Medallion Tutorial

I've been asked by several people to do a tutorial on my medallion technique that I've used on quite a few cards like this one and this one and even this one. My first medallion card I made was for a challenge at Splitcoast and the originator of that medallion was Becca Feeken. You can view her tutorial here. However, my medallion is different because I do not punch on the inside of the circle, I punch on the outside of the circle. This card here shows the inward punch.

The first step is to cut out a circle (I use the largest Nestability Standard Circle) which measures 3 3/4" diameter:

Next I align the top of the punch (which is facing down) with the bottom edge of the circle. I can just barely see the edge of the paper. I try to make sure that the punch is in pretty evenly:

As you can see here, there is a space at the top of the punch (which is at the bottom here). All of those outer pieces will fall away as you punch through. If they don't, which you'll see at the end, they can be easily trimmed:

This is the hard part. Very carefully, align the bottom edge of the punch with the bottom edge of the paper. While doing this, you need to line up the last punch with the next one. In other words, there will be just a slight space showing from the last punch. This is also where things can go awry. Too much space between and you won't have enough room for all the punches equally. Too little room and the punches start to overlap:

Don't give up! When photographing this tutorial I had to make 3 circles! PRACTICE, PRACTICE! It's worth it ;)

Here are those stubborn edges. Just carefully snip them off:

You'll notice that not all of the arches in between are equal. That's fine, that is what helps me to deterimine where to put my pearls or other adornments:

I have used other punches, but this one works well and is just so pretty!

Hope this helps, sorry there is no mathematical equation to get this right, just good ole practice!
Most importantly, though, is to have FUN!