Metal Accents

By rowarrior

The day we entered into the hardware store was the day our albums started to gain pounds! Metal found itself in various guises attached to our pages, and numerous scrapbooking companies threw themselves into producing scrap metal. The outcome of this can be grouped, and used, as follows:

True hardware store products:

•  Washers – with and without words, these can be stuck on using glue dots, or threaded onto one or more ribbons to be tied to the page. If you have a Chizzel-It, or similar, try etching onto the surface of a blank one (tip, your local hardware store will have a much greater variety of sizes of metal washers than the scrapbook cos)

•  Hinges – there are obvious uses for hinges to attach flip books or hidden journaling to a page, but they can also be used to hinge album covers if you decide to try and make your own. They vary from plain rectangles to ornately swirled, curlicued offerings and come in a variety of metals from shiny silver, to dull pewter, to antique gold and many others besides (again check out the hardware store for a cheaper option). To attach them, brads, snaps and eyelets are the most practical and sturdy option, but feel free to experiment

•  Locks & keys – this is probably one area when buying the items made by the scrapbooking companies is better than the hardware shop offerings, simply because, except for the tiniest bolt locks, there is a lot of bulk in your average lock and key. 7 Gypsies, for example, does lock brads, and numerous companies, especially in their heritage lines, do key stickers, stamps, die-cuts and charms

•  Thin sheet metal – copper and aluminium sheets are great for embossing and fairly easily cut, and although the sheets are fairly large in the hardware shops, they are undoubtedly much better value for money than the smaller, neatly packaged sheets from companies such as MM

•  Chain – specifically the type that comes on some key chains, or, for those of you unfortunate enough to have to work to support your scrapping habit, they are often used to sling that awful security pass round your neck. It's the type with the tiny balls linked together, and as it's lightweight, it's great for attaching some accents to the page. Yes, you can buy these in different colours from the scrapbooking companies, or, you can buy in lengths from the hardware store – admittedly not in any colours other than standard metals

Scrapbook specific embellishments. MM really lead the way here, leading us to:

•  Metal plaques – with images and text on, some come with eyelet backs and can be attached like eyelets, while others need to be stuck down – glue dots being the best method of attachment

•  Metal frames – the original small square embellished ones can be used to highlight small photos or journaling, and, like the plaques, are best stuck down with glue dots. For the newer, larger frames, the thin metal allows for your own embellishment and decoration – stamp on them, emboss them wet or dry, paint them, use your imagination!

•  Photo corners – charmed photo corners add a little more dimension than the ordinary paper based ones, and again, the glue dot is your best method of adhesion

•  Charms – reminiscent of the old fashioned charm bracelets, you can get a variety of themed charms for both masculine and feminine pages.  Attached by fibre, ribbon or chain, these can be a little bulky, but for an alternative to making a dent in your opposing page, encase them in foam core shadow boxes

•  Label holders – these are really half way between hardware store and scrapbook embellishments, but are very useful for labelling photos or putting very small amounts of journaling in, as well as for putting small photos in or highlighting areas of photos or journaling.  These are best attached with brads or eyelets, but can also be used with fibres and ribbons as well

Metal attachments:

•  Brads – finally, these have found a use other than for giving your kids' paper dolls joints!  These now come in several sizes and shapes and as well as simply attaching journaling to your background cardstock, they can be used for hinges, label holders