pound away at your eyelets are hopefully gone forever!

For a compact, relatively inexpensive tool (under $25 most places), I don't know what I would do without it. It's always in my tool tote, ready to transport from table to table or from home to a crop, and I wind up demonstrating it almost every time I use it in public. The fact that you can get it in pink, lavender or lime green makes it attractive to most crafters and easy to identify in a crowd, although I would love for the manufacturer to add a name plate somewhere so that I could put my name on it!

The only negative is the fact that you can't punch a hole "anywhere" and are limited to the one-inch border from the edge of whatever you're working on. Personally, I don't find that much of a deterrent because it's rare that I put a hole in the middle of a 12-inch piecce of paper! I'd really like one in red, too, since that's the color of my craft room, but I guess you can't have everything!

This is really one of the best investments you'll ever make in scrapbooking tools. If you don't have one, you should really consider it. I don't know what I did before I got mine, but it's a lot like my American Express card; I never leave home without it!