How to use eyelets in scrapbooking

A lot of people are scared to use eyelets in scrapbooking. There is nothing to be scared of and they are very easy to use.The first thing you need to do is buy an eyelet setting tool. These can vary in price from about $10 to about $40. Obviously, you need to consider how often you will use the tool as to how much to spend on it but as is usually the case, the more you spend, the more features and benefits you will get.A tool usually consists of two parts - the hole tool and the setting tool. In the basic version, you use a hammer with your tool to set your eyelet. It is therefore quite noisy and not something you want to do in the middle of the night!!! The more expensive tools, generally don't use a hammer and are therefore more quiet. My favourite is the "Silent Setter" from Provocraft. It is easy to use and very compact for taking to crops or classes.Most tools give you a choice of two sizes - a basic 1/8" size (most eyelets are this size) or a 3/16 size (for larger eyelets - they holes are much larger on these).To set an eyelet, the first thing you need to do is to decide where you want to put it.You then need to use the hole tool to make a hole in the right place through however many pieces of paper you need it to go through (obviously the more layers, the more pressure you need to apply to your tool). It is very easy. Just hold the tool in the correct place, and either apply pressure with the hand (with the fancier tools) or hit it with the hammer (with the cheaper version).The next step is to place your eyelet in the hole and turn the whole lot over keeping the eyelet in place. Now, you need to place your setting tool in the back of the eyelet and either apply firm pressure (with the fancier tool) or hit it with the hammer (with the cheaper version).Wella, your eyelet should be in place.One tip I will give - a green cutting mat is a great help when setting eyelets as it protect your bench or table when making the whole and then it protects the front of the eyelet when you are setting it in place.Eyelets are very versatile.You can use them to attach two pieces of paper together - say to attach your photo mount to your page - you could use one in each corner.They can be used as an embellishment - the spots on say a ladybug or a dress.They can be used to thread fibres or ribbon through.They can be used to create moveable joints in say a teddy bear.They can be purely decorative or serve a useful purpose.Fancy eyelets look great as part of your title or set on small squares and placed on your page as an embellishment.Plain 1/8" eyelets look great used to thread fibres through or to add a lace to your page or just as a finishing touch on a photo mount or cardstock square.There are 100's of uses for eyelets. Just give it a go. They can just help give a great finish to that page that just needs that extra something!!!Give it a go!! No scrapbooker should be without them.Just enter "eyelets" in the top right hand corner of your page and hit search. You will find ahuge variety of eyelets listed on Ebay.