TEACHING Tuesday-Apr. 22

Here are some great tips from Heather!

One of my favorite scrapping things to do is working with circles - I have a CM cutting system which I use for smaller circles and I use an assortment of plates to cut bigger circles. For my 12" circle layouts I actually use a cork coaster for protecting your floor from plant pot damage.

My favorite technique is to sew on my layouts. It's easier than it looks. To sew perfect circles I temporarily stick on a circle of regular paper where I want my stitched circle to be. I use the edge as a guideline with the guide foot.

Don't worry about matching up the ends of the circle.This can be tricky with zigazg stitching but pretty easy with straight stitching. Just go slowly for the last portion and manually manoeuvre the needle to where it needs to be. I usually start in a spot that could be covered with an embellie if the two sides don't happen to meet up neatly.

One really good sewing tip is to check the bobbin to make sure you've enough thread BEFORE you start - I know this from experience !

For creating a ricrac circle I run a line of glue around a circle template and place ricrac on top - simple. Iuse glue that dries clear since it is messy but you could also use double sided tape.

Again, you can cover untidy ends with an embellie.

I also love to create circles made up of a semicircle photo and a semicircle of patterned paper or transparency - it gives a really great look. For that I cut the photo first then overlay on top of the paper to make sure everything lines up.