My sister and I had some fun this weekend working on some album covers of a recent Hawaii trip that she took with some friends. She had created the inside pages for 3 albums so that she can give one album to each of her traveling companions. We had so much fun altering the covers of the albums, that I thought I would share our process and the results.
Here are the materials we used:
Heidi Swapp 6 X 6 Spiral bound album
Map of Hawaii
Making Memories Foam Stamps and Paint
Heidi Swapp Floral Mask
Modge Podge (Matte Finish)
We started the project by covering the covers with pieces of a Hawaii map. I recommend using modge podge to adhere things to album covers. If you have a brayer, it would be good to run it across the cover a few times to remove any air bubbles.
Next we did a little experimenting with a Heidi Swapp mask and some paint. The mask is like a sticker, only not quite as sticky. It is almost like one of those vinyl cling things that you can stick to window and then easily remove. So to use the mask, you just set it on the area you want to alter, paint over it and then lift the mask. It is the opposite of using a stencil.
For the first album, we put the mask on top of the map and first applied some yellow paint. We liked how it gave a subtle pattern on top of the map.
For the next album cover, we again started with yellow paint, but then also added some blue paint in certain areas.
For the last album, we just went for the blue paint.
We decided that it was fun to have each album have it’s own unique look.
After applying the masks, we used foam alphabet stamps to spell Hawaii on the front and ’06 (for the year of the trip) on the back cover.
This was a fun project that did not take too much time. Maybe you could give this a try next time you are altering a cover for your travel album.