Repetitive punched borders on a butterfly card.

So by now it is no secret that i love the Chiswick stamps. I wanted to make a quick card that involved layers, spotlighting and something a little delicate, like a border. So i set out to punch a whole bunch of paper strips with my favorite Chiswick border punch. I used a light colour so that the punched design will show up clearly and it did. Repetition is one of the key things in designing - repeating a pattern,a colour, an image or a theme will always work whether you are designing a layout or a card.

i layered the punched borders at the bottom edge of my card. For the top of my card i used my favorite butterfly stamp together with a quick resist technique. I love the effect! I first completed my technique part and then punched a section of of my card, and then raised it using foam tape to add dimension – this technique is called spotlighting – you are placing the “spotlight” onto a selected area of your card or stamp design.

I embossed the butterfly in clear embossing powder on an inked background – the clear embossing captures the colours underneath in a separate layer!

I then inked over the entire card with a dark brown which resisted the embossed butterfly. I misted, splattered and spritsed different types of ink and water onto the inked background giving it a wonderfully interesting effect in different colours.

I also stamped random images on the background in black and grey – imperfect and random! and here’s how i did it step x step using the Chiswick products: step 1 – Create a background by inking a piece of smooth white cardstock with 2 colours of ink. Leave it to dry.

step 2 – Ink the butterfly stamp with an embossing ink and add clear embossing powder. Heat set the image using your Chiswick heat gun until fully melted.

step 3 - Use a third darker colour of ink and ink over the entire surface. The ink will highlight the embossed butterfly and make it stand out.

step 4 – punch 5 borders from the same patterned paper or cardstock and adhere them overlapping each other. Start from the bottom upwards on your card so that the last border can be decorated and finished off in a creative way!

And there you have another new technique and a different way of how you can creatively use your Chiswick stamp sets! Try this technique on cards and on your next layout, in different colours and using different stamp sets. All these products are available from Chiswick – for more info visit their website and visit your nearest craft store. www.chiswick.co.za