Issue 16

Issue 16 March 2013

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 th is issu e Fr a med L a yo u t

M in i En ve l o p e B o o k

M i n i Tr i n k e t D r a w e r s

WELCOME to Issue 16 of Crafting Ireland!

Welcome to our 2013 Design Team!!

Welcome to Issue 13, and the announcement of our new Design Team. We are delighted to welcome back some of our last years team and also to welcome along a few new members too.

As always in this issue we have a fun tutorial packed issue for you all. You will get to see the fantastic work of our new team and this issue is full of their fantastic work.

We also love to see what you create inspired by the magazine so 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

View all previous issues at www.craftingirelandonline.ie 2

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.

Read on to find out more about the new Design Team....

Happy Crafting!!

Ni c ol e

Timi 3

Editors note............................................ p2 2 0 1 3 D e s i g n Te a m I n t r o d u c t i o n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p 6 Denim Mini Album................................. p11 Spring Mixed Media Canvas..................... p15 M i n i Tr i n k e t D r a w e r s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p 2 1 Pinch Prevention Kit..............................p24 Altered Lamp........................................ p27 Nature Art Journal Page.......................... p30 Easter Egg Art....................................... p33 Classes & Crops..................................... p36 Homemade Project Life Binder................ p39 4

Spotlight On.......................................... p42 Envelope Mini Book................................ p46 Spring Card With Flowersoft .................... p53 Mother Mini Album................................p57 Spring Layout......................................... p61 Framed Layout ....................................... p64 Paper MachĂŠ Easter Egg .......................... p67

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We want to introduce you all to our fantastic and super talented 2013 design team...

Karen Mathews Karen grew up in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, but now she lives in South Wicklow. She started papercrafting about 6 years ago as a way to meet new people. Karen always loved to make Christmas decoration and sell them at craft fairs. Nowadays she is more interested in altered art: canvases, boxes, frames.

She loves everything paper. Karen loves distressing and inking, these are the techniques that she would always use. Her style could be describe as grungy, her creating are never really sharp or clean. To see Karen’s work visit her blog: http:// www.paperfanatic.blogspot.ie/ Andrea Ockey Parr Andrea is a former English teacher, an eternal librarian and she currently works in the field of medical laboratory science But her true passion is crafting and writing and being artsy.

Many of her art projects were published in various magazines and she was the featured Guest Artist for her cards in the Mar/Apr 2012 issue of “The Stampers’ Sampler.” Cards and 3D mixed media pieces are her forte and she has a whimsical style in which she loves to layer different el6

ements and incorporate stitching, fabric, ephemera, stamped images and anything else she can find. To see Andrea’s creations please visit her blog: http://snappingmonsters.blogspot.com/ Katya Ivanova Katya is originally from Russia and she has been living in Ireland for 12 years. Katya had tried many hobbies before cardmaking and scrapbooking but nothing had caught her as much as scrapbooking. She has been crafting for over a year now.

Katya’s style is quiet feminine, she uses a lot of flowers, pearls and lace. She also like to use stamping techniques and embossing.

Katya couldn’t imagine her life without her Cuttlebug and sewing machine. Recycling and using non scrapping materials is part of her everyday crafting as mush as using traditional scrapbooking materials.

Over the last year and a bit she has won several challenges and has been a part of Tuesday Alchemy DT too. Visit Katya’s blog if you would like to be inspired by her beautiful cards: http:// madewithlovebykatya.blogspot.ie/2012/06/blog-hop.html Abby Henderson Abby has been “playing with paper” for 17+ years, she started after her son was born and since then it is an ever growing passion.

Abby initially began with making just 12×12 layouts and filling up tons of scrap7

book albums and mini brag books for the grandparents, things like that.

In addition to making LO’s, she also enjoys making cards, mini albums (made from various materials, paper bags, canvas etc.) tags, altered art items, paper flowers…pretty much anything you can think of : ) Abby has a very unique style, she loves to use a mix of new scrappy/craft items along with vintage & up cycled items. Abby loves being able to mix in “non-traditional” crafting items into her projects, it’s a creative way to incorporate different textures and layers which is something she loves to do in her crafting. To see more of Abby’s creations visit her blog at: http:// scrappin-abby.blogspot.com/ Andrea Kovacs Andrea is a Hungarian paper crafter, she lives in Budapest, Hungary. She is married and has one son, who is the subject of several craft projects.

Andrea started scrapbooking a few years ago, in 2008, and since she just cannot live without it.She says: Creativity is my life!

Andrea is involved in some other crafts as well, like crocheting. She enjoys making LO-s and mini albums. Andrea likes to create in mixed media and Shabby Chic styles. To see more of her creations visit her blog at: http:// sapimano.blogspot.hu/ Aideen Fallon Aideen is from Co. Galway, Ireland. Being stay at home mom, who works only one day a week, allowing her to craft which she loves. Her favourites are mini albums, layouts and altered items.

Aideen’s blog: http://www.piecesbyaideen.com/ 8

Mary Jo Rhoda Mary Jo is from Missouri, USA. She has scrapbooked since 1998 and she loves that she can tell stories of her family and children through her layouts. She travelled to Ireland in 2009 and since then she has been using the pictures on her scrapbook pages. Mary Jo’s blog: http://scrapbooktreehouse.blogspot.com/

Felicia Thomas Felicia is originally from Kent in South East England but has lived in Killarney, Co. Kerry for 20 years. She has 3 children aged 21, 18 and 15, a very patient partner and a dog named Toby. Felicia comes from an artistic family and was always working on some craft or other. Her Mum taught her to knit and use a sewing machine.

Later when discovered paper crafting a whole new craft world opened up, that lead to mixed media art.

Felicia’s proudest moment so far which was having her Christmas card designs displayed with an agent at the Surtex licensing show in New York. Felicia’s blog: http://scrapzville.blogspot.com/ This year we have two guest designers who will contribute to our magazine: Timi Pek Biro and Doda Smith.

Timi Pek Biro Timi is originally from Hungray, but she lives in the UK. She is married and has a 4 year old son. Timi has been scrapbooking for about 3 years. She enjoys reading books and experimenting with Photoshop 9

for digital scrapbooking. Timi loves to create non digi too.

Her favourites are layouts and mini albums, but she makes some cards too. She enjoys creating in a variety of styles and finds that scrapbooking is a great way of keeping memories of her son, Bálint. To see Timi’s fantastic work, please visit: http://tittyscrap.blogspot.hu/ Doda Smith Doda lives in the Highland of Scotland with her husband and two daughters. Doda is involeved in many crafts such as: crocheting, sewing, upcycling furniture and of course paper crafts. If you want to see Doda’s projects, please visit her blog: http://www.dodadidit.blogspot.com

Welcome to the team ladies!!

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I had a few pairs of old jeans that I wanted to recycle so I decided to create a mini album with them.

Nicole Mullen

What you will need:  Some denim fabric  Papers of your choice  Heavy card  Adhesives suitable for fabric and paper  Embellishments  Binding ring Step 1 Decide what part of the denim you are using. I took the two back pockets for my front and back covers so I cut these out with some extra fabric around them.

Step 2 I then cut out a rough page template from the heavy card. I used the shape of the pocket for my template.

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Step 3 Place the cardboard onto the denim patch with the fabric on it.

Step 4 Use a strong fabric adhesive fabric to line the card . I used red line tape for mine.. I peeled the cover off the tape and folded the edges of the fabric up onto the tape.

Step 5 To cover the raw fabric edges I cut some patterned paper using a cardboard template that I made slightly smaller than the original template. Adhere this over the back of the fabric.

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Step 6 I repeated this process with the other pocket from the jeans to make a back cover.

Step 7 To make the inside pages I used the smaller template and adhered the fabric on one side and the paper on the other. I did not fold the edges of the fabric over as I didn’t mind if the edges of it frayed on the inside pages, I just wanted them neat on the covers.

Step 8 To bind my album I used a crop a dile to punch holes in the pages and used a large 2inch binding ring.

Step 9 I then decorated the cover with some cut outs from Amy Tan papers.

Step 10 I used a mix of papers and the fabrics inside the album. For some of the paper pages I made pockets from the fabric, adhering it with red line tape.

On other pages that were fabric lined I made mini booklets with tags and pages and then adhered them with red line tape again.

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This could be done with many different types of fabric but denim and canvas tend to hold their shapes well and are the easiest to work with. Enjoy recycling those old jeans!!

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What you will need:  Canvas  Patterned paper  Dry wall tape  Multi Medium Matte  Stencil  Acrylic paints

Abby Henderson

Step 1 Begin with a blank canvas, this can be whatever size you would like your final project to be. Mine is 8x11 inches. I then chose the papers I wanted to use . I cut them down to the sizes I wanted for the canvas.

Step 2 Next I applied some Multi-Matte Medium to the canvas. This creates a base coat of adhesive for your papers. I then began applying a coat of the Matte Medium to each piece of paper and layering them onto the canvas.

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After all of the papers have been applied to the canvas, I used my heat tool to speed up the drying process, you can of course let this air dry if you prefer.

Step 3 In the next few steps I’ll be sharing with you how I created texture for the canvas. You can use stamps to create all different types of textures for your projects.

For this canvas I simply used some houndstooth and text stamps stamped randomly throughout the top and sides of the canvas.

Step 4 This next texture technique is using something that typically isn’t found in the crafting section, drywall tape.

This stuff is amazing to use on so many projects and adds such wonderful texture.

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After applying this to the corner of my canvas, I selected some craft paints in Spring colors . Then I simply painted over the drywall tape. Just look at how great the tape looks covered in paint, it adds so much texture to this piece.

Step 5 Another form of texture I used on this project is spackling (this is normally used to fill holes in walls etc.). My local craft store was out of modeling paste so this is what I chose to use and it worked! I placed my butterfly stencil on the canvas and began spreading the spackle.

I carefully lifted my stencil and this beautiful raised and textured image was left behind. I wanted to make the butterfly image pop a bit from the canvas so I used more of the craft paints over parts of the textured butterfly once it was dry and then outlined it in some yellow for that final burst of color.

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Step 6 I knew I wanted to alter my chipboard letters I selected for the canvas so I used more of the green craft paint and covered them up. Once I applied them to the canvas I used some white craft paint to give them a whitewashed affect.

Step 7 I sort of collect old vintage books and use them in my crafting so I wanted to include them somehow in this canvas. I tore up some strips and rolled them up and put a tiny glue dot at the end to hold them together.

I made several rolls in different lengths and adhered them to the canvas using more of the Matte Medium.

I stamped a butterfly image on top of the rolled book strips and then used more craft paint to accent the papers This is such a fun way to use old books and ephemera in your projects.

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Step 8 I have to share with you the inspiration for this Spring inspired canvas, some beautiful pink latex flowers. I wanted them to feel as if they were a part of this canvas so I used more of the craft paint on the outer petals of the flowers.

I used some Glossy Accents to adhere the flowers to the canvas. I love how these flowers turned out and you can see the small butterfly peeking out from behind them.

For the rest of the canvas I just simply had fun adding embellishments like a quote sticker, seed packet and some doodling. You can really let the creativity flow with a mixed media project which is just so much fun. Below I have some additional photos of the completed canvas.

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What you will need: Aideen Fallon  Kaisercraft mini drawers (I got mine from createwithkate.com)  Acrylic paints and crackle medium or crackle paint  A sealer-type glue - I used Claudine Hellmuth Matte multi medium (carznscrapz.com or createwithkate.com) but you could also use mod Podge or Rangers glue'n'seal )  Quick drying strong glue like glossy accents  Hot glue for the embellishments  Brads or something else suitable for the drawer pulls (I used DoCrafts Chronology brads from cardznscrapz.com)  Design papers  Matching embellishments Step 1 Paint all the pieces in the packet. I painted mine blue to match the papers I am using.

Step 2 Apply the crackle medium and let it dry. I applied crackle medium to the sections I wanted to use the crackle effect on (the top and sides of the drawers).

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Step 3 Seal all the pieces using the matte multi medium.

Step 4 Using a scrap piece of white card make a template of the drawer fronts and cut out pieces of patterned papers using the template (I like to cut just inside the lines of the template to keep in from the edges of the drawers).

Step 5 Assemble the drawers by gluing them using a strong quick-drying glue like glossy accent.

Step 6 Put the drawers together and embellish as you wish.

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I did these in blue and cream for my cousin Deirdre’s bedroom. They make a lovely present and are great little jewellery or trinket boxes!

Here are a few others I made:

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We all have those friends in our lives who Andrea Ockey Parr need a little…help. You know who they are!

They’re the friends who come to the party two hours late with mismatched socks or who lose their keys five times a day or who sometimes don’t know what day it is at all. Late, lost and often deemed clueless, these friends might not be punctual or organized, but they are usually the most fun, creative and spontaneous people you’ll ever meet! Some of my best memories involve these somewhat flighty friends.

It was with these friends in mind that I created the “Pinch Prevention Kit.” It is the perfect gift for anyone in your life who may be in peril of being pinched because they perpetually forget when St. Patrick’s Day is. Armed with green nail polish and a green ring, they will be able to green-i-fy themselves in no time when the special day comes and pinching fingers are flying! Because hey, even if these friends aren’t perfect, we love them and don’t want them getting pinched!

Here are the materials I used to construct my Pinch Prevention Kit:  Tin hinged box  Fabric  Ink  Tulle  Flower  Rubber stamps

 Glue (whichever kind you prefer that adheres to metal and fabric)  Green nail polish  Green costume jewelry / ring

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Step 1 To start your kit, assemble a selection of fabric. I chose to use lighter greens, aqua’s and pastel blue’s.

Step 2 Once your fabric is assembled, trace your tin onto your fabric and cut the fabric out so that it will cover the lid of your tin.

Step 3 Continue to build a “fabric collage” background for the top of your tin. I like to distress the edges of the fabric with ink pads (in this case browns, blues and greens) to give the fabric a little more depth.

You can also stamp shapes onto your fabric.

The shamrock stamp I used is from Stampin’ Up! and the “Pinch Prevention Kit” was spelled out with an alphabet stamp set from Studio G.

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Step 4 You can also incorporate embellishments such as the flower I included from Prima.

Once your fabric collage is to your liking, glue the layers together and glue it to the lid of your tin.

Step 5 Do the same technique for the inside of your tin. Once all surfaces are covered, cut some tulle to serve as a cushion for your green treasures inside.

Place the nail polish and the ring inside.

Step 6 Close up your tin and you’re done!

You have now created an adorable St. Patrick’s Day gift as well as saved

your friend from countless pinches for not wearing green!

Don’t just stop with St. Patrick’s Day! This same mini kit concept can hold all sorts of treasures for every occasion.

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This poor lamp had definitely seen better days, the shade was discoloured and the base was chipped so I decided to revamp it rather then throw it away.

Felicia Thomas

I coated it with gesso and painted it with acrylic paint. I mixed the colour myself with cobalt blue and white – if you mix your own colour make sure you make enough of it because it’s hard to try and match it!

The first coat was quite rough over the gesso, gently sand it with a light grade sanding block and apply a second coat.

The acrylic paint had a very mat finish, so I added a coat of pearlizing medium. Applied in circular movements with a foam brush it gives a lovely sheen.

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The old shade was beyond saving, it was cracked and torn. I had another old shade that I considered painting, but I wasn’t sure if that would be safe with the heat of a bulb, so I cleaned it up with a soapy sponge, let it dry thoroughly and then spent ages wondering how to decorate it.

I was cleaning my desk when I came across one of the very few ATC’s that I’ve made. I never quite know what to do with them, I don’t have enough to make a nice display but I decided it could be “displayed” by adding it to the shade. I added some lace and tied a charm onto it.

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I temporarily taped it into place and then used a piercing tool to make holes through the ATC and the shade so that I could sew it on. I used embroidery thread because it’s stronger and thicker then cotton.

Here is my revamped lamp!!

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What you will need: Karen Mathews  Cosmic Shimmer mists - Golden mint, blue lime, lava red and mango blaze  Distress stains – Broken china  Distress inks – Black soot, Forest Moss  Ranger paint dabbers- Citrus and lemonade  Derwent Inktense pencil  Signo white pen  Water mister  Dylusions stencils – Numbers, Creative Expressions masks – Large Polka, Balzer Designs Template: Mini Punchinella  Dylusions stamps – The Right Words & Tim Holtz stamps – Spring Sprung Step 1 Spritz water liberally with the mister. This allows the mists and stains to spread and flow more easily.

Step 2 Apply distress stain in Broken China for the sky and spray the two green mists onto the bottom half of the page.

Step 3 Close the book at this point to transfer some of the ink to the opposite page. (You can use this as the base for another journal page later).

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Step 4 Spritz the blue area again and allow it to flow down the page. Dry it with a heat tool.

Then spritz the yellow and red mists on different areas of the page, overlapping the ink runs.

Step 5 Use the numbers stencil to create a border using Black soot ink. The numbers were added with the same stencil, but using lemonade paint dabber.

Step 6 Extra texture is added with various stencils to the lower part of the page, using citrus paint dabber.

Step 7 Stamp the plant image from Spring Sprung along the end of the page with Forest Moss Distress Ink. Step 8 Highlight the edge border using the white pen.

Step 9 Draw flower shapes onto the spritzed red and yellow areas as guides and added leaves to the stems.

Draw over all edges with Inktense pencil to define them.

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Step 10 Stamp the words out and cut into sections gluing them in place.

Step 11 Outline the flowers, stems, leaves, sun and words with white pen.

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I love my slowly growing collection of washi tape and kept picturing a striped Easter egg in Mary Jo Rhoda my head when I thought about strips of tape.

So I decided to try creating a decoration that I could hang on my wall or place on our fireplace mantel for the holiday.

What You Will Need:  A picture or shadowbox frame  White cardstock  Several rolls of washi tape or strips of patterned paper  Enamel dots or rhinestones  A thin piece of cardboard or chipboard  Small letter stickers  Pencil and scissors Step 1 Here is a picture of the shadowbox frame I found at a local store called Target.

Step 2 I removed the photo mat and placed it aside to use on a future project.

I then measured the paper that came with the frame so I would know what size to cut the white cardstock for my base.

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Step 3 I then used adhesive to adhere the white cardstock to a piece of cardboard the same size to make it a little sturdier.

Step 4 On an additional piece of the cardboard, I sketched an egg shape that would fit within the base. It is not perfect because I wanted a bit of a whimsical feel to the egg.

Step 5 Once I had cut out my cardboard egg, I gathered my rolls of washi and the enamel dots.

Step 6 I then started laying strips of washi tape on my egg. As you can see from the photo, I placed each piece of tape across the egg and then folded the edges around to the back.

If you don’t have washi tape available to you, thin patterned paper strips would work as well. I think the more heavy weight paper would be a little bit 34

more difficult to fold back behind the egg. But you could always trim it with scissors or an exacto knife.

Step 7 Once the egg was coved in tape, I attached it with adhesive to the white cardstock base.

Step 8 I then added small letter stickers to spell out Happy Easter as well as a few enamel dots for some dimension as well. Now your egg is ready to be displayed for the Easter holidays!

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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 37

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

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I really like the idea of Project Life. Not only the Timi Konya memory keeping aspect of it, but also that it makes me pay more attention to things happening around me, even little things.

I wanted to take part in Project Life this year, but I find that a smaller version suits me better. Since I had some of the Studio Calico page protectors, I decided to create a binder for it and make my own mini Project Life.

What you will need:  Page protectors  Chipboard sheets  Patterned paper  Glue  Binding rings Step 1 Take measurements of the page protectors that you have. Make sure that you are using the samepage protector through the whole book, because sizes can be different.

Cut the chipboard. You will need two bigger pieces for the cover and back and one smaller for the spine.

Step 2 Measure the distance of the holes on the page protector and mark it on the spine piece.

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Step 3 Punch holes with a hole punch such as a Cropodile.

If you have a Big Bite or other hole punching tool that can punch hole anywhere then you can skip this step.

If you only have the Cropodile, you have to punch the hole before assembling the binder.

Step 4 Start covering the chipboard pieces with the patterned paper.

After covering the outside of the album, go back to the spine and add some glossy accents or quick drying glue to the holes that you punched on the spine piece.

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Step 6 Using a pencil or pen, punch the hole on the spine from the outside. The Glossy Accents that you just added with glue on the punched through paper pieces onto the edge of the holes. It will give a nice finished look. You could also inserts eyelets if you want.

Step 7 Cover the inside of the album.

Repeat the hole punching procedure from the inside too.

Step 8 Add the binding rings from the inside. Some parts of the ring should be visible on the spine from outside. You can decorate that with ribbons if you want.

Step 9 Decorate the front and add the page protector. Now you can start collecting photos and bit and bobs for the Project life.

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Aghna Fallon 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 Aghna Fallon! Here is Aghna to tell us a bit about herself and her work....

My name is Aghna Fallon, I’m 19 and from Galway. I’m studying Geography & English in NUIG (with Geography being the current favourite!) At the moment my money all comes from babysitting which I spend on either the cinema, clothes shopping or crafting!

W hen and ho w di d y ou ge t i n vol ved w ith p aper c r af ti ng ?

I got involved with papercrafting thanks to my talented and lovely sister/ bestie Aideen, when she started giving me any extra supplies, bringing me to the GBCE’s and classes and getting me involved in her swaps.

W hat i s y our f av ou r i te a spe c t of pa p er cr af ti ng?

My favourite part of papercrafting is making cards in my own time and mini albums at the classes. I don’t 42

have all the equipment and cool new stuff so going to the classes is a great way of learning the techniques and picking up new hints and tips.

What are th e te c hni qu e s t hat y ou use m ost of the ti m e?

The techniques I use most of the time would probably be inking, especially with Tea Dye, and playing with my Derwent Inktense blocks I won at a recent crafting event! I like using lots of colour and detail, my favourite part of album making has to be decorating.

What are y our "c an' t d o w i t hou t " produ c ts?

My “can’t do without products” are definitely new paper pads and prima flowers which I just LOVE, also whenever we go to the GBCE I always always always buy the Prima Shabby Chic Treasures windows from the CreateWithKate stall because they are just too cute!

W hat i nspi r e s y ou?

I’m not really sure what I can call my inspiration; I just love colours and seeing how they’re put together. I think summer is my inspiration because flowers and the beach are two of my favourite things.

How d o y ou d escr i be y o ur sty l e?

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My style has to be hippy-vintage-

girly-shabby inspired. I love lace, peace-signs and lots of flowers.

Do y o u blo g? W her e can we see your w ork?

I blogged a little bit for a while but I wasn’t the best at keeping up with it!

Things can be quite hectic with college, but I do occasionally post pictures of things I make on my Instagram account (www.instagram.com/ aghna_fallon) .

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

For the future I want to do more altering for a few reasons; my sister is crazy about it and has made some beautiful things for her home (and for me!).

I won a Tim Holtz configurations box from CreateWithKate and it was one of the most fun projects ever!

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I had a A5 envelope on my craft desk and rather than tidy it away decided to make something with it.

What you will need:  A5 envelope  Strong adhesive  Inks  Papers  Embellishments

Nicole Mullen

Step 1 Cut the fold down flap off the envelope.

Step 2 Fold the envelop in half along the length. Then fold this in half again.

Step 3 Use an adhesive of your choice glue the bottom edges together to seal it closed. Usually I would use wet glue for this so that it dries completely non sticky. But I wanted this to be very strong so I used red line tape.

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Sealing the bottom and then folding it down the middle again gives you two large pockets.

Step 4 Ink up the edges of the envelope. I used Broken China Distress ink on mine.

I used ink on mine as I didn’t have the patience to fully cover the envelope with paper. You could however cover the envelope fully before folding and adhering it down. I just chose to ink it instead!

Step 5 Once inked cut some paper to mat onto the pages. My pieces were 7.5 cmx 10.8cm. I used papers from Amy Tangerine.

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Step 6 When you fold the album you will have two large pockets and also a 3rd smaller pocket formed by the open inside of the envelope. If you didn’t want this you could seal the envelope closed instead of cutting the flap off. I liked the extra pocket though.

Step 7 Cut some tags/shapes for inside the pockets. I used a spellbinders die for mine. I then put these inside my album.

Step 8 For the inside pages I made some photo corners so I could add some pictures in at a later stage.

Step 9 Embellish the and enjoy!

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You could put a few of these together to make a bigger album too of course.

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Tags are not just for gift bags anymore; you can use these on layouts, mixed media projects or just give them as gift themselves.

Abby Henderson

I love making tags and today I’ll be sharing how I made the Spring tag I designed in this tutorial.

What you will need:  Websters Pages card stock  Maya Road People Chipboard Accordion Boy/Girl (I only used one girl for this project)  Maya Road Chicago Alphas Uppercase  Maya Road Wood Bingo Motiffs  Maya Road Micro felt bird  Maya Road Small Organza Roses  Maya Road Blue Ribbon clear stamp set  3 Girl Jam Crinkle Ribbon-Holiday Candy  Scor-tape  Label reinforcements  Colorbox Cateye chalk ink-Hot Pink

Step 1 I cut my card stock to 6” x 4”.

Step 2 Next I took the chipboard boy/girl pieces apart so I just had the one girl.

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Step 3 I selected the card stock I wanted to use on the girl figure, covered the backside with Scor-tape and placed the figure face down and used my craft knife to cut around the shape.

Now you have your girl figure covered in card stock.

Step 4 I wanted to give my girl figure a “skirt� so I selected the crinkle ribbon I wanted to use and began adhering Scor-tape. After you peel the backing off your Scor-tape start laying your crinkle ribbon.

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Step 5 Cover your chipboard letter with some craft paint and set aside to dry.

Step 6 I spritzed a smaller piece of card stock with some water and crumple it up.Use your heat tool to dry and then ink the edges.

Step 7 Next I stamped a small ribbon image on some card stock. I cut this out and wrote ring since this will be attached to the backside of the blue S that I painted in Step 3, so it spells Spring.

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Step 8 To create a coordinating tag reinforcement, I dressed up some plain white circles with some Rouge ink.

Step 9 Now the creative play takes over, start layering your papers, trims and embellishments on the tag.

Now you have a Spring themed tag that you can proudly display in your craft room, give to a friend or attach to a gift.

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What you will need:  cardstock  co-ordinating papers- 2 patterns  distress tool  sponge and distress ink  wheelbarrow stamp & archival ink  round corner punch & leaf punch  sewing machine  variety of flowers  foam tape & glossy accents  flower soft

Katya Ivanova

Step 1 Gather all the materials, some of them won't be used in the end but it helps to have them all in one place.

Step 2 Cut out the base of a card and 2 patterned papers, the first one measuring 5mm less than base and the second 1cm less, so it shows of the pattern more.

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Step 3 Go over the edges of patterned papers with a distress tool or scissor blade works just as well.

Step 4 Distress the edges with Distress Ink, I've used Antique Linen.

Step 5 Using black archival ink stamp the wheelbarrow image onto a piece of cardstock.

Step 6 (optional) You can round off the edges with round corner punch.

Step 7 (optional) Glue the doily die cut onto the card and put it though the sewing machine.

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Step 8 + 9 Place the wheelbarrow image where you want it and start "filling" it, start off with branches/leaves, then follow with small rose buds and finish with different sized roses or any flowers you like.

Step 10 I put a small nail-shaped brad into the wheel to give it a more real look. Then I apply some glossy accents onto "grassy bits".

Step 11 Sprinkle a generous amount of flower soft on, pat it down and leave to dry.

Repeat if necessary.

Enjoy your card!

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I created this album for all my memories of Timea Pek Biro becoming a mother, it is full of pictures of us together and I included my feelings about motherhood. I wanted a colourful and chherful album, so I used Echo Park Papers Victoria Gardens paper collection.

What you will need:  Mother Letter Album  Patterned paper  Embelishments (flowers, flair buttons)  Vellum  Eyelets  Baker’s twine Step 1 Cut out all the pattern papers you want to use. You can make a frame on all the letters with baker’s twine, it gives a nice finish to the album.

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Step 2 Select all the photos that you want to use in the album.

Straight after the letter A, I placed a business card on which I added the name of the mother and child and the date of birth.

Step 3 Decorate the pages as you wish with flowers, buttons and chipboard pieces.

I also used some stamps to add more interst to the pages.

Step 4 You can add an extra envelope insert for personal messages. I have collected all my feelings about being a mother, folded into an accordion and put it into the envelope. I have also written a message to my son.

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Step 5 Print a quote on vellum, place it in front of a piece of patterned paper and secure it with some eyelets. It is another insert in the album.

Check out my other pages:

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Spring Layout

Andrea Kovacs

What you will need:  1 sheet of white cardstock  1 sheet patterned paper  Coffee  Embellishments  Doily paper  Washi tape Step 1 Choose two sheets of scrapbooking paper: a base (white cardstock) and a pattern scrapbook paper (Bracket from Webster’s pages) Step 2 Outline a bracket shape from the patterned paper on the base paper with pencil.

Step 3 Wet the edges of the patterned paper and then crumple them. Let it dry.

When it is dry, flatten the paper a little bit.

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Step 4 Prepare some coffee. Let it cool. Add some splashes of coffee on the white card stock. Let it dry.

Step 5 Using a background stamp add some texture to the background.

Step 6 Glue the crumpled paper on the cardstock. Try to glue it only in the middle, so the edges of the patterned paper are still loose. You can also stich it around.

Step 7 Place layers of doily paper and chipborad pieces and your photo according to your composition.

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Step 8 Add embelishments: flowers, flourishes, banners, pearls. The more the better. If you want you can add title and journalling too. I don’t always add title or journalling.

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I found this deep Ribba frame in IKEA and decided that it is a great one for framing a layout. It is a large frame, 50 x50 cm and the mounting in it is 29x29 cm, just perfect for a 12x12 layout.

Timi Konya

What you will need:  Ribba Frame from IKEA  Water colour effect Patterned paper (mine was from Makowe Pole)  Punched butterflies in diffrent sizes  Distress inks  Mini Mister Step 1 Cut out or punch the butterflies from white cardstock. Spread some distress ink on a craft sheet, spray it with some water and pull the butterflies over the watered inks. You want to achieve a watercolour effect on the butterflies.

Step 2 Use black and white photos for this project and mat them onto white cardstock.

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Step 3 If you have an electronic cutting machine cut out the title or you can just use alpha stickers.

Step 4 Take the mounting out of the frame and add some watercolour effect to it with distress inks.

Step 5 When everything is dry use some masking tape to attach the 12x12 patterned paper to the back of the mounting.

Step 6 Adhere all the photos and title to the background using foam adhesive. I like to add texture to my pages and since the frame is deep, it allows lots of texture and dimension.

I used a diagonal grid composition for the photos.

Add white butterflies to the corner where the mounting is coloured and coloured butterflies where the mounting is white.

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Step 7 Place it into the frame and enjoy this pretty piece of art.

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What you will need:  Wall paper paste  Tissue or newspaper  1 small balloon  Patterned paper  Glue

Andrea Kovacs

Step 1 Blow the balloon up into a small size, about the size of a big egg.

Knot the end of it. Tear or cut (preferably tear) the tissue or newspaper into squares.

Step 2 Cover the balloon with wallpaper glue. Add three layers of paper squares to it. Also cover the knot, as this will form a nice pointy end just like an egg has.

Let the egg balloon dry.

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Step 3 After it is dry, remove the balloon. Hold the knot and use a pin to make a small hole. Now wait until the balloon slowly deflates. Pull the deflated balloon out of the shell and cut it in half.

Step 4 Cut the patterned paper into 2 cm wide stripes. Use them to cover the inside of the egg. Cut the overhanging pieces off.

Step 5 Cut or tear another patterned paper into squares. Soak the pieces into the water until the pieces soften.

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Glue these soft paper pieces onto the egg. Let it dry.

Step 6 Cover the inside and outside with matte white acrylic paint. Let it dry.

Step 6 Cover the inside and outside with matte white acrylic paint. Let it dry.

Step 7 Sand the whole outer surface of the egg to make it smooth.

Step 8 Insert a mini hinge on the side of the egg.

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Step 9 Glue ribbon or trim along the edges of the egg.

Step 10 Cut a strip of paper, make it into a circle and glue it to the bottom of the egg as a stand, so the egg will not tip over.

Step 11 Decorate it with handmade or shop bought flowers and leaves.

If you are using Graphic 45 paper you will find lots of details that you can cut out and decorate the egg with.

And now you have a beautiful Easter decor piece. You can put mini Easter chocolate eggs or other little treats in it.

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