Scrapbooking Ideas
Tip of the Month: Monograms
Fun
with Monograms
by LeNae Gerig
I love using monograms: Those oversized letters
and numbers you see on scrapbook pages or cards.
They’re fun, trendy and best of all, they’re
easy to use! Monograms are great for adding drama
to your project. Use one monogram to create a
big impact or use a series of them to spell out
a name or create a title.
Because monograms are individual letters, you
can have fun mixing and matching different colors
and fonts. That’s one of the reasons I
love monograms.
There are several different types of monograms.
I’ve found the most common (and the most
versatile) are cardstock punch-outs and chipboard
monograms.
If your monograms are punch-outs you’ll
want to remove the punch-out from the sheet by
placing the sheet face-down on your table and
punching from the back. This will prevent any
possible tearing of the paper. You may end up
with little white tabs around the edges of your
punch-outs. You can remove these by just running
your finger along the edge of the monogram or
using a piece of fine grade sand paper or an
emery board. You can also just snip them off
with your scissors. Cardstock monograms can be
attached with your favorite adhesive, but for
monograms that have been heavily embellished
Glue Dots work great.
There are so many ways to alter monograms, and
I love them all! Altering monograms is a fast
easy way to add detail and dimension to your
page or card. You can sand the edges of a monogram
to create a cool distressed look. Inking the
edges will make your monogram stand out on your
page. And I love embellishing monograms with
brads or ribbons. If I want to add dimension
to my page, I can just attach my paper monograms
with foam tape. Lately I’ve been stamping
or inking my monograms. I love this look because
it doesn’t have to be perfect; in fact,
I like it better when it’s imperfect.
You can customize your monograms by covering
them with paper. Simply glue your monogram to
the back of the paper of your choice and cut
around the monogram with a sharp pair of scissors.
You don’t have to cover the entire letter
or number with paper either. Adding a strip of
paper (like the ‘A’ to the right)
can create a great unique look.
One look I love is to run a cardstock monogram
through a corrugator to give it dimension. By
putting your monogram through a corrugator you
create a great textured look to add to your page
or card.
Monograms are a fun scrapbooking trend that
is showing up everywhere. I love them because
not only do they look great, they’re also
super easy to use. Monograms are one of those
great project accents that can be as intricate
or as simple as you’d like. There are dozens
of ways to embellish them but they also look
great on their own. With so much versatility
(and with such a great look) how could you not
love monograms?
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