| Cropping |
| Cropping is used for cutting down your photos and maybe creating a shape. There are many ways you may do this. |
| Think first, do you need to run out to the shop and purchase a specific tracing tool to get the shape you want from your photo. Look around your kitchen. Maybe it could be a cup, lid from a container and cookie cutters. It is endless. |
| Always have your photo printed larger than you want if your are a habitual cropper. |
| Matting |
Not all your photos need to be matted. Matting creates a focal point, a frame and layers.
There is no set rule for matting. You may use any number of layers. |
| Paper Tearing |
| This is a very good technique to use to add dimension to your page. Certain direction will give a different style finishing. |
| Try it, hold the paper in front of you, left hand flat and with your right hand tear a piece of paper towards yourself.Next try the same technique but tear the paper away from you.The roughened edges can now be rolled, inked or chalked. |
| Some specialty papers (for example Mulberry Paper), try just wetting the edges a little and pull away and see what feathered look you get. |
| Paper Wetting |
| Spritz some water onto a piece of paper, scrunch it up and then lay out and paste onto your cardstock. Gives a wrinkled effect. |
| Distressing |
| Distressing is a term used for aging your pages or photographs. You can use ink, chalk and paint. Sanding the edges will distress and age it. |
| Doodling |
| Get your pens and paint out.Experiment with just starting out with lines or dots. You may like to try broken lines around your photos first. |
| When you have placed your flower on a page, try drawing some stems away from your flowers with leafs.I always start out with a pencil first, and if the design is right I will then go back and fill in with pen, brush on paint. |
| Have you ever thought about using your sewing machine, go for it. Use a new needle each time (sewing through paper blunts the needle). Let your machine doodle freestyle. |
| Cut a piece of pattern paper, maybe with a flower, adhere to your cardstock and then extend a flourish of this patterned piece onto the cardstock.You can add dimension with modeling paste, and then paint it the colour you want or mix the paint into the modeling paste. |
| Make your own embellishments with plastic |
| Grafix Plastic is great for first timers or Shrinky Dinks. I made sunflowers from plastic using this technique. |
Tools needed
Heat gun, hairdryer or oven (I like using my heat gun)
Selected picture
Colour printer
A4 paper
Tweezers |
Instructions
Print out the sunflower (or your selected object) in colour on your printer and making it very large, filling an A4 sheet and varying the sizes of the picture.Once the pictures are printed out, start the heat gun and let it run for about 30 seconds to heat it up.Use something to stop the plastic from moving whilst heating it (I used my tweezers).Position the heat gun about 5cm away from the object and watch your plastic shrivel up.Don’t stress it will straighten itself out. |
| Don’t touch it with your fingers until is cools. |
| If you find it has curled a little and you want to straighten it out, then put a heavy weight on it when it is still hot, but just for a couple of seconds. You can use thicker plastic but until you have gained your confidence with this technique just use the above products. |
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| Flocking |
Pulverized paper, wool or felt that is applied to paper, cloth, or metal to produce a texture or pattern and add dimension to your project.
This technique can be used with stencils, chipboard, stamps or freestyle. Many different vibrant colours are available.
I have found using a coloured glue stick eg scotch 3M is excellent and dries clear, ideal for your scrapbook pages or beyond the page projects.
I used a stencil on plain cardstock to give you an idea of how easy this is. You may want to try it on plain chipboard. |
Tools needed
Cardstock
Glue
Flocking powder |
| Step 1Use your selected glue and rub onto the area you want to flock. The glue does stick, so when you have applied enough glue to the area, lift your stencil (if you used one). I have used baby wipes to remove the glue from the stencil. |
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| Step 2This step is similar to the way you would emboss. Pour your flocking powder over the glued area, make it a lot. We will remove the excess later.I sometimes push a little of the flocking into the glue. |
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| Step 3Lift your page up and empty the excess back into the container. Yes, it is reusable.With a small soft paint brush remove the excess around the design.Allow to dry.This can take a little while, so don’t try to rush this technique by using a heat gun.As you can see, I did miss a few places, but this is how I wanted the finished design to be.If you aren’t happy with the final affect then redo glue to the area you missed and do the same steps over again. When finally dry, just tap the edges gently and the excess will come away. |
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| Try using your raw chipboard alphabets.Maybe add some extra texture to your paper flowers and edges of your photos. Flocking is safe on all your projects. |
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| Mod Podge Instructions and Tips |
A good idea is to prepare your surface prior to using Mod Podge. Using a little sand paper will be enough to roughen the surface first.
Using a flat paintbrush or a foam brush paint a thin layer of Mod Podge onto your prepared surface. Next, paint a thin layer onto the back of the paper you are using to cover your project - by the time you have this layer painted on (do the edges last - they are the key to keeping everything smooth!), your layer on your project should be dry to the touch - if not, you probably used too much. |
| Carefully adhere the paper in place on your project and immediately smooth any bubbles or creases with your fingers. KEEP smoothing for a minute or two. This will keep bubbles from forming - use your fingers, use a bone folder, whatever will help make sure the two layers of Mod Podge bond together smoothly as they are drying. |
You can now trim and sand down any edges. After this, make sure you remove an dust that may have collected on your project.
Apply a thin coat of Mod Podge over the top of your paper and allow to dry completely.Even though Mod Podge dries quickly, for this step you really need to be sure you’re in a fairly non-humid area and allowing a really thorough dry in between coats. A fan can help too. Make sure each layer is dry before you adhere any more. Building layer upon layer of not quite dry Mod Podge is what causes half of your stickiness problems - the other half are caused by humidity! Add as many layers to the top as you’d like. |
| If you are adding more layers of paper or stickers, they should be added after the first top coat, following the above instructions as if the new addition is your original paper but giving it more drying time as in the final steps. This will allow your project to build up gradually around your extra layers, smoothing everything out without making it sticky. |
| If you are adding a sticker, first remove the stickiness! Seriously - stick it onto some fabric a bunch of times, use Un-du, or dust it with cornstarch or baby powder. Then use the Mod Podge as your adhesive. For dimensional stickers that you want on top, wait until all your layers are dry and then add that sticker last. I usually add a wet adhesive just for good measure. I use this for flowers, metal, and any other embellishments I want to not move ever again. It’s goopy, it smells bad, and it WORKS. |
| Regarding photographs. First, I recommend using the Mod Podge for Paper formula - this one is acid free (and comes in matte or glossy), unlike the original. Also, a big part of how Mod Podge works is that it is meant to kind of soak through the paper. Obviously, this makes photo paper challenging. You will have MUCH better results if you either colour copy the photo or print it onto good quality printer paper or thinner cardstock. |
| Regarding stamped images. Mod Podge is a liquid so if your ink doesn’t say “waterproof”, it’s going to smear if you don’t protect it somehow. You can use clear embossing powder and heat emboss the image or you can use some type of a spray fixative like Krylon’s matte finish, and wait for it to dry before Mod Podging over the top of it. |
| Another thing if your project is something like a mini book where the pages will touch - use a spray fixative (matte or glossy) over the final coat of Mod Podge. Dry thoroughly before closing the book. Helps eliminate any stickiness that might be left. |
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| Rubber Cement |
Rubber cement is a fantastic item to add to useful essentials when crafting. I have found, I use this product more and more when I want to mask onto a project.
Never use in closed in doors, take it outside to avoid the fumes getting to you. |
Firstly, decided what you would like to maybe save on a page before you starting painting, inking or sewing.
Paint the rubber cement onto the paper, let it dry, add all your other paint mediums and then gently rub of the rubber cement. |
You have now been successful in making your own masking.
If you have other suggestions for this: email me and we can include your idea on the website |
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