Chipboard Card Purse Tutorial

supplies:

one sheet of 12x12 chipboard (i used the backs of colorbok paper pads from walmart, those suckers are THICK!)

two coordinating sheets of patterned paper
ruler, heavy duty paper cutter (or craft knife and ruler), emery board or sand paper

mod podge or other glue medium of choice for adhering paper to chipboard

dry adhesive (you want a strong one, this is for the ribbon strap)

approx. 52" of ribbon, it's best to purchase a spool for this project so that you dont run out! (I prefer stitched ribbon, it makes it look more like a purse)

sugar cookies...oh wait...those are just for me...hehehe

From the chipboard cut a 6.25"x12" piece, and from that piece cut two 5"x6.25" pieces and one 2"x6.25".

Next cut a 2"x12" strip from the chipboard, and cut that strip down to two 2"x5" pieces and save the 2"x2" square for an embellishment!

Choose the pattern for the inside of the purse and cover one side of all chipboard pieces. If you are using a stripe or plaid it will be more difficult as you want to make sure your stripes are all going the same direction, so to be safe you can either choose a solid or a random pattern (like a floral or polka dot) for the inside.

If you've never covered chipboard in patterned paper before, it's not that scary. Dont worry. Just use either a foam paint brush or yes, your fingers and spread a thin layer of adhesive down on the chipboard. I use Mod Podge because that's what I have on hand. A lot of crafters swear by Yes Paste, I just have to run out of my mod podge first before I can try it out.

So anyway, spread a thin layer of glue down, and then press the chipboard down onto the paper and smooth it out. You can go over it with a bone folder or brayer if you get bubbles, but the thinner the glue the less bubbles you'll get. Now sit and wait for it to dry. As soon as it's dry (give it at least 5 minutes) cut around the chipboard pieces with a craft knife. I find it much easier to do it like this because it's more work to measure and cut out the patterned paper and then try to line it up on the chipboard...lol.

At this point I have a few of the pieces trimmed, i wanted to show you that I lay the paper face down so that the chipboard is UP when I am trimming, it helps me to get closer to the edges. (What's that? A cookie is missing? hmmm...oh and there's a soda there too now? Guess I'll have to add that to the supply list...)

From your next sheet of patterned paper cut a piece measuring 8.25"x12". Lay it down horizontally in front of you so that the pattern is face down. This is important if you actually want your pattern to show....heed my warning, I've seen the results if it's done reverse, you end up with LOVELY white chipboard...lol.

Spread another thin layer of glue on the un-covered side of one of the 5"x6.25" pieces and line up the 6.25" edge of the chipboard so that it is centered along the 8.25" edge of the paper as shown in the photo.

Now at this point, measure the thickness of your chipboard with a ruler, that is the amount of space you want to leave between the pieces when you glue down your next piece of chipboard. Make sure that you line up the outside edges and that the gutter between the spaces is even and equal to the thickness of the chipboard. See photo for example of the next placement. Now again, same as before, thin layer of glue on the uncovered side of the 2"x6.25" piece of chipboard. Another trick if you dont want to measure the thickness, you can wedge a scrap piece of the same chipboard in between the edges when you are gluing your next piece down.

Repeat the same procedure for the final 5"x6.25" piece, this one will overhang the patterned paper a bit, but dont worry, we'll hide it!

Using the back of your craft knife score along both long edges of the 2"x6.25" piece, dont press hard you dont want to cut the paper, just assist with the folding process! Then score along the 5" edges and the 2" edges of the chipboard. At this point you'll also want to cut skinny triangles out of the patterned paper so that they point at the gutters between the chipboard pieces. See photo!

Fold up the edges of the patterned paper and make sure that it knows where it's going to end up...lol. (this is so that your corners and edges are crisp.) Next fold up the chipboard sides to get those creases enforced, when doing this you want the larger pieces to sit ON TOP of the 2" chipboard strip, that is why we left the gutter equal to the thickness of the chipboard.

Next, we are adhering the skinny sides of the purse. On the first of the 2"x5" pieces of chipboard, apply a thin layer of glue along the long edge, about 1" wide. You are gluing this to one of the patterned paper flaps, again, leaving the gutter the thickness of the chipboard.

Repeat with the second 2"x5" piece of chipboard, adhering it across from the first. See picture.

This is when things get wild and you'll start to wish your hubby was crafty too...lol. Fold up the end with all the chipboard pieces on it and fold in one of the 2x5 pieces so that it sits on top of the 2"x6.25" chipboard "bottom" and place a thin layer of glue on the bottom edge of the 2x5 side and fold up the little tiny flap. Turn the purse around and do the same with the opposite 2x5 side. See picture.

Next fold up the remaining side so the all the outside edges of the chipboard are flush and glue down remaining flaps.

From the remaining patterned paper (the outside of the purse pattern) cut two 2.125"x5" pieces to finish off the "sides" of the purse and hide the seams. After gluing the small pieces of patterned paper to the sides, you can either ink or paint the thin raw edges of chipboard at the top of the purse. I chose to ink mine with a colorbox chalk ink in a similar shade of pink. (hint: to smooth out the edge of the patterned paper and chipboard, rub it with an emery board, it'll look purdy)

now it's time to hide the thin edge of raw chipboard along the top. For this, I grab a piece of scrap cardstock in a coordinating color, I chose a green to match my ribbon. you can either leave it straight or cut a decorative border. This time around, I left mine straight. To add more dimension to it I did stitch along one edge. (I used two one inch wide strips cut from scraps) Wrap the first strip around the purse without glue to fold the creases, you'll want to trim the strip so that it fits both the skinny sides and the front of the purse but does not continue around to the back. Then smear on some glue...this time I put the glue on the cardstock not the purse, i didnt want to put too much on and thought this would be cleaner. From the remaining strip I cut it down to 6.25" and adhered that to the back of the purse so that the "seams" were at the corners and less visible.

If you wish to dangle a tag off the handle, it's best to slide a jump ring onto the ribbon before you glue it. Using a dry adhesive (like a tape runner, i use ad tech) run adhesive along one side of the ribbon for 6 inches. I started the ribbon on the center of the bottom, and it's about 1.25" in from the sides. Next leave 8 inches unglued for the handle. If you need to mark on the ribbon where to start gluing you can slide the jump ring to that position or poke a pin in the ribbon. Next you'll need about 12 inches of glue (this will wrap around to the start of the next handle.) Leave another 8 inch section unglued. Glue down remaining ribbon and trim where it meets the starting point so that the seem is "hidden".

From here you can either leave it as is or grab that 2" square leftover chipboard and decorate that as well and hang it from the jump ring on the ribbon. Hope you had fun, and shoot me a link if you decided to make this project!!