Scrapbooking Paper

There are many types of paper to use in your scrapbooking and craft projects including vellum, cardstock, labels, and transparencies. Here is a quick bit about understanding these types of paper and ideas of how to use them. When you are buying paper, remember to make sure it is acid and lignin free to protect your pictures against deterioration.

Vellum Scrapbooking Paper

Vellum paper is translucent, meaning light can pass through it, although things cannot be seen clearly through vellum paper.

Vellum paper is categorized by weight. The samller ther number, the light the weight of the paper, and subsequently, the more transparent, or see-through, the paper is. For example 17# is more transparent than 29#. There are many weights and colors of vellum to experiment with.

You can print on vellum using any laser printer. When using an inkjet printer change your settings to economy, draft, or speed depending on yout printer so the least amount of ink possible with be used. This will decrease your chances of smearing the ink. Let the ink dry completly before handling the vellum paper.

If you have only a small piece of vellum to print on, print your message on a regular piece of paper first. Then temporarily tape the vellum over the message on your test paper and run it through the printer again.

To mount your vellum paper to your scrapbooking page, lay your piece of vellum paper up-side-down of newspaper, and lightly spray photo mounting spray on the back. The vellum paper will them mount easily to your scrapbook. Other methods include using clear photo corners, and punching holes in the vellum and using a ribbon or eyelet to attach the vellum to your page.

For scrapbooking, vellum is great for printing titles, and adding embellishments. One simple idea is to stamp or paint a design on vellum paper that is trimmed with a thin metal frame. You can attach the vellum embellishment to the page with a ribbon. This is a good idea for pages where an anitque look is desired.

Vellum Invitations - Great for weddings or other formal events

1. Print the information for the event on vellum paper.

2. Select a piece of heavy cardstock to back your vellum paper.

3. Cut the cardstock to be about half an inch bigger than your vellum paper in both directions.

4. Place the vellum on top of the card stock so there is a quarter of an inch of cardstock on each side as a border.

5. Punch two holes in the top of the vellum paper and cardstock that are about an inch or an inch and a half apart. And use a matching ribbon to tie the papers together.

Another option is to decorate the vellum and attach it over the printed invitation. The velum can be embossed or you can add a a dash of glitter to make it sparkle.

Embossing Your Paper - Embossing is a way to really enhance your pages. Vellum looks great embossed, but you can experiment on other types of paper as well. Here is how it is done.

1. Stamp or print onto your paper and sprinkle embossing powder on the design while it is still wet.

2. Shake of the excess powder from the paper.

3. Use you embossing heater or other heating tool to heat the embossing powder.

Cardstock

Carstock is usually thicker than normal paper, and therefore is good to use as a base for your scrapbooking pages especially if you like to add heavy embellishments. It is also good for matting pictures onto. I like to buy smaller pieces of cardtock to mat my pictures on. That way I don't have to worry about cutting perfectly straight lines. There are many types of cardstock. Two popular types of cardstock are smooth card stock and linen card stock. Both are excellent choices for scrapbooking. Linen card stock is semi-rough and has the look of linen cloth. It is good for adding more texture to your scrapbook pages if you think they are too dull.

There are many grades of cardstock. Remember that the higher the count, the thicker the paper is.

Labels

Before I started scrapbooking I thought that labels were just for business uses like addressing letter and labeling files. I have come to find that they are actually an inexpensive way to make neat stickers. If you have a good printer, you can find pictures you like on the internet and print them onto your label paper. Then just peel them off or cut them into the desired shape and stick them onto your scrapbooking page. If you want to add dimension to your page, mount your sticker onto thick cardstock and use double-sided tape to attach it to your scrapbook.

Transparencies

A transparency is a clear piece of paper. It is competely see-through like glass. You can buy transparencies at office supply stores, and some craft stores. You have likely only seen transparencies used with overhead projectors. But here are some other ways to use them for scrapbooking. Use your imagination, the possibilities are endless.

Transparency Covers

1. Stamp letters on a piece of paper. Cut them out, and glue them right side up onto a transparency. You can also use shapes of any kind instead of letters.

2. Paint over the transparency on the same side you glued the letters. You can paint using a splattering technique, streaks, or any other way you can think of. Acrylic paint works great.

3. Once the paint is dry, remove the letters for a cool effect. This technique is great for page titles.

4. Optional: Attach the transparency using spray adhesive.

Transparency Tile Accents

1. Stamp an image on a transparency with solvent ink.

2. Trim the transparency around the image. You can also cut the image into equal size squares to create a mosaic look.

3. Completely cover the image with clear dimensional adhesive until it can't hold any more. Let the adhesive dry for a few hours.

4. When the image is competely dry, apply clear-drying adhesive to the back and attach it to your page.

Transparency Accents

1. Cut the desired shape of your accent out of a piece of transparency paper.

2. Cover the accent with crystl laquer until it can't hold any more.

3. Cover the accent with crystl laquer until it can't hold any more.
4. When the crystal lacquer is dry, peel the transparency off of the back of the accent.