I recently joined the Dusty Attic design team and have fallen head over heels for their little chipboard elements. This Australian-based company has lovely chippies and stencils that I used to create this fantastic layout.
When these little chipboard pieces arrived, I was happily surprised at how thin and lightweight they were. I love adding layers to my projects, so having thinner elements means more layers without too much bulk.
The chipboard pieces arrive colorless giving you the opportunity to add a medium of choice and personalize them to fit your project. I selected a mix of distress oxide sprays and inks for my pieces and they turned out beautifully.
I discovered that water-based mediums work best if the chipboard is prepped with gesso. The border was left unprepared and soaked in the layers of sprays giving a more muted look.
The sprays dried quickly so that I could add stenciled images and distress the edges with inks. My border did bend and pop up a bit as it was being sprayed but settled down flat as it was drying and didn’t warp.
I prepped the title pieces with white gesso before adding the layers of distress oxide inks. The colors appear more vibrant and bold, and the layers of color shine through.
With the prepped pieces there were no warping issues, but it took quite a bit longer for the inks to dry. The layer of gesso prevented the ink from soaking into the chipboard, which meant that it had to air dry and that takes a while longer.
Some of the phrase pieces come in a lovely black shade, which I like having. I used two of those below my photo.
The phrase circles that need shading, require a delicate touch. Adding white or light grey ink to the center will help the words become more prominent.
In my video, I share the difference between a prepped and an unprepped piece and share how I created the background with transfers and stencils.
This layout was created to record the story of an Alaskan vacation and the elements truly speak to the beauty that they enjoyed while they were there. The layers of chipboard leaves, trees, and sentiments bring some great color and texture to the page with the lovely pattern papers in the background.
I hope today’s project inspired you. If you have any questions about the project or the supplies listed above, feel free to leave me a comment.
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