Jamie made me a chipboard album a few years ago, and inspired me to make a few of my own. I hadn't made her one yet, so I thought that in celebration of her engagement, I would make her one for her 25th birthday (which was in May, and surprisingly enough I gave it to her 2 days early... probably a first & last)
Unfortunately, I didn't think to take any pictures of the process, but I do have plenty of the finished product.
Chipboard albums come in a kit with 8-10 pieces of thin cardboard- or "chipboard" in the craft world- in many different shapes, or even words with a hold cut in one corner. (You can even get small ones for $1 in Michael's "dollar spot"). This one is simply square with a scalloped edge. Most come with a small silver metal rings to hold the album together. However, Jamie came up with the brilliant idea to buy colorful metal rings (found in the office supply section of most stores), that are bigger and therefore easier to embellish, like I did here with several different pieces of colorful ribbon that I tied to it.
I bought 2 different packs of embellishments and paper at Michael's- one that was all "just engaged" embellishments (can't remember the brand), and another that had small square sheets of coordinating paper. I also used some other matching paper that I had on hand, as well a solid colors of card stock.
Here is the cover....
To cut the paper, trace the piece of chipboard ON THE BACK of the paper (this way you don't have to worry about any pencil lines showing). After you have carefully cut the paper the same shape as the chipboard, glue the paper to the chip board with a smooth finish adhesive like an extra strength glue stick, and make sure to apply the glue all the way to the edges to keep them from peeling up. Adhere the paper to the chipboard carefully, making sure that the edges are lined up perfectly.
Here's the rest of the album.....
The first & second page .....
I used rub on numbers and letters to write the date of their engagement (I RARELY hand-write on anything I scrapbook.... and when I do I end up hating it, even if I do have cute handwriting) SO I left the small journaling area blank so Jamie can write on it herself :)
On the opposite side I doubled over 3 pieces of ribbon, and attached them with glue dots underneath the picture.
3rd & 4th pages... I started going in chronological order of the day's events from here on... "The Set Up"
I made these metallic tags with a punch someone else had a long time ago. Again, I used rub on letters for the writing on it. I used a light purple eyelet to frame out the hole of the tag, and used some turquoise fiber for the string.
On the opposite page, I used a rub on for the word "Journey" (that already came as one word) and applied it directly onto the picture, since the set up for their engagement was a path lined with pictures from when they met throughout their entire dating relationship. I cut strings of 4 different kinds of fibers and went to town with them for the embellishment underneath the picture, and added little paper flowers with brads in the middle of them.
5th & 6th pages.... right before the proposal....
Nothing special here, just pictures and embellishments...
7th page....
I double backed the picture with card stock, and backed the letters that spell "Matt". I used a thick piece of black and a thin piece of white ric rac to frame out the picture.
The embellishment says "he proposed".....
and on the next page, it says "she said yes".
9th& 10th pages..... "One more big Surprise"... (this is when I was waiting around the corner for her and she had no idea I was there)
Once again, I used black rub on letters for the left page & purple ones for the right, and I took small scraps of different color card stock to make the words pop out. I did write on the little journaling embellishment on the right, which was painful.
11th page... "The Ring"
I used silver rub ons for the words, and scraps from the purple & black page on the right to back the picture of the ring, and well as 3 rhinestone brads that I had.
12th page.... The Pepin Family
This page is really simple... I used a textured chipboard that says "lucky," as she is marrying into such an amazing family.
13th page.... The rest of the weekend
I backed the embellishment that says "SO excited!" and added small sparkly green dots to add a little pop. I used a small little rub on quote at the top that says "absolutely fabulous."... because we are :)
14th page....
I had these red leather & yellow paper flower embellishments in my stash, and used different color brads that I had for the center of them. I used glue dots to attach these as well. The quote came with the set, and I backed it with teal card stock.
The Back....
I took this picture later that night while we were driving to dinner. I thought it was perfect as they start their life together :)
So that's that. This album highlights a few of my scrapbooking "musts" for myself, and some tips that I would recommend to others.....
1- I back EVERYTHING. I think that pictures and most embellishments look incomplete if they aren't backed.
2- Already mentioned, but I use rub on letters for most wording, as I hate writing on my projects. Usually if there is journaling to do, I type it in a cute font, print it out on card stock or vellum, and mount it on something else.
3- Glue dots are amazing for attaching anything that regular liquid or stick adhesives wont hold.
4- Ribbon, fibers, ric rac, hemp... (anything that comes on a spool) make great easy embellishments.
Joyfully chipbaorded,
