Scrapbooking Group - brads and eyelets

[caroley]

As I'm enjoying Janice's threads so much, and Bev and Fiona are doing such a grand job, I thought I'd chime in with another one.

I've been looking at layouts that have been done with brads or eyelets and I'd like to have a go myself. What do I need? Are there different sizes that need different size tools? Are they easy to use? What else can you tell us about them?

Thanks in advance, ladies :D

[Fiona R from UK]

Brads and eyelets already!! Eyelets need a "starter kit" so I haven't done them yet, they are the metal inserts that leave a hole in the middle, good for "tying things down" in your layouts!! The technique seems to invole a lot of bashing with hammers too (as I found out at the crop) so suitable for those "bad days!!"

Brads are the little "winged fasteners" (I think!!) I have gold ones that I've used in a couple of layouts, really effective and no kit required!! Very cheap too, I think mine came from Scraptastic for a pound or two for hundreds!!

I read somewhere that you can colour brads using embossing powder (a stamping technique), I'm not that advanced!!

Come on Bev......:D

[BevS97]

as fiona said - brads are really just paper fasteners - so dead easy to use- I have found if you make a little hole with your knife first then it is easier to push them through. They are also very cheap - a good place to start with if you like this look.

Eyelets - I have bought some eyelets and a kit, but so far i am not that impressed. You need an 'anywhere hole punch' which is a tool that you hit with a hammer and it will punch a hole anywhere in your paper (whereas a normal hole punch will only reach a couple of inches from the edge).
Then you get an eyelet - put it through the hole and turn the paper over, so it is upside, with eyelet sticking up - you use another tool 'eyelet setter' and bash it with a hammer and it bends all the sides of the eyelets over so it is secure - the trouble I have is that my eyelets always end up looking very bashed. I think it might be because I bought a very cheap set of eyelet tools.

eyelets come in all sorts of fantastic finishes and they can look quite smart - I quite like when they are used for the holes in letters - especially since cutting out the center of letters is so fiddly. You can buy a big box with 100's of eyelets in various colours from Artbase for £20, or you can buy tiny bags of 10 eyelets for 50p from Scraptastic. I have just bought a few bags of eyelets in a couple of colours to get started with.

the thing to remember about Scraptastic is that there website is never up-to-date, they have loads of stuff which isn't listed, so you need to call them.

Bev

[Janice]

I hadn't even given a thought to Brads and Eyelets! So much to think about, so much to do!!

I keep looking at 'stuff' now in a totally different way - is that common!? I was looking at some sequins the other day, you know - the little packs you get when you buy something as spares? - and I was going to throw them but thought.................I wonder if these would look good in the future on a page in a scrapbook!

Do you all do the same?

[Fiona R from UK]

LOL Janice, you're addicted!!

I brought home the little wooden cocktail stirreres from AKL for a page, and kept DD2s cake ribbon for a page, sequins definitely, buttons too. But don't worry, it isn't illeagal or that bad for you!

[caroley]

Thanks Bev and Fiona. I knew I could rely on you :D.

I'd seen brads used in a paper piecing pattern and it looked great. The eyelets I've seen used for the holes in letters and with ribbon round and just for decoration and I like the way they add a new dimension. I've just seen some gorgous ones on Artbase. They're shaped like hearts and flowers. I can just see the flower ones used on some of the layouts I have planned.

Thanks for the info.

[Fiona R from UK]

Carole,

What paper piecing patterns have you found? :)