Issue 11 July 2012

I re land’s f i rs t onl ine craf t magazine. . . .

Inside th is issue

Smashbooks

Summer Card Set

Summer Place Set t ing

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WELCOME to Issue 11 of Crafting Ireland!

As always we have a fun tutorial packed issue for you all. This is

the first issue our amazing design team feature in. We love all

the work they have submitted and are sure you will too. To see

our list of design team members click here.

Some of our design team projects will be featuring over on our

blog also so make sure to keep an eye out over there and maybe

become a follower if you are not already!

We are doing a special Ustream online class on the 21st July

2012. It is at 3pm BST. We have tried to pick a time that will al-

low as many of our readers to attend as possible. If you can’t

attend we will be recording the class so you can watch it later.

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

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The class will be hosted here on Ustream. The supply list is

posted so if you want to join in on the day please do! The

class will be looking at creating mini layout pages and a stand-

ing desk holder for them.

In the mean time we hope you all enjoy this issue!

Don’t forget you can keep up to date with us on our BLOG

WEBSITE and FACEBOOK page.

Nico le T i m i

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E d i t o r s n o t e . . . . . . . . p 2

S t a n d i n g Ta g H o l d e r. . . . . . . . p 6

A l c o h o l I n k s o n a L a y o u t . . . . . . . . p 1 2

S u m m e r P l a c e S e t t i n g . . . . . . . . p 1 7

C r e a t i n g C l o u d y B a c k g r o u n d s . . . . . . . . p 2 2

S c h o o l s O u t P r o j e c t . . . . . . . . p 2 6

S m a s h b o o k — We d d i n g S m a s h . . . . . . . . p 3 0

S u m m e r L a y o u t . . . . . . . . p 3 5

We d d i n g Wr e a t h . . . . . . . . p 3 7

C l a s s e s a n d C r o p s . . . . . . . . p 4 1

S u m m e r C a r d S e t . . . . . . . . p 4 3

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S p o t l i g h t O n . . . . . . . . p 4 7

D i g i t a l C o l l a g e . . . . . . . p 5 2

B u t t o n A r t w i t h C h i l d r e n . . . . . . . . p 5 3

C a r d S t y l e s . . . . . . . . p 5 7

P o l a r o i d M i n i A l b u m . . . . . . . . p 6 1

C ra f t y S t o ra g e I d e a s . . . . . . . . p 6 7

B a c k t o B a s i c s — S p ray I n k s . . . . . . . . p 7 1

M i n i L ay o u t Pa g e s a n d S t a n d . . . . . . . . p 7 5

S w a p . . . . . . . . p 8 1

A l t e r e d F ra m e s L ay o u t . . . . . . . . p 8 3

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This tag holder was really quick to make, it will stand easily on my desk which means that the photos will be looked at often. I was searching for just the right summer colours to use and just couldn’t decide – my choice was made for me when Kate from “Create with Kate” kindly sponsored the paper, her choice couldn’t have been better! She chose “Miss Caroline” from My Minds Eye which you can find at her online shop along with lots of lovely co-coordinating embellishments. What you will need:

6 tags (I used Tim Holtz no: 8 tags cut to 12cm)

6 coin envelopes

Medium weight chipboard cut to the width of your envelopes x 8cm

Acrylic paint – I used as Adirondack Dabber in Cloudy Blue

Your choice of design papers

Ribbons and embellishments

Adhesive

Felicia Thomas

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Step 1 Cut off the gummed flap of the envelopes and then paint a 2cm border around them on both sides Step 2 Stick them together making sure the paint hasn’t sealed them shut. Don’t glue them to the edge; leave a small border for expansion. Step 3 Paint a 2cm border on chipboard, again both sides. Step 4 Now you need to score this at 1cm – 2.5cm – 5.5cm – 7cm

Felicia Thomas

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Step 5 Cut a piece of design paper and cover one side of the chipboard. (My enve-lopes measured 9cm in width so I cut my papers to 8cm to leave a border) Step 6 Add adhesive to the 1cm scored area of the covered chipboard. With your design paper on the inside place your envelope stack in the center. Tip: This can be a bit tricky and if you can ask someone to help at this point do! Step 7 Secure the glued side in place and then lay the stack down flat. Measure from the top of the chipboard to the top of your envelope. Step 8 Turn over your stack, measure the same distance down from the top of the envelope and draw a line. This gives you a guideline for securing the other side of the chipboard.

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Step 9 Bend your base into shape until it stands up – as you can see it may not be totally straight at this point Step 10 Your tag holder is ready to decorate – cover both sides of it and add your embellishments to the front and back. Step 11 Add photo mats to your tags on both sides and rib-bons to the top.

On the next page you can see how mine turned out. I hope you enjoy mak-ing this!

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Thank you again to Create With Kate for sponsoring this tutorial. You can find the papers used on this project and much more in her online store:

www.createwithkate.com

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Acohol inks are very vesatile, you can colour lots of your supplies with them to add interesting effects to your creations. In this article I will show you some ideas on how to use alchol inks and create a distressed layout. What you will need:

7 Dots Studio papers – Kindly provided by Create with Kate

Acetate sheet

Alcohol inks

Trim

Step 1 Take the alcohol inks and the acetate. To apply the inks use an ink blending tool with the felt pads.

Step 2 Start applying the inks to the acetate by dabbing the belnding tool on the acetate. Try to use different colours. Here I used four colours; two kinds of blue and two kinds of green.

Timi Konya

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Step 3 When the acetate is covered with the ink then put a on a few drops of blending solution. This will dilute the ink and you will get the ”bubble”effect below in the picture.

Step 4 Now go back with the blending tool and try to blend the edges of the “bubbles”.

Step 5 Die cut some flowers. I used Tim Holtz’s Tattered Florals die.

Step 6 Take a pair of tweezers and heat up a flower with a heating tool. When it is melted a little bit shape the petals with your fingers. Be careful not to burn your fingers.

Timi Konya

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Step 7 Glue the two flowers together with transparent adhesive. I used Scrap Dots by Helmar. It is a dimensional adhesive. Let the glue dry.

Step 8 Take the trim and cut a few flowers off of it. Colour it with the alcohol ink, dabbing the blending tool onto the trim flowers.

Step 9 Print the photos in balck and white. Here I coloured the grass and the sky in with the alcohol inks.

Step 10 Take one of the 7 Dots Studio papers and cut out some of the circles. We will use them as elements on the scrapbook layout.

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Step 11 Choose the background paper. Distress the edges with a distresser and border punches.

Step 12 (optional) Tear a piece out of the edge of the bacground paper. Place a piece of scrap paper onto the back, just to keep the square shape. Later we will place a tag in between these to layers and the top of the tag will hang out.

Step 13 Mat the pictures you want to use.

Step 14 Place the photos on the layout and the elements on the page.

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When you are happy with the arrangement of the elements glue them down on the paper. Add your embellishments and title. And there you have a distressed layout using alcohol inks.

You will find the 7 Dots Studio papers and stickers at Create with Kate.

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I love parties.… who doesn’t! And I love deco-rating a table with a sense of fun and a little formality, hence the reason why I have chosen this name place project for a summer party. I came across a pack of plastic tumblers but any plastic cups could be used.

What you will need

3 sheets of coloured cardstock

Plastic Tumblers

Skewers

Pro markers or Ink

Glue Dots or Glue

Foam pads

Floral Oasis or Clay

Coloured pebbles

Step 1

Choose 3 colours of cardstock such as pink, blue and green.

Step 2 Cut/punch a paper flower shape or circle 3” diameter in pink, ink the edges or as I did use a promarker in a similar colour. Cut about 1” into the centre to make petals.

Eva Birdthistle

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Step 3 Cut/punch a 1.5” circle in blue again ink or edge with a Promarker. Step 4 Cut/punch a 2.5” circle in green, then cut a leaf shape by either using the same paper punch or cutting by hand. Edge the 2 leaf shapes with a green promarker or ink.

Step 5 Assemble the elements using foam pads to raise the small circle off the flower base.

Step 6 Repeat the steps above but in reverse to create a “his & hers” flower. Also make a smaller flowers matching your chose colours.

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Step 7 Colour the skewers with a green promarker or paint for the stem.

Step 8 To make the windmill, cut a 3.5” square, fold in half to make a triangle, open and fold in the opposite direction.

Following the crease lines cut from the edge in towards the centre about ¾ of the way.

Step 9 Place a glue dot in the centre and bend down one corner into the centre, re-peat all 4 corners.

Step 10 Repeat the steps above for the smaller windmill, but this time with a 3” square.

Use a 1” circle (edge inked or coloured) to cover the join and glue to the larger windmill.

Repeat for contrasting colours.

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Step 11 To hide where the stem meets the back of your flowers and windmill use a circle of card.

To decorate the tumbler: Step 12 Cut a 3” flower in half, and ink the edges . Step 13

Use double sided tape just below the rim of the tumbler.

Step 14 Adhere a length of contrasting paper, where you have scal-loped the edge.

Ribbon could also be used here.

Step 15 Glue the straight section of the half flower and ad-here to the tumbler under your decoration.

Step 16 Using foam pads adhere a 1.5” circle (ink or colour edge) to the front of the tumbler.

Step 17

Decorate your flowers and windmills with buttons, assemble your flower pot by placing floral oasis or clay into the tumbler, stick the flowers and windmills into the oasis and cover with decorative pebbles.

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Use a strip of white cardstock for the name, fold over, cut “v” shape and glue to the stem (after you’ve written the name)

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Sometimes it’s fun to set a scene when card making, a cloudy background can be useful for a lot of occasions! This super easy technique can be done quickly and really adds a lot to your cards!

What you will need

Sturdy piece of card to use for cloudy template.

Marker or pencil to draw template.

Scissors to cut out cloudy template.

Distress inks in blue and yellow and tool to apply.

Chalk ink in yellow and red.

Clear stamps (sun-Wplus9, sentiment-Paper Smooches)

Card base, doily, blue cardstock, and embellishments of your choice! (I used a button, twine, and adhesive gems)

Step 1 Draw the cloudy background on a sturdy piece of cardstock using marker or pencil. You can do large fluffy clouds or smaller tight ones, up to you!

Robin Funge

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Step 2 Cut along the drawn line creating your cloudy background template.

Step 3 Using a distress ink tool and ink of your choice, start at the top of your cho-sen area and distress in small circular motions along your cloudy template.

Be sure to hold template in place with your other hand so it doesn’t move on you!

Step 4 Repeat step 3 by moving template down about an inch or so each time and moving template to right or left to use different sections of your clouds to vary the effect.

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Step 5 Using a yellow distress ink, you can distress the edges creating a sunny effect.

Step 6 Using a clear block, stamp sun and sentiment over the cloudy background in chalk ink.

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Step 7 Cut out cardstock in blue slightly smaller than the card base and attach to card with double sided tape. Adhere doily to card front, then your cloudy background using double sided tape. Thread button with bakers twine and adhere using glue gel, then add adhesive gems beside stamped sentiment.

And now you have a fun cloudy background card, perfect for a summer thank-you!!

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I love having a good look through my stamps every so often as you do forget what you have even if you keep them in order. I have just purchased a pherenial head stamp and this seems to be coming out quite often as I go through an Eclectic stage, but it is so useful with other stamps. The theme was school, so I have delved into my stash of stamps and this is the result..... This project is great for using up small embelishments and stamps which you would not usually put together.

What you will need

Heat gun, Pinflair silicone glue

2 squares of thick cardstock 1 x18x18cm and 1 x 10x10cm

Old book with writing in it to cover the 10 x 10 square

Kasier Craft, Docrafts backing papers

Spellbinder postal stamp die

Pherenial head stamp & Tim Holtz visual atistry stamps – seamless

experience, boundless flight, lost and found, lifes possibilities, curious possibility, ledger & House of 3 stamps- daly junque & Kanban clear stamps

WOW embossing powder in Ebony

Versamark & Archival ink in black

Distress inks- Spring selection, brushed cordroy and Stazon in black

Craft metal

Anna Griffin tab punch and border punch

Foam alphabet coloured with promarkers

Sue O’Connell

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Step 1 Glue the backing paper to the larger square. Sand the edges and go around these with distress ink. Stamp some numbers down the left hand side and then get a strip of paper and use a border punch.

Stick this down the left side. Take a further stamp(I used a stich stamp) and stamp around the edge of the larger square.

Step 2 Cut the spellbinder postage die twice in similar backing papers making one of them into an appature. Take a further white piece of cardstock a rectangle the same size as the inner postal die and stamp different areas. ( I used a ledger, world map, typewriter and globe).

Then fill the card with distress inks. Glue this inbetween the postal stamp die cuts at an angle. Punch out a tab and stamp ’to do list’ onto it then ink this up with distress inks. Take the smaller square and glue a piece of newspaper or old book onto it. Ink the background with distress inks. Take some of the stamps and stamp with distress inks and make a collage in the background.

Step 3 Stamp the Tim Holtz pen set onto craft metal with Stazon and cut out. Use an embossing tool to shape the pens from the back outwards.

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Step 4 Stamp out onto white cardstock the pherenial head and any items from your stamps. Don’t forget, anything goes. I used versamark and WOW ebony embossing powder then coloured these in with distress inks and glued them behind the head where they looked best.

Step 5 With the pherenial head I have cut above the eyes so that the head opens up with a brad securing it together at one side. You can fit your embelishments inside. I have put a watch with wings, set square, pointing finger and 3 metal pens inside the head. No 1 is on a very small tag.

Step 6 The N.O and E are foam letters coloured in with Promarkers. The other letters are from an A4 piece of card with the Scrabble alphabet on.

Step 7 The ruler was stamped in archival ink and coloured with distress inks, then a further bird stamp used over the top. The scrolls were made from a length of paper ruler coloured in, rolled and pieces of string wrapped around them. Everything was glued down with Pinflair silicone glue, then glossy accents was used to highlight the alphabet.

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I hope this idea gives a new lease of life to some of your old stamps. Take care & speak soon, Sue

If you try this project share it with us on our Facebook page

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If you are like me and you keep EVERYTHING that you come across-like tickets, memorabilia and random goodies then smash*ing is a great way to save your little treasures-I am definitely a Smash*aholic and love everything about the world of smash*-the folios are fantastic, the accessories are perfect & the possibilities are endless…. Today I am going to show you the start of my journey as I smash* my wed-ding- for my wedding I was extremely hands on as I love planning events and I literally organized every part of wedding so I have lots of bits & bobs saved in a box. It is nice to look through them but in the box they are just a mess really- so when my friend Emily sent me a wedding smash*folio I knew what I would be using it for. What you will need

Your smash* folio of choice (There are so many cool folios-I want them all!) or a homemade smash*book using patterned papers, ledger papers etc.

The items you wish to smash* about.

Matching patterned pa-pers & embellishments.

Your favourite adhe-sives & other crafty supplies-everything and anything goes into the-se books!

Aideen Fallon

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The first smash* pages I wanted to do was about the whole dress shopping experience-which was so much fun. I took a week off work and made all my dress appointments in that one week & even found THE dress. I found photos in my wedding box of dresses I had tried on & liked and also the diary with the dates and times of my appointments-perfect for this lay-out. I then gathered some matching embellies I had in my stash, photo cor-ners, a Maya road pocket and ticket and some matching Amy Tangerine ledger paper. The next step was to pick the page in my smash* folio to smash* in the dresses-this one was perfect. I then stuck down the photos of dresses I had liked along the way adding some little photo corners to the photos and also the Maya road pocket.

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Then I went back and added little tickets just explaining about the dresses and where I had tried them on-these were the best of the rest! To the pocket I added this fun detail using my little wooden girl embellishment and a dress and love sticker. The ‘Love it!’ piece is from the blue roll of smash* tape. Then on the ticket I wrote out the dates, times & places of all my appointments that I went to-love this! On the opposite page I distressed the edges of the ledger paper with my Tim Holtz distresser and stuck it down adding pictures of THE dress. I then added another little ticket with the dress details on it. I also added a flatback button-these are great for smash* books as you don’t want anything too bulky or your book won’t close!! And also I made a crochet tab by attaching a

piece of trim using my Tim Holtz tiny attacher.

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These are the following two pages in the smash* book and I love how these pre-printed pages mean you get a great choice of fun backgrounds to work with. However if you didn’t like a certain page in your folio, you could cover it up or even rip it out! I am using these pages to talk about THE dress & me in it… Here I am on the big day being helped by my mom-I just loved my dress so much, it was so exciting to be finally putting it on. I added some journaling using my old type-writer which I just acquired from my mom, the typewriter image is cut out from a smash* pad sheet and the ‘love’ sticker is from my stash. Here is the journaling I added, the typewrit-er is quite old but I love the font it makes and I will be using it throughout my smash*book and on other projects! The patterned papers I used on these pages are also Amy Tange-rine from her sketchbook pad (available from cardznscrapz.com). And here I am, a happily married woman-in my beautiful dress, we took all our photos in my uncles garden-the weather was amazing

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and his garden just gorgeous. I added an-other little flatback button, love these! Also, a great little idea I have seen people add to their books is a little pocket to the first inside page and adding a library type card showing what & when they smash*ed. This was my first layout in my wedding folio so I recorded the title and the date using the smash* stamp.

I hope you enjoyed my little bit of smash*ing-I am addicted to this won-derful way of keeping my little treas-ures and memories. These amazing products are now making their way to

our shores with cardznscrapz.com now selling smash* products. I will be having a smash*ing Saturday hop for the month of July on my blog along with my friend Emily and if you wish to follow along with us that would be amazing-there will be yummy smash* goodies up for grabs!!

Happy smash*ing, Aideen.

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If you love to use paint or mist on your layouts, water-fun pictures are great for you. In this project I would like to show you an example of summer layout with paint. This project would also be an example of a layout using washi tape, on the bottom of layers. What you will need

Patterned Paper (BasicGrey, Pink Paislee, Cosmo Cricket, Prima Mar-keting, Webster’s Pages)

Washi tape (Kamoi)

Alphabet stickers (Prima Marketing)

Paper doily

Tulle & Baker’s twine

Game piece (Tim Holtz)

Pearls and rhinestones (Prima Marketing)

Step 1 For this layout you will need 3 pictures. 2 of them are 3x3 inches and the oth-er is 2x2 inches.

Step 2 Enjoy splattering acrylic paint and mist. Let dry.

Aki Iinuma

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Step 3 Washi tape – if you are new to washi tape, I recommend you tape vertically or horizontally, not askew.

Step 4 Then you will need small pieces of patterned paper. For long and thin pieces it’s good to use border punches, but hand-cutting with scissors is also great.

Step 5 Make layers of patterned paper, tulle, paper doily and your pictures. Tie baker’s twine into a bow.

Step 6 Add pearls, rhinestones, game piece. Make a title with alphabet stickers,

and it’s done!

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One of my daughters is getting married this year, and our house has been full of wedding projects in vari-ous stages of completion. We have invited family and friends from all over the world, but we know some won’t be able to make it. Thinking about our loved ones who will not be present at my daughter’s wed-ding celebration got the gears spinning in my brain, and I came up with an idea for décor that will help to bring well wishes to the celebration from people who can’t be there in person. What you will need

12 pieces of 12x12 patterned paper (single-sided paper only);

Cardboard cut into a 12 inch circle;

A piece of burlap, ribbon, or twine;

One or more large paper flowers;

Extra pieces of lace or ribbon to trim the flower(s);

A small brooch or pretty embellishment;

Tape and/or glue;

Ink for your papers. Step 1 First, I cut each 12x12 paper into four pieces - two that each measured 8 inches by 6 inches and two that each measured 4 inches by 6 inches. Ideally, you would send all these cut pieces of paper to guests who may not be able to attend the wedding. They would write a small note of congratulations or perhaps some words of advice on the white back side of the patterned paper

Krissy Clark

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(that’s why we only use one-sided paper) and return it to the person making the wreath. Step 2 First, I like to ink the edges of my paper and run the inker across the letter side to help create a little visual interest. Once that is done, each of the 24 8x6 inch pieces of paper are then rolled into a cone with the edge of paper taped closed so the cone doesn’t unroll. The handwritten note should be on the inside and the patterned paper should be fac-ing out. The cones are then placed next to each other on the cardboard cir-cle so that the wider ends are slightly overhanging the cardboard. Affix each cone to the cardboard with adhesive – glue or a strong double-sided tape can be used. Step 3 Once all 24 larger cones are laid in a ring around your cardboard circle, you should have a gap in the middle that is approximate-ly 4 inches in diameter. Don’t worry if the ends are not all perfectly aligned around the center gap or if you have small spaces between the cones. Step 4 Now we will start a second layer of cones with the smaller 4 by 6 pieces of paper. Each small cone should be placed in the crack of two cones below it.

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You will complete a ring with the smaller cones, exactly as with the first layer of cones. Once all the smaller cones are adhered to the bottom layer of cones, your wreath should look like the image below. Remember, don’t worry if your center edges aren’t exactly perfect. We are getting ready to cover them up and nobody will be the wiser!

Step 5 Our next step is to make a pretty decoration to go in the center of our wreath. I used a die-cut paper flower. Then, to dress it up, I layered several pieces of ribbon and lace behind it. I found a lovely dragonfly brooch in my charm box that I affixed to the top of my flower with foam ad-hesive. I then glued the entire piece to the center circle. You can make the center as fancy or as simple as you want – your imagina-tion is the limit.

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Best of all, any uneven edges from the cones are completely out of sight! Step 6 The last step is to create a hanger for your wreath. I simply used packaging tape to adhere a strip of burlap to the back of my wreath. And voila! It’s ready to be displayed!

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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 submis-sions@craftingirelandonline.ie

Card Art Kilcoole http://cardarteventskilcoole.blogspot.com/

Crafty Angels All places must be booked in advance. Crafty Angels, Cutlery Rd, New-bridge, 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.

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

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Archangels craft club Archangels Craft Club - we meet in St. Gabriels Clontarf every Tues-day 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 demon-strators and enjoy the social aspect of crafting (along with the tea and cake!) If anyone is interested in coming along to join us, or may-be there is another club out there who would be interested in doing a Christmas craft day together please do contact me. Contact Chris-tine 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 The Polka Dot Craft Club Facebook page

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When I sit down to make cards, I love to make a few at a time and create a set. Then I have several cards on hand for when I need them. And I also find that it helps to use one scrapbook line by one manufac-turer to keep the look cohesive. For this card set, I chose to use the Hometown Summer line by Pink Paislee. I chose to make three cards in my set. What you Need

2 pieces of 8 ½ x11 pieces of cardstock cut in half to make two card per piece of cardstock.

Coordinating Patterned Paper, border strips and die cuts

Card One Step 1 You will need to cut one large block of patterned paper to fit on the front of your card leaving a small border around the edges. Then cut another piece of patterned paper in a smaller size, but wider than your border strip. All three pieces should be cut the same length. Step 2 Adhere all three pieces to the card as shown in the photo on the next page.

Mary Jo Rhoda

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Step 3 Using a distress marker or stamp pad, ink the edges of a die cut to embellish the border strip on the card.

Step 4 Adhere die cut to border strip to complete card. Card Two Step 1 Hand cut the house from patterned paper. Step 2 You will need hand cut house, two pieces of patterned paper to layer and represent sky and ground, sun and sentiment die cuts. A stamped sentiment in an oval would work as well.

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Step 3 Layer pieces and adhere to the card.

Card Three Step 1 Use scraps and two die cuts to create third card, layering strips at the top and bottom. You can see the complete set of cards on the next page.

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Louise Furlong 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 Louise Furlong. Here is Louise to tell us a

bit about herself and her work.... My name is Louise Furlong and I’m from Ballina in County Mayo. I own my own Montessori school, Guardian Angel Montessori which al-lows me to get creative and messy with young minds nearly every day! I’ve always had an interest in art and can remember back in the day watching art attack wondering where I could get this magical PVA glue. Thankfully craft supplies are a lot easier come by these days but I use whatever I can get my hands on! I live with my husband Derek, my very ac-tive toddler Eli and miniature schnauzer called Diablo who was my scrap-book muse until baby came along.

When and how did you get involved wi th paper craf t ing?

In 2008 as I was preparing for my wedding I decided I wanted to make my invites, favours and anything else I could. Looking back on it I was very inex-perienced but it did open the doors to scrapbooking for me, something I had never heard of but fell in love with immediately.

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I vowed that my favourite photos would never be shoved into an album where they would get lost on the mo-notony of 100’s of photos but it also made me look out for the little daily things that you would miss out on. I tried cooking my first casserole and put a ceramic pot on the hob (I know, I know) when inevitably exploded cas-cading liquid and shards of ceramic as far as into the hall.

What did I do? Grabbed my camera and scrapbooked it. I had a 2 page layout completed by the time my hus-band got home from work. He really enjoyed his fish’n’chips that night!

Word of warning: Don’t make your wedding album or anything important your first big project, I look back and cringe. Time for a do over I think!

What is your favour i te aspect of paper craf t ing?

I love the freedom I get from crafting and often just zone out letting my sub-conscious pick the colours and theme (she has a great eye for colour!) Mak-ing embellishments from paper, ma-terial, plastic and fimo is my new re-cent craze, it keeps me on my toes and my mind is always thinking “I could use that” I think making someone a hand-made gift means so much more and love to see people’s faces as they open unexpected personalized gifts. Usually means stalking and trying to

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steal photos of Facebook but don’t think they mind when they see the end result.

What are the techniques that

you use most of the t ime?

If I am crafting for myself I will usual-ly choose a grungy theme, getting as messy as I possibly can. Lots of stamping, inking, tearing and swear-ing is involved in my crafting! I love layering on a layout as well but some paper is just too nice to cover up! Considering we thought Eli was going to be a girl I thought I had it sorted with beautiful flowers, butterflies and lots of girly colours. Boys are another story… if anything hav-

ing a boy has challenged me as a scrap-booker and I focus more on embellish-ments I can make and get creative with.

What are your "can ' t do wi thout"

products?

My double sided tape gun is without a doubt the best thing in my craft cup-board and is always the first thing I go for. My box of distress inks is always on the go and of course my best friend, glossy accents.

The joke in my house is sit still long enough and I will glossy accents you! Mod podge is another favourite, great for altered canvases and tags.

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What inspires you?

For the first year I scrapbooked my wedding and daily events but things got very samey. In January 2009 I de-cided to start a 365, a daily project where I would take a photo every day to document my life. It ensured I al-ways had photos to scrap and pushed my boundaries. In 2010 after a trou-blesome pregnancy, which I docu-mented starting from when I told my husband with the test and a bun in the oven, I gave birth to my son 10 weeks early and weighing 1lb 15oz. Eli was a fighter from the start and the trials and fights he fought with such determination deserved to be told with the help of scrapbooking and my 365. Crafting helped me to feel closer to Eli, as he was in hospital for 2 ½ months I scrapped every rise and fall through the ICU and when he came home I had his first album complete, The Book of Eli. To date I am on the forth chapter of the Book of Eli but the older and busier he gets the harder it is to get time to scrap but he’s such an inspiration to me.

Pinterest is so highly addictive and gives me great inspiration in all areas of craft-ing. Creative scrappers is a sketch site which gives weekly sketches that moti-vate and inspire me. Also crafting maga-zines and blogs keep me in touch with the latest trends and shopping ideas.

How do you descr ibe your s ty le?

I like to try everything, a jack of all trades but a master of none! Styles I go back to again and again are grungy and

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packed full with things to look at. My friend Anne introduced me to the grunge board quilt and I love creating little pieces of work to collaborate into a canvas. A great way to show case your new stamps and experiment and considering most of them are no bigger than your finger great for a busy mum on the go, I’ve found tiles from the quilt beside my bed and in my handbag, I take the opportunity to craft anywhere! When I am scrapbooking Eli, I use lots of bright primary colours but mostly I want my style to tell a story. Although I hate my own writing I love looking at old letters or details written on the back of photos from long ago and know how important it is to include details like that. If I don’t show my journaling there is usually a hidden panel with a secret journaling section.

Do you blog? Where can we see your work?

I took a hiatus from blogging while I tried to balance life with 2 jobs, being a mama to a baby who NEVER stops and appointments for Eli but think I am getting the hang of it. I blog on http://scrapaholic-lou.blogspot.com/ mostly just what I create with the odd ramble thrown in.

Have you any plans

for the future?

I hope to keep trying new techniques and pushing myself to exploring new things. I hate getting stuck in a rut and the way to keep your creativity alive is always be willing to try something new.

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I h av e r e c e n t l y s t a r t e d u s i n g P h o -t o s h o p t o c r e a t e d i g i t a l c o l l a g e s . I w a s g e t t i n g l o t s o f q u e s t i o n s a b o u t h o w t o m a ke t h e m s o I h av e p u t t o g e t h e r a s t e p b y s t e p v i d e o t u -t o r i a l t o s h o w y o u h o w t o c r e a t e t h e c o l -l a g e b e l o w. T h e i m a g e s I u s e d fo r t h e c o l l a g e a r e f ro m Re t ro C a fé A r t G a l l e r y a n d i t i s c a l l e d Pa r i s i -a n B e a u t i e s . C l i c k o n t h e v i d e o b e l o w t o w a t c h i t a n d e n j o y !

Nicole Mullen

Click here to view the video.

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This is a great project to keep the kids amused during the summer using the stashes of odd buttons you have probably collected over the years. During the summer it can be hard to get a minute of crafting or reading done while the children are off school. Also this is a great project to have ready for the inev-itable “I'm bored” which you know is coming. What you will need

Odd Buttons

Canvas or heavy card

Multipurpose non toxic clear drying PVA glue

Pipe cleaners

Any other odds and ends which can add to the picture

Project one – Simple Button Canvas Art All you need to do is outline a shape or a drawing on the canvas. Using a bristle brush (or children's chubby brush) brush the back of the button with PVA glue and place on canvas.

To reinforce the pva glue you can add a dab of PVA glue to the canvas before placing the buttons on. Project note: This is a fun project with endless ide-as you can choose. Why not paint a car or tractor on the canvas and use the buttons as wheels.

Cathy Giles

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Project 2 - Button and Pipe cleaner Tree on Canvas This is another fun project for children using buttons and pipe cleaners. If you do not have pipe cleaners you can replace with thick wool, ribbon, twine etc. Just glue the pipe cleaners to the canvas and place the buttons on as leaves and flowers. Simple but effective wall art for children. Project 3 - Felt button and pipe cleaner flowers on canvas This project is the same as above but instead of using wooden buttons this project uses felt flower buttons.

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Project 4—Button Tree in Tea Cup This is a project to bring your buttons to life and children just love the 3D element of it. You can theme this project for Christmas or even Halloween by changing colours and adding mini hanging ornaments. First just gather together a tea cup, some small stones, pebbles or sand, pipe cleaners and buttons. Place two pipe cleaners in a large button to form base. Then twist the pipe cleaners. You can add as many pipe cleaners as you like but if it is too heavy it is more difficult for the tree to stay straight. Then simply start placing buttons at the top of the pipe cleaners and bend the pipe cleaners to make branches. Final cost saving tip for button art with chil-dren. If you are throwing away old garments or replacing buttons on a piece of clothing make sure you snip the buttons off first.

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Also look out for cute buttons in charity shops and thrift stores. Vintage buttons are a fantastic find and often get overlooked if the garment is not very stylish or to your taste!

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In this article we will take a look at some of the most common card styles and try to define them. To a lot of people new to crafting the different styles and names can be a bit confusing. So lets have a look! Steampunk Steampunk is a style that is influenced by science fiction, from a Victorian perspective. Steampunk is a bit vague as a category as it can encompass quite a lot. But think of gears, clocks, vintage, metal and you are half way there. There is usually an element of whimsy or fantasy in a Steampunk project also. Below is a sample of a Steampunk card (on the right) and a Steampunk tag. The tag has distressing, gears, ephemera, old keys and lots of elements on it. The card is a bit less embellished however it has the whimsy in the Steam-punk image and the embossed metal on the card.

Nicole Mullen

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Clean and Simple (CAS) A clean and simple card is one that has only a single layer, or very limited lay-

ers. Often it will just be a card base stamped on. There will be a lot of ’white

space’. This means empty space, not that it necessarily has to be white!

There are usually little or no embellishments. What embellishments there

are should be absolutely necessary to make the card pop, not just to fill

white space. CAS cards should be easy and quick, however a lot of people

struggle with them because they are so full of white space!

Below are two examples. The card on the left is extreme CAS—a card base

with an image and a sentiment stamped on it. The second card has been

stamped with a background stamp. It was then layered onto a white card

base with the sentiment stamped directly over the stamped background.

Shabby Chic

Wikipedia defines Shabby Chic as ‘...a form of interior design where furniture

and furnishings are either chosen for their appearance of age and signs of

wear and tear or where new items are distressed to achieve the appearance

of an antique. At the same time, a soft, opulent, yet cottage-style decor,

often with a feminine feel is emphasised to differentiate it from genuine pe-

riod decor.

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As card makers we tend to think of shabby chic as embracing softness, pas-tel and neutral tones, pink, lace, ribbon and pearls. The following two cards show this beautifully. They are by the very talented Sandie Dunne. Images kindly provided by Sandie Dunne - http://sandieshores.blogspot.ie/

Vintage Vintage for any area is a term used to signify in general something being old, old-fashioned, classical, or from another time or another period. Vin-tage style cards usually use vintage or old fashioned images on them and will look old fashioned and often distressed to look aged and worn. The card on the left below is created with a old vintage style image and soft and old looking papers.

The tag on the right is again from Sandie Dunne. This one shows that the vintage style can be a bit bright-er too depending on how you ap-proach it.

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Masculine/Cards for Men This can be a style a lot of people struggle with. A lot of crafters find girly & pretty cards easier than those for men. Cards for men tend to be more sim-ple and less embellished. No flowers but buttons are a good substitute. Cards for men can be darker and more subdued. However you can have fun and bright cards for men too. You can see an example of this in the bottom picture. Conclusion There are many more styles that we have not covered here. These are just some of the most common ones. It is important to have fun no matter what style you are trying, just enjoy it and make art!!

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The shape of the old polaroid photos is really popular nowadays. That is what inspired me to create this mini album. In it some of my pages are like the polaroid frames and they are see through. The Echo Park Note To Self collection seemed a great choice for this mini album. In the 12x12 collection pack you will find elements and letter stickers to decorate the mini.

What you will need

Double sided Patterned papers of your choice ( Echo Park Note To Self)

2 pieces of chipboard sized 4”x 4 ½”

A few sheets of acetate

To make this mini you will need to make two kinds of pages. I made six of each. The cover will be the polaroid shape and there will be an acetate window on it. The first kind of page will be a pocket page where the pocket is on the back. The second kind of page will be a polaroid frame shape with an acetate window. My page layout was as follows: 1. Cover - polaroid shape with window 2. Pocket page with pocket on the back 3. Polaroid shape with window 4. Pocket page with pocket on the back... and so on

The idea is to have a polaroid shaped page with a window before every pocket page. So when you place the photo on the pocket page, it will show through the window page before it. You can put journalling cards or other bits and pieces into the pockets.

Timi Konya

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Explanation of measurements Original Polaroid photo size:

3 ½” wide and 4 1/4” high

Window:

3/16” from the top

¼” from the sides

7/8” from the bottom. This is the original layout of the Polaroid photos. To create the mini I needed to add a ½” to the side to be able to bind it. In this case the sizes are:

4” wide and 4 1/4” high

Window:

3/16” from the top

1 ¼” from the left

¼” from the right

7/8” from the bottom So the size of the Polaroid inspired mini will be: 4” wide and 4 ¼” high.

Creating the pocket pages Cut a piece of patterned paper measuring 6 ¼” high and 4 ½”wide. Score it vertically at ¼” from both sides. Score it horizolntaly at 2” from the bottom.

Cut off the pieces as show in the picture below. Fold over the 2 inch piece. Fold the two little flaps inwards and glue them down. This will create a pocket.

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Create six of these or as many as you like.

Creating the window pages Take a piece of patterned paper measuring 8” in width and 4 ¼” in height. Fold it in half. I found it easier to fold it in half and cut the window out from two layers of paper than to cut out each window. It is your own choice. Place the template on the folded paper and with a sharp craft knife or with your trimmer (it’s a bit more awkward) cut out the window shape. Then place a piece of acetate in between the two layers and glue it all together.

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Front and back cover For the front: Take a piece of chipboard measuring 4” wide and 4 ¼” high. As before place the template down and cut out the window shape. Take two pieces of patterned paper measuring 4” wide and 4 ½” high. Cut the windows out of these too. Take a piece of acetate and glue it on the chipborad. Then cover both sides with the patterned paper.

For the back cover: Cut a piece of chipboard and two pieces of patterned paper all measuring 4”x4 ¼”. Cover the chipboard with the two peices of patterned paper.

Assembling the mini Place the pages after each other starting with the front cover, then a pocket page followed by a page with a window etc... Finish it with the back cover. There are many ways to bind the mini album, I chose simple binding rings. It would look fabulous to bind it with the Bind it all machine and wires too.

Click on the image below to see a short video where you can have a look at how the mini album looks when it’s finished.

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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 es-sential supplies from. All these stores are either located in Ireland, or else ship to Ireland with reasonable rates.

Ireland Cardz’n’Scraps – Cork Art Supplies http://cardznscrapz.com/ Scrapbook Store http://www.thescrapbookstore.ie Crafty Angels http://www.craftyangels.ie/store/

Scrapbook Store http://www.thescrapbookstore.ie

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

Create With Kate www.createwithkate.com

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

Crafty Cutting www.craftycutting.com

United Kingdom Artist Trading Post http://www.artisttradingpost.com/ Artistic Stamper http://www.theartisticstamper.com/ Craft Barn http://www.thecraftbarn.co.uk/ Craft Emporium http://www.craft-emporium.co.uk

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United Kingdom Artist Trading Post http://www.artisttradingpost.com/ Artistic Stamper http://www.theartisticstamper.com/ Craft Barn http://www.thecraftbarn.co.uk/ Craft Emporium http://www.craft-emporium.co.uk

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

Wild Orchid Crafts www.wildorchidcrafts.com

Crafty Storage Ideas Featuring Jessica Fitzhenry I live in Cavan, Ireland and I have always loved crafting! My favourite crafty projects right now are Smash* books and card making.I am lucky enough to have my own dedicated craft space. My husband and I share the spare bed-room which we have named "the crumb room", it's half craft room, half drum room! It's nice having a desk that I can start a project on and if I don't get it finished I don't have to worry about tidying it away. Before I had my craft area, I craft-ed on the kitchen table, which got really tedious when it came to meal times. Nearly everything in my craft area is from Ikea. The desk, chair drawer unit, baskets and shelves are all Ikea products.

I also love using old coffee tins and biscuit tins as pretty storage too. I have a large drawer unit that holds punches, large sheets of card, tools such as heat tool and cutting mat, paints, inks and my stamps.

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I keep my clear stamps in CD boxes which keep them tidy and organised and it's also really easy to see the stamps in the boxes too.

I have labelled the spine of the boxes with my dymo e.g trees, food, travel, Christmas etc. I use the magazine files for 6x6 and 8x8 paper pads and sheets of A4 card. I also keep my packets of letter stickers in one. I keep my Cuttlebug on the book shelf and in the wicker basket beside it are my embossing folders, dies and spacers.

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I love the "Really Useful Boxes" too for small embellishments like flow-ers,brads, eyelets etc.

The hanging rail and containers are from the kitchen department in Ikea. They are perfect for holding pencils, pens and brushes. Because they are at an angle they are easy to see into.

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Ink spray and misting/spraying techniques are very popular in papercrafting. Sprays and mist are very ver-satile in use. You can create backgrounds or colour match embellishments. They can be used with stencils and masks or simply with a brush to get a wa-ter colour effect. There are many different kinds available from pigment based, dye based, permanent or watersoluble. There are no limits when using spray inks... In this part of our regular Back to Basics series we are looking at the most popular spray ink products available on the market.

Ranger Inks Adirondack Colorwash is a water based dye devel-oped for use on paper, fabric and other porous surfaces. Available in 12 earthy and bright colours.

They are permanent after drying, but if you want to make sure the colour won’t bleed you can heat set it!

Perfect Pearls Mists are Perfect Pearl Powders in a mist form. They are available in 24 colours. They contain a built in binder that binds the Perfect Pearl powder.

When spraying the colour is very subtle, you can only see the colour coming out when it has dried complete-ly.

Timi Konya

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Dylusion Ink Sprays dyes are high quality, acid-free, non-toxic concentrated colorants for porous surfac-es. Dylusion Ink Sprays can be used on paper, fabric, wood, clay and more… They come in 12 vibrant col-ours.

Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist is a spray paint mist with a touch of glimmer. They are available in a wide range of col-ours. Glimmer Mists are watersoluble.

They can be used straight from the bottle or to get a watercolour effect can be used with a brush. Recommended materials to use the Glimmer mists on are wood, paper, chipboard, metal, fabric, vellum, silk etc...

Chalkboard spray is very similar to the original Glimmer Mist, but is has a semi-opaque finish. Chalkboard is watersoluble and blends nicely with Glim-mer Mist to create a beautiful effect.

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Plain Jane Simply Sheer is a Glimmer Mist without the glimmer. It has exactly the same qualities as Glimmer mist but without any glimmer. It blends per-fectly with Glimmer Mists and the same techniques can be used.

Maya Road Maya Mists are water based pigments that come in a spray bottle. They are perfect for spraying chipboard and other porous sur-faces. After heat setting they become per-manent, which is great when you want to colour fabrics.

Smooch Spritz Smooch Spritz Sprays are water-based acryl-ic paints. They are rich with mica particles for shimmer and shine and come in a glass spray bottle.

They can be used on non-porous sur-faces too, but they have to be heat set to make the colour permanent.

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American Crafts - Studio Calico - Mister Huey’s Mist Mister Huey’s Mists are dye based sprays and they come in 20 different col-ours. The White and Cream colours are opaque which is perfect for using on dark surfaces.

In the next issue we will look at: Stamps

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This tutorial looks at creating some mini scrap-book pages. These are perfect for card makers who want to get into scrapbooking. It is also per-fect for the scrapbooker who is running out of space for large layouts! We will also create a desktop flip stand for the layout pages so that you can display them easily where ever you like. What you will need Mini layout pages:

4 sheets of cardboard/chipboard at 13cmx13cm size

10 sheets 6x6 designer paper cut down to 13x13cm - keep the off cuts! I used Lost and Found Breeze papers

Polaride style photo mats: photos are 7.4 x 7.4 cm and the white card to matt them on is 9.6cm x 8.1cm.

Adhesives, border punches, trim, score board, duct tape and tools as usual

Binding rings or ribbon (Binding rings do work the best)

Crop a dile/eyelet setter and eyelets (optional)

Hole punch For the stand:

1 x Sheet of chipboard 30cm long and 15cm high

2 x pieces of chipboard 15cm high and 6cm wide

Duct tape

Paper or paint to cover it

Nicole Mullen

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Step 1 Create all your faux polarides. To do this cut out 8 pieces of white card to 9.6cm x 8.1cm in size. Step 2 Print all your photos out at 7.4cm x 7.4cm. When you have the photos cut out you will ad-here them onto the white mats. This will give the photo effect and will also leave space for journaling on the bottom, just like on a real po-laroid. Have fun with your photos. Some of mine were slightly too big for the 7.4cm size so I printed them bigger and cut them down and cut around some fea-tures to give a fun effect that you can see below left. The rabbits ears are sticking out and it looks hilarious and unexpected on a photo! You will need

8 photos and 8 photo mats. Tip: Instagram photos are great for this tutorial as you will need square photos and Instagram photos are square by default. Step 3 Cut 4 sheets of cardboard/chipboard to 13cmx13cm. Step 4 Cut 8 sheets of your patterned paper down to 13cmx13cm.

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Step 5

Guide the patterned paper onto each side of the cardboard. This will make 4

double sided pages, so you will have 8 mini pages in total.

Step 6

Now it is time to embellish your pages. You will want to create pockets that

your photos will slot into. The polaroid’s allow you to journal at the bottom

but I also like to put more journaling on the back so I don’t like to stick them

down fully.

For my pockets on some of the pag-

es I use the printed frames/

sentiments. I part cut them out be-

fore sticking my pages to the card-

board and made sure not to glue

them down. This then allowed me

to stick a photo in behind it.

For other pages I used the strips that were left from cutting the 6”x6” paper down to size. I used a border punch on some of these strips and on others I patched to-gether smaller pieces to make a longer strip.

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These strips were then glued onto the pages to create small pockets. Because I used all my excess trimmings to create my pockets I was left with IN-CREDIBLY few scraps when I finished this project. Do you know how little? Well from 10 sheets of 6”x6” paper the photo below shows all that I had left.... This makes me a happy crafter!!

Step 7 When you have your pages embellished you can bind them as you wish. You could create a small album to keep them in or a decorated box. However I decided to make a flip top stand to display mine on. I find that any time I do layouts they tend to be put away somewhere and never really looked at again. But the display stand will help avoid this! Step 8 Take a piece of cardboard that is 30cm long and 15cm high . Score this down the centre at 15cm. Step 9 You will also need 2 x pieces of chipboard 15cm high and 6cm wide. Take the 6cm wide pieces and place them at either end of the bigger piece of card. Then use duct tape to stick the small piece to the big piece. Do this on both ends Make sure to leave a gap between both pieces however so that they can fold.

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Step 10 You then need to fold the long piece in half and then fold the two smaller pieces up underneath. This will create your stand. It ends up looking like a triangle. I kept it together with some wet glue and then a strip of duct tape just to be on the safe side! Step 11 Cover the front and back panels with your remaining two sheets of 6”x6” pa-per. You can paint or paper the inside to cover it up. I used some scrap paper from another line to cover it.

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Step 12 To hold your photos on the stand punch a hole at the top on either side. I would advise setting the holes with eyelets as it will stop the stand getting worn as much when you flip the photos. Step 13 Then you will need to punch two holes on either side of the top of your mini layouts in order to hang them on the stand. To do this I also set the pages with eyelets. I then used two binding rings to hold the pages on. Step 14 I embellished my stand with some tissue tape and then put on my mini pages and was done! You can watch the video tour below to see the complet-ed projects and all the pages. If you would like to join us in a live class to create one of these then tune into our Ustream channel on the 21st July at 3pm BST.

Click to view video on Youtube!

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We have decided to replace our regular challenge with a Swap instead. The

wonderful Felicia of Scrapzville has kindly agreed to host the swap. Some of you may know that Felicia used to run Scrapzville Swap. Well we can hap-pily say that Scrapzville Swap is back in conjunction with Crafting Ireland!! For the swap you will be assigned a partner and a theme to follow. You then create a mini album to send to your partner, and you will receive one in re-turn. The rules for the swap are quite simple;

The album should be no bigger than 6"x6"

It should have at least 6 pages including the front and back covers.

Please remember that your swap partner (probably) doesn't know you and the work you send will be their first impression of you - so make sure that you are proud of your work and would be happy to receive something similar.

Please do not sign up for this swap unless you can complete the swap,

your partner may be overseas and you are responsible for postage fees.

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

Sometimes people send extra goodies with an album, this is a lovely gesture but NOT compulsory, therefore it is up to you. Please do not expect to receive extras!

The last and most important rule is.... Enjoy creating!!

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

How to join in

Issue 11 Swap Theme—Mini Tag Book

Create a mini book from large shipping tags. You can bind it as you wish, with a single binding ring through the tag hole or be more creative if you prefer!

Sign up deadline—Sunday the 15th July by 1pm GMT. You must have emailed Felicia your details by this date and time to be includ-ed in the swap.

Swap partners announced—Monday the 16th July. You will be told who your swap partner is, and given their email address so that you can get in contact to exchange postal addresses, style preference, etc

Albums must be in the post by— Monday the 13th August (or sooner). Try to get the album posted as soon as you can so that your partner can hopefully receive it before the next swap is announced!

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

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

We will publish them without names just in case your partner has not yet received your album—we wouldn't want to ruin the sur-prise!!

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I got these really cheap frames from Ikea and thought I would play around with a scrapbook layout using the frames; this is what I came up with. I created this pro-ject using the inspiration from this sketch. What you will need

Frames (I used 4)

Paint

Paintbrush

Old cloth

Patterned Paper ( I used Graphic 45)

Embellishments

Chipboard

Photos Step 1 I wanted a very shabby chic summer look. I started off by roughly painting the frames and letting it almost dry, I then used a damp cloth and cleared some areas to create the old weathered look.

Eve Louw

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Step 2 For one of my frames I created a shadowbox so I can insert a little mini album. The inside of my frame measured 7”x5”, so I cut my chip board to: 1 - 7”x5” 2 - 7”x2” 2 – 5”x2”

Step 3 I matted my chipboard before I put them together as I always find it easier that way. When you are done matting you can put it all together. I used off cut card stock to stick the sides to the middle piece. This will only really hold it all in place as you will be matting the outside later on, so you can use tape or masking take to do the same job. Step 4 When you have cover the outside of your box you can now insert it into your frame, I used a glue gun to glue the box into the frame. I left the box open so I can update and replace the mini album inside and any-one walking by can have a quick page through.

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Step 5 I created a really easy and fun mini album for this. What I used was: 2 - 6”x4” chipboard 2 – 7”x6” pattern paper 2 – 12”x6” pattern paper Step 6 Matt you chipboard to create the cover and back of you mini.

Step 7 Take your 2 12”x6” pattern paper and score at 4” and the at every 0.5” to create an ac-cordion fold,. REMEMBER to start your second piece of pattern paper from the left hand side. Attach the two pieces to create one, this will be the inside of your mini and will attach the front cover to the back, your will be attach-ing your photos to the accordion pieces.

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Step 8 When you have stuck the inside to the cover and back you can 'tame' your ac-cordion inside by sticking some of them together, this will just help for when you put your photos in. You can create a spine with pattern paper or lace or canvas whatever would suit your project. Step 9

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The only thing left to do is to decorate. Enjoy! If you try this project share it with us on our Facebook page.

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

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