Issue 15 by Crafting Ireland

Issue 15 January 2013

I r ela n d â&#x20AC;&#x2122; 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 A lt er e d T i n

N ew Y ear L ay o u t

Amazing Mini Album

WELCOME to Issue 15 of Crafting Ireland!

A very Happy New Year to you all! This is our first issue of 2013 and we are sure its going to be a fantastic year full of fantastic tutorials and inspiration. We will have a lot of packed issues. We are planning a lot more Ustream classes for you all also so keep your eyes on our website for the class details. As always in this issue 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 also love to see what you create inspired by the magazine so

View all previous issues at www.craftingirelandonline.ie 2

make sure you share your work with us on our Facebook page—you never know when we may decide to give away a prize or two! We also have set up a Pinterest for Crafting Ireland. You can find all our design teams work and blog posted tutorials up on there, so make sure you follow us if you are on Pinterest. Our page can be found here. Don’t forget you can keep up to date with us on our BLOG WEBSITE, FACEBOOK and PINTEREST page. Happy reading and have a very crafty 2013....

Ni c ol e

Timi 3

Editors note............................................ p2 Altered Tin............................................. p6 Va l e n t i n e s Tr e a t B a g s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p 8 Va l e n t i n e s D a y C a n v a s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p 1 0 Paper Piecing Stamped Images................ p13 Mixed Media Canvas with Gelatos ............ p18 A Clippinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Time...................................... p24 Va l e n t i n e L a y o u t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p 2 7 2013 Mini Album................................... p30 Classes & Crops..................................... p33 Personalised Moleskin Diary................... p36 4

Spotlight On.......................................... p39 Card Sketch Book .................................... p43 N e w Ye a r L a y o u t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p 4 8 Embossing Folder Storage ........................ p52 Love Banner........................................... p57 Amazing Adventures Mini Album ..............p62

P a ge 8 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Tre a t B a gs 5

Happy New Year!!

Felicia Thomas

Do you make resolutions for the New Year? I don’t, because I never keep them! So rather then set myself up to fail I make a list of things I want to take up rather than give up. (Every year “learn to speak French” is on that list and I still haven’t mastered it – but we’ll ignore that!)

So, with that in mind here is a little altered tin that contains my list; I can use it to remind myself and maybe even tick a few things off! What you will need:  small tin (this one is from Marks& Spencer it contained mints and cost €1.69)  Scraps of design paper (I used Webster’s pages, Garden Gala)  12 tags that fit into your tin  Adhesive  Corner rounder  Embellishments Step 1 Cover each surface, inside and out, with design paper, carefully cut around the hinges so that it still closes.

Step 2 Stamp your tags with each month and add a journaling spots and fill these in with your goals.

Step 3 Decorate the top of the tin and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re done!

You can also add your friends and families birthdays to the tags so you are organized for the year.

Since it’s nice to give a little something to the one’s Robin Funge you love at Valentines, I thought I would share an easy way to wrap up your sweets! You will be surprised by the amount of little items that are perfect for packaging that you already have in your stash!! What you will need:  Bags (cello or paper)  Ribbon  Washi Tape  Tags and Embellishments  Sweets Step 1 Gather together any bits and bobs that you think might fit your theme. I thought doilies, washi tape, ribbon, tags, note cards and pearls would suit the Valentine theme. Step 2 I played around with the different combinations of tags, bags and embellishments until I was happy with my colours and arrangements. I thought it would be neat to add little notes to the bags with the sweets, you could just write a quote, love note or poem on them for fun. 8

Step 3 Lastly I glued down pieces that I wanted stuck and then filled the bags with sweets. I added any clips or other embellishments after the bags were filled. If you wanted to spray bags with mist or stamp sentiments directly onto your bags I would do that before you fill the bags!!

If you didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to use paper or plastic bags, you could just tie your sweets up with twine or ribbon and clip on your tags!! You could also slip a doily around them to make them extra pretty! Enjoy!!

I have been wanting to make a little decorated Mary Jo Rhoda canvas to display in our house with the quote “Home is Where the Heart is”. Since I am not much of a painter, I decided to try and use my scrapbook supplies instead. What you will need:  A smaller sized canvas (mine is 6x6 inches – 15x15 cm)  Patterned Paper  Letter Stickers  Washi Tape  Circle Cutter  Embellishments (such as wood veneer people, stickers, and chipboard trees)  Glue Dots  Mod Podge Sealer Step 1 I chose one blue and one green piece of patterned paper from the “Ready, Set, Go” line by Amy Tangerine. I first tried using just a plain tape runner adhesive to stick down my blue patterned paper to the canvas. I quickly learned it wasn’t strong enough, but glue dots definitely are. So I used several large glue dots to attach the blue paper. 10

Step 2 Using my circle cutter, I was able to cut two different sized circles out of the patterned paper for my hills. Once I attached those to the blue paper at the bottom, I applied a thin coat of Mod Podge over the entire piece to help protect it a little bit more.

Step 3 In addition to my hills, I added a small die cut house which is also from the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ready, Set, Goâ&#x20AC;? line.

Step 4 I created my tree by inking a chipboard tree trunk from a Maya Road chipboard mini tree set with brown ink. The top part of the tree is a circle punched from patterned paper attached to a naked chipboard circle and inked around the edges with a green stamp pad. At the top, I created a border using a piece of yellow patterned paper and strip of cloud and heart washi tape. A strip of floral patterned paper is attached to the bottom. 11

Step 5 A mix of letter stickers, including mistable ones, make up my title. I decided to mist the word â&#x20AC;&#x153;heartâ&#x20AC;? in red to help it stand out and placed it on top of a heart die cut. Step 6 For my final step, I inked four little wood veneer people to represent the four members of our family. I tried to keep the colors of the people close to the colors in the rest of the piece. So basically, I created a mini layout which I adhered to a canvas which I plan to display on a smaller sized easel.

If you have never tried this technique or haven’t Aideen Fallon done it in a while like myself you must give it a go! It is such a fun method of stamping and achieves a lovely result. You do not need to have a whole bunch of markers and your paper-pieced images will co-ordinate perfectly with their backgrounds. What you will need:  Stamps of your choice (I am using The Greeting farm character stamps as I love them and they work great for paper-piecing)  Ink  Patterned papers (scraps are great for this technique)  Glue  Markers if needed  A card blank Step 1 Stamp the image onto the base cardstock and then also onto patterned papers. You can use even tiny pieces of scraps if you stamp carefully.

I like to use up to three patterned papers and if you cut them out very carefully you can get up to three finished outfits for three cards! Step 2 Colour in the skin and hair of the images as they wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be paper-pieced. Tip: You can use any colouring medium for this, ink, watercolours, copics, Promarkers, whatever you have! Step 3 Carefully cut out the clothes from your patterned paper pieces following the lines of the stamped image. You can see each section I have cut out here and in the image on the top left of the next page. When you have all the pieces cut out Then glue on the clothing-how cute does this guy look?

Here are two outfits I got out of the pieces when I was more careful with my cutting! But you can get up to three outfits if you are using three pieces of patterned papers. How cute do they all look!

And here are the finished cards. All the little paper-pieced images perfectly match the patterned paper backgrounds which I mounted onto white card blanks. The images have great details from the patterned papers.

Here are some other stamped images I paper-pieced for tags! Enjoy :)

Gelatos are Faber – Castell products and they are fantastic to use on your mixed media projects.

Timi Konya

I found some cheap canvases recently, they are 15cm x15 cm in size. I bought three of them and decided to create a set of mixed media style canvases. My inspiration for the canvases was a discussion with a friend who said you’d better write down things you want to do, feel or want to happen to you. I have created three canvases for my motivation for the new year and to remember what the things are I want to achive next year. These are not resolutions, because I never keep resolutions. What you will need:  3 streched canvases ( size of your chioce, I used 15cm x 15 cm)  Gesso  Gel medium  Gelatos (yellow and green)  Few pieces of patterned paper  Old book  Black watercolour pencil

Step 1 Take the all the canvases and gesso them. Let them dry, I like to let them dry over night. 18

Step 2 Apply some of the lighter colour (yellow) gelato on one side of the canvas, turn it around and spray it with water and let the diluted gelato drip down the canvas. Let it dry.

Step 3 Add green gelato and repeat Step 2. Let it dry. Step 4 Tear pieces of patterned paper and add to the edge of the canvas. When you are happy with the arrangement of the pieces of patterned paper adhere them to the canvas using gel medium. Let it dry completely.

Step 5 Using the black watercolour pencil draw some easy shapes: heart, star and arrow. Try to draw them a bit off the page. Step 6 With a wet brush go over the watercolour pencil and let it dilute and achive a nice black watercolour effect.

Step 7 Using some gesso fill the shapes in. You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need to cover the background completely. It adds some interest to the canvas if you let the patterned paper show through the gesso. 20

Step 8 Take the old book and start reading. When you find words, expressions, sentences that you like cut them out. When you have a nice big pile, go back to the canvas and try to arrange the cut outs. If you need more text, then read a few more pages. The text doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to be perfect. It can be written in past tense or it can be a question. The important thing is that it should have a meaning to you. When you are happy with all the text and the arrangement then adhere the text pieces with some gel medium . When all the pieces are adhered, seal them with some more gel medium.

Here is a picture of the whole set of canvases. I am ready for the New Year. Share you New Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s project with us on our Facebook page and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be in the chance to win a set of Gelatos!!

Would you like to advertise in Crafting Ireland? We offer very competitive prices and a readership of 22

Sue O’Connell is here to show us how to create a really cute altered clipboard. What you will need:  Clip board  Cheap PVA glue  White acrylic paint  Heat gun  Black soot distress ink  Glitter  White card  Acetate  Silicone glue  WOW ebony embossing powder  Versamark ink  Heartfelt Creations stamps Daisy Patch, Rye Grass, Shabby Chic Lace  George and Basic Shapes Cricut cartridge/ Cricut Machine

Step 1 Start off with a clip board from the Pound Shop.

Step 2 Take the really cheap PVA glue and brush a thick layer onto the clipboard. 24

Sue O’Connell

Step 3 Paint straight over the top with the white acrylic glue, then take a heat gun and gently heat the paint.

This should form the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;crackleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; effect on the board, like in the picture.

Move the heat gun about so as not to bubble the plastic underneath. Step 4 Use the Lace stamp and the Versamark along the bottom of the board. Sprinkle with ebony embossing powder and use a heat gun to gently harden the embossing powder.

Use Black Soot distress ink around the edge of the clipboard giving a shadow.

Step 5 Use the flourish in the same way in both left and right upper corners. 25

Step 6 Take 4 strips of white card and glue down onto the board. Die cut numbers 1,2,3 and 4 from your cricut and glue down the left hand side next to the 4 strips.

Step 7 Stamp out as many flowers as you wish and paint with white acrylic paint and distress inks. Take a piece of acetate and put this over the clipboard fixing it in place with the board clip. Cut the flowers out and arrange as you wish on the piece of acetate.

Use the acetate with wipe board pens and wipe off when finished with. This could be a To do list, new year resolutions, kids homework, the list is endless.

When the acetate is getting dirty, just replace with a new one.

I wanted to create a fun valentine layout. I used a old photo about 5 years ago, I did not really want to just create a page with pink and red, and I LOVE this blue.

Eve Louw

What you will need:  Patterned paper  Washi tape  Ink & pen Step 1 Get your materials that you want to use ready. Step 2 I created a template from printers paper as I’m just going to bin it afterwards. I did a really easy pattern just so to create intrest in my background. The layout is 8”x8”. Step 3 I inked the pattern onto my page using Prima ink pads, I just did it very roughly and messy so it gives a nice texture. You can use removable tape to keep your template in place.

Step 4 The image below left shows what it looks like after the inking and template is removed. Step 5 For putting your off cuts of papers and decorations on, I just played around with all the paper and tape.

Step 6 Add a bit of text and there you go a quick and easy layout.

This tutorial is for a mini album. It contains 12 pages and would be great for storing your favourite picture every month. What you will need:  Patterned Paper (My Mind’s Eye, Cosmo Cricket)  Sticker (Making Memories)  Chipboard (BasicGrey, Pink Paislee)  Washi tape (Kurashiki)  Fabric flower, tab (BasicGrey)  Ticket (Tim Holtz)  Cardboard  Glassine paper  Pom-pom trim  Dymo tape

Step 1 For covers, you will need 2 each of the following – 3.25x6.25 inch cardboard, 2.75x5.75 inch patterned paper, and 5x8.5 inch patterned paper. To make a cover, cut 4 corners of 5x8.5 inch patterned paper, and then place 3.25x6.25 inch cardboard on the centre of the paper. Fold and glue the excess of the patterned paper.

Aki Iinuma

Step 2 Glue a 2.75x5.75 inch piece of patterned paper onto the cover to hide the bare spot of the cardboard. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to make 2 covers, for front and back.

Step 3 For inner pages of the album you will need 12- 3x6 inch paper, 12- 2.5x3.5 inch paper, and 12 dymo tape strips with the name of each month on it.

Step 4 Punch holes for binding on covers and 3x6 inch paper.

Step 5 Sew a 2.5x3.5 inch piece of paper on each 3x6 inch paper. For some pages I put embellishments. Put dymo tape on each page.

Step 6 Embellish the front cover and bind the pages. Now itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s done, but donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget put your bestshots each month in 2013! 31

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 BuĂ Check out An Siopa Buiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website for all class information. 33

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 itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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 34

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.

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

https://www.facebook.com/groups/538826249466103/?fref=ts Mix-Media Day with Mandy Sheridan This takes place on Saturday 2nd February 2013, from 11am until 5pm, full kit provided, €40.00 at the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel, Newlands Cross, Naas Road, Dublin (just off the M50). We will be making a mix media background scrapbook page along with a canvas or art journal page. If you would like to book a place emailcraftyangelmandy@gmail.com with your details along with your choice of canvas or art journal. Looking so forward to meeting you!

I saw this Moleskin Diary in the shop and it was Timi Konya half price so I decided to buy it and use it as a diary and art journal. It is a weekly planner calendar and every second page is just ruled. It has a nice pocket in the very back where I can collect bits and pieces that I want to keep.

What you will need:  Weekly planner calendar  Scrap paper  Gel medium  Letter stickers  Flair button  Acrylic paint Step 1 Take the calendar and clean the outer surface. You can gesso it first if you want, I didn’t. 36

Step 2 Tear pieces of scrap paper with a big white core. Step 3 Adhere the pieces of patterned paper to the calendar with some gel medium.

Step 4 Add your title using letter stickers. Tip: You could use die cut letters, or any other method of labeling your calendar that you like. You can also embellish the front more if you want but be careful not to add too much dimension as these raised pieces could get pulled off if you are constantly taking the calendar in and out of a bag! 37

Step 5 Add some acrylic paint to the spine and edges and add a flair button to add some more texture to the calendar.

These Moleskine Calendars are great; they are small , so they fit into your pocket or bag and you can journal in them too. I am thinking to use it as a smashbook type of book and I will add some Instagram pictures to certain dates and events. Try and find one for yourself and keep it with you all the time and journal when you feel like it! 38

Karen Mathews 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 Karen! Here is Karen to tell us a bit about herself and her work.... I grew up in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. I studied Construction Studies after school and Mechanical drafting after that. I moved to London and worked for a large firm of architects for 4 years there, I also met my husband while there. I now live in rural south Wicklow with my family. When and h o w di d y ou g e t i n vol ved w i th p ap er cr af ti ng? I started papercrafting about 6 years ago as a way to meet new people; and boy has that worked! I had been making Christmas decorations and selling them at craft fairs up to that point. I joined a card-making class and I was off! W hat i s y o ur f a vou r i te as pec t of pa p er cr af ti ng? I love all things paper. I think the fact that almost anything can be constructed out of paper is fascinating. I love to alter boxes, frames, 39

canvases and birdhouses and always use the paper as my starting point. I enjoy making cards and mini-albums too. W hat are t h e t ec h ni que s tha t y ou us e m ost o f th e ti m e? The techniques that I would use most are edge distressing and inking, (I ink everything!) W hat are produ c ts?

y our

" can 't

w i tho ut "

My must have products are my distress inks, stains, re-inkers and, newly, my distress markers, and of course, paper! W hat i nspire s y ou? I am inspired by everything. Tim Holtz (the Legend) is one of my greatest inspirations. I also love to blog-hop and enjoy seeing what everyone is doing. The other way I get inspired is to go to classes and workshops. I am always learning and believe that I become a better teacher by continuing to learn from others.

How d o y ou de sc r i be y our style? My style is fairly grungy. As I love to distress and ink, nothing is ever really sharp and clean looking. Do y o u blo g ? W he r e c an w e see yo ur w or k? I have a blog, which I sporadically update, I have been quite bad of late as it is so easy just to upload to Facebook. The address is: www.paperfanatic.blogspot.com. Hav e you a ny pl ans f or the f utur e ? I teach a regular class in card-making and also teach regular 1 day workshops. I plan to continue with these in the future.

This book idea can be used for any sketches, for Nicole Mullen cards , layouts or even ideas for journal pages. It can also be made to any size to suit you. I have made a template for the pages that you can resize to suit you. The template comes in two shapes, squares for square sketches and rectangles for rectangle sketches. What you will need:  A4 cardstock sheet  Template for pages—you can find these here  Sewing machine  Papers to embellish Step 1 Print the template pages out. To do this double sided you can select the double sided print option on your printer if you have the option. If not just print on one side and then turn the page over and print on the other. I printed 3 pages of each , double sided. I just printed on regular printer paper. Score vertically down the center of each page—at 10.5cm and fold in half.

Step 2 Do the same for your cover with your card stock. I used kraft card. Score down the center again at the 10.5cm mark and fold in half. Step 3 Place your printed pages inside your cardstock cover. Step 4 Get the pages and the cover all lined up and hold in place with clips. Then carefully sew down the center of the book, following the score line. I sewed my book together so that I could have it open out flat. It is the least bulky method of binding a notebook like this. Tip: Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worry about your sewing not being totally straight, it will still work fine. My stitching is always crooked in places!! Step 5 When you fold your book in half again you will find some of the pages stick out more than the cover. To fix this just get your scissors and trim off the excess, using the cover as your cutting guide. If you have a

paper trimmer or guillotine that is strong enough to do this you could also use that.

Once you trim this off you will have a nice clean edge again. Step 6 Once your book is put together you may want to decorate the cover. I used BoBunny Etcera papers and some blue card stock to mat the papers on to. I then used the sticker elements and the tag elements from the collection to embellish the cover. Step 7 Once embellished you can start to record your sketches. I find its nice to have a permanent record of sketches you used so that you can look back for inspiration at any time. I love the way the stitching allows the book to open fully flat to work on drawing in the sketches. There is also space under the sketch for the date you drew it or used it. 45

The completed book:

The book fits in perfectly along side my stamp folders. I kept all the embellishments on it flat so that it could tuck away somewhere neatly and not get caught on things.

I really like that I can now keep a record of all my sketches rather than having them all over the place on scraps of paper. Also by making it the size I did there is no off cuts of paper so no scrap wastage!! 47

We often make list of resolutions that we break usually in the first week of January. This year I wanted to make it simple!

Eva Birdthistle

I want to stretch my thoughts and ideas beyond what I normally do. I want to have a fresh perspective on the year ahead. What you will need:  Black Cardstock  Red Cardstock  Patterned Paper  Chipboard letters  Markers (Pro-markers were used here)  Ink  Black & White pen  Glue  Double sided tape Step 1 Using chipboard letters draw the outline of your word. My word is new. If you don’t have all the chipboard letters you can use the outside frame of left over ones.

Step 2 Colour in your letter using markers or paint. I used 2 Promarkers to give a layered colour. Step 3 Using your black gel or ink pen, go over the outline a number of times. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be too rigid, try and loosen up so it looks a bit crazy.

Step 4 Using chipboard letters, ink with red and black to give a mottled effect. When dry outline with a white gel pen Tip: you may have to do this a number of times for it to be seen.

Step 5 Cut strips of white cardstock and handwrite your resolutions. Alternatively, type and print on cardstock, trim and ink edges.

Step 6 Using a left over piece of cardstock colour with your markers and write the year. Step 7 Lay your second word under the first and when happy with placement then trim your white cardstock. The measurement I used is 12”h x 6.75”w

Step 8 Trim your patterned paper to give a small border of white about 0.25cm from the edge. The measurement I used is about 3.75”h x 6.5”w but this depends on the image you are using. Ink the edges and glue.

Step 9 Glue your image above your patterned paper, if it is not as wide as your patterned paper you can always use a trim or ribbon to balance out . Step10 Place your resolution on foam pads and adhere to your patterned paper.

Step 11 I created a trim of white cardstock using a paper punch. If you don’t have similar you can tear the paper or use a ribbon. I glued the “2013” to the bottom left of the layout before adhering to the 12x12 black cardstock Enjoy the finished layout! 51

I have been looking for a simple way to store my embossing folders that made it easy to see at a glance which folder I wanted to use. So I created this system.

Nicole Mullen

What you will need:

 Storage box that is just wide enough for your embossing folders. I used a kraft coloured one from Ikea

 Card stock in a colour of your choice  Circle punch or tab die  Card to emboss Step 1 Cut down your card stock to the width of your folders. But cut is slightly shorter so that when you fold it it wont fully cover your folders. For my embossing folders I gut it to DIMENSIONS. This gives you a file folder type of system.

Step 2 I used a lot of the packaging that came with my embossing folders for my covers. Most of the embossing folders come with a pre embossed card with 52

them so you can see the design. For any folders that I had this for I simply cut them down to size to fit on my folders. For any I didn't have this for I simply embossed a piece of card for it.

Step 3 When I had these pieces embossed I fixed them to the front of the file folders for the embossing folders. You can see this in the image below and you can also see how the front of the folder does not come right up to the top of the folder. This is so you can remove the folder easily.

Step 4 We now need to make a tab system so we can find the folder design we are looking for easily. If you have a tab die you could use this. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t so I used a circle punch . I marked out how much of the circle I wanted to appear above the top of the folder and glued all the rest down onto the back of the file folders.

Tip: you could use a square or rectangle punch too if you preferred.

Step 5 Put all the folders into their respective files and place in your box. I grouped mine into brands, so all my Tim Holtz folders together, all my Sizzix together and all my home made folder together.

I can now easily flick through my folders and see the patterns at a glance. I also have lots of room to add more too!!

I wanted to make a simple little decoration for Valentines day but that could be used all year round if I wanted. I decided to make a little banner. What you will need:  Chipboard banner shapes— mine were from here on Scrapfellow.com  Flair buttons—again found on Scrapfellow here  Paint  Bakers twine  Fine tipped black pen  Glue gun Step 1 Work out how many pieces you want in your banner. I decided to have 6 pieces. Step 2 When you pop the chipboard out there are little tabs remaining on them. To remove these simply file them off, the come off very easily . It only takes a few seconds of light filing on each so its very easy to do them all. 57

Nicole Mullen

Step 3 When they are all filed off you can then paint them. I used a red paint for mine. I used a craft pick in the hold of the chipboard shape to keep them from moving as you are painting them. The chipboard paints very nicely and doesn't get soggy at all. I did need two coats on my shapes though as the paint I used dried very patchy. You can see all the shapes painted below.

Step 4 Using a fine tipped pen add some faux stitching to the pieces. I used a Sakura micro tip pen and did the stitching around the edges of all the pieces. You could skip this step or just add the faux stitching to the tops if you preferred.

Step 5 After the faux stitching I wrote the word Love on my banner and added some doodled hearts. You could use stamps for this or rub ons too, what ever you prefer!

Step 6 When this is done use the bakers twine to string all the pieces onto. I used plain black twine.

Step 7 Next I used some flair buttons to help make loops on the ends of my banner so that it can be hung up.

I looped the twine in behind the flair badge and secured it with some hot glue. Repeat this on the other side of the banner too so that you have a loop on either end.

Here is the finished banner. It is the perfect size for stringing around a cake stand or above a door as a little gesture of love!

If you want to purchase any of the items I used you can find them in the English webstore of Scrapfellow.com here. You can change the site to English at the top of the page too. 60

In this tutorial I am going to show you a very easy mini album that also can be an art journal or inspirational book. You can write motivational notes in it or use it for whatever you want!

Timi Konya

It uses A4 card, because it is the cheapest and easiest to get here in Ireland. For the cover I used a very lightweight piece of chipboard. It was the front cover of a watercolour paper pad.

What you will need:  5 A4 white cardstock (8.5x11 inch)  Patterned paper (Pink Paislee Portfolio)  Lightweight chipboard for the cover  Bakers’ twine  Embellishments (flair buttons, chipboard shapes)

Step 1 Cut the A4 papers to 20 cm x 29 cm. Score each of the papers at 11cm and at 22cm on the longer side. You will have three panels in the paper, two 11cm wide and one flap that is only 7 cm.

Step 2 Enforce the score line between the two 11cm panels with some washi tape. You need to do this, because the book will be bound on this score line.

Step 3 Take a piece of patterned paper, size 6cm x 21 cm. This will be part of the spine of the book. Score it vertically at 2cm and at 4cm.

Step 4 Prick 5 little holes 2.5 cm away from the top and the bottom and another 5 holes in the middle (10.5 cm from the top and bottom)

Step 5 Prick holes on each signature (scored white cardstock) on the score line that you covered with the washi tape. The first hole will be 2cm from the top, the second will be 10 cm from the top and the last one will be 2cm from the bottom. All the holes that you made on the spine piece of patterned paper and on the white cardstock will line up perfectly. Now you only need to thread the bakersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; twine through and attach secure the signatures to the spine. It will look like this below left. The back of the spine piece will look like the image on the right.

This is how the spine piece and the signatures inside should look.

Tip: You could use patterned paper if you wished for you pages but the plain white papers are easier to journal on!

Step 6 Cut a piece of chipboard to 21cm x 26 cm. This will be the cover. Cut a piece of patterned paper the same size; this will cover the outer part of the book cover. Apply glue and attach the paper. Smoothen it out with an old credit card. When the glue is dry score the cover at63 12 cm and at 14 cm.

Step 7 Cut two pieces of patterned paper for the inner cover. They should be 21cm x 12 cm. Glue them on the chipboard.

Step 8 Now you need to adhere the signatures on the cover. Apply gel medium on the back of the spine where the bakers’ twine is shown and press it firmly on the chipboard cover piece. Let it completely dry. When opening and closing the book for the first time, the patterned paper can crack on the outer cover. I use washi tape to cover up these cracks.

Step 9 Decorate cover as wish.

the you

On the first page I added a speech bubble with ‘I am here’ text cut out in it. If you like the idea you can download the free .svg file from here and use it on your project. 64

There are lots of white pages in the album for all the thoughts and pictures that I want to add. It would look really nice too, if you made the book out of patterned paper. This little album will be filled with all the new things Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m going to start or do in the New Year. Check out our Limited Edition Kit on our website to able to re-create this mini album with Pink Paislee Portfolio Collection!

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