Chipboard: what is it and how to do it yourself

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

If you have just started to get involved in scrapbooking technology or have not yet learned the names of all materials and tools, then most likely you do not understand the meaning of the word "chipboard". What it is, how it is used, you can find out further. Postcards, albums and other souvenirs will become much more effective if they are decorated with such elements. You can buy them or make your own. Despite the fact that the range of store options is large, you yourself will make an exclusive item.

Chipboard: what is it

This name refers to a special cardboard used to make decorative embossed blanks for scrapbooking, and these parts themselves. They can be made in the form of text, pattern, hearts, flowers, complex compositions. The thickness of such a workpiece is also different. In fact, this is a carved silhouette of an object of a simple or complex shape. The following illustration shows a purchased chipboard. What is it, you already understood, but, most likely, you wondered abouthow to make such a blank yourself, because not always you can buy exactly the part you need. Moreover, the exclusive decor looks much more impressive than the factory, stamped according to one template.

In fact, you can make a stencil in the form of letters or any other object at home. Nothing complicated. The main thing is to understand the technology and be patient.

Tools and materials for work

To make a chipboard with your own hands, you will need the following:

• sheet of paper for printing a picture;
• tracing paper to transfer the template to cardboard;
• cardboard sheet of the thickness you need;
• simple pencil;
• adhesive tape (painting or regular);
• sharp knife;
• hard substrate on which you will cut (special tablet, board);
• sandpaper (sandpaper) for processing irregularities along the edges of the workpiece.

As you can see, nothing special and expensive is needed. Everything is most likely already at hand.

DIY scrapbooking chipboards

To make an element in the form of text, ornament or other object, work like this:

1. Find a suitable outline image or create it in a graphic editor.
2. Print the picture on a sheet.
3. Now the image needs to be transferred to cardboard. Depending on the complexity of the object, choose the method of further work. If the outline is simple and you are making a single object, cut out the template and trace on cardboard.
4. If you have printed words in which you need to keep the distance between letters, a complex ornament, then use tracing paper. Lay the sheet on the template and circle the outline with a simple pencil. To prevent the tracing paper from accidentally moving, it is better to fix it on the base with adhesive tape.
5. When the redrawing is complete, remove the tracing paper from the stencil and trace the design on the back of the tracing paper.
6. Put the tracing paper on the cardboard. Fasten again.
7. Trace the pattern again. The graphite on the reverse side will be printed on the cardboard.
8. If the contours are very faint, circle the pattern on the cardboard again brighter so that you do not have to strain your eyes too much later.
9. Start cutting out the details along the contour with a sharp knife. A regular mock-up clerical option will do.



If the tool is not sharp, it will be difficult to cut and the edges will be jagged. Since the cardboard consists of several layers, it is possible to cut through the elements several times with less effort. This will be more accurate.

10. When all the elements are cut out, sand the edges of the blanks and the sides if necessary.

How to decorate a chipboard

Some scrapbook embellishments use chipboards raw, but are most often used as a base. A carved pattern or letters can be painted in one color with several smooth transitions, create the effect of peeling paint particles by applying paraffin to these areas and then re-staining, performcraquelure, create a relief surface, apply sparkles, microbeads.

So, you got acquainted with a new concept for yourself - a chipboard. What is it and how to use it - you know. Now it's time to start practicing: buy suitable blanks or make them yourself and actively use them to decorate scrapbooking.