Decorating a Scrapbook Cover

Hi, Antony here. If like me you love photography you will no doubt know how difficult it is to

find a nice album that reflects the photographs that will go in it. So what better way than to decorate your very own. As well as photograph albums you could of course be decorating a scrapbook front cover or even a notebook or diary.

As I have many photographs of past holidays I thought it would be nice for that to be the over all

theme for the cover (hence the travel theme) I also wanted to give the cover an old feel about it... and that's what the main part to this post will explain, the application of the Rust-it paint from Pinflair.

So for this project you will need the following products and materials:- A scrapbook, diary or photograph album, Pinflair Rust-it paint (both colours), Pinflair Metal FX paste, Pinflair Copper and Aqua colour Glitter Pastes, Pinflair Glue Gel, Pinflair Stencil Glue, Pinflair Liquid Buff-it Midnight (black), Pinflair Pearl Pen Brass colour, Viva Decor leaf mould and button moulds, Stencils, Viva Decor Pardo clay, a sheet of 2mm thick cardboard, some string and finally some thick cord.

Step 1 I decided to decorate an old 8 x 8inch scrapbook, so first I opened it up and removed the 2 screw type fixings so that I could remove both the inside pages and front and back covers.

This made decorating all the surfaces a lot easier.

Step 2 I then hunted through my vast collect of stencils and selected ones with tickets, a brick wall and some text. I applied Pinflair's stencil glue to the back of them all using a sponge and left the glue to dry for 10 minutes before using them.

 I placed the brick wall stencil onto the front cover of the scrapbook and pressed it down so that the stencil glue came into contact with the cover and helped hold it in place.

Using Pinflair's Metal FX paste I applied it through the brick wall stencil using a metal palette knife. It may help to dip the palette knife into some water and then applying the paste, that way you tend to get a smoother finish on the Metal FX paste.

Before you do anything else clean the stencil you have just used in water. The Metal FX paste will dry within about 20-30 minutes... but don't be tempted to blast is with a heat gun to speed the drying process because the paste will inflate. Although this gives a different finish it wasn't the one I wanted for this project.... but it still looks great!

Step 3 Using the other stencils I used the Metal FX paste again, but this time applied it onto a sheet of 2mm thick cardboard. Again I left this to dry naturally.

Step 4 Whilst the Metal FX paste was drying I took the back cover of the scrapbook and coated it using the darker of the 2 Rust-it paints. I dabbed it on using a sponge to add a little texture to it.

 Depending on the thickness of the application, the Rust-it paint should dry with 30 minutes. You can however force dry the paint using a heat gun. Just be sure to move the gun round quite a lot, not leaving it in one place for too long and not hold it to close to the painted surface.

Apply the darker colour Rust-it over the stenciled tag design using a dabbing action as before to add texture to the paint. Be sure that when dabbing the paint on areas that have been  stenciled the areas don't fill in and lose too much detail.

Step 5 Back to the front cover.... now that the Metal FX paste is dry, I dabbed on the darker Rust-it paint with a sponge and then let it dry. If you are going to force dry the paint with a craft heat gun be sure to be extra careful over the areas that you have used the Metal FX paste. If you put the heat tool over for it for 2 long it may bubble up.

Once the paint is dry it's time to dab on some of the lighter colour Rust-it paint. Dab it on in a random fashion applying little pressure so that some of the dark paint shows through. Then before the lighter colour is totally dry go back over randomly using a sponge with the dark Rust-it paint. Again don't apply to much pressure to your dabbing action.

Apply this same paint treatment to all the other elements that you wish to decorate in the same fashion and then leave to dry.

Step 6 Once all the Rust-it paint has dried it's now time to add the glitter pastes. To do this take some of the glitter paste out of the pot and place it on a non-stick craft mat. Then using a metal palette knife, dab it into the glitter paste (Copper colour first) Ensure you only have a little of the glitter paste on the knife then scrap it over the dry Rust-it painted area as if putting butter onto bread. Apply it in a random fashion to achieve a more realistic effect.

Now using the Aqua colour glitter paste apply this onto your project in the same way as you did the Copper colour glitter paste.

Step 7 For the areas I stenciled I felt as though the detail wasn't showing through enough, so taking the same stencils I had used to apply the Metal FX paste, I positioned the stencil back over the raised areas and then using my finger, I dabbed it into the glitter then applied it through the stencil. I used the Aqua colour glitter paste so that there was more contrast with the brown colours of the Rust-it paint. As before with Metal FX paste ensure you clean the stencil straight after using water.

Once all of the elements were dry I played round with where to position them. When I was totally happy I used Pinflair Glue Gel to permanently stick them down.

  

Step 8 Next I used a few silicone moulds (button and leaves) and Viva Decor Pardo clay to make some extra embellishments for the project. I baked the Pardo clay in the oven for about 5 minutes at 110 degrees and then allowed them to cool down.

Step 9 Next I painted the moudled clay shapes with Pinflair Liquid Buff-it Midnight (black) Once the paint had dried, I then dabbed a sponge into the glitter pastes and lightly went over the moulded clay leaves so that is just highlighted the raised areas. I applied the Copper colour first then the Aqua colour glitter paste. For the moulded clay buttons with the holes in, I simply painted the glitter paste on. I used a soft wide paint brush, but made a point of not pushing the paint into the wells of the texture. The other buttons I painted with the Copper glitter paste.

Step 10 For the two ticket type tags I punched a hole through and then coloured some thick cord with the dark Rust-it paint and once it was dry wiped some of the 2 glitter pastes randomly over it.

I threaded some string through the buttons with holes and tied a knot for extra interest. I then stuck all the embellishments into place using Pinflair Glue Gel. I used a Pinflair Pearl Wand (Brass colour) to add some extra detail, giving the illusion of brass tacks holding some of the stenciled detailed embellishments in place.

Step 11 Finally I decorated the rest of the back cover of the scrapbook and when every thing was dry I put the pages back into the book and put the whole scrapbook back together again.

For full step by step instructions for  the application of Rust-it paint please take a look at this short video I made for Pinflair. Although at the time I videoed this, Pinflair only had one colour of the Rust-it paint, I still think it explains the application well enough for you to understand.

I hope you enjoyed this post and will give the Rust-it paint effect a go on your next project. The effect would look really at home on projects using cogs and machine shaped embellishments.

As well as cardboard, the Rust-it paint will also work on wood, MDF, acrylic, polystyrene, metal and even glass.

If you have any questions on this project please let us know, we are always more than pleased to help out a fellow crafter!

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

Samantha and Antony