GCD Studios Technique:: Creating Borders With Punches

I've got a simple, quick tutorial to share with you today but it's one that can make a big impact on a layout. I love the ready-made borders in the Artsy Urban collection and used a couple on my layout but also created a border of my own using punches.

My layout is fairly simple but it's about a very important routine in our house - when daddy comes home from work! The girls are usually eating supper but they flip out when their dad comes through the door, and I was able to capture it all on camera. 

I used patterned paper from both the Artsy Urban and Lydia collections and the border strips, epoxy sticker, paper clip, brads, journaling block, crocheted flower and chipboard title are all from Artsy Urban.

Here's a close-up of my title. I used one of the starburst punches above the chipboard title with a brad.

Here's a close-up of my journaling.

And finally, that brings us to my punched border strip.

First, I selected two patterned papers that I wanted to use. The maroon pattern is from Artsy Urban and the gray pattern is from Lydia.

Next, I selected a punch...this starburst by Martha Stewart. I punched several starbursts from the patterned paper. 

I left my starbursts in tact but one way to make a punched shape go further when creating a border like this one would be to cut them in half. 

I inked my shapes first and then adhered the starbursts underneath my photo. I partially covered them with one of the ready-made glitter border strips.

Using punches is a great way to get more out of your patterned papers!

Happy punching!

Jill