Fabric Album Masterpiece (Warning: Lots of Photos)

Finally, after several weekends of getting my hands dirty, I completed my fabric album. I started this when I attended the class at Visual Creations. Thanks to Mitch, Cabbie and Iris for teaching us the techniques and for inspiring us with their lovely creations. Without further ado, I present my masterpiece (drumroll please)...


I used more techniques in this album than any other scrapbooking project I've made. Here you will see that I stamped some words and a bird image (October Afternoon). The cluster of flowers at the left is a Rub-On from October Afternoon. I love it. It adheres very easily on fabric.

Here I stamped words again. The felt thingy below is from Prima.

More stamping on top of the cover - the stamp is from the Build a Frame set of Prima.

Here's the whole album cover. The album came in plain canvas. I first primed it with Gesso. I discovered that the best way to do it evenly is by using a palette knife instead of a brush. The thick Gesso applies like butter. Piece of cake! After the Gesso has dried, I applied acrylic paints, first with a palette knife, then with a brush. Using a brush brings out the texture of the canvas. I used a wet on wet technique where in I applied yellow green first and without waiting for it to dry, I brushed on some blues and reds. Since the paint underneath is still wet, it was easy to blend them together.

This album is about how we spent our 8th anniversary which was last April 18, 2009. I stamped the date using VersaFine. The flowers are RubOns from OA.

This is the first inside page. The fabric album comes with 5 canvas pages and 5 page protectors. This page alone boasts of several techniques. Can you spot all of them?

First, I primed and brush-painted the canvas. Then, I used a butterfly mask and sprayed Radiant Rain on it. I love how it turned out! The chipboard was painted with crackle paint. After drying, I spritzed a bit of water and brushed Perfect Pearls on it for a bit of shimmer. I also stamped some words on the background.

The paper that says "a day in the Life" was distressed with well...Distress Ink using an Ink Blending Tool. I also inked the edges of the fabric tag which I stamped with "Ariel Alby". The punched butterflies were also distressed with ink.

Here, I applied acrylic paint mixed with gel medium using a palette knife. It left a nice rough texture on the canvas. I distressed the paper, lace cardstock and the border edges with ink. This was my first attempt at tearing the fabric - inspired by Iris' sample album. Note to self: do not tear fabric that has been primed. It didn't turn out as good as I wanted.

Here you can better see the texture made by the paint and gel medium mix. I journaled about our first activity wherein we had a bit of fun snorkeling in a nearby marine sanctuary.

For the page protectors, we were supplied with Hambly Screen Prints! Yes, the kit contains 5 whole sheets of Hambly transparancies! At first I didn't want to cut them but well...what the heck. For this one, I decided to paint the other side. Not completely though, such that parts of the page are still transparent.

This is the side that I painted. I applied a thin layer of acrylic paint so that the design still shows through.

I stamped some swirls on this page but it didn't turn out good, so I applied Stickles over the stamped image. It added a bit of texture and sparkle to the page. Here, I journaled about our brand new aquasocks.

See those inverted words and numbers? That's a technique called Paper Peeling - shared by Cabbie at the class. I had so much fun doing this. First, I primed the canvas and let it dry (a heat gun helps speed up the process). Then, I applied gel medium on the paper, over the design that I want to show on my canvas. Then I adhered it to the page and rub it with a bone folder until it dries up a bit. Then I lifted the paper and scrubbed on the top layer using my fingers. Voila! The bottom part stayed on the canvas. This works very nicely with words (book pages) and musical notes.

Here, I painted the the canvas with a thin layer of acrylic paint (mixed with water). While still wet, I dropped alcohol ink on the canvas. The white specs on the fabric are pearl mixatives.

See the red and orange dots? Those are alcohol ink drops. I also distressed the journaling card where I wrote about our trip to Balanan Lake.

Here, I painted on the acetate again. The flourishes were cut using the Basic Shapes 3 Design Card of Slice. I love it!

I didn't paint this side so the design on the Hambly transparency is visible. I cut two butterfly shapes using a Cuttlebug die. I distressed them and layed them on the page. I journaled about taking the boat across the lake under heavy downpour.

Here, I painted the entire page with acrylic-gel medium mix using a palette knife. I finally got to use my lace cardstock which has been gathering dust in my cabinet for months! I also love the photo of Ariel which I took while descending the treehouse which I captured in the journaling.

Here are details of the paint texture. The stamp still looks very clear even if the surface was rough.

I love this page! I love the blending of the brown and pink pain! I used a palette knife here but I didn't add gel medium so the surface was smooth.

It's not very clear in this photo but I brushed Perfect Pearls on the bird for a bit of shimmer. Here I wrote about our adventure going up to the water falls.

I painted the transparency again. Then I stamped on the upper left side of the photo using Staz On. The grungeboard shapes were painted then brushed with Perfect Pearls for a bit of shimmer.

Here, I cut the clouds free hand from white cardstock. Then I distressed the edges with blue ink. I love how it turned out! Oh and my 9-month old Just the Edges (Bazzil) and Paper Frills made their first ever appearance here. LOL!

I only primed and painted 2/3 of the page here as I intended to cut thorugh the fabric for a journaling pocket. I also used a mask and then sprayed the fabric with silver Radiant Rain.

The grungeboard shapes were painted brown and then stamped on using Glue Pad. I then brushed the stamped image with Perfect Pearls for a shimmery impression. My journaling is about how I surprised Ariel with a sunset cruise.

Here I only primed and painted the edges of the fabric page. I stamped all around the edges with VersaFine. The image is much better on the primed and painted surface than on the plain canvas.

I stamped two butterfly images on a cardstock, cut around the pattern and layed them on this page.

This time, I adhered the photo behind the transparency so that it is framed by the print on top of it. I painted some parts of the transparency where I adhered some Whispered Words from Prima and a label word from Creative Imaginations.

Behind the transparency, I adhered a piece of cardstock to cover the photo. I used the CS as mat to the two small photos and the fabric tag which I stamped on.

I forgot to distress the tag like what I did in the first page. Oh well...

Here, I painted the transparency with several layers of paint, except under the photo, to make it opaque. First was a coat of white. When dry, I sanded it lightly and applied blue paint. Then another coat of white.

The reason why I didn't paint under the photo in the previous page is because I adhered this photo on the other side so it is framed with the design on the transparency.

I first painted the border of this page using a paint-gel medium mixture. Then I used a mask and sprayed Radiant Rain on top. The flowers and butterflies were first painted with acrylic. Then stamped and embossed with copper powder. I love the design! The stems and leaves were painted with crackle paint.


The butterfly can be pulled up to reveal the journaling which is about our dinner. The tag was distressed and then stamped with journaling lines (Creative Imaginations). The butterfly was adhered with foam tape.

Finally, the last page. More painting, stamping and distressing.

I used the Americn Crafts Minimarks rubons here.

The end.