My wrought iron punch is bending the paper!
 

Is there something I'm doing wrong? I love this punch but it does bend the paper on the inside edge, so I always have to tweak the design with my fingernail to make it look nice. Is there any way around this?

Is your punch slightly blunt. Try punching foil and wax paper (seperately) and this will sharpen your punch and it should then work much easier.

Yesterday, I tried punching foil first (a few times) and then waxed paper. Still bending the paper. When you punch foil and waxed paper, do you do a single layer? I folded the foil so it would be stiffer, then punched it. Same with the waxed paper. (side note: both the foil and the waxed paper kept getting stuck inside the punch so I had to struggle a bit to get the little pieces out!)

I think it's supposed to bend your paper somewhat. I know I sometimes have to "ease" my paper out of the punch because of the little pocket that is created. The inside of the "heart" curls down sightly so you can tuck your photo or your other paper in. Maybe it's supposed to do that or is yours doing something strange?

I have the same problem with mine and it's not a Stampin Up punch. Mine is by EK Success and it does the same thing. I guess it's just the nature of that design.

When you use foil and/or wax paper you definitely need to double up the layers - single layers won't help and often get stuck in the punch.

Foil sharpens the punch
Wax paper lubricates the punch to help it operate more smoothly

If your punches ever jam and won't release the cardstock, place them in the freezer for a few minutes (10-15) and the cold will shrink the metal and release the punch. Then do the foil / wax paper routine to sharpen and free them up. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I'm beginning to think maybe it's a problem with my punch, and foil and waxed paper don't seem to help. Darn...