Tutorial - Newspaper Letters

Most households worldwide have a pile of newspapers piled up somewhere. These have been put to good use by crafters for a very long time making larger projects like paper mache or simpler altered items. Today I want to downscale even more and show you how to transform a simple item like a chipboard letter into something special to add to your paper crafting project. This was a tutorial featured in the August copy of Scarpbook News and Review magazine

Supplies
Chipboard letters
Newspaper
Ink
Paint
Gel Medium

Step One: Tear a piece of newspaper up into small pieces as shown above. Try and find a piece of newspaper that has text on both sides of the paper.

Step Two: Paste the newspaper onto the chipboard letter. Place the newspaper pieces onto the letter in a random pattern with the text running in various directions.

Step Three: Turn the chipboard letter over and add some adhesive to the sides. Fold the newspaper over the sides and cut away any excess pieces.

Step Four: Turn the Chipboard letter right side up again and lightly sand the edges with a sanding block to smooth them.

Step Five A: You have several options to finish your letters off. The first and easiest option is to ink the edges. You could ink them lightly or heavily as I have done for a more dramatic look.

Step Five B.1: Another option is to first ink the edges and then add some acrylic paint to your letter. In keeping with the recycling theme, use items like toilet paper rolls to stamp onto your letters.

Step Five B.2: For a more distressed painted finish add a layer of Ranger Rock Candy crackle paint.

Step Five C.1: Another option to finish off your letters is to age your letters for a vintage look. Start by inking your newspaper covered letter with some Ranger Vintage photo distress ink. Then ink the edges with some Walnut Stain distress ink.

Step Five C.2: Now add a layer of extra thick gel medium to the entire surface of your letter. For added texture you could tap your finger on the gel to create some peaks. Set aside to dry.

Step Five C.3: Once the gel medium has dried completely you can add some more ink and perhaps some metallic paints to the letter for a really aged finish. The gel medium on the letter above was smoothed over before it dried.

Step Five C.4: For the letter above I created a far more textured surface with the gel medium but tapping it with my finger. This is a really lovely finish and definitely my personal favourite of the options I’ve demonstrated.

Depending on your personal style, there are dozens of options to finish your letters. You could dip your covered letters into some clear UTEE, stamp and emboss over the newspaper text or maybe even mist them. Not only is this a fun technique to use to embellish your chipboard lettering but also a great way of keeping up with the latest trend of scripted text on papers without having to fork out a lot of money.