Monday, June 11, 2012

1O Things You Can do with: A Circle Punch


A circle punch is a basic supply that I would guess nearly every paper crafter owns in at least one size.  No matter how many punches you have, a circle punch never gets boring or outdated.  Today we have ten ideas of things to do with a circle punch.  You'll see a variety of sizes used and a wide variety of ideas from simple to complex.
1. Create garland.
Inspired by a manufacturer's pre-packaged garland, Practical Scrapper Anncreated her own with a circle punch and her sewing machine, then adding some folds for more dimension.


2. Create some bubbles.
Practical Scrapper Jenny created bubbles by punching circles out of acetate and adding glitter glue to the edges. (Sketch by K. Davidson - Creative Scrappers: Creating with Sketches ebook)
3. Use them over a transparency to create focal point on a layout
Practical Scrapper Donna stitched punched circles over a transparency

4. Create a window card 
5. Create flower petals
Practical Scrapper Kerri first used a large 2 1/2" circle punch to punch the yellow flowered paper.  She then took a 2" punch to punch out the  center to create a framed window where she then stamped her sentiment.  Then to create the half flower embellishment, she layer a 1" circle on top of a 1 1/4" circle  that she punch out, folded and glued together pinching just the bottom to create a petal-like shape.
 6. Make pinwheels
Practical Scrapper Claude made pinwheels by punching circles out of patterned paper. She then cut four slits, stopping approximately 1/4" from the middle.  She rolled one side around a pencil toward the center and glued it down, repeating 3 more times. She finally added a brad to finish it off.
7. Mimic 2 strips of patterned paper
Practical Scrapper Claude used several punched circles to mimic the look of 2 strips of patterned paper, giving it a more whimsical feel. (Sketch by JJ Sobey - Love My Tapes Design Team member)

8. Use a circle punch to create negative space in a straight line and add an interesting accent.
On this layout Practical Scrapper Alumni Lisa H. used a circle punch to punch a half circle in the upper right corner of her layout - a great way to accent or frame an embellishment! Lisa also doodled around the edges of her upper crest border punch strip to make it pop against the patterned paper. Layout is based on a sketch by Julie Bonner

9. Get creative with scissors and give your circles crazy edges to make flowers.
Practical Scrapper Christine used circle punches and then fringed the circles to make them look like Dandelions.


1O. Punch a variety of sizes of circles and use them to create a background for a card or layout.
Practical Scrapper Christine combined some of her favorite colors to create a simple but striking card.  She embossed over the top of the circles to add more dimension.


3 comments:

Karen AKA Soccerboyzmom said...

I have shyed away from circles but this has helped me think outside of the box.

Kristie Maynard said...

Another wonderful "10 things" post! Some great ideas here. You are so right there are a lot of things that can be done with that circle punch and it never seems to grow old, does it?

Deborah Johnson said...

Totally sweet ideas - just ordered two circle punches from my sister - cannot wait to try to scraplift a few ideas from ya'll.