Scraptacular Scrapbook Store: Making the most of your chipboard!

I know we all have TONS of chipboard, whether it be raw or coated in some fashion.

It can be used as is, covered in paper or painted.

I'm a technique-y kind of girl. I love to experiment. I will try anything at least once! My blog posts will probably center around techniques.

Here are a few more ways to jazz up your chipboard stash!!

The cooler weather has had me wanting to scrap more fall pictures!

I used two chipboard techniques on this layout. Do you really love the font and size of a particular chipboard alphabet but the color of it is totally wrong for your layout? Or, you don't want it to be raw?

I LOVE these Pink Paislee chipboard alphas but wanted a color other than the brown that they were. So, I dabbed them lightly with a foam brush with some Mod Podge and sprinkled some metal leafing on them. Let it dry and clean up the mess! You can also use flocking, glitter, beads, sand or any other loose material to add more depth and charm to them.

The Maya Road chipboard trees are SO neat! I like them in their raw form but wanted to add some texture. Did you know that you can use your embossing folders with chipboard? I used a Cuttlebug distressed lines folder on the trunk and swiss dots on the tree. To enhance the leaf piece, I drug a green ink pad over top of it. For the trunk, I spritzed it with brown Maya Mist. You could also use chalks or metallic rub ons.

Here's a fun technique that I taught myself last year. As you can see, I like texture. For this, I dug out my foam stamps. It's very simple. Paint a thin layer of paint over the chipboard. You just need to make sure that you have a thick enough layer of paint so there is something to stamp into. I like to use Gesso because it's a little thicker. Any type or color of acrylic paint will do though. Next, take a foam stamp and stamp into the wet paint. Carefully take the stamp off and let the chipboard dry. When it's dry, it adds a perfect texture. You can leave it like this, or spritz with a color or shimmer mist, drag a stamp pad or metallic rub ons across it. You can wipe the extra color off with a paper towel. The slickness of the paint makes it very forgiving.

Another fun thing I like to do is use rub ons on the chipboard. I know we all have a ton of those too!! What I do is put the rub on on the raw chipboard and then paint over it. Then take a paper towel and wipe it off. The paint adheres to the chipboard but wipes right off of the rub ons slick surface. I prefer to put the rub on first and the paint second, I think that makes it look smoother and more like it was made that way! For this example, I used green Clearsnap Smooches over the rub on.

Lastly, is spritzing chipboard with water. I embossed these flowers with swiss dots, then spritzed them with water. Using my fingers, I separated the edges of the petals to give them a distressed look. Let them completely dry and then use ink or paint to enhance the edges. I've never done it myself, but I've heard some people say that they spritz their thicker chipboard and separate the layers in half, giving them two pieces for the price of one.