Crafting Ireland Issue 13

Issue 13 October 2012

I r ela n d ’ s f i rs t on lin e cra f t ma g a z in e....

In si de t h is issu e

S p ook y L a y ou ts !

H a llow e e n C a n vas

Haunted House A m az i n g R e ad e r O ffer o n p a g e 2 0 !!

WELCOME to Issue 13 of Crafting Ireland!

As always we have a fun tutorial packed issue for you all. By now you are all aware of the amazing work of our design team, and this issue is full of their fantastic work.

We have lots of fun projects, especially spooky Halloween ones!

You will have great fun playing with some of the techniques and creating some of these projects.

We have two little notices for you on upcoming events. The first is the Great Big Craft Extravaganza that is taking place on the 5th to the 7th of October in Athlone. You can see all the information on it on the website here.

We are both teaching classes at the event so make sure you

Submit your work - find out more at www.craftingirelandonline.ie 2

check out the site and look a the classes timetable. Timi will be showing you how to create her amazing style of layouts using Inktense blocks. Her class will include a kit containing the Inktense blocks too! Nicole will be showing you how to set up a blog, edit the design and also a second class on using your computer to help your crafting!

Also our next online Ustream class is on the 20th October. It will take place at 6pm BST. Nicole is going to be creating a Halloween themed mini album. You can see the class supply list and all the information here.

Don’t forget you can keep up to date with us on our BLOG WEBSITE and FACEBOOK page.

Ni c ol e

Timi 3

Editors note........p2 Haunted House........p6 Moustache Pops & Straws........p10 Halloween Fun........p14 Halloween Canvas........p21 Halloween Day Book........p25 C h r i s t m a s Ta g s . . . . . . . . p 2 9 Halloween Jars........p33 Halloween Mini Layout........p38 Classes & Crops........p41 A l t e r e d J i g s a w. . . . . . . . p 4 4 4

Spotlight On........p47 P r o d u c t R e v i e w. . . . . . . p 5 1 Halloween 3D Frame........p55 Steampunk Bookends........p58 Crafty Storage Ideas........p64 C a m e r a S h a p e d P h o t o H o l d e r. . . . . . . . p 6 7 Art Journal........p71 D i s t r e s s M a r k e r Tu t o r i a l . . . . . . . . p 7 4 Swap Details........p80

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Did I ever mention that Halloween is my favourite holiday? No? Well it is! I love to decorate the house and have as many Halloween decorations as I do Christmas ones.

Felicia Thomas

About this time every year I get an awful urge to buy a Cricut or a Silhouette, or some equally amazing die cutting machine. It is totally unjustifiable because I only want to cut two things‌.. Haunted houses and the lovely spiky fences that go with them!

But this year a solution has been found! Our own lovely Nicole sent me a link to a site called Coffeebreakdesign.com and they had a haunted house. It was sent for immediately and this is what it looks like...

It is laser cut so the detail is very clear; it comes with gravestones so that you can make a little vignette from it. I was very impressed with the quality of the chipboard; it stood up very well to painting, sanding and heat embossing.

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When I took it out I realized that there wasn’t enough space to decorate so I used the template to cut out 3 more houses from black cardstock.

I then cut the windows from the outside houses but left the centre one (do cut out the door on the centre one though – its not shown in the photo). I folded them in half and stuck them together to form a 3 dimensional house.

Then I painted the chipboard house with black acrylic, it took a couple of coats.

When it was dry I sanded areas (particularly the fences) to make it look old.

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For the windows I took some cellophane from some packaging and added “Purple Twilight” alcohol ink from Tim Holtz, and glued it to the back of the windows.

For the fence I cut the wire from some rosebuds and painted some paper with Perfect Pearls mixed with a little grey paint.

When it dried I cut tiny little leaves from it to add to the wire to make it look like vines.

I have lots of Halloween papers in my stash so I mixed some old and new for this project. The new was Graphic 45 ”Happy Hauntings” and the old was My Minds Eye “Haunted”. I covered the front with torn pieces and added some cut outs to make the clock.

The door of the house comes with tiny little hinges so that it opens, I added some beads in black, orange and purple to make a door handle.

I went back to my cut out house and decorated each section with scraps of paper and embel8

lishments and when I was happy with it I stuck it to the back of the chipboard house.

It needs to be fairly strong glue so I used Mod Podge which stuck very well.

Below you can see the finished house, the little bats that are flying around were made with some Halloween confetti.

I glued 2 bats together with some thin craft wire in the centre.

Then I just twisted the wire and stuck the wire between the papers.

I made a short video to give you a better look at the house which you can see on Felicia’s Youtube channel here.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

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With party season approaching I thought I would Robin Funge share a fun way to use up your scraps!! These simple moustache pops and straws are perfect for Halloween or any party and they are so simple even the kids can help make them!! Just think of the fun photos you will capture!

What you will need:  Lollipops or straws  Hole punch  Paper scraps in colours of your choice  Scissors  Pencil Step 1 Pick out some scraps of paper, cardstock or double sided paper is best so you can use the opposite side that you draw on to face up.

Step 2 Draw lips or moustaches on the card using a pencil. Don’t worry if you make mistakes as you will use the other side to face out.

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Step 3 Cut out your lips and moustaches using scissors. Tip: If you want your lips/ moustaches to be perfectly balanced you can fold the paper in the middle and cut along the line through the folded paper.

Then open up the folded paper and your lips will be even.

Step 4 Using the smaller hole punch, punch a hole in the middle of your design.

This will ensure a snug fit for your lollipops!

Step 5 Now slide your lips and moustaches onto the lollipop sticks with the unmarked side facing out.

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For straws, use the larger hole punch and slide on the cut outs.

Tip: You can add a sentiment or names to your lollipops or straws with a double ended banner, just fold around and secure with double sided tape.

Now all you have to do is capture those silly moments with your camera!!

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Create with Kate sent me the most gorgeous double sided papers and stamps to create a number of projects with.

Eva Birdthistle

The Echo Park paper was a dream to work with, great quality card, white core and double sided. The Halloween Stamps are so cute and stamp up really easily.

What you will need:  Echo Park Chillingsworth Manor 6x6 Paper Pad  Darcie’s Halloween Stamps  Selection of Inks  Chipboard  Ribbons  Netting

Halloween Sign Step 1 Cut 3 pieces of card stock, about 2”x2.25”, cover in your chosen paper and ink edges .

Step 2 Adhere double sided tape to the back of ribbon and stick to chipboard.

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Step 3 Using a hot glue gun adhere “gathered” netting to the back of the chipboard. Be careful of the hot glue… (it’s hot and gluey).

Step 4 Trim the edges of the netting when it’s dry.

Step 5 Cut out your chosen word and adhere to covered chipboard using foam pads Step 6 Using a hole punch cut out holes in the top corners to thread your ribbon through for hanging.

Halloween Card Step1 Choose a vintage style Halloween paper, cut slightly smaller than 15 6”x4” (5.75x3.75), ink edges.

Step 2 Cut contrasting paper 2� in height by 3.75 approx, or same width as base paper. Ink edges and glue to paper.

Step 3 Adhere double sided tape to extra wide ribbon, make sure the ribbon is longer than the width of the paper so it can tuck around the back for a neat edge.

Step 4 Stamp your greeting onto white card stock, trim, ink and doodle around the edges.

Step 5 Stamp the pumpkin onto white cardstock using black ink. Ink the edges with orange. Using a paper punch cut the stamp into a circle shape.

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Step 6 To make the net frill around the circle of cardstock, cut a strip of netting about 2” in height and 12” in length. Stick a length of double sided tape along the length half way on the edge of net. Gather the net and stick to the back of the circle of card. Trim to neaten.

Step 7 Glue the stamped circle onto the ribbon and glue the paper onto a card blank

Halloween Layout This layout uses 2 6x4 images in landscape format. The 6x6 inch pad of paper of perfect for this type of layout as there is less cutting.

Step 1 Cut patterned paper 2”x6”, ink edges, adhere to 12x12 white cardstock about 1.5” in from left side.

Step 2 Add 2 layers of contrasting paper, scalloped edges and inked. Curl up edge to add dimension.

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Step 3 Add the first Halloween image, but don’t glue down just yet…

Step 4 Cut paper 2”x6”, ink the edges and line up under the first image, glue down the paper then image Step 5 Cut a 3rd strip of 2”x6”, ink edges. This time on the adhere to the top of the page (1.5” in from edge).

Step 6 Glue down the 2nd image.

Step 7 Cut 3 circles of contrasting paper. Add strips of text to bottom right of layout, over 2 of the circles.

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Step 8 Glue the 3rd circle to the top right of the layout adding a felt flower and brad.

Step 9 Finally add your title, in this case its “Tradition�, along with a scalloped edge below 2nd image and arrow on foam pads.

READER OFFER Create With Kate sells the papers used in this article and you can purchase them by clicking on the image below to be brought straight to the store.

Kate has a fantastic reader offer for when you purchase the papers....

If you purchase one paper pad and one Darcie image you get a free gift!

See the full details on the advert on the next page. But you can check out the adorable Darcie images here.

Enjoy the shopping!!

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This is a Hybrid canvas piece which means part computer downloads, part stamping.

Sue O’Connell

What you will need:  1 x A4 canvas or watercolour board  1 x A4 piece of chicken wire (I purchased an A3 piece from Wickes for £1.69)  Stamps of your choice  Cosmic Shimmer sprays or other mica sprays & Black acrylic paint  Prima flowers  1 plain mask  Plain tissue paper & Tim Holtz tissue paper  Embellishments, buttons  Acetate  Artist Spackle, Matt Artist Medium & Archival ink in black  Silicone Glue  Downloaded free Halloween ephemera from: http:// graphicsfairy.blogspot.co.uk/ Step 1 Spread ‘artist spackle’ all over the canvas giving it texture in parts and leave to dry overnight.

This looks like polyfiller and you could use something similar if you have no spackle.

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Step 2 Spray different coloured cosmic shimmer sprays or mica sprays onto the piece. You can let it dry naturally or heat set.

Step 3 At the same time and with the same colours spray a blank mask. This is best if left overnight to dry. The mask ink will come out lighter once dry. Once dry stamp some swirls onto it with archival ink.

Step 4 Put Tim Holtz tissue tape in different places on the canvas and then spray over it with the cosmic shimmers.

Step 5 Take your Prima flowers and paint them black. Once dry add other colours to the petals.

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Step 6 Stamp out onto plain tissue paper a face.

Cut these out leaving a large edge. Go onto the website above and download pictures that you want to include in your canvas. Cut them out.

Stamp with Archival ink other stamps onto acetate. Again cut them out.

Step 7 Start to put your canvas together with items you want BEHIND the chicken wire. The faces were placed on the canvas then matt medium was brushed around the edges, sticking them to the canvas but leaving the face protruding and plain. The skull and bats are stamped onto acetate and cut out.

The blood is from some red backing paper I cut into dewdrops. The clock face and hands I had in my stash and I added eyes onto acetate over the top. The moon and witch are from the website. You can just keep adding items until you are happy with the result.

Step 8 Put your piece of chicken wire over the top. I cut

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this easily with a pair of wire cutters, but watch the ends. Notice I made the wire a smaller dimension that the canvas. You can either attach it by stitching it to the canvas in places or if it is watercolour board, I used an upholstery stapler, in the four corners. Before I did this I added 3 buttons in the right hand corner.

Step 9 Put the top layer on as you wish. The metal bat is a Tim Holtz idea-ology, the man, raven and ticket are from the website, the word legacy is from my stash -grundged up, The words ‘spooky’ and ‘Its time for Halloween’ are a clear stamp set I’ve had for ages. Everything was stuck down with silicone glue.

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Ok, so my newest OBSESSION are the Amy Tangerine daybooks. They are an amazing mix of papers, textures and colours and have some really fun touches and embellishments.

Aideen Fallon

So of course like many of us I had to give it a go and make one myself but in a Halloween theme and if I do say so myself, I really love how my little book turned out.

What you will need:  Papers - double sided work best but if you do not have any don’t worry, you can always glue two single sided sheets together to make your own  Kraft or any card for the cover  Acetate for the cover but this is optional  Dies and border punches  Needle and Thread-I used button thread as it is stronger than regular thread Step 1 First I gathered all my double sided Halloween papers-they are a mix of all sorts and I also added a little paper sack. Many of Amy’s books have fun little envelopes.

Step 2 I then picked out which ones I wanted to cut with my dies-I don’t have many dies but I just picked the largest die of each set, my Tim Holtz border dies and a scallop edge punch.

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Step 3 I cut my kraft cover slightly larger than my biggest page (These books can be made to any size) and scored it down the middle. I then scored all my papers and die cuts. You don’t need to score everything exactly in the centre!

Step 4 Now if you have a good sewing machine you could sew your book up that way but I don’t so now was the fiddly bit! Using a pokey tool I poked holes down through the pages, you can do a few pages at a time.

Then I sewed the pages together. This took a nice bit of time as they are all different sizes but it was so worth it in the end.

And taa-daa your book is finished. On the next page are all the pictures of my pages….

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You could also make an easier book by using your bind-it-all or even just regular binding rings or ribbon binding!

Here is a second book I made using my bind-it-all-it was so quick to put together!

You can make these fun little books for any occasion or to any theme or style! I really like them and think you will too‌.

After Halloween when I have my little day book filled I will post an update on my blog and link it up on the Crafting Ireland Facebook pageso keep an eye out! **WARNING** once you make one of these books they are highly addictive!

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I always find Christmas tags fun to make!

Mary Jo Rhoda They give me a chance to use all of my Christmas supplies without having to create a whole layout. Here are a few ideas you can use on your Christmas tags this year.

What You Will Need:  Tags

 Patterned Paper  Matching Stickers  Twine  Washi tape  White Mist  Scalloped Border Punch  Christmas Stamp Set Step 1 Place number and letter stickers at the top of your tag. My tag had the handy little date section already. But if you don’t have a similar tag, you can just add Dec. with letter stickers.

At the bottom, add two strips of patterned paper and a label sticker. I cut off part of the sticker so it wouldn’t hang over the edge of my tag.

Step 2 I had these two little cute gingerbread stickers from the “shape sticker” sheet. I decided to place them on cardstock, and then cut a little 29

white border around my sticker. I do this quite often with stickers so I can move them around on my projects easier. Plus, I often like to add pop dots to my stickers, which you can see in the next photo.

Step 3 After cutting out the gingerbread men, I put a pop dot on the back of one and added both to my tag. This tag will be complete after adding twine to the top.

Step 4 For my next tag, I started off with some mist and a bubble mask by Studio Calico.

Step 5 After my tag dried, I used some of the patterned paper scraps from my last tag to create some confetti with my hole punch.

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Step 6 As you can see in this final photo, I placed my confetti dots to fit inside some of the misted bubbles. I also added some a strip of washi tape at the bottom with a strip of patterned paper and a word sticker. The little house is cut from a piece of the patterned paper. And at the top is a snowflake shape sticker with a label sticker. For the final touch, I added some twine to each tag. I thought longer pieces of twine would make it easier to eventually attach each tag to a package.

I also decided to quickly create a smaller bonus tag using a sticker with the title of one of my favorite holiday songs. In addition, there are word stickers, a punched patterned paper square and stamped Christmas trees. This tag was super-fast and easy to make! Wishing you a Happy Holidays!

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....Diarise the date now....

The Great Big Craft Extravaganza Irelands premier crafting fair – for crafters 5th,6th and 7th October Athlone Springs Hotel    

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10 Shops confirmed Lots of classes Crafting space Shop window – an opportunity for crafters to show off their wares Demonstrations and Make and Takes and challenges

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5 Euro entry fee – which includes a Make , Take, and a Raffle ticket Classes include – cardmaking, scrapbooking, felting, altered art, wedding stationery, jewellery, Find all the info on Facebook – Like Great Big Craft Extravaganza Or on our blog at greatbigcraftextravaganza.wordpress.com 32

I love bottles and jars and different glass containers Timi Konya that you can use to keep things in.

After seeing the new Echo Park Papers Halloween line I decided to decorate some glass jars that I have around the house to use them as decoration or to keep sweets in them.

I also used Halloween chipboard from an online shop called Scrap Kreatura.

What you will need:  Glass jars  Halloween patterned paper (double sided works best)  Tulle  Halloween element stickers (Echo Park)  Chipboard elements from Scrap Kreatura  Black cardstock  Black wire  Black paint Jar #1 Step 1 Take a small jar. I liked this one in the picture; it is more like a jug. The long neck is a great place to add a decoration to it.

Step 2 Cut a long piece of tulle. The width should be about the same as the lenght of the neck of the bottle. Ruffle the tulle 33

and sticth it to secure the ruffles. Fold it around the jug and sticth the ends with needle and thread.

Step 3 Cut pieces of patterned paper. Fold them around the jug to cover the sticthes on the tulle. You can layer several pieces of the patterned paper to add more interest.

Add a tag or sticker with some foam adhesive. I liked this sticker from the collection; it says: poison. You can add extra stickers on it if you like. Imagine filling this jug with greenish coloured drink and sprinkle a little bit of edible glitter into it! Really like poision!

Jar #2 This jar is a flea market find. It is like a real apothecary glass jar.

Step 1 Decorate the bottom part by layering patterned paper. Distress the edges of all the paper. Add a tag or sticker element with some foam adhesive.

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Step 2 Cut out or punch some paper bats. I used my electronic cutting machine and downloaded a free image to use with it. Take some black wire, cut different lengths of it.

Glue one piece of wire on each bat. Then secure the wires on the lid.

After take a small strip of paper and glue it around the lid to cover the wires.

Arrange the bats as if they were flying around the jar and then fill it with coordinating sweets!

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Jar #3 This jar was a simple jar from the grocery store, olives came in it.

Step 1 Take the chipboard medallions from Scrap Kreatura and paint them black.

Step 2 Take a piece of paper that is long enough to go around the jar. You could layer two different patterns if you like.

Step 3 Place the medallion on this strip of paper. Draw it around with a pencil. Cut it out.

Try to cut inside from the lines you drew, because you will need to glue the medallion on this strip of paper.

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The medallion will act as a mask on the side of the jar. Place a tea light in the jar and you will see the shadow of the image in the medallion.

This is a great way to recyle old jars and save them from the recycling bin.

You could create these for any occasion, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Halloween or even just to create decorated centerpieces for dinner party set ups.

Be as inventice as you like!!

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This tutorial is for a 6x6 layout, but if you prefer making cards you can do so. Happy Halloween!

Aki Iinuma

What you will need:  Patterned Paper (My Mind’s Eye, 7gypsies, Glitz)  Game piece (Tim Holtz)  Chipboard (My Mind’s Eye)  Die (Spellbinders)  Cotton fabric Step 1 Cut a piece of 3.5x4 inches double sided patterned paper roughly evenly.

Turn one of the divided pieces over, and tape the centre.

Step 2 Die-cut and adhere another piece of 3.5x3 inches on the back.

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Step 3 Beside you will need paper pieces of 6x6 and 4x4 inches, two banners and a trim, fabric scrap, chipboard and a game piece. On the 6x6 piece place the fabric and the other paper pieces. If you prefer making a card, use a 6x12 piece instead of a 6x6.

Step 4 Machine stitch the layers and place on a photo, chipboard and a game piece.

Now it’s done.

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Share your Halloween layouts and cards with us on our Facebook page.

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We would love to publish your classes and crops here. Whether you are a shop running crops and classes or just a group of crafty people looking for like minded people let us know. Simply email your details to submissions@craftingirelandonline.ie

Card Art Kilcoole http://cardarteventskilcoole.blogspot.com/ Crafty Angels All places must be booked in advance. Crafty Angels, Cutlery Rd, Newbridge, Co. Kildare. Ph : 045-446678. http:// www.craftyangels.ie

Scrapbook Store More info can be found on the website http:// www.thescrapbookstore.ie/workshops.php or contact Annamarie at workshops@thescrapbookstore.ie

Jackies Cardmaking Workshops http://jackiesworkshops.blogspot.com/

Scrap n Yap Check out Scrap n Yap on Facebook for more information.

An Siopa Buí Check out An Siopa Bui’s website for all class information.

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Inspiring Ideas Visit http://www.inspiringideas.com/ for more information.

Archangels craft club Archangels Craft Club - we meet in St. Gabriels Clontarf every Tuesday 7.30 - 9.30pm and do all sorts of crafts - knitting, cross stitch, card making, beading and scrapping etc.

We are in our 9th year - all very informal but it’s a place to craft with like minded individuals. We are always on the lookout for demonstrators and enjoy the social aspect of crafting (along with the tea and cake!) If anyone is interested in coming along to join us, or maybe there is another club out there who would be interested in doing a Christmas craft day together please do contact me. Contact Christine at christinehelenokelly@gmail.com or on 0857151759

Create With Kate Workshops in card making, scrapbooking and mixed media. We also are a mobile craft supplies shop. Visit createwithkate.com for more information or phone 087 984 1196.

Scrapbooking Limerick Create beautiful scrapbook pages & crafts at our crops & classes Bookings: 086 3817677 www.facebook.com/scrapbookinglimerick

The Polka Dot Craft Club Cardmaking and scrapbooking workshop Killarney 42

Crop Tarts ‘Crop Tarts’ are a group of scrapbookers/card makers who have a regular crop on the 2nd Saturday of each month from 10.00 a.m. until 4.00 p.m. at “Le Cheile”, Donnycarney Community & Youth Centre, Collins Avenue East, Donnycarney, Dublin 5.

We are a friendly bunch who like to share our ideas/stash/equipment etc., so each month we usually have a short demo by one of our members e.g. recent demos have included crochet flowers and colouring with Promarkers or it might just be a LO that we are especially pleased with or a new card making technique.

We are a non-profit making group and the cost of hiring the room for each 4 month session (plus tea/coffee and biccies of course) is divided amongst the members signing up for that session. This usually works out at about €20 for each member. €5 for a days cropping away from the children/husbands etc ~ what a bargain !!! (Well we think so!) We welcome new members with open arms (always nice to see a new face) and your first visit is free.

On Nov 10th we are very excited to be having the extremely talented Dutch scrapbooker, Lida de Witte do a workshop with us. Lida loves shabby chic, grungy and distressing without stress and she has agreed to design a project especially for Crop Tarts. Check out her blog at http://lidadewitte.typepad.com/laugh-out-loud to see some samples of her truly amazing creations. As well as Lida’s workshop, there will also be a technique based double paged layout class where we will be experimenting with different types of mixed media. We have a few extra places available for this special occasion (which as always will be non-profit making) and the cost for the full day is only €50 including refreshments and a raffle.

If you are interested in joining us for our monthly crop or for our ‘special’ day in November please email Isobel at croptarts@upcmail.ie

Get Ireland Crafting Facebook Group This group lists all the classes and crops happening around Ireland!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/538826249466103/?fref=ts 43

I recently had the idea to alter a jigsaw as a small personalised fun gift. You can make your jigsaw as classy, meaningful or as fun as you wish!

Nicole Mullen

What you will need:  Small jigsaw - the bigger it is the more work you have to do!  Paint (you may also need gesso as a primer)  Stamps  DP or book paper Step 1 Paint your jigsaw in your chosen colours. I actually managed to find a blank jigsaw designed for kids to draw on. If you don’t manage to get a blank one you can paint on a coat of gesso first so that your paint has a good key to stick to.

My jigsaw also came with a little frame that all the pieces gets built into.

I used paint dabbers on my jigsaw. I did one coat in a Hazelnut colour. When this was dry I then coated over it in a mushroom colour. I did my second coat roughly to allow some of the first colour to show in some places.

I also dabbed it all on quite roughly to al44

low a lot of texture to build up.

Tip: I did my first coat with all the jigsaw pieces still connected together.

However for my second coat I laid them all out separately to get better coverage and to make sure that I got the edges of the pieces without them getting stuck together by the paint.

Step 2 When my paint was dry I gave it all a spritz of glimmer mist to add some sparkle.

Step 3 To decorate your jigsaw the easiest thing to do it stamp on it.

Make sure you make it up first thought! I used a large background stamp for the pieces. I also used a text stamp for the edges of the base of the jigsaw.

Step 4 For the inside of my base I used book paper that I ‘aged’ with ink and glued inside.

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Step 5 Allow the ink to dry fully and then put your jigsaw back together and enjoy!

Tip: You could always hand write a verse over the painted jigsaw to further personalise it.

Enjoy your fun little jigsaw now!

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Timi Konya In every issue we will be spotlighting the work of an Irish based crafter. We will look at paper crafters, scrapbookers, and altered art aficionados. If you think you know someone who you think sound be spotlighted let us know at info@craftingirelandonline.ie This issues spotlight is shining on our very own Timi Konya! Here is Timi to tell us a bit about herself and her work....

I am from Hungary, but have lived here in Ireland for more than 4 years. I work full time as an Activities Assistant and in my free time I am the Assistant Editor of Crafting Ireland.

When and h ow di d y o u ge t i nvol v ed w i th pa per c r af ti ng?

I was always very interested in different crafts, but when we started to do story books in work for residents I decided I would try it at home for my family.

What is you r f av o ur i te aspect of paper crafting?

I like to create scrapbook pages, mini albums and I do some art journaling too. I really like dimension and texture on my creations.

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W hat are th e te ch ni que s th at y ou u se m o st of the ti m e?

Distressing, stencilling, using acrylic paints and other artist media to create interesting backgrounds for my pages.

W hat are y our "c an 't w ithou t" prod uct s?

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Craft sheet, heat tool, acrylic paints, and foam adhesives.

W hat i nspire s y ou?

My photos, other mixed media/ scrapbook artists and products… and I really enjoy sketch challenges.

How do y o u d es cr i be y our style?

This is a hard one… I like to create my scrapbook pages in a messy free style and mixed media kind of style.

But I also like to create mini albums and for those I like to use paper collections and their embellishments.

Do y ou blog? W her e can w e s e e y o ur w or k?

I do have a blog, but I’m not a great blogger, sometimes I don’t blog for months. I am uploading my scrapbook layouts to my Facebook page, if you want to have a look feel free…

Hav e y ou any pl ans f or t he f utur e ?

I am always looking for new ideas and products to experiment with.

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Product Review – Crafty Notions Colourful Thought Jewel Enamel When I attended the Crafting Ireland birthday crop earlier this year there was a raffle… nothing strange about that, but these were the raffle tickets! Nicole and Timi made them, aren’t they cute?!

I have had this ticket/charm hanging on desk lamp ever since but for this project it had just what I needed so I finally took it to pieces.

What you will need:  Old keys  A scrap of Christmas paper  Ribbon  Resist embossing ink  Cocktail stick  And Crafty Notions Colourful Thoughts Jewel Enamel.

This enamel claims to be “The Juiciest most sumptuous embossing enamel for the thickest, richest results”…..Which is a

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Felicia Thomas

claim that just had to be tested!

I started with the “Fire Opal” which is a peachy pink colour, used the resist emboss ink on the key and then added a small amount of enamel. The secret is to have your heat gun really hot before you start; the grains are quite big so the heat gun will just blow them away unless it melts immediately.

While it was still warm I added more enamel, it gives a beautiful thick iridescent result, just keep heating and adding more until its thick enough.

Then I added some of the “Sapphire” blue and again built up the thickness, I took a cocktail stick and swirled the two colours together to see if they would blend, the colours don’t change when they’re mixed but I got a lovely swirl design which I like.

I love these colours together so I just added ribbon to hang the key and some tiny blue sparkles for some dimension. A super simple charm!

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For the next charm I had some Christmas paper that had a black and white theme so I used a scrap to cover the key ( I used Mod Podge which sticks to metal well) The “Jet” black enamel was perfect for this charm, again I used resist ink. The black isn’t iridescent but it is seriously glossy! Just keep adding layers until you’re happy with it. With a sparkly bauble, black ribbon and a snowflake the charm is finished and will look great hanging on the Christmas tree.

The enamels come in a full range of colours and I will definitely be buying more of them. I often find that I use tiny amounts of embossing powders and never get to the end of the pot but I liked the effect these give so much that I’ll use them on anything that can be heated!

The full range is available from Kerry at Siopa Bui, Spiddal, Galway.

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3D frames are very intersting in my opinion. I like that they have dimension and you can add little peieces of memorabilia to it.

Timi Konya

When I saw these frames in one of the cheap shops, I wanted to create something halloweeny for my Halloween pictures. You could use these frames as the part of your halloween decoration too.

What you will need:  Deep frames  Patterned paper  Elements stickers  Mini bottles Step 1 Cut a piece of patterned paper to cover the back of the frame. This will be the background.

Step 2 Cut strips to patterned paper to cover the edges of the frame. Distress the edges with a distressing tool.

You could also ink the edges, but I wanted the white core to show. Glue the strips on the edge with Glossy Accents.

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Step 3 Decorate the foreground and edges of the frame with element stickers and mini bottles.

In the first bottle I put some black glitter. I didn’t have other coloured glitter, so I filled the second bottle with green embossing powder.

Below is another frame I made using the same technique. Decorating the background and the foreground as well adds lots of interest to the frame.

I would use B&W pictures with these frames and would crop them smaller, so they don’t cover up the whole background.

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I love Steampunk style and decided I needed a set of Steampunk bookends for all the books in my house!!

Nicole Mullen

What you will need:

 Blank bookends to alter or wood to make some of your own  Metal self adhesive tape  Pointed tool and pen (any coulr, once it has a click top!)  Black paint and tissue  Embossing powder  Cogs and steampunk embellishments Step 1 I didn’t have any bookends to alter so I cut down two scraps of wood to the size I wanted and glued and screwed them together.

Step 2 I got my metal tape in Aldi but you can get it in any hardware store. You can also buy rangers metal sheets but the hardware shop will be cheaper!

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Step 3 Cut the metal tape up into pieces. Vary the size and the shape. They don’t all have to be square or uniform. Just go wild!!

Step 4 Peel the backing off and start to lay the cut up pieces all over the book endes, starting in one spot. Let the pieces over lap. Let some overlap quit a lot and others only overlap to cover all the wood underneath.

It will look like a mess at this stage but stick with it and cover the whole book end. This is a good stage to do in front of the TV as it can take a while!

Even when it is all covered it will still look a mess but trust me and keep going!

Step 5 Take your pointed tool and create the effect of screw holes or rivits on the metal sections. Follow the edges of each ’section’ of tape to make it look like the piece is screwed on to the book end.

This again will take a while!

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Step 6 Take the click top pen. Place it on the metal section and push down on the pen and then click the top. This will make a circle with a point in it and will look like a rivit. You could also use a hole punch and the pointed tool in the centre.

Repeat step 5 and 6, alternating between the two techniques on the sections of metal until the entire bookend has been done.

Step 7 Take some black paint and swipe it all over the metal. You can be quite messy at this stage also. Let it dry for a minute or two and then wipe it off with a dry cloth. It will get into all the marks you made and will age the piece and really make it look like metal. Buff off the paint more in some parts than others, just to get that great aged look!

You can see one book end unpainted and one painted side by side on the left.

You can wipe off more paint if you want a less tarnished metal look too.

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Step 8 I die cut some cogs from grunge paper to use on my bookends.I make a mix of silver, copper and gold embossing powder to cover them with. I also over heated the embossing powder when doing them so that it bubbled more and gave the cogs a rusty aged look.

Step 9 I cut some elements from G45 papers and gathered a few other bits and pieces for on the bookends too.

I glued all my elements on with hot glue. I just put tiny ammounts of hot glue on the elements to keep them in place securly and without seeing the glue when it was all dry and finished.

Here you can see some images of the completed project....

On the left side bookend I used a small bulb (a dead bulb from my cars break light!) and some cogs, a bunch of keys charms, and the goggles are cut from the G45 papers.

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On the right bookend I again added cogs. I also added a clock and a top hat cut from the G45 papers. I also placed a clock part on in front of the cogs too.

You can add as much or as little as you want to these. Because I cut the cogs from the grungepaper and embossed it on either side it is vey strong.

The only problem with these is that they are a bit hard to photograph because of the shiny metal!

I hope you like them and try to make your own steampunk bookends!

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If you would like to advertise in Crafting Ireland email us at info@craftingirelandonline.ie with advertising in the subject line for more information.

Below are a list of some shops that we shopaholics like to order all those essential supplies from. All these stores are either located in Ireland, or else ship to Ireland with reasonable rates.

Ireland

LillyPad Craft Supplies http://www.lilypadcraftsupplies.ie/

Cardz’n’Scraps – Cork Art Supplies http://cardznscrapz.com/

Crafty Cutting www.craftycutting.com

Scrapbook Store http://www.thescrapbookstore.ie

United Kingdom

Crafty Angels http://www.craftyangels.ie/store/

Artist Trading Post http://www.artisttradingpost.com/

Scrapbook Store http://www.thescrapbookstore.ie

Artistic Stamper http://www.theartisticstamper.com/

An Siopa Bui – The Yellow Shop http://www.ansiopabui.ie/

Craft Barn http://www.thecraftbarn.co.uk/

Create With Kate www.createwithkate.com

Craft Emporium http://www.craft-emporium.co.uk WOW Embossing Powders http:// www.wowembossingpowder.co.uk/

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Wild Orchid Crafts www.wildorchidcrafts.com

Hi, Everyone! This is Mary Jo here with a peek into my craft room.

My space is actually located in a small remodeled sun porch off an upstairs bedroom of our house. My husband gutted it and literally built it from scratch three years ago. It is one of my favorite places to hang out in our house!

Check out my blog for more pictures.

This little corner is my main work space. This is where I usually put my layouts or other projects together. On the right you can see two baskets that store my rub -on’s and journaling supplies.

The red drawer container in the center holds buttons, bling and wood pieces. And the black drawers hold my adhesives. To the left are two containers that hold all of my acrylic stamps and blocks.

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My wooden stamps are stored in a double drawer to the left of my chair. The stamp pads fit in nicely right underneath.

I am lucky to have windows on three walls. And this long counter holds a bowl of washi tape, some jars with odds and ends and a basket of “vintage� goodies.

As you can see there I usually have lots of notes and the occasional itunes gift card because my computer is next to this area opposite of my work space.

And you can see it here. My printer is sitting on the counter as well at the far left. I promise you that this area rarely looks this neat and clean!

To the right of my workspace, directly opposite of my printer is my paper trimmer. I like having a nice big space for that.

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The cabinet underneath my paper trimmer holds most of my paper. Even with all of the drawer and cabinet space under my countertop, I still do have to store a bit of my supplies in a closet in the bedroom.

Thanks for taking a look at my work space. Hope you enjoyed seeing where I create!

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This tutorial will show you a way to create a photo holder that is shaped like a camera.

What you will need:  Pattern paper  Chipboard  Envelopes  Embelshments Step 1 Glue your envelopes together (I used 6). Glue them about an 0.5” from the edges.

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Eve Louw

Step 2 Cut your chipboard down to  ’A’: 5”x6.5”, you will need 2 pieces  ’B’: 2” x 6.5”, you will need 2 pieces  ’C’: 4” x 6.5”, you will need 1 piece Step 3 Glue your chip board together, use the image as an guide. Leave about 0.25” between each chipboard, so it has space to bend.

Step 4 Cover with your pattern paper.

Remember to miter your corners, I fold mine in so it always covers the chipboard.

Step 5 Glue your envelopes into your “camera box”, will glue the one side to part A of your box and the back side to part C of your box.

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Step 6 Now to decorate, I used a Tim Holtz pocket watch as my lense and some rubons. This fits 6�x4� photos perfectly.

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Art Journal—11 things about me!

Timi Konya

Keeping a journal for your art journalling is great.

But sometimes I just want do a bit of journalling about a certain topics or thoughts. I like to do just a few pages, not much. So the idea came when I was organising my bills and found many of the same sized envelopes with those fun acetate windows on them.

What you will need:  Envelopes that your bills come in  Acrylic paints  Patterned paper  Mask/stencils  Modelling paste Step 1 Take the envelopes that you want to use. I used one in kraft colour and the rest were white.

Step 2 Cut them to the same height. Cut the top off where you opened the envelop and the paper is torn already.

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Step 3 Add some modelling paste with a palette knife. You can use a stencil to add more texture. Try to add the modelling paste pretty thick. Let it dry.

Step 4 Gather a few pieces of patterned paper and add them behind the acetate windows inside of the envelopes. Glue them down.

Step 5 Using a palette knife or an old credit card you can start adding colour to the envelopes.

Tip: Use the same colours all over the journal to achive a uniform look.

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Step 6 Add interest to the pages with some washi tape.

Step 7 Decorate the front with some stamping and some lace. Add the title. Enjoy filling the journal with whatever you like!

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 Paper: A good quality watercolour paper is es-







Sandie Dunne

sential for distress ink colouring. For this tutorial I’ve used Daler Rowney Cold Pressed 140lb Watercolour paper. It holds a good amount of water without allowing the ink to bleed out.

Ink: For any watercolouring you need a permanent waterproof ink.

There are a few to select from but Ranger Archival Jet Black and StazOn are the inks of choice for crafters.

Brushes: Brushes are a tool of personal choice. While some crafters love to use watercolour paintbrushes others prefer the water barrel brushes. With water barrel brushes you have the choice of filling the barrel or just picking up water with the nylon brush.

Stamp: La-La Land Crafts Mod Marci

As a general rule of thumb I start with the skin, then move to the hair and then clothes, etc.

For the skin I’ve chosen Antique Linen for skin tone and Tattered Rose for cheek colour. Taking the brush end of the distress Marker draw a line around where the darkest area of the skin will be. Take a semi dry paintbrush and gently pull the colour out to the centre of the face. Repeat this process until you are happy with your shading and complexion.

At this point you can do all the areas of skin using the same technique.

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Taking the Tattered Rose marker make 2 circles for her cheeks and gently blend out the edges with your brush.

I’ve decided to give my image vibrant red hair so I’ve chosen Barn Door for the lighter colour. I randomly added strokes throughout the hair area.

Pull the colour out lightly, leaving darker areas for shading. Do this on both sides of the hair so that when you go back to the first side with the darker colour it will be dry.

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Again, pull the colour out from the pen strokes and reapply ink to add more shadow. Once the hair is complete you should have lighter and darker areas for highlights and shadows.

Repeat this process for the rest of the image, remembering to add darker colours to show shadow.

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Note: You can see the progression of the colouring so far from the hair, to the hat, to the guitar to the vest of the adorable Marci in the images above.

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Points to remember

 Use a good quality watercolour paper & ensure the ink you use is waterproof.

 Work quickly to pull the ink out before it dries. If it dries you may be left with harsh lines.

 Allow drying time between layers of colour or they will blend into each other.

Editors Note: A big thank you to Sandie for this fantastic demo, isn’t the final image (overleaf) just fantastic!! Who knew that you could get such an amazing range of colour from a set of only 37 markers.

You can see more of Sandie’s amazing work, and her superb colouring skills on her blog—http://sandieshores.blogspot.ie/

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Distress Marker Demo Create with Kate will be sponsoring a free Distress Marker demonstration on Saturday October 6th @ the Great Big Craft Extravaganza in the Athlone Springs Hotel.

Bring along your distress markers and pick up some tips! Don’t have any distress markers? Don’t worry; Kate will be there with her store where you can shop for them to your heart’s content.!

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We have decided to replace our regular challenge with a Swap instead. The wonderful Felicia of Scrapzville has kindly agreed to host the swap. Some of you may know that Felicia used to run Scrapzville Swap. Well we can happily say that Scrapzville Swap is back in conjunction with Crafting Ireland!!

For the swap you will be assigned a partner and a theme to follow. You then create a mini album to send to your partner, and you will receive one in return.

The rules for the swap are quite simple;

 The album should be no bigger than 6"x6"  It should have at least 6 pages including the front and back covers.  Please remember that your swap partner (probably) doesn't know you and the work you send will be their first impression of you - so make sure that you are proud of your work and would be happy to receive something similar.

 Please do not sign up for this swap unless you can complete the swap, your partner may be overseas and you are responsible for postage fees.

 You must have an email address to enter - this means you can contact your swap partner to discuss favourite colours etc.

 Sometimes people send extra goodies with an album, this is a lovely gesture but NOT compulsory, therefore it is up to you.

 Please do not expect to receive extras!  The last and most important rule is.... Enjoy creating!!

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To join the swap you will need to email your details to Felicia at; felicia@craftingirelandonline.ie

How to join in Issue 13 Swap Theme—Halloween!!

Create a mini book with a Halloween theme. Be as spooky and scary as you like, or just simply use colours that are associated with Halloween.

Sign up deadline—Sunday the 7th October by 1pm GMT. You must have emailed Felicia your details by this date and time to be included in the swap.

Swap partners announced—Monday the 8th October. You will be told who your swap partner is, and given their email address so that you can get in contact to exchange postal addresses, style preference, etc Albums must be in the post by— Monday the 29th October (or sooner). Try to get the album posted as soon as you can so that your partner can hopefully receive it before the next swap is announced!

The swap is open to everyone, no matter where you live.

When you have finished your album consider taking a photo of it before posting it off , and email this photo to Felicia. We will then try to publish these photos along side the next swap announcement. If we don’t have the space they can go up on our Facebook wall.

Happy Crafting!!

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We offer very competitive prices and a readership of over 50,000 per issue.

Contact us at info@craftingirelandonline.ie for advertising rates.

out on 12th November.. .

Article submission If you have an article or tutorial you would like to get published please email us about it at submissions@craftingirelandonline.ie

Make sure to check out www.craftingirelandonline.ie for more information on future issues 82