SHABBY CHIC OFF THE PAGE ALBUM KIT INSTRUCTIONS - Kylie Abel

This is such a gorgeous album when it's finished. It is a distressed and girly album, but because it has a soft blue base colour to the pages, it isn't overly girly. I have used it for photos of my 2 children - a boy and a girl.

It is available at Scrap N Craft With T HERE.

Step 1:

Paint the edges of your Kaisercraft album using Coastal Blue Kaisercraft paint, and then paint all the pages of the album with the same blue. I used 2 coats to ensure the blue was nice and bold. Once dry, ink all the edges using a medium brown ink. I used versacolor's "pinecone".

DECORATING THE PAGES:

Instead of telling you exactly how to place your photos, papers and embellishments to re-create my pages (you can see the pictures themselves if you want to do this), I'll instead give you some tips and techniques of how to achieve the same effects...

To distress the edges of papers to create an aged and weathered feel, use the blades of your scissors. Hold the scissors tightly in your hand with the blades open, and firmly run the blade over the edge of the paper. This pulls the fibres of the paper apart slightly at the edges, creating a worn look. To emphasise this further, ink the edges. The frayed edges will absorb the ink even more, creating a darker line of ink at the very edges of the paper. To make it even more distressed, run the scissors over the edges again, showing a small amount of white that emphasises the inking even more.

Even if you don't use scissors to create a frayed look, inking the edges of your papers will help them stand out even more against the background on your pages. Use ink that matches the ink you have used on the edges of the album for a unified look.

Cut parts of the paper patterns out. The "honeycomb" on the Wildflowers paper is perfect for cutting out. Ink the edges and use it as a strip on your page. I have also cut out one hexagon, and used mounting tape to make it "pop" off the page.

Use extra pieces of your paper to create hand-made embellishments. Cut small butterfly shapes from the bold-coloured Petticoat paper to scatter on your pages. Ink the edges to match the other embellishments, and finish off with some rhinestones to make them really sparkle.

Use the Kasiercraft rhinestones to emphasise parts of the paper patterns, such as the stamens on the Wildflowers paper. This helps the papers come to life.

Cut strips of paper and use your own handwriting to create journaling strips. Ink the egeds and adhere them in a slightly skewed way to add some randomness to your pages.

FRONT COVER:

Use 1 inch strips of paper to create a border on the right of the album. Rip the edges on an angle to achieve a worn look. Ink the edges and adhere them next to each other. Stick the Yillup Designs flowers at the bottom of the strips, and cut out a bee hexagon and use foam tape to stick it so it hangs over the edge of the strip. Use the Kaisercraft rhinestones to make a flourish coming from the crocheted flowers (I used a chipboard flourish as a guide so the curves flowed well). Use the Carolee Creations Sleek Black Alphas to create your title.

There are heaps of leftovers from this album, enought to create many more masterpieces. There is a limited number of these kits available for purchase HERE. At only $20, they won't last long!