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Monday, May 31, 2010

Tutorial: How to make your own doilies using corner punches


Happy Memorial day everyone, hope you had a safe, fun weekend!

I want to share a little tutorial with you all today. While browsing various blogs lately, I've seen a couple of crafters using small doilies from Martha Stewart in their paper projects. There was even a post about it on Splitcoast Stampers, and apparently they're hard to find in stores. Well, not too long ago I was experimenting with some new corner punches and had a lightbulb moment. Was it possible to make my own doilies with these corner punches? I set out to try. Sure enough, I had some success! I've only experimented with a few different kinds of punches, and some worked better than others. For example, this Layered Arch worked really well, while the Modern Garland wasn't the best looking in my opinion. The Quilted Corner worked really nicely, as well. 
Also, the size of the circle is really important too. For the Layered Arches, I used the Nestabilities small circle #1 and it worked out almost perfectly. I found that I could use the small circles with more success than the large. 
Here are a few pics that will illustrate how it's done. You can click on them to make them larger. 

Although the punches have these slide out tabs for easy alignment of corners, you can still slide your paper circle right over them without taking them apart like other corner punches. 
When lining the circle up along the edge of the circle, try to make sure the punch design is centered evenly. Be careful not to have it angled to the right or the left, instead, aim the center of the design towards the center of the circle. 

Each time you punch around the circle, make sure to line up the left side of the punch as close as you can to the previously punched design without actually overlapping. It takes some time, but I think the results are worth it! If you are careful, you will end up with a doily like the one pictured above, with small bit of paper still attached. Some corner punches don't come totally perfect, but it's close enough for government work, LOL! It's easy enough to snip these scraps off with small scissors, or a craft knife. 
That's it! Your own doily to coordinate with the edge punches! And you don't have to search high and low for the precut ones, because you can make different sizes on your own. 

So here's a finished card with one of the doilies:

        
Pretty, isn't it? Now dig out your corner punches and give it a try!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Stampavie
Ink: Memento
Paper: Heavenly White, Cosmo Cricket, Bazzill, PTI
Accessories: PTI twill ribbon, seam binding, Nestabilities, Martha Stewart punches, colored pencils, OMS

13 comments:

  1. Have to get myself a corner punch. This is a fabby idea!
    xMarie

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  2. What an awesome idea! Love your card too - very pretty!

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  3. That was awesome! Thanks for showing us how! I'm going to give it a try!

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  4. Yours turned out great; thanks for sharing!

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  5. What a great idea and it certainly is worth some experimenting! Thanks so much for sharing :) . They look great, Kathy!

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  6. What a great idea! Thanks for sharing...

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  7. How cool is that!!! Can't wait to try it out. Looks fab on your card.

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  8. I will have to get out my MS corner punches and try this....I love how it looks on your card...great idea!
    Off to give this a whirl.
    Lisa

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  9. hmm .. know what I'm going to try doing this morning ... Thanks for the tutorial :)

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  10. Great idea! Thanks for sharing!

    Arabella

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  11. Wow. That's a very neat trick. I'm gonna get myself one of these soon. Thanks for the tutorial. ;)

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  12. Thank you! I just found your blog and this post. I have been trying to track down the small Martha Stewart doilies and can't find them any where. Now, thanks to you, I am going to try to make my own. :)

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  13. Thanks so much, this is such a great idea! I love your card too. ~Diane

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