Around the Bend!

Supplies used: Paper, cardstock and letter stickers from MemoryWorks Express Kit November, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch, Ranger Glossy Accents, Stickles-Red, holly leaves, metal brad.

I loved "fancy" edges to my papers which is why I was super excited when we added Fiskars border punches to our catalog. Most people think these just punch "in a straight line" and when you get to the end the crossed punched areas don't look very "pretty" let alone perfect. It doesn't have to be so, with a simple trick you can get beautiful corners with your Fiskars border punches.

First you need to do some inspection with your punches. Find the grid line where the punch starts. This will be your "guide line" for step one

Then insert your paper using the guide line and punch at the edge. Continue punching to the end of the paper (like you would for a straight edge punch) Now you need to take out your paper FLIP the punch over so you can see the punch plate. (Turn the punch upside down) Insert the same corner you punched only turning it at a 90 degree angle to punch the other side of the corner. Looking through the punch plate you need to line up your paper to get your corner.

There are two things to watch for

1) Lining up the punch "hole"(or 1/2 hole depending on the design.) Designs like threading waters you use the entire hole, for designs like apron lace you use 1/2 and cut at a right angle. If you cannot line up the image (either half or full) then it might be necessary to trim the edge down a bit until you can line up the image properly.

2) Punching the entire edge. When you line up the punch around the corner, you need to make sure there is adequate paper beyond the punch plate to be able to get the entire punched image. You can check this by making sure you see a bit of paper beyond the punch plate. (Also you will want to make sure it's straight as you might not be able to use the back stop for the paper. ) Therefore it is very important you line the design up with the image on base of the punch to keep your edge straight. Once you make your first punch you can flip it back over and punch normally. But like I said make sure you line up your punched design with the image on the base. Go slow and take your time. That last hole can be a bugger, if you punch the parallel sides first and start at the same spot on both sides it's a bit easier.

Happy Punching,