5 top tips for crafting, by Craft Professional Sarah Beaman

Even MFM, with the buttery-est of fingers, made an impressive design under craft expert Sarah Beaman’s watchful eye. So we asked her to give us her top tips for paper crafing.

• Invest in good quality basic equipment. Create a brilliant crafting box you and the kids will love to use. I would always choose to use a scalpel and steel rule on a cutting mat for cutting long straight edges (using the printed grid on the mat to help you keep things square), plus small sharp scissors for cutting out details. Obviously for kids, keep it safe and if the pattern requires something sharper than safety scissors, do it for them.
• Essential in this kit is a bone scorer which will help you create smooth strong folds.
• Always use the ‘driest’ type of glue that will do the job and apply the minimum amount necessary; there is nothing worse than visibly lumps of dried glue on your finished design. A glue stick is good for sticking large flat areas of paper together; for best results lay the piece down on scrap paper and apply the glue right across the surface and over the edges. For sticking smaller items in place white PVA craft glue is the best option as it’s tacky and dries pretty quickly.
• Choose embellishments such as sequins and glitter carefully; I find that the Creative Park projects need little more than a bit of ribbon here and there and a few strategic dabs of good quality glitter glue, to add the touch of sparkle children will love.
• Finally, remember the old saying (and a very good rule for crafters) ”less is more”. If in doubt, leave it out!