I have a little challenge for you today that is sure to inspire AND help stretch your supplies to their full potential! Double bonus! When I get a new scrapbooking tool or artsy medium, I like to brainstorm a list of ideas for using my fun new product. I also like to keep a pack of Avery Shipping Tags on hand to give all these ideas a trial run on a smaller scale before I take them to the next level on a layout or project.

I recently acquired one of Jenni Bowlin Studio's new Grandma's Doily punches by Fiskars. Now this punch can be a little intimidating at first since it's not what we usually expect from a punch. Instead of punching OUT a diecut, it punches a design INto the background paper. Interesting. I thought about this for a while and then got busy creating. Here are the ideas I came up with; I'd love to see your ideas!


Using the negative space from punches is wildly popular in scrapbooking right now. This look will give a nice airy feeling to your work.


My first thought was to make my own stencils with the punch. For the left image I wanted to try paint. I punched a line of three doillies onto a piece of scrap cardstock for my stencil. I then lightly adhered the mask to my tag with removeable adhesive. For best results with paint and stencils use a paint dabber or a very dry paintbrush. Heavy paint use with a stencil leads to bleeding under the edges and a less crisp image.

For the right image I punched the doily six times and then misted it. Again, it is helpful to use a removable adhesive with your homemade stencil. Mist causes warping of cardstock. This warping then allows the mist to go under the design area leading to a fuzzy image. Using the removeable adhesive prevents this problem.

Never throw away your scraps without giving them a thoughtful once over! The tag on the right here was created with stencil that I used with the mist. This has another technique that I like with a negative punch. Backing them with a nice patterned paper gives a nice punch of color.

On the left you see a more traditional use of a punch. Simply punch the negative image into paper, then use a circular punch to create a medallion embellishment that you can use anywhere on your page or project.


This tag has my most complicated punch technique. I wanted to incorporate some glitter into my design which required a little layering. Glitter can also be difficult to work with, so I did a careful analysis of my process before I got started. I find that the less glitter is touched the better.

These are the steps I followed to get this nicely glittered layered medallion:

1. Punch Grandma's Doily into patterned paper and then punch it out with a circle punch.
2. Punch a slightly larger circle from a piece of scrap cardstock.
3. Adhere the cardstock circle to the tag.
4. Lay the Doily over the circle and pencil mark the center.
5. Remove the doily and place a glue dot topped with a punched paper dot scrap over your pencil mark.
6. Paint glue onto the chipboard circle with a paintbrush, avoiding the gluedot center.
7. Apply glitter and shake off excess.
8. Layer on the doily, add another glue dot to the center and finish with a pearl or rhinestone.

Now what will you do with all your pretty tags? These would make great Valentine's. They could also be added to layouts, packages, or cards. I've decided to use mine for Coke tags. Believe me, teachers will LOVE this gift!


See more  Doris Sander's  work on her blog and at Jenni Bowlin Studio.