2 Crafty Chipboard : Tracee's February Shares (along with a short photo tutorial)

Hi 2Crafty fans, this month I went view finder crazy! I also have a short tutorial explaining how I covered my large 12 x 12 Viewfinder piece.

But before we start...

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"We Are Family"

When I first looked at this 12 x 12 Viewfinder I had a totally different plan in my mind.

I was going to fill the openings with photos. It totally didn't go the way I had planned

and this is how it finished up instead. I created a short tutorial showing you how I

covered the large piece with decoupage paper.

Start by cutting your sheet of decoupage paper slightly larger than your frame.

Using a wet glue (I used soft gloss gel, but you can use decoupage glue or a glue of your choice), carefully start gluing your paper at one side. I did mine gradually moving across the chipboard, taking care not to tear the paper when it covers the openings.

Once you have glued the whole sheet over your chipboard, turn it over and make diagonal

slits across the opening but not right up to the edge. Cut away the excess leaving about a

1 cm border that will enable you to glue and fold it towards the back.

Once you have cut all your openings, turn over the viewfinder and using glue, gently smooth

all your loose edges down. Sometimes the paper is not very forgiving and will tear slightly,

but you can make sure that is isn't noticeable from the front by working it into position

whilst still wet.

If you are happy with the colour of your decoupage paper as it is, then you can skip this step

and go straight ahead and decorate your piece. I wanted mine to be lighter and distressed,

so I covered it in a coat of gesso, For those harder to reach places I simply used my finger

as a paintbrush! Finally, I splattered some white acrylic paint on top for an even more distressed look.

Here are some close ups of my finished page.

I couldn't wait to use the "Kites" on my projects. After tracing around the shape and then

paper piecing it back together, I clustered it along with some clouds in one of the openings on

the "12 x 12 Viewfinder"

I covered more clouds in patterned paper and adhered them with staples.

I inked the "We Are Family" title with black ink. A few small splashes of white paint accidentally

landed on it after I had glued it down, but it all adds to the distressed look, so a happy accident.

I covered the "Mesh Heart" with pva glue and added glitter, I decided it didn't look

white enough so blobbed on a little more white paint over the top.

2Crafty Products Used:

12 x 12 Viewfinder

We Are Family Title

Mesh Hearts

Clouds

Kites

Mini Weather Icons

Hearts

"Happiness"

What a happy little family this is! I love how they are often out and about just spending time together and having fun. I chose to use the smaller set of "Viewfinders" on this page, along with the "Polaroid Frame Assortment" as my main embellishments.

I love the "Long Word Titles." I inked this one with black ink for a bold statement across my page.

I wanted the black to be bold throughout my page, so I inked the frames in black also. I used a foam brush and some mists to create the stripes of colour behind my elements, and I kept the corresponding colours for my embellishments.

I don't know what made me choose this colour combo as its not typical of a heart themed layout, but I really like how it turned out. I used patterned paper to cover the "Tag" and the large heart that is from the "Hearts" set.