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
