Issue 7 Crafting Ireland

Issue 7 January 2012

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

e u s s i s i h t e d i s In

 Tut or i a l s  C ha l l e nge s A nd m u ch m or e !

Mini Chalk Board

r o f y h p a r g o t Pho blogging

C us tom L e t t er A lb u m

WELCOME to Issue 7 of Crafting Ireland!

Hello everyone and welcome to Issue 7 of Crafting Ireland.

Firstly Happy New Year to all our readers! We hope 2012 will be a happy, prosperous and crafty one for you all! We had a fantastic year in 2011 with the magazine set up and getting to know you all. We explored lots of new and exciting products and ideas and we look forward to much more of this.

We will continue to publish the magazine every six weeks. We will also try to do more online classes for you all. We always value your input into the magazine so if you like what we are doing let us know. If you want us to do more, cover other areas or have any other ideas for us then let us know that too!

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

We want you all to enjoy the magazine and learn from it—fun crafty learning naturally!!

Remember if you organise crops or classes and would like these published in the magazine let us know. Send the details into info@craftingirelandonline.ie.

We also have a new submissions email address which is submissions@craftingirelandonline.ie.

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

Happy Crafting in 2012!!

Ni c ol e

Timi

Editors note........p2 Art Journaling 101........p6 Distress ink techniques........p10 Chalkboard tutorial........p18 Submissions........p20 Home dĂŠcor project........p24 Altered Boxes ........p26 Love is in the Air cards ........p28 Custom letter mini album ........p34 Love mini album ........p38 C o l o u r i n g w i t h C o p4 i c s . . . . . . . . p 4 6

Aperture cards ........p50 Classes and Crops.......p60 Handmade embellishments ........p62 B a c k t o B a s i c s — A d v a n c e d To o l K i t . . . . . . . . p 6 6 Mini Jewellery Book ........p72 Folded dimensional cards........p78 Spotlight ........p82 Crafting on a Budget —Altered Binders & Die C u t Wa l l H a n g i n g . . . . . . . . p 8 6 Photography for blogging........p92 Featured website ........p97 Challenge........p100

Art Journaling 101—Part 2!!

Felicia Thomas

In this issue we are going to fill in the frame at the back of our book, and complete the page with journaling.

Sometimes I sit and look at these blank pages and that’s it….,. I just sit there staring and nothing comes to me, so for when that happens I made a “Prompt Jar”. This is an old jam jar that I fill with quotes, random questions, personal questions (not that kind of personal, just relevant to me!) and reminders of special days.

When I pull out a piece of paper it gives me a nudge towards an idea, for this page I pulled out “who am I?” and “Describe my perfect craft room” – I told you they were random! Obviously you can use as many or as few as you want for each page.

The “who am I” is easy enough, I am a mother, partner, sister, daughter, a friend, a mountaineer, a lover of cake, an artist and a coffee drinking crazy lady. My usual challenge to myself is to list 10 things, and as it’s your journal and no one else will read it, these things can be anything at all. For example: “I have legs like Cameron Diaz”…… I don’t, but it’s my list so I can put it down!

The “Describe my perfect craft room” question is one of my favourites; it changes regularly and lets me indulge in endless dreaming – that is one of your journals many functions, to store your hopes and dreams.

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I used watercolour crayons to make a base layer over the prepared page (they were previously covered in gesso) and then drew wavy lines diagonally across the page.

As the lines are unevenly spaced it makes writing in them a challengeyour words will not be instantly readable, but I like that. If you don’t like handwriting print out your words, experiment with fonts and sizes.

To stick paper onto the page I use gel medium in matte.

The frame that was created against the back cover gives you room to add some three dimensional

embellishments, paint the back page before sticking down the frame to give a neat finish.

Again I used gel medium for this, but a strong paper glue would also work.

By using the same colour palette for both pages it will make them flow together, I used acrylic paint to add detail to the frame.

If you mix it with a little�

Acrylic Glaze� this gives the paint a translucent quality.

Borders are a great way to finish off any page, wavy lines, dots, straight lines, zig-zags.

Paint them, draw them, add paper cut outs, anything at all.

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So, this page is a collection of ramblings, wishes, descriptions and doodles.

Remember that what I have shown you is just a guideline, this is your journal, make it as you please and enjoy the process!

JOURNAL PROMPTS; Who am I? If I could have three wishes?

My dream holiday would be…

Today I will….

10 things I’d like to learn….

Do you remember the day…? (Fill in a memory here) In five years I would like to be……..

I really don’t like…….

What this song means to me……

QUOTES: There are many sites on the internet that have inspirational quotes.

By writing one of these in your journal and then doodling around it can create an amazing page (especially when you add your own thoughts to it).

One of my favourites is –“The biggest mistake you will ever make is being afraid to make one”

In this short article I would like to show you a few techniques using Distress Inks and Reinkers to create Timi Konya unique backgrounds for cards or scrapbook layouts.

I like to use simple white cardstock when scrapbooking. Or if I want to make the background even more layered and interesting I like to use kraft resist paper.

Technique #1 Take a sheet of white cardstock.

Choose a few colours of distress inks, including black.

Take one of the pads and swipe it on the paper to leave a mark like in the picture on the left below. Then take another colour distress ink pad and swipe it on the paper too.

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Using the third colour pad make marks on the paper with the corner of the pad. To add more interest swipe the black pad around the pattern that you created.

Take a bottle top or lid and stamp circles randomly on the page.

I always like to add more texture to my pages. In the next picture you can see that I used the Bind it All machine and punched all around the page. I didn’t worry about being careful, I just went randomly.

It is now ready to place a photo on it with a photo mat and some handmade embellishments.

Technique #2 When stencilling usually we tend to use some sort of spray ink. You can create your own spray ink with using Distress Ink Reinkers. It is even worth trying to mix the spray colours that you have on hand to come up with something new.

After misting you are left with a stencil or mask loaded with precious inks.

If you are like me you don’t want any inks to be wasted. Turn the stencil around and use it as a stamp and stamp it on white paper. Let it dry fully.

When it is completely dry try to cover it with the same stencil. It can take a little time to line it up fully with the ‘stamped’ stencil image.

When it is fully lined up use a blending tool and apply another colour through the stencil.

This can be used as a background for a card or a tag.

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Technique #3 In this technique I used kraft resist paper as the base of my page. First you will need to decide on the colour scheme and choose the distress inks you need.

Apply some colour on the paper with the ink pad upside down. Try not to colour the centre of the paper. Dry it with the heat tool.

Add another colour with the same technique.

Using a stencil add a little pattern here and there on the page. Dry it with the heat tool.

With some Picket Fence Distress Stain or some diluted white acrylic paint brush a little white on the edges of the paper.

This is so the resist pattern will show.

Decide where your photo is going to go and stamp some images around the area.

If the white covers up too much of the stencilled pattern, go back with the ink and stencil again.

This gives a completely different result from the first technique I showed you.

I would use this technique as the background of a grungy layout.

I hope all of these techniques show you how to get the best use from your distress inks.

All of the techniques can be used to create backgrounds for layouts, cards or altered art projects.

The only limit is your imagination!

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Nicole Mullen This is a simple project that will show you how to create a decorative but practical chalk board. It is a perfect way to use up frames that may be sitting around your house. They also make very cute gifts. Let’s face it, who doesn’t love a chalk board to play on or write notes?!

What you will need  Picture frame—of any size with the glass/plastic intact  Large sheet of cardboard or a sheet to work on to protect your floors  Multi surface spray primer—white  Chalkboard spray paint  Chalk sticks Warning: When using spray paint always follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the can. Always work in a well ventilated area and use gloves, a face mask and protective goggles.

Step 1 Take the glass/plastic out of your frame. Most frames allow you to remove the glass from the back of the frame. My frame was actual glass so be very careful at this stage not to cut yourself.

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Step 2 Clean your glass well and make sure it is fully dry. They lay it out on your cardboard or newspaper. This is to protect the surface you are working on. Spray the glass with a light even coat of the spray primer.

Make sure to follow the instructions on the can for use. The trick with spray paint is to do a few very light coats. Most spray paints can take a second coat after a few minutes. For my primer I did 3 coats leaving about 5 minutes in between each coat. You can see how patchy it looks after the first coat. You can then see how perfect it looks after the second coat.

Step 3 You will need to allow the primer coat to fully dry (referred to as curing). This takes 12- 24 hours to make totally sure it is set.

When you are happy your primer is set then you can repeat step 2, but this time with the chalk board spray paint.

Again, remember lots of light coats. I gave mine four coats of the chalk board spray, again about 5 minutes apart. Leave your painted glass to cure for a further 12-24 hours.

Tip: The primer I used was white. You can get primer in a few colours. I chose white so that I could make sure I was covering all areas evenly with the black chalk board paint!

Step 4 Once your chalk board glass is fully try you need to ‘prime’ it for use.

To do this you take a stick of chalk and rub it all over the chalk board.

When you have fully covered it you then take a dry cloth (I find an old face cloth works well) and wipe all the chalk off.

You will see your chalk board is no longer as shiny black as before. This now means that your chalk will write easier on the board however.

Step 5 Put your chalk board glass back into the frame and have fun!

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Note: The primer and chalk board spray I used was Rust-oleum. Each can cost approximately €10. So even though I spent €20 on materials for this project the cans will last quite a while. I estimate I can do about eight or nine frames like this from the two cans. This makes the price much more attractive.

You could try this project with chalk board paint – the type you apply with a paint brush. But this is a lot more difficult to work with.

It is very hard to get an even coating with it on a slick surface.

Enjoy your new chalkboard and make sure to share a picture of it on our Facebook page if you create one!

Call for submissions….Calling ALL crafters – we want to publish you!!

For each issue we will give you a list of themes to work with. We would love to see what you create inspired by these themes. When you submit an image of your project, please make sure it is clearly photographed straight-on with a neutral background or scanned.

Please make sure you only submit projects that have never appeared online or on a blog before, and it can not have been published previously.

Thank you to every one who submitted for issue seven. The themes for this issue were :  With Love  Thank you

Thank You

Aideen Fallon www.piecesbyaideen. com

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Geraldine Reardon—littlesnippetsblog.blogspot.com With Love

Elaine Drakeford—laneybterscards.blogspot.com/

Geraldine McCormick cards-nchocs.blogspot.com

Frances Peets

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Geraldine Reardon—littlesnippetsblog.blogspot.com Issue 8 Submission themes For issue 8 we have two themes for you to work with. Again you can submit cards, layouts or altered art projects. The themes are: Anything But a Card—Show us projects that are anything except for a card!

Spring/Easter—Spring or Easter themed projects that celebrate the season/holidays.

Please email your entries along with your name and blog address to

submissions@craftingirelandonline.ie by the 20th February Remember your submitted projects can not have been published online or in any other publication before. You can find guidelines for submitting your work on our blog.

Timi Konya I recently have been thinking about trying to use Distress Stains on a wooden home décor piece. I found this ‘HOME’ sign and I knew I wanted to alter it with a touch of a vintage feel.

What you will need:  Wooden sign  Distress Stain (Walnut Stain)  Patterned Paper (Echo Park)  Gel medium  Hot glue  Embellishments

Step 1 Place the sign on the paper and trace it around with a pencil.

Step 2 Cut out the letters. Try to cut them inside of the line. This is because when tracing the sign you outline will end up bigger than the original size of the sign.

If you cut the letters inside the lines it will be narrower than the wooden piece and it will give a nice finish.

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Step 3 Colour the letters with Distress Stains. I used Walnut Stain Distress Stain, which is a nice dark brown.

Step 4 When it is dry you need to cover the front with the paper. Don’t forget to ink the edges of the paper. You can use gel medium to adhere the paper to the wood, but make sure that the distress stain has dried. Decorate it as you wish.

I hope you enjoyed this very short tutorial and that it has inspired you to give it a try!

I recently decorated our spare bedroom and took a corner of it for my craft room. I needed lots of storage and while in Ikea one day came across these lovely nested boxes. I decided to alter them to match my craft room but to make them fun and individual still.

Nicole Mullen

What you will need

 Boxes to alter—paper board, cardboard, whatever shape and size you want

 Paint, sprays, inks and stamps Step 1 Paint your box to be a co-ordinating colour to the room you are matching it to. In my case it is a bright blue. My box has a cut out detail on the lid with a insert between the lid and the box. This allowed me to paint this insert to give the box a bit more depth.

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TIP: To get the paint effect on the lid insert I painted it the bright blue first.

When this was dry I painted over it in a different shade of blue. Before this fully dried I used a baby wipe to blend it a bit and wipe some of it off.

Step 2 When your paint is dry decorate the box as you wish. I kept mine very simple and just put some tissue tape around the base and stamped a bit on the lid.

I purposely left off dimensional embellishments as I want the boxes to stack nicely on a shelf to store stuff in.

Step 3 With the other box in the set I simply sprayed it with glimmer mist to give it a lovely spritzed blue and white effect. I then stamped on the insert of this box and around the edges of it too.

Enjoy this quick and easy way to co-ordinate all your storage!

Well Ladies, the holiday season is over and January is supposed to be a time to rest and recharge the batteries for the year ahead! All over the country there were sighs of relief from parents and children alike, as the school year restarted lol!

For me, it meant mornings free again, so I turned my attention to the next big card day – “Valentine’s Day”. My better half refers to it as ‘Hallmark Day’, so as you can imagine the only Valentine card I will receive……. is one I make myself!

Kate Walsh

Of course not everyone will have a use for valentine’s cards but that’s the great thing about these designs, you can use them for any occasion really; just add your chosen sentiment.

In this article I will show you a technique that I often use, to make a series of cards adding a sentiment as and when I need it. I created a sheet of my own patterned cardstock in a colour scheme of black, red and white; and used it to create some DL and tent fold cards. Here is how I did it!

What you will need  1 sheet A4 white linen cardstock  Distress inks; Fired Brick and Black Soot  Eco green white acrylic paint  Blonde Moments Heart Stamps  Old credit card  Spool (or other circle shape)  Heat gun 28

To start with, I took a sheet of white A4 linen card and using my Fired Brick Distress Ink, I swiped it randomly in one direction using the edge of the ink pad (with pressure). Continue in the same direction using the full ink pad, with light pressure, creating streaks. Using the edge of the ink pad again, I drew lines in the opposite direction, creating a criss-cross pattern.

Make sure to go OVER the edge of the page with your design and don’t overthink it, as this is only the first step.

Next I took a spool of thread, pressed the bottom into the Fired Brick ink pad and used it to stamp circles in overlapping groups and in single entities. I then used my heat gun to dry and heat set the ink. I then squeezed my eco green white paint onto my craft sheet and using an old library card I added it to a few areas of my A4 card, scraping it down and across. (I also added some white circles with the spool using up left over paint) I again dried with my heat gun.

I then inked up my Blonde Moments Heart Stamps with Black Soot distress ink and stamped randomly all over the page, making sure I went over the edge. I again dried with my heat gun.

You now have a sheet of unique patterned paper. Wohoo! How cool is that!

Now for the cards!.....

What you will need  3 sheets A4 white cardstock & Red cardstock  12 * 12 Black Cardstock  Distress inks; Fired Brick and Black Soot  Eco green white acrylic paint  Blonde Moments Heart Stamps  Old credit card  Spool (or other circle shape)  Double sided tape, 3D Foam Pads, Glue Dots & Glossy Accents  Black gems  Stampendous Red and White embossing powder  Colorbox White chalk ink  Stampendous Glass Glitter – Gold  Ribbon & Floral Embellishments Card No 1:  Cut 9.9cm * 21 cm from and A4 sheet of White card stock, score the larger piece at 9.9 and fold creating a DL card.  Cut a piece from your newly created patterned paper measuring 18cm * 8 cm. Cut a piece of black card stock measuring 18.7 cm by 8.7cm. Matt the patterned piece unto the black piece. Glue a 10 cm length of co-ordinating ribbon 1 cm from the end, sticking the ends around the back.  Matt this to the white card base, close to the top leaving room to add a sentiment to the bottom portion later.  Using white embossing powder, heat emboss your heart stamps onto red card. Stamp background pattern with black distress ink, and cut out.  Using an embossing folder (I used Tim Holtz’s Bingo one), emboss your cut 30









our hearts and mount on to black card stock. Highlight embossing with white ink or paint. Cut around the hearts leaving a border.

Mount hearts at an angle onto your card base using 3D foam pads. Finish with black gems.

Card No 2:  Cut a piece of 12 * 12 black card stock in half. This should give you a piece measuring approx. 15.2cm by 30.5 cm. Score and fold in half at 15.2cm to create a square tent fold card base.

Cut two pieces from your patterned paper, one measuring 14.3cm square and the other measuring approx 6.4cm square. Cut a piece measuring 8.7 square from your black cardstock. Matt the large piece of patterned paper onto your black card base. 3D foam pad the small piece of patterned paper to the smaller black square. Matt this to the centre of your card.

Trace around edge of small black border and corners of large patterned card with glossy accents. Sprinkle with gold glass glitter.

Heat emboss large Heart stamp onto black card using red embossing powder. Cut out. Add detail using gold glass glitter and glossy accents.

Tape a loop of red ribbon to back creating a hanging heart. Using 3D foam pads add to centre of card.

Card No. 3:  Cut 9.9cm * 21 cm from and A4 sheet of White card stock, score the larger piece at 9.9 and fold creating a DL card.  Take the left over piece and create patterned paper using same technique as described before.  Once dry, tear along left hand side, pattern facing front, pulling card towards you. This should give you a white edge. Ink the edge directly with black ink pad.  Cut a piece of black card stock measuring 1.5cm by 21cm. Using double sided tape matt to the reverse side of the torn edge. Matt this to the front of your base card. Matt the left over torn piece of patterned paper to the inside right of the base card.  Cut three pieces of black card stock measuring 4 cm square and three pieces of patterned paper 3.5cm square, matt one on top of the other. Glue three red floral embellishments to the centres (I used Prima Delightful Day – Glory).  Finish by tying a length of co-ordinating ribbon down the side.

Odds and Ends!

I used the left over bits to make a bookmark, embellish away to your ‘Hearts’ content (corny, I know! Lol!) Happy Crafting and hope you get lots of your favourite chocolates on valentine’s (by then we should be over our Christmas Indulgences and ready for some milk chocolate praline, mmmm!)

Check out our web extra at createwithkate.com xxKate.

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Letter albums are great way to start a mini album. The Timi Konya only thing I don’t like about them is that they only come in certain words and sometimes not the words that I want. In this case I wanted to include all my pictures of my travel to Russia and I wanted something other than TRAVEL. After a little experimenting I was able to create my own custom word album which was Moscow written with Cyrillic letters.

In this tutorial I am going to show you how to create your own custom word album.

What you will need:  Sheets of chipboard  Patterned paper  Embellishments Step 1 You will need to find a font that you like. Try and find fonts that are thick and are made of relatively straight lines. This will make the cutting easier. You can download some fun free fonts from here: http://www.1001freefonts.com/ http://www.dafont.com/ Step 2 Open a picture editing software. Something like Paint will work, you don’t need a fancy one. Type your first letter in the chosen font in bigger size (300) and save it.

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Step 3 Then open your word editing software and insert your saved picture.

Step 4 Click on the picture and crop it as much as possible. You can do this with the crop icon in the ‘Picture Tool’ menu.

Step 5 Then you need to resize the picture. It should be about 15cm tall. If your letter is too wide then you can make it narrower at this stage. Arrange the picture on the right hand side of the page.

Repeat this with all the letters you need.

Step 6 Print each of the letters on separate sheets of papers. Cut the letters out as show on the picture below. Cut only the right hand side of the letter.

Arrange them on a 12� piece of chipboard, so you can see how long you need the pieces of chipboard to be. The longest piece will be the last letter of your word. The first letter will be the shortest piece and it should be about 3-4� wide.

Below you can see how to align the pieces of paper with the letters printed on them.

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Step 7 Cut 6� high chipboard pieces, you will need the same amount as the number of letters in your chosen word. I had MOCKBA so I needed 6 pieces. Trace the paper letters onto the chipboard and cut out.

Step 8 When you have all the chipboard cut then you need to cover them with paper. I used gel medium to adhere the paper. Bind it with Bind-it-all or simply punch a few holes and use binding rings.

Step 9 Decorate your album and fill it with photos.

This is a great way to create a custom letter album. It can be a very unique present to your loved one or for keeping all those precious memories.

In the previous tutorial Timi showed you how to Nicole Mullen create your own custom word mini album and how to cut paper to fit the album. In this tutorial I want to show you how to take a word album (custom or store bought) and decorate it without having to painstakingly cut paper out to cover the letters!

What you will need:  Word mini album  Paint dabbers or other acrylic paint & picket fence distress stain (or watered down white acrylic paint)  ATC cards and mini envelopes—or paper and card to make your own  Designer paper of your choice  Brads and eyelets and an eyelet setter  Embellishments Step 1 The album I used was a very good quality so I was able to paint it without priming. You can find the same album I used on the Crafty Cutting website here. I painted both sides of my album with ‘wild plum’ paint dabber. You could use any paint you want, I just like the convenience of the paint dabbers.

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Step 2 When you have the album fully painted on both sides get your picket fence distress stain (or watered down white acrylic paint) and cover the back of the letters . Only cover the back of the album pages with this.

This will white wash your painted album a bit and tone down your paint.

Step 3 Using a ‘pearl’ paint dabber paint over the front of your album. Use a baby wipe to tone the colour down a bit if you need to. I use the pearl colour to add some shimmer without the colour being too dark.

Step 4 Now that the album is painted front and back we can now decorate it a bit more if we wish.

For mine I stamped onto the front alternating between a script stamp and a flourish stamp.

You could stamp whatever you want or even stick on patterned papers instead if you wanted.

Step 5 While your stamping is drying we need to prepare the pockets for our mini album. You could of course just stick down photo / journaling mats. However I decided on pockets as it allows me to fit more into the album.

To create my pockets I used ATC’s and their matching envelops. You can buy these in packets in good craft stores.

If you cant find these you could make some envelopes from plain or patterned paper and the inserts from card.

Step 6 For the letter ‘E’ the small envelopes were not big enough so I stuck two of them together. To do this I cut a small amount off the end of the envelopes and 40

then stuck them together with tape. I then sealed one of the envelopes shut. This creates one longer envelope that you can then cut a tag to fit inside.

Step 7 You can then cut your DP to size to cover the envelope. This hides the join of the envelopes. The paper is going onto the backs of the envelopes. You will be sticking the front of the envelopes onto the mini album so there is no need to decorate.

Step 8 Punch a hole in the envelope—only on the DP size. I slid a small cutting mat inside to avoid going all the way through. This will be for the brad that we will use as a closure for the envelops. You then need to set an eyelet into the ‘flap’ of the envelope. You then thread some ribbon through this eyelet to wrap around the brad to keep the envelope closed.

Tip: I didn’t bother trying to cute DP to size to cover the flaps so I simply stamped on them in a co-ordinating ink colour instead.

You could of course fully ink up the flaps, or use coloured envelopes if you wanted.

Step 9 For the rest of my album pages the mini envelopes worked just the size they were. For these I again covered the backs with DP. I also used the ATC inserts and punched two circles of the DP. I stuck these two circles onto the ATC insert to make a tab for the inserts.

I also stamped on the flap of these envelopes and added a brad and eyelet with some ribbon to make a closure. When I put the tabbed inserts into the envelop I bent the top of the tab over for two reasons. Firstly so that the envelope flap could close. Secondly because when it is bent it is easier to get a grip of to slide the insert out.

I created these small envelope pouches for both sides of the letter ‘O’ and ‘V’. The letter ‘E’ got two of the larger envelopes shown in step 6-8. For the larger envelope I also created a tabbed insert from DP. You can use the inserts for journaling/photos.

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Step 10 You can then stick all your envelope pockets down to you album pages. For the letter ‘O’ I stuck the envelopes down fully.

I also needed to punch a hole in them so that the ring binding still worked.

For these envelopes I then cut the inserts a bit shorter so that they still went in and out of the pocket.

For the letters ‘V’ and ‘E’ I only stuck the envelopes down on two sides.

The bottom and the left. This left me with another pocket in behind them where I could fit another tag!

I used some of the left over DP to create a small page in-between the letter ‘V’ and ‘E’. I just punched holes in it so it would work with the ring binding and cut the end with a decorative border punch.

You just flip this page over to see the pocket and tags on the letter E.

On the back of the letter ‘L’ you can see why I whitewashed the backs of the letters. It allows you to write on the backs of the letters. This allows you to doodle or journal all around the back of the letters and fit more onto the album this way.

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I hope this tutorial has inspired you to either follow Timi’s tutorial and create and decorate your own word album, or just to decorate a store bought one!

Sandie Dunne

Advanced Skin tones - Caucasian, Manga, & African American I get asked all the time "What is the best colour combo for skin?"

There is no easy, or no right and wrong, answer - really, it all depends on what you consider to be a skin colour.

In this article I have outlined what works best for me. I am a great believer in playing around with your Copic markers to find what works best for you.

Caucasian Skin Tone E00 is the most popular base colour for Caucasian skin. E000 is a much paler colour and is particularly good for blending and smoothing out to the lightest areas of the skin.

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The previous images show the different depths of shading given from E01 E11, & E21 when used in conjunction with E00 as a base.

For these first images I have only used 2 colours, for light and shadow.

In the second group of images I have added a middle tone for a more progressive highlight to shadow, and R20 for blush.

Manga Skin Tone Manga skin tones tend to be pale and often with exaggerated shadows.

My go to combo is E00, E02 with YR02 for deeper shadows but there are other combinations that work just as well.

African American Skin Tones These would be the hardest skin tones to work with because the light reflects differently on darker skin. My advice would be to study as many images as you can. You will notice that the highlighted areas have an almost shiny appearance, therefore you would use much lighter colour to try to capture this.

For the African American skin tone colour combination I use any or all of the following - E23, E25, E27, E21, E13, E11

Copics - E11, E21, E23, E25. Blush - R22 48

Copics - E11, E13, E21, E23, E25[sparingly].

Blush- R22

Things to remember Pick a base colour ending in 0 or 1 - i.e.- E00. For a subtle shadow, keep the letter and first digit the same, but go about 2 digits higher, i.e.- E02. For more contrasting shadows keep the letter the same but bring the first digit up, i.e - E11/E21/E51.

There are lots of combinations for skin colors, but here are the most common: African American – E11, E13, E21, E25, E27. R22 or R32 (blush) Caucasian – E000, E00, E11, R20 or R21(blush) When colouring the face the dark areas you can shade include under the hair line, underneath the mouth, nose area and underneath the face (neck) If you add blush make sure to blend out the edges well.

Nicole Mullen

An aperture card is a card with a ‘window’ cut out from the front with either a image/design mounted in behind it or the image shown on the inside of the card. In this tutorial I am going to show you a few tips and tricks that can be used making a aperture card.

What you will need:

 A selection of dies. & your die cut machine. Nestabilities or other nested dies work well

 Cardstock and DP  Adhesive, permanent and repositionable  Stamps & inks  Embellishments Card 1 This card is going to be one with a window that will show an image mounted to the inside of the card.

Step 1 Mount a cardstock or DP of your choice to your card base. I am going to use a scalloped square die on my card to create my window. Figure out where you want the window to be cut our of the card.

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When you have your position chosen you need to place your die cutting edge down onto the front of your card. Make sure to open your card up fully before you do this. If you don't open the card fully you will cut through both sides of the card! Tape the die into place with re-positional adhesive that won’t damage your paper. I use scraps of tissue tape as it peels off nicely.

Tip: When making your die sandwich make sure your cutting plate is under your card. This is because instead of the die having the paper placed on top of it as you would traditionally do we have placed the die on top of the paper.

Step 2 Now that we have our window cut out (see the image on the right above) we want to create a frame for it. This is why we need the nested dies.

You will use the same die you used to cut out your window and then the next die up from this.

Choose the DP you want to create your frame from and positions your dies

onto the paper and again tape into place.

Step 3 When you have the frame cut out glue it down around your window. Try to be careful when lining it up and try get it as close to perfect as you can, otherwise it can look a bit off.

Step 4 Stamp an image or sentiment, colour it and then cut it out. For my image I die cut it using the same die as the one I used to create the window.

When your image is ready glue it down to the inside of your card. It can be useful to draw a very light pencil mark inside your window frame with the card fully closed.

This means that when you glue your image 52

down inside the pencil marks it will then line up with the window perfectly.

Step 5 Add a sentiment and any other embellishments you wish and your card is done.

Card 2 For this card we are going to make it a bit different from card 1.

Step 1 Choose your card stock base, DP and the die you are going to use. I am using the butterfly movers and shapers Tim Holtz die. Glue your DP to your card base. Then decide where you want your butterflies cut from the card.

Tip: For the movers and shapers die, as they are magnetic I place the card down first with the die on top. I get the position I want then hold the die down and slide the card out from under them. I then place the card back on top and cut. Make sure to only cut the front of your card again.

Step 2 I make sure to leave my dies in place in the machine and I then run a piece of scrap paper through the machine in the same position.

This creates a mask for my card.

Place this mask over the top of your card and then stamp through the butterflies onto the inside of the card. This gives a lovely effect through the window created by the butterflies and also looks lovely when you open the card.

It is a nice unexpected surprise on the inside!

You could stamp and pattern inside the masked window or even use sentiment stamps. You could also draw through the outline of the window so that your stamped image would be outlined rather than un-outlined like on my card.

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Card 3 This is an aperture card that can be created from the negative of your dies and is a great way to use up paper that you would normally probably have to throw out.

Step 1 Create a card base in a colour you want a get a negative of a die you cut. Pick out some paper to mount in behind your die cut negative and glue it in behind.

Step 2 Now you need to mount this on your card front. It may not fully fit your card blank so you have two options. You can cut your card down to the size of the die cut negative, but this can result in a odd sized card.

Or you can stick the die cut negative onto your card front and disguise the fact that it does not fully fit!

I chose option two. The paper of my die cut negative had some script writing on it so I used some script tissue tape to run down the sides of my card to hide the fact that I was left 1cm short on each side of the die cut negative.

You can see here the gap at either side of the DP. It is ok at the top and bottom so I only had to worry about fixing it up at the edges.

I stuck the tissue tape down and then trimmed off the excess. You could also fold the excess inside the card too if you wanted to embellish it a bit inside.

Step 3 Embellish your card, add a sentiment and you are done. My die cut negative was a scrap that would have gone in the bin had I not used it on this card.!

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Card 4 This is a variation on card I but a much more clean, simple and fun style. I have included it mostly so that you can see the different approaches you can take to aperture cards.

Step 1 I took a card base and ink up a background with distress inks. I stamped the hills with a stamp from a fun set by Skipping Stones Designs called Uplifting, but you could draw hills in too. Again decide where you want your aperture to be and die cut it using a shape of your choice.

Tip: It is a good idea to let your inked up background fully dry before temporarily taping your die into place. If you don't your tape may not stick to the paper and the die may move from its intended position otherwise.

Another reason is that some repositionable adhesives may react to the moisture in the inks and may result in them tearing the paper or leaving behind a sticky residue.

Step 2 When your window is cut out finish embellishing your card. I used the uplifting set to stamp some clouds in the sky and flowers on the grass. I stamped these in the same colour inks I used for the sky and grass. This gives a nice subtle look.

I stamped the smaller hot air balloon on the front of the card. I then traced a light pencil line inside the window to show me where to stamp the larger balloon on the inside of the card. I erased this line when I was done stamping.

I hope this tutorial has given you some inspiration on creating aperture cards and how simple they can be. In the next issue I will look at creating advanced aperture cards. Until then have fun using your dies to give your cards a extra bit of dimension!

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

Contact us at craftingireland@gmail.com for advertising rates.

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 info@craftingirelandonline.ie

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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.

If you would like your classes or crops listed here free of charge email the details to info@craftingirelandonline.ie 61

I’m sure all of us think about decorating our projects in a unique way.

Timi Konya

Creating handmade embellishments is a great way to give a personal touch to your project. It is also very easy to do and sometimes there is an economy factor to it too. Some of the embellishments you may covet are not easily available or hard to get because of the cost of shipping.

In this tutorial I will show you some very quick ideas to make your own embellishments.

Fabric or gauze butterfly Take a piece of fabric or a package of gauze and place a good few layers on the top of each other. Put it through your die cutting machine and cut a butterfly shape.

To attach the butterflies to each other use a stapler and staple it in the centre line.

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Spray both sides with spray ink and wait till the ink is soaked into all the middle layers. When it has dried try to pull the layers apart it give it a bit more dimension.

Phrases on popsicles Take one Popsicle. Stamp a phrase on to it.

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Then colour the Popsicle with some distress stains.

For some shimmer I brushed some Perfect Pearls on it while the stains were wet.

Then cover the popsicle with embossing ink and pour some Ultra Thick Em-

bossing Enamel (UTEE) on it and heat it up.

Repeat this step two more times to achieve a thick and glossy coverage.

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Bottle cap Take a bottle cap—I used a huge one here. Try to find an image to place inside the cap. Don’t use a photo however because the hot UTEE will destroy it.

Heat up the UTEE in the melting pot. You can add a little colour with some Perfect Pearls.

Pour a little hot UTEE into the cap. Be very careful as UTEE is extremely hot!!

While it is still hot place some metal clock pieces, gears or gadgets into it with a pair of tweezers.

If the UTEE cools down and metal piece wont stick into it anymore you can easily heat it up with your heat tool.

Because this embellishment is quite thick I would use it on a top of an altered box or mini album.

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Skeleton leaves Here I will demonstrate two ways to alter skeleton leaves using embossing enamel or powder.

The first way is to cover the leaf with embossing ink and pour the embossing powder on it and heat it up.

It will give you the effect you can see in the picture on the right below.

The other way to alter the leaves is to heat up the embossing enamel in the Melting Pot. When it is melted dip the leaf into it. It is best to use tweezers for this.

When it is all covered lift it out from the melted enamel. This method will give a more ‘glass like’ effect.

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Make sure to use a tweezers to remove the leaf from the melt pot as it is extremely hot. Place the leaf onto a non stick craft mat/non stick surface to cool completely.

I hope these few ideas on making handmade embellishments will start your creative flow and you will try some of them.

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After you have collected your basic tool kit, you will soon realise that the possibilities are endless and you may want to buy some more advanced tools, like punches or a die cutting machine.

Punches There is a great selection of punches available.

Some of the punches are good to punch shapes with, like flowers, leaves, hearts etc…

When you are thinking about buying your first punch sets, you need to think about the projects that you can use your newly bought punches on.

For example, if you buy flower punches in a few smaller and bigger sizes you will be able to create layered, dimensional handmade flowers which can be a great addition to your projects.

The temptation is huge when buying seasonal punches. If you are on a budget, try to buy ones that you can later use on other projects as well.

For example a punch that produces gift shapes can be used for birthday projects too.

Around the page/Border punches ‘Around the page’ or edge/border punches are not only good for card making but they can be widely used on scrapbook layouts or to create border strips. These punches are really easy to 68

Timi Konya

use, because their pattern is printed on the punch itself, so you can easily line up your paper to create a continuous pattern.

Corner Punches Corner punches are great addition to your tool kit.

They are perfect to decorate the photo mats on your layouts or to shape your photos a little. My favourite is the We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper.

The most popular brands are Martha Stewart, EK Success and Fiskars, but there are lots of other brands too.

Die Cutting machines A die cutting machine is most probably one of the biggest investment among our craft tools. It worth taking the time to think about which machine suits your crafting style the best or whether you need one at all.

Die cutting machines are not only good for cutting shapes but they are great for embossing paper or other materials like metal sheets or grunge paper.

Now we will take a brief look at the basic machines and in the next issue we will dig deeper into their form of uses.

The most well known brands in die cutting are the Cuttlebug and the Sizzix Big Shot and Spellbinders Grand Calibur

When you are considering buying a die cutting machine you need to know what materials you want to cut. If you want to cut materials like metal sheets or cork you need to buy one with thicker dies available like the Sizzix die cutting machines.

You also want to think about the space you have available in your craft room/ area. A smaller and more portable machine like the Cuttlebug can be a better choice if your space is limited.

Sizzix have another few machines that are worth mentioning.

First is the Vagabond which is an electronic motorised machine that you need to plug in and it will cut thick materials like canvas, grungeboard etc. It was designed by Tim Holtz and has a vintage suitcase look.

Second is the Big Shot Pro which has an opening of 13� to cut or emboss bigger sheets of paper or other materials.

In the next issue we will look more at the use of die cutting machines and electronic die cutting.

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I often find if I am going for a crafty weekend away Nicole Mullen that I end up tucking some jewellery away into my wash bag. This often means I end up with two necklaces in a tangle and one earing hiding at the bottom of the bag! I recently saw a lovely jewellery pouch but it was too big—I don't tend to take much jewellery away with me. It was also a little bit out of my budget! So I decided to create a little pouch of my own and share how I did it with you all.

What you will need  Felt, two colours is good  Grungepaper/heavy card  Velcro tabs  Hole puncher  Hot glue gun—or sewing machine  Needle and thread Step 1 Cut two pieces of felt to 16.5cm x 11cm. Then cut a piece of grungeboard to 15.8cm x 10.4cm. Score the grungepaper down the middle to make a central fold. This is going to be the cover of the book. You can use cardboard instead of the grungepaper if you wish but the grungepaper is more flexible so will work better.

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Step 2 If you are using a different colour felt for the colour of the book then place this colour down first. In my case it is the blue felt. Place the grungepaper on top of it. You will see the small border of felt around the edge of it.

You then will place your inside piece of felt on top of this.

If you were going to sew your book you would pin it into place and then sew around all for edges. In my case I used hot glue to stick them together. To do this I started at one of the short edges and ran a line of hot glue along it. I then lined the grey felt up on it and used a brayer to smooth the felt down fully.

The felt is thick enough that the hot glue wont bleed thought it. If any of the glue comes out the edges of the two felt layers you can simply trim them off. The felt is very forgiving!

Step 3 Now we are going to make the inside pages of the book. To do this you need to cut a piece of grungepaper to 10.2cm x 15.6cm. Cut a piece of 16cm high x 15.8cm wide. Then cut another strip if the felt to 5cm x 15.8cm wide. You will also need a piece of patterned paper or perhaps just a piece of felt—whatever you prefer!

Step 4 Lay the piece of grungepaper onto the larger piece of felt, like into the picture on the right. The patterned paper goes inside like a liner—you will need to glue this down.

You will then fold down the top of the felt and glue it into place.

Step 5 Now take the 5cm high strip of felt and glue it down like in the second picture down on the right hand side.

You want to make sure to only stick this down on three sides—the bottom and the two edges. This will make a pocket on this page.

Remember to bray all the felt to flatten out the glue and make it bond well together. Again if you have any glue coming out the edges you can just carefully trim it off.

Step 6 This page will be folded in half to make the inside page of my book.

Fold it in half and use a bone folder to give the fold some definition. It wont stay folded due to the nature of the materials so don't worry too much!

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Step 7 We now need to make the holes for your earrings in your inner page. Mark a point at approximately 2.5cm & 5cm on the left hand page & the same on the right side. Make the marks about 2cm down from the top of the page.

Using a 1/8th “ hole puncher (crop-a-dile) punch holes on these marks.

Step 8 We now need to bind our inner page to the cover. To do this line your inner page up inside the cover page. The inner page should be a few millimetres smaller all around the edges. Make sure you line the inner page up exactly where you want it.

Then pierce two small holes 2cm down from the top and 2cm up from the bottom through both the cover and inside pages at the same time. You want to make sure the holes line up on both pages.

It may be difficult to get through both layers at once so make sure you have a cutting mat and a sharp hole poking tool for this step!

Step 9 When you have your small holes made get a needle and thread and stitch the two together. You can use a contrasting thread if you want or one that blends in instead.

You can do as fancy or as plain stitching as you want, once it is tight and keeps the inside page in place it is all good!

Step 10 We now need to make the closure for the book. Cut a strip of felt to around 1.5cm x 8cm. Hot glue about 2.5c of this strip onto the back of the book. This will then wrap around to the front of the book.

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Step 11 Adhere a Velcro dot to the front to keep the closure in place. You can use a different type of closure if you wish, I just like how nice and easy the Velcro is!

Step 12 You can now embellish your mini jewellery book as much as you wish. I kept mine quite simple. This was so that I could put it in a overnight bag and not worry about embellishments snagging on anything.

Tip: Glue on embellishments with hot glue. If your embellishment is soft— for example a flower—you could also stitch it on.

Now you can add in your few pieces of jewellery and enjoy a weekend away somewhere!

Timi Konya As a scrapbooker who likes texture I like to try to achieve the same textured effect on my cards. I think dimension and texture gives interest to even the simplest and quickest projects. In this very short tutorial I will give you a little inspiration how to achieve this textured look.

What you will need  Cardstock  Patterned paper  Embossing folder  Scoring tools Happy Birthday Card Step 1 Take a piece of 6”x12” cardstock. Score the card vertically at 3”, 4 ½”, 7 ½” and 9”. You will end up with a paper divided into 5 sections. Then score a horizontal line 1 ½” away from the top and one 1 ½” away from the bottom.

In the centre of the paper you will need to cut two horizontal openings as you see in the picture below.

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Step 2 Cover all the sections with patterned paper.

Step 3 Decorate with some butterflies or flowers matching your design. Add a sentiment of your choice and you are done.

Make a Wish Card Take a piece of 5”x12” cardstock with a different colour core. I used Tim Holtz’s Kraft Core.

Step 1 Emboss it in an embossing folder. I used Tim Holtz’s Checkerboard embossing folder because I wanted a continuous pattern .

Step 2 Using a sanding block distress the paper on the edges, it will also reveal the pattern a bit more.

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Step 3 Score the paper at 5”, 10” and 11” so that you end up with a big and a small “mountain”.

Step 4 Add a sentiment and a journaling card to the front for your message. Decorate as you wish.

These two cards are very quick makes, but still they have some texture and interest because of the 3D aspect.

I hope you’ll try them and have fun!

Jackie Mooney 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 issue our spotlight is shining on Jackie Mooney. Here she is to tell us a bit about herself and her work....

Hi, I am Jackie Mooney from Dublin, I am married with one son, I keep busy running my monthly card making workshops here in Dublin and wherever else they take me, I also love photography and jewellery making.

W hen and h o w di d y ou g e t i n vol ved w ith p aper c r af ti ng ?

As long as I can remember I have had a love of paper crafting, books, arts and crafts so I suppose it has always been there in me, then I bought my first rubber stamp about seventeen years ago and my card making took off.

W hat i s y our f av ou r i te as pec t o f paper cr af ti ng ?

Paper crafting gives me so much pleasure and has helped me meet so many fantastic people over the past years who also share their love of crafting.

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What are th e te ch ni que s th at y ou u s e m ost of th e ti m e?

Well I will have to say my Pro Markers, dry embossing, rubber stamping, heat embossing, distressing, but I could go on forever !!!

What a re yo u r " can ' t d o w i thout " pr odu cts ?

My die cut machines, Paper cutter, scoring board, Ds tape, stickles, pearls and ribbon ( lots of ribbon ).

What inspires you?

Everything inspires me, magazines, the web, nature, photography and of course all my fellow crafters!

How d o yo u des cr i be y ou r sty l e ?

I think my style is clean and non fussy, and I use a lot of plain card/papers, I like to have a stop off point and am a great believer that less is more.

Do y ou bl og?

Yes I have a few blogs all linked from the two below: Jackies Space: http://jackies-space.blogspot.com/ My Workshop Blog http:// jackiesworkshops.blogspot.com/

W here ca n w e s ee y our w ork? Are y o u on a ny design t e am s?

I design for: Mami Doodles digital images http:// mamidoodles.blogspot.com/ Sassy Cheryl’s digital images http:// sassycherylschallenge.blogspot.com/ Hav e y ou any pl ans f or t he f utur e ?

My plans for the future are to continue with my Card making workshops and to get out and about with my camera as much as I can.

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Edi t o rs pi cks The editors each picked one of their favourite projects from Jackie’s work to share with you below..

Ti m i says..

I love the image and sentiment on this card. The white card base makes the image and the beautiful colouring really stand out. It is fantastic!

Ni c ol e says..

I just love that this card is white on white. It is so elegant and I love the dimenstion on the embellishments too. The birds look like they are ready to fly off the card and the leaves look like they are blowing in the wind! It is a really beautiful and classy card.

Nicole Mullen Welcome to our Crafting on a Budget section. As usual we will be working on a budget and using supplies you will probably have in your crafting stash!

I am sure that I am not alone in having lots of stamps and struggling to find storage for them all. A while ago I started storing them in small A5 ring binders in plastic pockets. The system has worked out brilliantly.

Except for the fact that the folders are just not pretty at all!!

So I will show you here a fun and quick way to alter some cheap binders.

What you will need:

 A5 ring binder  Gesso  Paint - two colours, one darker and one lighter colour works best

 Baby wipes 86

Step 1 Prime your binders for painting by covering them with a coat of gesso.

When the gesso is dry paint the folders with your main paint colour. The lighter colour first is usually best.

Step 2 When your light coat is dry apply a few streaks of your darker colour. Blend this darker colour in with a baby wipe. If you wipe off too much simply let it dry then add more of the darker colour.

Step 3 Now you can decorate your folders.

For my background stamps folder I stamped a large background stamp all over the cover in a very light grey ink.

When you are stamping on the folders you will need to have it open out flat. You will get the best level stamping surface if you have one half of the folder on a table and the other half hanging off the edge of the table.

To embellish the background stamp folder I added some Tim Holtz salvage stickers.

My second folder contains stamp sets so for this one I just stamped some of the images it holds on the cover.

This is a very cheap and easy way to create some stamp storage on a budget. Now you have no excuse to go get all those stamps organised.

Enjoy getting all your stamps stored away prettily and conveniently!!

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Anyone who follows this crafting on a budget section knows that I like to get the best value I can out of my dies. This often involves using my dies to create more than just cards. I recently redecorated my craft room and I wanted something pretty to hang on the wall, so I created a wall hanging.

What you will need  Die of your choice—this is for the base of the wall hanging as well as the patterned paper to cover it  Patterned paper  Adhesive  Ink to match your papers  Letter die or alpha stickers Step 1 Die cut your die from cardstock—you will need to cut it out three times.

At this stage also die cut the paper to cover your die cut shapes also.

You will note my die has a loop shape at the top and bottom. This will make it easier to connect the shapes together. However if you don't have a die like this you can use any shape and create a loop from ribbon or jump rings to connect them.

If you want to cover the back of your wall hanging you would have to cut another three dies from the paper. I didn't bother with this as the back of the wall hanging will not be showing!

Step 2 In the edges of the cardboard and the paper to cover the edges. When you have done this glue the paper to the cardboard die shapes.

Step 3 Using your letter die cut or using your alpha stickers cut a phrase for your wall hanging. I used the phrase ‘Live, Love, Laugh’. When you have it cut space it out onto the shapes.

Step 4 Create some co-ordinating embellishments for your project. I die cut some butterflies and a heart and key. I used the same papers as on the dies so that they work well on the project. The butterflies I doubled up to give 90

some dimension to them using contrasting papers. For the heart I stuck it to the key to create a ‘hanging’ loop.

Step 5 I then used loops of ribbon to connect the shapes together. You can use jump rings or twine if you prefer.

Step 6 Adhere your embellishment to your hanging and enjoy!

Tip: You can use any shapes or colours for this project. You could add a favourite quote on it or even favourite photos.

Previously in this how to blog series I have Nicole Mullen shown you how to set up a blog and some tips and tricks to running a blog. In this issue we are going to look at taking photos for your blog.

Good photos on your blog make a very good impression on your blog visitors. You can make a fantastic project but if you take a terrible photo of it then it lets the project down!

A lot of people feel that you need to have a fancy camera and flashes to take a consistently good photo. People feel like they have to wait for good daylight to take a good image. So I wanted to show you a few tips and tricks to getting a good photo no matter what the time or day or camera you are using.

All of the photos taken for this article were taking on a normal point and shoot camera set on automatic mode—so no having to play around with fancy camera settings. All the images are un-processed with the exception of adding the frames to them.

Daylight photos The first set up I am going to look at is taking images in daylight. You can see in the image that I didn't just take the picture on the floor.

Instead I used two sheets of neutral cardstock. I propped the back sheet up on a small box to keep it upright.

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You may notice that the area is running parallel to the window. This means all the light is coming in from the left hand side. This will mean you will get a shadow on the picture you are taking. Also the left side of your image will be brighter than the right hand side.

To solve this problem simply angle the set up towards the light source. This will mean the light will be shining straight on to your card.

Below is the resulting picture from this set up. Again remember there is no processing on the photo. Natural daylight and a neutral background will give a good image nearly every time!

Lamp Set up Photos Often we may not be able to get photos taken in daylight. It may be night time when you need to take a photo, or it may just be a dull and rainy day. So to combat this we can use our same set up of the neutral cardstock and the box to prop them up. But this time it is set up on my craft desk.

It needs a light source for the image however, and this is where my desk lamp comes in.

It sits on the windowsill by my desk. It is one of the lamps that you can adjust the angle of the head and therefor direct the light.

I simply angle the light to point at the card and then line myself up in front of the card.

This is a great way to get a good photo in bad light, without and fancy equipment. If you don't have a desk lamp for your craft desk I highly recommend it both for photos and to save your eyes!

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Photo Studio Kit set up If you are taking a lot of photos for your blog a light studio can be a very good investment. It is basically a fancier version of our neutral cardstock. It is a lined self supporting box that has powerful lights.

The one I have comes with four different colour liners (white, black, blue and red).

It comes with two small spotlights and it all packs away into a handy carry bag. It is approximately 40cmx40cmx40cm so does not take up much space at all. You can buy one from Amazon for around â‚Ź30 so it is a great investment.

Out of the three set ups the picture I got from the light studio is the best and most true to life. But I think you would agree that the other two images are not too bad at all considering they were taken with a basic camera.

Other Useful Equipment Apart from the light studio the other thing I would highly recommend is a small tripod. You can get three styles of small and cheap tripod and all three work perfectly well. The one on the left has flexible legs so you can adjust the height.

The one in the middle is more flexible again and adjusts from more angles so it allows you to adjust the height and the angle. This allows you to compensate for uneven surface areas. The third tripod is very similar to a bean bag.

You cant adjust the height unless you put a book or two under it.

Any of these tripods will do the same job for you really. They keep the camera steady for you while you are taking the image. This will eliminate ‘camera shake’ and means you wont have blurry or out of focus images. Price wise— the first tripod you will pick up for about €4, the second one €7-8 and the third is the most expensive at about €25.

If you don't want to buy a tripod you could try just resting the tripod on a few books!

I hope this has been some use to you . Photography for our blogs is an important thing so it is good to be able to see some cheap and easy tricks to help achieve the photos.

In the next issue I will look at processing our pictures using free software.

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Splitcoaststampers Splitcoaststampers is a web-based community for paper crafters.

Rubberstamping and card making is main profile, but you will certainly find scrapbookers too.

To be able to access some of the services on the Splitcoaststamper site you have to register. The registration is free of charge and well worth the few minutes it takes. There are different sections of the site.

In the Gallery section you can upload your own project and view other members’ projects. There are separate galleries for stamp companies, and for Stampin’ Up.

You can also browse the Gallery by occasion which is a really useful feature if you are looking for some inspiration in specific theme.

Splitcoaststampers site has a Forum section too. In here you can find thousands of forum threads about every topic that you can think of; from publication calls to craft room organisation through techniques and challenges. There is a subsection for Member companies, where you can find threads about these stamp companies: challenges, techniques, swaps, new releases.

Under the Resources section there are lots of techniques and product reviews to browse. You can find step by step tutorials as well as video tutorials from talented crafters from all over the world.

In the news section you can keep up-to-date with all the happenings on the site. The Splitcoaststampers Facebook page is a great place to find out whats happening.

We hope that you try and join Splitcoaststampers to be a part of this worldwide stamping community.

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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

United Kingdom

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

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

Scrapbook Store http://www.thescrapbookstore.ie

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

Crafty Alley https://craftyalley.com/

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

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

Craft Emporium http://www.craft-emporium.co.uk

Scrapbook Store http://www.thescrapbookstore.ie

WOW Embossing Powders http://www.wowembossingpowder.co.uk/

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

Wild Orchid Crafts www.wildorchidcrafts.com

Create With Kate www.createwithkate.com LillyPad Craft Supplies http://www.lilypadcraftsupplies.ie/ Crafty Cutting www.craftycutting.com

In every issue of Crafting Ireland we will have a crafty challenge to help you all get your creative juices flowing. We will select a winner from each challenge. We will then publish the winners projects in the next issue.

In this issue we have a photo for inspiration to work with. As always you can submit any type of project, cards, layouts, altered art and so on. We look forward to seeing your entries!

The fantastic prize up for grabs for one lucky winner in this issue is a fantastic pack of goodies from our fabulous sponsor Crafty Cutting.

At Crafty Cutting you will find all your crafting needs. They manufacture from the highest quality materials to ensure that the end product to you is durable and robust. They also offer a bespoke service to create individual designs and diecuts whether from wood, acrylic, steel or card each job is priced individually.

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We will no longer be accepting challenge entries by email. Please go to our blog at craftingireland.wordpress.com to enter your project on our challenge link—look for the Challenge page!!

Thank you to everyone who entered our Issue 6 challenge. As always the entries are stunning and we have a hard time picking a winner—thankfully we could use random.org!

But this time the winner according to Random.org is....

Geraldine from Cards et alia.

Congratulations Geraldine!

Make sure to email timi@craftingirelandonline.ie to claim your prize!!

Thank you to everyone who entered your work was all fantastic!

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out on 5th March.. .

For the next issue we would love to see more of your work. Remember the submission themes are: ď € Anything but a card ď € Spring/Easter inspired S u bm i s si o n de adlin e i s 20th F ebruar y

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

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