Dressing Up Your Chipboard

I have to say that I'm the first one in a room to admit to loving chipboard, but totally struggling with what to do with it, besides keeping it au natural.  What a great discovery when I found this tutorial at Inside Out using the hot air balloon chipboard pieces in the Optimism kit.

Dressing Up Your Chipboard

by Nancy Doren

I love the chipboard hot air balloons in this month’s kit. I like the look of raw chipboard, but wanted to take mine to the next level. Here’s how I created my embellished balloon:

Step 1: Gather your supplies. Chipboard, spray ink, patterned paper (not shown: sewing machine and other colors of spray ink).

Step 2: Spray the chipboard. I wanted a really deep, shimmery coat, so I sprayed until the chipboard was soaked.

Step 3: Using a second, lighter color of spray ink, drip ink onto where light would naturally reflect off the balloon (I put mine on the upper left, so it would match the sun on the upper left of my page).

I used one more color of iridescent ink to make more drops on the corner.

Step 4: Cut and adhere tiny triangles for little pennants on the sides of the balloon:

Step 5: Use your sewing machine to stitch along some of the scored lines on the balloon to create a quilted look. If you’re worried about hurting your machine, you can always stitch by hand. I put chipboard through my sewing machine all the time and it doesn’t hurt it. If you want more control while stitching on the balloon lines, try turning the machine manually, using the wheel on the side instead of the foot pedal to make precise stitches.

Now you have super cute hot air balloons! I just wish mine were real....

Can it get any simpler... or cuter?  Thanks Nancy!  What other things do YOU do to dress up your chipboard?