Acrylic Album

I had a great time Saturday, attending a class to learn about acrylic albums. The challenge with these is that the parts that are made out of acrylic will be seen from both sides. This means a lot of planning has to be done up front so that what is seen in succeeding layers will work with what's come before AND look as good from the back as it does from the front. Planning ahead is NOT my strong suit. I like to jump into a project and let it evolve as I go along. This class was a good way to get my feet wet, since everything came as a kit, and all the planning was done ahead of time. I also got the chance to try out some tools I hadn't used before. I am a bit of a tool junkie, so it's great to see whether or not I'd like something before making the splurge. One of the tools we used was one I'd looked at in the past, but hadn't bought. Now, having tried it, I don't think I will buy it. It's a tool to set very large grommets; they're really cool looking, but I didn't care for the loud pounding with a hammer necessary to punch the hole for the grommet and then to set it. The class also confirmed my conclusions about punches; the ones with levers are much easier to use than those without. I think a lot less force is necessary when using a punch with a lever. I did try one newer type of punch, by Fiskars. The shape is cut out by squeezing the handles together. Because of tendonitis in my right elbow, I'd shied away from those - gripping motions can be painful. I was pleasantly surprised at how little effort was needed to work this type of punch.

I haven't decided what pictures to put in the album yet. I'll post some pictures tomorrow so you can see how it turned out.

Happy creating!

Immi