Eyelet Border Card with the Gypsy

I love to use border punches but it can be tricky to get them perfectly lined up for a nice card edge.  Some border punches are not sized to fit neatly on a card front.  With Design Studio or the Gypsy, I can create card blanks with "punched" borders that are a perfect fit and save my hands from all that punching!  I started making bordered cards this way a couple of years ago and I have learned a few helpful tricks along the way.

I had my Gypsy along on the trip to Virginia so I worked on a few of these designs while I was flying back and forth.  I decided to make a design using only the preloaded Gypsy cartridges.  This is the image I used.  The keywords identify it as "watermelon, half circle or grapefruit" - I thought of it as a lemon slice!

I added a group of seven of the images to the mat.  I prefer to make borders with an uneven number of images so there will be an obvious centerpoint to the design.  On the Gypsy the kerning I applied was -.12 and the scallops were evenly spaced when the kerning was applied.  In Design Studio you usually need to fix the kerning by nudging a few items in order to get even spacing.

I then changed the length of the group to 5.5 inches so it would make a border for an A2 card.  On the Gypsy the sizing can be locked to stay proportional or unlocked to allow the height and width to be individually adjusted.  Design Studio does not have this proportional sizing and there is no way to lock the aspect ratio when you change one dimension.  I generally use the lower right "handle" to get the size as close to my intended size as possible and then type in the final values.

To create the base of the card I needed to use this square from the Gypsy Font cartridge.  There is not a perfect square on the Gypsy Wanderings cartridge (I discovered this on another project - it doesn't really matter since both of the Gypsy cartridges are preloaded on the Gypsy so you will have a square).

I used one guideline rectangle to figure out the sizing for the card with the "punched" border.  I placed the 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inch rectangle on the mat, added the border section and then added a rectangle adjusted to the width to fit with the punched border.  The border and this rectangle are then welded to create the card base.  The guideline rectangle should be moved to another page or deleted before the design is cut.

I am using Design Studio screen shots to show you the steps but you can not cut this design from the computer - it uses the Gypsy cartridges so can only be cut with the Gypsy.  You can click on any of the screen shots to see a larger version.

 I set up a 12 x 12 mat to cut two card bases with eyelets borders at once.

I cut the card base from Core'dinations Gemstone cardstock in opal.  I used multi cut 2  times to be sure that the eyelet sections would be cut cleanly.

I scored the card at 4 1/4 inches on my Scor-Pal  to create a neat fold in the heavy cardstock.

Once I had the card base cut I could quickly pull together a card by adding a layer, a sentiment and some gems.

I added some glittery striped cardstock from the DCWV "Linen Closet" stack.

The "Thanks" sentiment is from the Gypsy Wanderings cartridge.  I cut the top layer in the same opal Gemstone cardstock and the shadow layer in a darker tan cardstock.

The card was quite simple but also shiny and pretty- it just needed a little something more...

 I added some Creative Charms small gradient gem stickers in blue along the eyelet border.  I put one more on the tail of the "s" just for fun!

I can use this same card base cut over and over.  I can even prepare some of these bases when I am not very busy and then have them on hand to decorate.

There are many more images that will work to create a punched border effect for your cards.  I think I gave enough details about how to create your own file that you should be able to make one of your own.  If you have trouble and want me to post the file (after I "clean it up" a bit!), please leave a comment and let me know you need it.

Link to Gypsy file added 9/30 - 


A2 Eyelet Edge Card


There are just a couple of days left to purchase the Creative Charms Deal of the Month for September  - this deal comes in a boy or girl version and includes $24.00 worth of product for just $7.99 - here is a LINK to the page on their site.  New deals for October will be announced soon...

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