How to make laser-cut jewelry for Valentine's Day

Step 9 Tiling to create a pattern

Now I am going to create a pattern using the outline of the butterfly that I have just created.

Firstly I shrink the butterfly down. If you hold down 'ctrl' when you drag the corners, the butterfly will scale while keeping the width and height proportions the same. I then align the butterfly with a guide line so that i can create my pattern in a straight line.

I copy and paste the butterfly onto the page and rotate it 90 degrees. If you hold 'Ctrl" again it will rotate and snap to the common degree increments. I scale it so the width of the second butterfly is the same as the height of the first butterfly. I drag another guide onto the page to help me with this. I then position it where i think it will be good.

I paste another butterfly the same as the first onto the page and position it. I then copy and paste the second butterfly. I then rotate it 180 degrees and position it. I now have a series of 4 butterflies which will be the basis for my pattern.

I copy and paste the series of 4 and position it next to the first. I then copy and paste all 8 and line up along the guide lines. Now that i have the top line complete I group them all.

I copy and paste the top line. I use another guide as the reference for the left hand side and another i position in the middle of the top left butterfly. I am going to offset the pattern so this will help me do this.