Assembling a Hybrid Album

Supplies Needed:

This tutorial uses Sarah Meyer's Little Star Abby Album and Cosmo Cricket Abby Blackboard album.

Products from paper.com

Printed digital pages. Paper.com has a wide range of digital papers you can pick from.
Chipboard album
Adhesive of your choice
Scissors
Craft knife (for trimming those hard to reach spots)
Hole punch (optional, you can use the craft knife)
Physical embellishments (ribbons, sequins, silk flowers, buttons)
Cutting mat, scraps of cardboard or paper (to protect your surface when using the knife)

Optional

Heavy books (optional, good if you use a wet glue adhesive to ensure pages don’t curl)
Sanding paper, sanding block or emery board (optional)
Marker, stamp pad or marker (optional)

Step One

Combining digital and traditional paper scrapbooking techniques can create such a fun result! The ease and flexibility of creating digital pages plus the fun touches of physical embellishments for projects that you can easily share will make you love hybrid too!

Digital Assembly Instructions

If you are using Quick Page type pages with openings for photos, simply open the png page files in your software and place your photos behind the page. Resize, rotate and trim photos to fit. Add text or extra digital embellishments if you'd like! Then print out your final results or have them professionally printed.

Step Two

Using scissors, trim the pages to slightly larger than your album. This will allow for minor adjustments with the craft knife and ensure you don’t cut it too small. Cutting along the printed shape edge is fine.

Step Three

Take care to arrange the pages to be sure you attach them in the proper order. Use the adhesive of your choice to affix the printed page to the cardstock or cut cardboard/acrylic album. First do the front sides of each page. If using wet glue, let dry under heavy books to prevent curling.

Step Four

Once dry, use your craft knife to cut away the excess, making the printed page edges flush with the edges of the album. If you have the right size hole puncher, you may use it to punch the holes. Otherwise carefully use your craft knife. For album cover pages with eyelets, I use my fingernail to crease along the outside of the eyelet, then cut with the craft knife.

Step Five

Again taking care to match the proper printed pages to the album pages, affix them to the blank sides of your album using the adhesive method of your choice. If using wet glue, again let the pages dry under heavy books to prevent curling.

Step Six

At this point you can attach the rings and consider your project complete or you can take it a little bit farther. I really like a smooth finish on the edge of my hybrid projects, so I sand the edge of the printed page, smoothing it to the chipboard surface. I use a strip of fine grade sandpaper, but you can also use a sanding block or even an emery board.

Step Seven

I don’t like the look of the bright white photo paper against the black Cosmo Cricket album, so I used a marker and traced along the white edge, smudging it a bit when I went over on to the printed paper. It wiped right off and settled into the grooves from sanding for a nice effect.

Step Eight

Add the binder rings if you haven’t yet, and add any other desired embellishments. I tied short lengths of ribbon and rickrack onto the rings.

Thanks for reading