Acetate for Scrapbooking Uses

Show kids how to use rubber stamps with acetate sheets.

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Many craft stores sell acetate in the scrapbook aisle due to its transparent and adhesive qualities. Since creating embellishments and multiple layers is important in scrapbooking design, acetate provides a translucent finish and even protects your designs. In addition, you can replace card stock with acetate and use the same powders, inks and stamps as with other paper.

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Scrapbook pages contain multiple layers, and acetate sheets provide a clear overlay that adds dimension to your design. Using a stencil or stamp, create a design on one side of the acetate and color in with marker or leave blank. Cut the acetate to any shape that you require and apply over your photos or add to your page in the corner. The overlay provides a shiny transparent element to your page, and you can still see the pictures or elements underneath.

Embossing

Many scrapbook artists are experts in embossing acetate sheets to add another embellishment to the page. There are several types of embossing powders that you can use with acetate, including pearl, regular, foil, tinsel and gold. To use the powders, first stamp your design to the acetate with a rubber stamp that you have pressed into an ink pad. The powder adheres to any ink, but clear ink is also available to avoid getting an off color. Lift the paper and curl it up gently, pouring the excess powder back in the bottle. Hold the design over a heat source, such as an embossing tool, stove top burner or iron.

Protecting Artwork

Glitter and other powders create lovely designs in scrapbooks, but these fine dusts also fleck off into other parts of the design. If you want a simple way to protect your creations, place a sheet of acetate over your glittery designs to hold in the dust. Acetate also can protect keepsake photos from incurring damage over time. The varying sizes of acetate sheets allow you to protect a single photo or an entire page.

Pocket Card

A pocket card is a dimensional element in scrapbooking design. Attached as an insert holder, a pocket card made from acetate gives you a transparent look to show off the element inside. You can create pocket cards by making an envelope of the sheet or simply by cutting a small square of acetate and attaching to the design, but leaving the top edge open for an insert. To add an embellishment, snip or cut tiny holes along the edges of the acetate card and sew the card to the design. Confetti, ribbon, keepsakes, pressed flowers, small jewelry and other small items can be kept inside the pocket card.

ReferencesOne Heart Weddings: Scrapbooking EmbossingScrapbook.com: Acetate Pocket CardFree Scrapbooking Ideas: A Variety of Options - Acetate OverlaysPhoto Credit Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty ImagesRead Next:

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