Technique Class - Doodling Borders

Doodling is lots of fun... most of us do it without even thinking and sometimes we're quite surprised by the end result.  I think it's because we don't worry too much about what we're drawing, we just let the pen wander over the page without worrying if it looks right.

Doodling is also a great way to add borders to your paper craft projects.  The single, most important thing to remember about doodling borders is REPETITION.  What you draw doesn't have to be perfect, the pattern just has to repeat itself.  Let me show you what I mean....

 

 

I have lots of different sorts of pens, mostly because I buy them when I come across them.  I try to keep a wide selection of nib sizes so that I can create very fine lines right up to very thick, bold lines.  Different pen nibs will give you different results, so make sure you have a go with lots of different types of pens.  Oh, and you certainly don't need to purchase the most expensive brands... check out what the local newsagent or office supply store carries, you'll be amazed at their range.  (If you're a scrapbooker, make sure the pens you are using are acid free.)

 

 

Let's start with a little heart border.  For this I used a brush tip pen.

 

All you need to do is draw a "V"...

 

... then draw a few more.  I use a ruler to keep my hearts evenly spaced.  Don't actually push your pen up against the side of the ruler or your doodling will have a funny flat edge rather than being nice and fluid.

 

If you've spaced the hearts far enough apart, you can add some more doodling between each one.

 

I added a dot...

 

... and then a couple of dashes.

You will have noticed along the way that none of my hearts were perfectly symmetrical, my dots didn't line up evenly and my dashes were all over the place.  However, when you look at the doodling as a whole you don't see any of those individual imperfections.  When you go on to create a card with lots of other elements, the imperfections in your doodling are even less obvious!

 

This next type of doodled border is my favourite because it's so quick and easy and looks great on most projects.  All you need to do is draw a line.  Don't use a ruler and don't try to keep it straight.  Don't draw it too quickly and don't wiggle your pen around, just relax and draw.

 

Now draw another line over the top of the first.  Let it flow nicely, crossing and touching the first line you drew.  You can add as many lines as you like, even varying the thicknesses, until you are happy with the results.

 

Our next border is very simple but also looks great.  Using your ruler as a spacing guide, draw dots at regular intervals.  You can either use a nice thick pen to place a single dot or actually draw a tiny little circle.

 

Try it again with little crosses instead of dots, or squares, triangles, spirals... whatever you can think of.

 

Now turn your paper on it's side and again using the ruler as a guide, draw some long stretched out "S" shapes.  You can either leave a little space between them or actually touch them together.

 

Now you have a whole lot of simple doodled borders.

 

If you want to get creative or add extra embellishing to your doodled borders, go back and add extra little bits here and there.  For the two line border, I filled in the spaces with small diagonal hatch lines.

 

I added a couple of dashes between each "S" shape.

 

Three dots fit nicely between each of the little crosses...

 

... and it was easy to place a dash between each of the dots.

 

I used a fine line pen to draw a rough heart shape around each of the "V" shapes.

 

Let your imagination, and your pen, run wild to create your own unique borders on your paper craft projects.  It's lots of fun!  And remember, it doesn't have to be perfect... just repetitive!

 

 

Photos and instructions copyright Beccy Muir.

All rights reserved.