My (older) sister is a card designer and scrapbooker.  I asked her one day what she does with all of the punches that are the result of her creative endeavors.  I do not remember what she said, but I do remember a crafty idea that hatched in my head that day.

I had recently read an article on making jewelry with substances other than metals.  I thought that if I could turn the punches into paperbeads, I could place them on a headpin and have a delicately-designed pair of earrings.  With all of the wonderful papers available, this could open up a whole new realm of design possibilities.  I wasn’t convinced I could do it.  Just daydreaming at the time.

Some weeks later, I was in Des Moines, IA in a furniture store (no kidding) and I actually saw some paper earrings!  I set out the next day to construct my own pair.  I purchased some nice card stock to make the punches and picked up some other supplies I thought I might need.

The first thing I did was punch out some shapes that could be assembled easily enough, look pleasant from three sides, and be able to form a small hole through the middle of the object for findings to pass through.  For my maiden try, I chose a small butterfly that I punched out of a heavy damask-like cardstock.  The biggest challenge was arranging the items so that it looked even from all three sides.

Here are the earrings!  I selected some complimentary findings in sterling silver and decided to turn them into dangles.  The only caveat: try not to get them wet!