Technique: Shabby Chic Collage
Style: Heritage
Designer: Susan Cobb

Susan liked the way these papers fit the vintage feel and warm sepia tones of the heritage photographs. The background is a tan lettering paper with strips of tan leaves paper (on the left) and ivory leaves paper (in the center). Torn leaves plus slide mounts, embossed paper hardware and fibers create a collage around the photos. A black ribbon and black embossed paper fragments give contrast and definition to the page.

Susan’s Tip: I arrange the elements on my page before gluing anything down, especially when I’m creating a collage of lots of small embellishments like the slide mounts, hardware and ephemera.

How to make this layout:

1. Cut a 6 3/4"x12" piece of ivory leaves paper.
2. Tear one long side of a 2"x12" piece of tan textured paper. Place it beneath the left edge of the ivory leaves paper so a 1/2" border of textured paper shows. Glue this to the right side of the tan letters background paper.
3. Cut a 3 1/2"x12" piece of tan leaves paper.
4. Tear one long edge of a 1"x12" strip of ivory vellum and glue it underneath the left edge of the tan leaves paper so a 1" border of ivory vellum shows.
5. Mat two small photos one above the other, leaving a thin border around and between the photos. Mat the large photo on black, leaving a thin border.
6. Cut out the ephemera postcards, chalk the edges with brown and place them on the page.
7. Tear individual leaves from the tan leaves paper and ivory leaves paper, chalk them and place them on the page, tucking some underneath the ephemera images and layering some to overlap.
8. Cover two slide mounts with tan textured paper: Glue one slide mount to the backside of the patterned paper (the white side). Use an X-acto® knife to trim around the outside and inside edges of the slide mount. Outline each slide mount with black pen and chalk the edges. Fold a 1 1/4" piece of black ribbon over the top of each slide mount, then staple in place. Repeat with the second slide mount, then add the slide mounts to the page.
9. To make the grosgrain ribbon buckle: Cut a small slit about 3" from one end of the ribbon. Set an eyelet in the hole. Slide the metal buckle over the ribbon and insert the metal buckle pin into the eyelet. Glue the ribbon to the page with a glue stick so the ribbon covers the seam between the ivory vellum and tan leaves paper. The buckle is about 3" from the top of the page.
10. Gather fibers and glue a 6" length to the upper right portion of the page, parallel with the black ribbon. Add hardware and word fragments with foam tape.
11. Tear a 4" square of tan leaves paper in half diagonally and glue one triangle to the lower left corner of the page. Chalk a leaf on the paper with brown. Cut out gold hardware and add to the pages.
12. Chalk a single letter on the letters collage paper. Write the remaining letters of the name with the black pen on ivory vellum. Place beneath the embossed cardholder. Tie fiber to a piece of hardware and hang the card holder from it.
13. Use sandpaper to distress buttons. Tie buttons with floss and adhere to page.

Supply List

• Paper Pizazz® Words, Letters & Textured Papers
• Paper Pizazz® ivory vellum
• Paper Pizazz® black cardstock: Part not in database (may have been discontinued): #4102
• Paper Pizazz® Vintage Ephemera
• Paper Pizazz® Buckle Up Treasures
• Paper Pizazz® Tape-Style Fragments
• Paper Pizazz® Part not in database (may have been discontinued): #4350
• Paper Pizazz® Hardware Punch-Outs™
• Paper Pizazz® Coconut Fibers
• brown decorating chalk from Craf-t
• brown, black, ivory buttons
• tan thread
• stapler, staples
• black pen
• eyelet setter
• x-acto® knife and cutting mat

Susan Cobb is a talented scrapbooker, cardmaker and paper-crafter. She’s also a co-author of Making Designer Scrapbook Pages, a 144-page idea book packed with designer tips, tricks and layouts like this one.