How To Complete A Chipboard Word Book

I love these chipboard word books! You can quickly have a fun little memory book for any ocassion or of someone special. I have covered these books with paper using two different adhesives: mod podge decoupage glue or rubber cement. The biggest difference between the two - mod podge is a wet adhesive that you apply to either the chipboard page or the backside of the paper and the rubber cement is a much dryer adhesive that you apply to both the chipboard page and the backside of the paper. I like the rubber cement best but I also like to use the mod podge as a sealer to cover the entire page after I get the photos added - this will keep your photos protected from finger prints and keep them very secure. Once you get the hang of it one of these books can be completed in an evening - so get your supplies together and put together a scrapbook in no time!

Supplies: chipboard book (order from http://www.tennesseecraftingcompany.com/), adhesive - either mod podge and/or rubber cement, xacto knife, glass or self-healing cutting mat, sharp scissors, sanding block

Once you get a little practice in you can have a book covered in a couple of hours if you have your papers chosen for each page. You will want to choose papers that coordinate well but that are different so each letter shows up well. Don't forget you need paper for both the front and back of each page. I prefer to use an xacto knife on a glass mat and use the chipboard page as my guide (be careful not to cut into the chipboard). If you do not have an xacto knife then trace and cut. To make the process fast - choose each paper for each page and then do all your cutting - then you are ready to glue down all the pieces. Keep in mind when gluing - mod podge needs drying time & if you will let one side completely dry before gluing the other side you can prevent alot of the warping that can happen with mod podge glue. Working with rubber cement will go alot faster because it dries very quickly - but you will use alot of glue since you will be applying it to both the paper and the chipboard piece. Once both pieces have dried then carefully lay the paper onto the chipboard page. I use one of the longest edges to match it and then carefully lay the rest of the piece down - once it adheres rubber cement is pretty permanent so try to get it matched before applying. If you have some cardboard showing that is fine - just ink the edges or if you have paper showing just use scissors to trim or you can sand it to remove the excess. I also check to make sure that all the edges are glued and if they are not then I will add a touch of glue (one that dries clear such as Tombow Mono) where needed. You want all your edges to be completely glued down so they don't start peeling off over time. I also like to use the sanding block on all the edges to get a "shabby chic" look and to also help blend the paper into the chipboard. I then decide on which photos go on which pages and glue those down - you can use your favorite adhesive for this or mod podge. You will also want to do all of your journaling and any other "flat" embellishments such as stickers or rub-ons. Once everything has been added then you can seal all pages with a layer of mod podge glue. After this has dried feel free to add any 3-D embellishments, ribbon, etc. to the book.