Save Money While Scrapbooking: Chipboard Mini-Albums

Anyone who scrapbooks with me knows how much I adore mini albums!  They are great for gifts and for capturing those events that are a little more than a page, but not an entire album on their own.  As well, mini albums are great for those pictures that don’t necessarily fit elsewhere, but are great for conveying how you feel about someone.

The problem is this: chipboard albums in scrapbooking stores can be almost as much as a 12×12 post bound album!  Maybe it is just me, but I refuse to pay $12 for a 5×3 album with only 8 pages in it!!!

“So, cheapo, how do you save money?”, you ask? 
“There are multiple ways!”, I respond.

TIP #1: Check for online stores that are more interested in getting products into the waiting hands of happy scrapbookers, rather than gouging their pocketbooks.  In the Saskatoon area, there is Scraps and Treasures (email me at tanyascrapbooks @ hotmail.com for an invite to her Yahoo Group), which can order in those hard-to-find chipboard albums at a fraction of local-store pricing!

Another online store is Oriental Trading Company.  They offer a variety of albums at almost-ridiculous prices!  If in the Saskatoon area, Scraps and Treasures also makes orders from them, so that we can all save on shipping costs.

TIP #2: Create your own albums.  You can often purchase 12×12 sheets of chipboard from stores for under $1.50 per sheet.  Using heavy duty scissors or your cutter (with a blade that you are prepared to devote to chipboard), cut the chipboard into the desired sizes and shapes.  This is what I did for this Mother’s Day Album:

Mother

Using chipboard letters, I traced them onto the chipboard sheets, then cut the chipboard out, so that it resembled the popular word books that can be purchased for $6-10.  Cost of doing it my way: $1.50.  Covering it with paper, photos, and embellishments, you’d never know the difference, except for the size difference (it was only 3 inches high, rather than 5.5).

TIP #3: Probably one of the easiest (and most fun!) is really quite different: purchase a child’s book that has a chipboard base and convert it into a mini album!  I LOVE doing this, and it can be very economical!  I usually go to Dollarama (my second shopping home-away-from-home, after Wal-Mart), where you can find various shaped albums – squares, rectangles, some with squiggly edges – for $1 each!  All you need to do is peel off the printed, shiny paper, and the base underneath is chipboard!  Sweet!  I use a sharp craft knife and work the edges up enough, so that I can grip and edge and peel it back.  Some people have mentioned using a power sander, which is fine if you have one.  With patience, though, the manual way works well (and I usually do it when watching TV, so that I don’t feel guilty wasting hours watching CSI…).

Now, some of them have the brownish chipboard, but there are some that have the white base.  The brown is easier to peel, and is much more like the chipboard you are used to, so I would recommend it, although I have found a few books with the white base that worked okay.  You have to kind of check and see how the printed material is attached.  Sometimes it is on peelable sheets; other times, it is printed right onto the base and won’t peel.

Once peeled, you can then cover with patterned paper, cardstock, or paint it.  I often paint mine, then use a background stamp or roller wheel to give the pages some texture, as well as hide some of the blemishes I created when stabbing the book with my craft knife (accidentally…or subconsciously acting out what is happening on CSI…whichever!).

Sample of what used to be a Spiderman book:

Recipe Album

“Don’t you feel bad, wrecking what could be a child’s educational resource?”, you ask.
“Not when it comes to Spiderman!”, I reply. “If it was Batman, then that’s just a travesty, and should be punishable by law.”

(Seriously, though.  Spiderman?  He’s got webs.  Whoopty-doo.  Batman, on the other hand, has a cool car, bike, and mad skillz that aid in his fight against evil.  Plus, he looks smashing in black and has a sexy voice.  Case closed.)

But I digress…

The beauty of the peeled chipboard books is that the basic shapes can be used for any theme or event, and others will never know…unless you show it to others who read this blog!

Quote today comes from Franklin Roosevelt: “Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.”

Go achieve joy and thrill in your creative effort…while saving money!

- Tanya

Save Money While Scrapbooking: Chipboard Shapes

Much of the money-saving tips that apply to Chipboard letters also applies to shapes.  For instance, if you like the overall shape but not the colour, you can peel off the top layer of paper and then ink, paint, or stamp on the shape. 

Another option of creating the shapes you want without having to pay a fortune for them is to create them yourself!  Using stencils, tracing a chipboard shape you already have, or tracing an object’s shape onto a sheet of chipboard, and then cutting it out with a strong pair of scissors also works.  Ink, paint, stamp, and embellish as needed.

Sometimes local scrapbooking stores will let you cut chipboard sheets using their diecut machines; however, I would recommend checking with the store first, before doing so.  Thicker chipboard can dull the blades of the dies, and some stores follow a “stict policy and procedure manual” that may create trouble for you.  (Don’t even get me started on one of the local stores!!)

If using a stencil or die cut machine is not feasible, you can also take a paper copy of the shape, adhere to the chipboard sheet, then cut it out.  Using a sanding block, sand all edges.  This serves two purposes: it smoothes out the edges, as well as “bonds” the paper and chipboard together so that they do not come apart easily!

One option that I have been doing more and more of is to freehand draw onto a sheet of chipboard, then cut it out.  This works well for fluid shapes, such as flourishes.  Do the drawing in pencil, and have a good eraser nearby, so that you can easily make adjustments.

Money may not be able to buy happiness, but it sure buys me more scrapbooking supplies, and they make me happy!!!

- Tanya

Save Money While Scrapbooking: Chipboard Letters

Chipboard letters look amazing on layouts, and I tend to like to include them on a regular basis.  The one thing that holds me back is the price.  Another is the lack of double letters in many of the packages.

There is nothing more frustrating than finding a great font, only to discover that you only get one of each letter…and how many titles only use one of each letter?  Few, unless you are doing one-word titles.  Suddenly that awesome chipboard alphabet is not so awesome, especially since the price tag is often $6 or more!

Good news 1: if you like StampinUP! products, the new chipboard alphabet sets have, in many cases, double alphabets, and often each alphabet even has doubles of those popular letters!  Hooray!  (the new catalogue came out yesterday, in the event you didn’t hear.  It was like Christmas in August!)  Since you get three 12×12 sheets of letters, there are a lot there for the $15 price tag.  The one set has the equivalent of almost 6 alphabet sets (with extras of those popular letters), plus other shapes!  I am in love!

Good news 2: if you have read any other of my posts, you will already know of my love…or, more like obsession…with Dollarama.  You can get some nice alphabet sets from there, and even though some of them only contain one each of the letters, at $1 for the set, picking up several won’t break the bank.

What about getting a good colour, you ask?

The StampinUP! chipboard is plain, so you can ink, paint, etc. to get the right shade for your layout.  As for the Dollarama sets, depending on the one you get, there are some options:

1. They currently have larger sets with some sparkle on them.  For certain layouts, the sparkle works.  I am not a girly girl, so sparkle is really not my thing.  The great thing about these letters is that the base is chipboard, and the sparkle is actually paper that has been adhered to the base letter.  What works great is using a craft knife and gently lifting that sparkle paper, so that you can peel the colour off completely.  From there, you are left with a plain chipboard letter that can be inked, painted, etc.  The coloured paper comes off like an orange peel, making it stress-free!

2. For the smaller sets that are already coloured (they currently have western, heirloom, pinks, purple, etc), peeling them doesn’t work as well.  The chipboard layers are strongly adhered, and I found myself getting frustrated and almost wrecking the letter.  Paint does not adhere well to the shiny surface of the letter, so if wanting to paint, you’ll have to sand them to roughen them up, then put on many layers of dark paint.  Using ink worked much better, although, once again, it had to be a dark colour.  StazOn worked wonders, as it dries quickly and sticks to any surface.  Another option was to emboss them.  This worked like a charm!  Plus, it gives you more colour options.  I don’t really use craft/pigment inks, but I imagine they would work as well, although, again, you’d likely have to use a lot of ink, or else do several coats of the ink and the clear embossing powder.

One last idea: if you can’t find an alphabet or font you like, but still want the thickness of the chipboard, try just stamping the letters onto chipboard shapes.  Sometimes it can not only give you the letters, but also provide an embellishment at the same time!

Actually, one more idea: if you have a current chipboard set, but need more letters, try tracing the letters onto a chipboard sheet and cutting the letters out.  That way, you have the flexibility to make as many letters as you want!

Our motto for the day: “I’m not cheap – I’m fabulous!”

- Tanya

Save Money While Scrapbooking: White Paint

Many companies market “scrapbooking” paint for use by scrapbookers, which is often priced at up to $6 a bottle.  It is archival safe, and acid-free.

Cheaper alternative: acrylic paint that you can find anywhere.

As far as I have found and researched, the acrylic paint marketed to scrapbookers, and the acrylic paint that you can find at any craft or dollar store, is completely the same.  I get mine from Dollarama, and pay $1 for a bottle that is almost 3 times larger than those at other stores!

Plus, I use my StampinUP! reinkers and colour the paint to match the cardstock and inks that I use.  This way, everything can still coordinate – bonus!  Extra bonus – I can affor to buy more of the matching ribbon and embellishments, because I saved so much on NOT paying $3-$6 for a tube of paint!!!

If it’s true that “money doesn’t care who owns it”, then it might as well be us!

- Tanya

Save Money While Scrapbooking

Having both Scottish and Ukrainian blood flowing through my veins, I have become a bit of a “frugal” person.  While I am completely willing to spend the money on my hobby, I am also compelled to ensure that I am getting the most out of spending my hard-earned cash, and I am sure that you are too!  Nothing is more frustrating and upsetting than seeing new scrapbookers being ‘roped’ into paying ludicrous prices for items that they can find elsewhere for cheaper, or create the items themselves for far less.

Often, though, people pay for convenience.

Consider 600ml bottles of any name-brand soda.  They are often anywhere from $0.99-$1.69, depending on where you buy them, yet a 2L of the same soda can retail for the same price, if not less!  CRAZY!  I am the first to admit that I am guilty of this atrocity.  I pay for the convenience of having a cold drink, rather than waiting for it to chill, or until I get home.  In my shopping and scrapbooking adventures, I see the same thing happening with scrapbooking supplies.  How many times have you visited your local store and purchased something because you are there, and didn’t consider ways to cut the cost of the items?  Happens more than you realize, I bet!

Being the seasoned scrapbooker and…let’s face it…cheapo…that I am, I want to share ways that you can get the items you want, but save your money so that you can get MORE of them.  As Mae West (who, incidentally, is one of my guilty-secret-heroes) once said, “Too much of a good thing can be wonderful!“

Stay tuned in the coming days for money-saving tips and tricks!

- Tanya

Create Mood with Shapes

Sometimes photos invoke a particular feeling when viewing them, and the scrapbook page should highlight this feeling.  Photos of children, for instance are often playful and fun.

The use of circles can create a festive or comforting mood on a page.  Try cutting either patterned paper or cardstock into circles and placing behind the photos!  They can help keep the mood light and airy, as well as help with eye movement through the photos. 

Some tips in using circles:

   – use the Coluzzle cutting system or StampinUP! circle punches to get perfect shapes

   – inking the ends of the circles often tones down the colour and the intensity of the shape

   – overlap some of the circles, so that they look like they are “floating” rather than creating a grid

   – have some of the circles move off the page, so that they look “random” (trim off excess)

   – have some smaller circles “peek” out from behind the photos

   – keep the “odd number” rule in mind – odd numbers are aesthetically pleasing to the eye

   – avoid having circles in too many colours – it can overwhelm the page and the eye

Next time you scrapbook, don’t “be square” – try circles!  (Oh, that was lame! )

- Tanya