You will need:
• A spiral-bound album
• ½ yard tan silk fabric – one with self pattern lends itself to the additional beading
• 1” wide black lace and ½” wide black lace for decoration
• Printed ribbon for decoration ( Mine comes from NicholasKniel.com )
• 1 Biscuit board frame ( Mine is from Delish Designs)
• 2 black antique glass buttons and fine gold thread
• Black feathers, black spotted tulle and fine gold tulle
• Black acrylic paint or a good black marker
• Brilliance Lightning black and Cosmic Copper inkpads
• Clipart image for the frame
• Metallic beads and needle
• Fabri-Tac fabric glue and a glue stick
• Piercing tool, cutting knife, scissors, ruler and cutting mat
• Rubber stamp used = Stampington’s Anna Corba Vintage Labels G1300
The first step is easier than you would think. Carefully remove the spiral coil binding by pushing the coils out, one by one, without stretching it too much. Don’t worry if it is slightly uneven when removed – it will go back into shape when re-inserted.
Now you will completely encase both front and back covers.
Take half of your fabric and iron it smooth. Turn in a ¼” edge all around and iron it flat. Lay the fabric wrong side up on your work surface and place the board cover on the lower half. Turn the lower edge and both sides in and glue into position on the cover. Bring down the top half of the fabric now, folding all edges in as you work. Glue all edges together with Fabri-Tac, encasing the whole cover. Repeat this for the back cover.
Detail of lace and ribbon joins inside the front cover.Glue a strip of printed ribbon to the outer edge of the front cover, along with a line of ½” wide lace either side of the ribbon and join together on the inside, using sparing amounts of Fabri-Tac.
Take a piercing tool and make a small hole at each point where, through the fabric, with your finger tips, you will feel the original holes on the cover. Do the same for the back cover. Push the coils back into place through these small holes until your album is re-bound. If you see any frayed areas, pick up a little Fabri-Tac glue with a cocktail stick and wipe around the fraying, then press down to firm into place.
If you make really small holes you should not encounter much or indeed any fraying at all. See the detailed picture below.
Run a thin line of glue next to the spiral binding and glue a wider lace strip all the way around the cover, securing on the inside.
In choosing a self patterned silk fabric, it is very easy to now add some beading decoration. Stitch evenly spaced small groups of tiny metallic beads to the existing patterning and you have instant glamour!
Take a die-cut board frame and paint it black with either matte acrylic paint or a good black marker. When this is dry, press a copper inkpad down gently over the whole frame to add a glimmer to the frame.
Stamp “Paris” at the top and a line of address to the base of the frame using design elements from Stampington’s G1300 Vintage Labels rubber stamp set. Do this with a Cosmic Copper inkpad and allow to dry.
Trim a clipart image to fit inside the frame and cover with a layer of fine gold tulle. Glue both of these inside the frame now and adhere to the cover with Fabri-tac glue.
Take a few black feathers and a scrap of black, spotted tulle and stitch together with a medium sized black glass button. Stitch all together with fine gold thread, tied into a bow and glue to the lower left edge of the frame.
Thread a large black glass button with several strands of fine gold thread and tie it into a bow. Glue this to the top left edge of the cover using Fabri-Tac again as it adheres glass and metal embellishments to any fabric with great results
I hope you will agree that this is an enjoyable way to create your own, highly individual album. They make wonderful gifts if you can part with them!
Copyright Maureen Blackman, October 2007.
To find the products mentioned in this article and shown in these layouts, check with your local scrapbook retailer. Browse our Premier Retail Stores for coupons to a store near you.
