To date, no single book has shown decorative artists how to design and paint beautiful decorative borders and ornamentation. Part of the problem is that decorative painters have trouble seeing that borders, just like any other design element such as a rose or a leaf, are "built" one brushstroke at a time in a repeating pattern. This one-of-a-kind book shows readers how to create an amazing variety of borders and embellishments using the simplest of strokes-comma strokes, C-strokes and S-strokes. It also provides hundreds of ideas that can be copied directly from the pages. This combination of "how-to" and "swipe file" content make The Big Book of Decorative Borders a must-have reference for decorative painters, crafters, do-it-yourselfers and interior decorators. Readers will find more than 500 different border designs made out of dozens of different elements, including flowers, leaves, vines, scrolls, shells, lace, ribbons, bows, children's themes and more. Also included are guidelines for blowing up patterns to the proportions needed for any size job, from decorative boxes to entire rooms!