Technique Wednesday - CLUSTERS

 Welcome to our FIRST Technique Wednesday.  

Today's Technique is How to Create a Cluster!

Creating Clusters is fun and easy todo AND it cleans up a lot of your scraps.  So let's get started -- gather a bunch of scraps (pieces of left over card stock, printed scrapbook paper, book pages, cheesecloth, ribbon, lace, buttons, bulb pins, charms, Tim Holtz paper dolls, flowers, leaves, you name it) and let the fun begin.

Start off by creating a base.  A base can be a circle, an oval, a square, a tag, whatever YOU want the base to be. 

When I first made clusters, I started using the cardboard off a pack of 12"x12" scrapbook paper, dividing it into 1", 2", 3" or larger squares (the size of the squares determines how many clusters you would get from a 12"x12" piece of light cardboard).  This is a great way to mass-produce clusters, if that is what you need to do.  Otherwise, grab a few bases and let your creativity run wild!

I was at the Veterans Administration (yep, I am a vet) and I picked up this 4-1/2" x 5-1/2" flyer thinking it would work great as a base (well bases, I tore it into fourths).

  

Now that we have a base, let's start layering pretty stuff on it.  I tore a piece of printed scrapbook paper and glued it down. Keep layering paper, fussy cuts, alphabets, words, etc. until you get the look you like. Many people like to sponge the edges of each layer, that is totally up to you.

 

Viola', you have a finished cluster!

Have fun creating your clusters! We would love to see your designs, be sure to email us a picture at pelicancraftslongbeach@gmail.com.