One of my very favourites of the acrylics range is this fabulous set of album covers. With its delicately etched “Beaded Curtain” design, and its transparent nature - notice how you can see through the acrylic cover to the next page of the album. You can create a stunning book for your special memories using several products from the acrylics range. Here are just some of the different techniques you can use that will enhance these beautiful designs.

For this Project you will need:

- Buzz and Bloom Products:

• ACR Book - Beaded Curtain (Blueberry)
• ACR Beaded Curtain (Lacquer White)
• ACR Up the Garden Path (Lacquer White)
• UMS Long Johns Alphabet (Unmounted Rubber Stamps)

- Other supplies:

• Acrylic paint
• Ink pads
• Diamantes and other “bling”
• Stickers
• Metallic Leafing Pen
• Permanent marker
• Adhesives

Method:

1. Step One: Fresh out of the pack
   
   First, let’s talk about the basics. Before using your acrylics, you need to remove the protective backing. (If you have one of our mirror pieces, you’ll need to remove the protective film on the front of the piece.) I like to use the tip of my craft knife to “pick up” the edge of the backing (or film), and it will peel off easily.
   

1. Step two: Sticking it down
   
   Attaching acrylics is simple, and you can use several different kinds of adhesives.
   
   - Acrylic to acrylic - I find the best solution here is to use products such as Plaid’s Royal Coat Dimensional Magic, or Power Pritt Gel. Use sparingly, especially if you’ve selected one of the lighter acrylic colours. You could also use glue dots.
   
   Acrylic to paper/cardstock - use double-sided tape, regular craft glue, or any gel products such as Dimensional Magic.
   
   Position your Beaded Curtain and Up the Garden Path pieces and adhere them to the cover.
   

1. Step three: Dressing it up
   
   OK, so now let’s get into the fun part. You may like to use your acrylic pieces as is, or you may be a little more adventurous and think about altering them. Here’s what I did for the cover….
   

   Paint Dip the tip of a fine paint brush into acrylic paint, and “draw” dots on the Beaded Curtain piece. (*see tip below)
   Metallic Leafing Pens Add metallic “shine” to your acrylics. I’ve used a silver leafing pen to outline the edge of the centre “window”. (*see tip below)
   Pen Use a permanent marker to write the occasion and date beneath the flowers. Then glue a couple of eyelets into the holes. You can use brads here if you prefer. (*see tip below)
   Add Bling Too easy! Peel and stick rhinestone “jewels” to your acrylic pieces to give them that sparkle and glitz. I’ve placed large stones in the centre of my flowers, and used the tiny diamantes all around my cover for extra sparkle.
   Stickers Use stickers to add flourishes and other designs to dress up the cover, and add diamantes and rhinestones as desired.
   Title Label Using your favourite inkpad and the fabulous UMS Long Johns Alphabet, create a title label and glue it to the front of your cover as shown. I’ve used double-sided tape here.

   To complete the inside pages of my album, I’ve used the Chipboard Book: Beaded Curtain, a couple of our Xtra Pages packs, and a host of my favourite products such as:
   

   ACR Urban Alphabet, ACR Fruit Salad
   Clear Stamps: CST 502 It’s A Date
   MIR Come Light the Menorah
   Clear Stamps: CST 510 Spot On Alphabet

TIPS & MORE IDEAS:

• Use an acid-free cleaner such as StazOn Cleaner to easily wipe off any unwanted paint, or metallic leafing pen errors.
• Use your imagination. Try using rub-ons on your acrylic pieces, or adding ribbons. Try writing on your mirror acrylic pieces - the reflection looks fabulous.
• You can even use a regular household drill to make holes for attachments such as brads, eyelets, or jump rings for tags, charms, etc.
• You can even distress the acrylic and back of mirrored pieces with sandpaper.
• There’s really no limit to what you can do with the pieces to add that special, unique “stand out from the crowd” feature to your layouts, cards, and other art pieces.
• For more ideas, browse the Buzz and Bloom Blog. Our international Design Team will inspire you with their amazing, fresh approach.