Scrapbooking South Africa ~ Online Scrap Booking Shop ~ Embellishments ~ Paper ~ Buttons ~ Beadlets ~ Creative ~ Stickers

Too often precious memories fade into obscurity in the darkness under the lid of a dusty box. Photos taken, now forgotten. Special moments in time, hidden, and now decaying. Scrapbooking helps you, and all those to follow you, relive the charm of each captured moment, every time your album is opened. Every page can be created to be as unique as the memory itself. Photos are enriched with embellishments, journaling and memorabilia to create a vibrant record of passed moments held dear, precious ones loved, and dreams and hopes lived, or lost.

Heat embossing on a sheet of overhead projector film

Products Used:

Overhead Projector Film Sheet
Brilliance Teardrop Ink Pad
Embossing Powder
Craft Stamp
Embossing Heat Gun

Steps:

1. Ink a craft stamp of your choice (gel or wood) with a Brilliance Ink Pad. Stamp the shape onto a sheet of overhead projector film.
2. Sprinkle embossing powder over the stamped shape.
3. Emboss the print with your embossing heat gun.
4. Optional – If you would like a glitter effect, rub some Stickles Glitter Glue over your image before cutting out the shape. You can also do this on the reverse side of the shape.
5. Cut the shape out and stick to your layout.

Hint: If you use the Overhead Projector Film you can use both sides of the shape that has been embossed to create 2 different effects or colours. You would therefore emboss on the reverse side, flip the shape over and use glitter on the top.

Tips and Techniques on Crackle Paints

Tim Holtz launched a range of distress crackle paints that open new doors to creative scrappers as far as techniques are concerned. This range will give your treasured memories a timeless, rustic feel and the effect is breath-taking in itself.

We would like to give you some tips on using crackle paint. This paint is used especially to enhance your heritage pages, but some of the brighter and modern colours can add an angelic effect to your page.

Herewith some tips when using this medium on your embellishments:

1. Apply crackle paint much thicker than you would apply any other craft paint. The thicker the layer of crackle paint is painted on, the larger the cracks. The thinner the layer, the smaller and finer the cracks.
2. When applying the Distress Crackle Paint, dab it on to give an uneven texture.
3. If you would like to see through the cracks, apply an undercoat paint (you can use any craft paint) to the medium. Then apply the Distress Crackle Paint. As stated previously, the thicker the crackle paint, the larger the cracks.
4. It is recommended that you stick to neutral colours when you create a vintage page.
5. When the crackle paint has dried, you can enhance the effect by applying stickles glitter over the cracked surface. This will provide your embellishment with a polished sparkling look. Click here to view our Stickles range
6. If you can rub an ink pad over the cracked surface, it will accentuate the cracks. Use a Ranger Distress Ink Pad to ensure an enhanced vintage look. Click here to view our Distress Ink Pad range
7. Apply a layer of dimensional glaze (also known as diamond glaze) over the dried crackle paint to smoothen the crackled surface, yet still allow a clear view of the cracks. Click here to buy the Ranger Glossy Accents
8. Warping can be prevented by using thicker chipboard.

The Acid Test

The question “Is this an acid-free product?” is often asked by shoppers at Bohemian Scrapsody. Scrappers also use the term ‘lignin-free’ to determine whether a product is safe to use for scrapping. What does this in fact mean? And will acid destroy our photos if we break the rules? This month we are going to give you some answers to these questions and also some tips on how to test your products and paper.

Lignin is a natural occurring acidic part of many plant cell walls that has the ability to make paper turn brown. If paper contains less than 1% lignin, it is considered lignin-free. Acid is a by-product of the pulping process that is used to make most papers. Acid-free paper is neutral or slightly alkaline in pH value. Scrapbooking paper should contain as little acid as possible. If you page through some old photo albums and notice how some of the prints have turned yellow over the years, this is a good indication of how the acid in the album pages leached from the album to your photos. Scrapbooking paper has been treated to reduce the acid level. What we therefore generally refer to as acid-free products, are in fact products that have been neutralised or buffered with a coating to prevent acid migration.

Many quality paper products are ‘acid-free’ these days, but to be sure, the following tests can be applied:

1. Look for paper, stickers and embellishments that are labeled acid-free.
2. Buy an acidic identifier (acid-tester) pen to check the pH level of the paper.
3. Try to avoid dark paper which tends to have a lower pH, unless marked acid-free.
4. Make sure the metal products you use are not prone to rust, as this will damage your work. Most metal embellishments are coated with a non-rusting layer for protection.
5. When working with wood products such as pegs, frames, cork, etc., avoid placing them directly onto your photos as it isn’t possible to remove the lignin from these products.

We often use mementoes such as postcards, letters, air tickets, certificates, etc. when scrapping. It is lovely to display these items alongside your photographs, but they could damage your photos in time. To preserve these items and also protect your photographs, we recommend the following:

1. Spray objects with a de-acidification spray to coat it and stop acid migration. (e,g, Archival Mist)
2. Place letters and post cards in an envelope or plastic pocket.
3. Never laminate products as it cannot be undone.
4. Scan the items on a computer and print out.
5. Mount the items on acid-free paper before positioning them on your page.

Hope you will be able to use the above hints and tips. Please send us any of your own experiences, tips and techniques that you have found useful when scrapping. It is most astonishing to see how scrappers invent ‘tools’ and methods to overcome scrapping pitfalls. Happy scrapping till next time!!

New to scrapbooking?

The following guide gives you the essentials needed to start this great hobby. The following items and tools should be on your shopping list:

1. Cutting Mat

We recommend you get a self-healing mat to protect the table top that you work on. You will be cutting with your craft knife. Although an A4 size will do, it is recommended that you rather invest in an A3 or even bigger if your budget allows it.
Click to View our available cutting mats

2. Metal Ruler

A metal ruler is essential when you use a craft knife. It gives you the accurate and smooth edges that you will not be able to get if you cut with a pair of scissors.
Click to View our available Metal Rulers

3. Small, fine-pointed, sharp scissors

This is an essential tool for intricate cutting that is often required in scrapping. It gives you more detail where required and you will be able to get into those small corners. This will not be possible with a big pair of scissors.
Click to View our available Craft scissors

4. Craft Knife

A sharp craft knife is a crafter’s best friend. It can be used to cut straight edges using the metal ruler, more intricate cutting and do light scoring. Make sure that you also get a pack of refill blades.
Click to View our available Craft Knives

5. Paper Trimmer

A paper trimmer is required to crop your pages and trim your pictures to the right size.

Click to View our available Paper Trimmers

6. Adhesives

You will need a selection of adhesives and glues to stick the various elements to your layout. We recommend you get a pack of double-sided tape, 3-D foam glue pads or tape and a tube of Bostik red gel. These adhesives will suffice for your first pages. Once you have caught on to which adhesive to use for the various elements you want to stick down, you could start purchasing the more expensive adhesives. Click to View our available Adhesives
7. Pencil and Rubber

Choose a soft (2B) pencil for marking out measurements on your design. You need a soft pencil that can easily be rubbed out without leaving any pencil marks or indents on your layout.

Essential tools that will make your scrapping life so much easier.

Once you have acquired your basic tools, we recommend you purchase the following items. These tools are essential when you get into the various techniques that we use to enhance our creative flair and give pages that special, personal touch.

1. Craft Tool Set

A craft tool set will provide you with all the tools required to start making bigger holes, setting eyelets, brads and platting ribbon on your layout. The tool set should include a hole punch and eyelet setter (preferably with a variety of nozzles to handle the varying sizes of the eyelets), a mini hammer to put force into your hole punch and eyelet setter, a mini setting mat to provide the hard surface you need when hammering your eyelet setter or hole punch. Click to View our available Tool Sets

2. Instant Setter

The Instant Setter is the perfect tool for punching holes and setting eyelets with having to use your mini hammer. It handles with ease and the various nozzles provide you with the versatility of using different sized eyelets.

Click to View our available Instant Setters

3. Silent Setter

If you want the ‘noise level’ to be toned down as you are scrapping late at night and do not want the family to be awakened by your constant hammering, we recommend the silent setter. You require a bit more force behind it, but it does the job without the hammering or clicking noise that is made by the other hole punches and eyelet setters.
Click to View our available Silent Setters

Bohemian Scrapsody ~ For all your Scrapbooking & Craft Supplies The art of capturing the soul of cherished memories
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