Tinkering Ink recently debuted their new Peekaboo albums at the 2008 winter craft and hobby association show. I actually got to see them at show and was immediately drawn to them. They currently have six styles of peekaboo albums and each one them are unique in their own way. After pursuing the new albums, I knew they had created a winner and was anxious to get my hands on one. I mean who wouldn’t love the concept of combining chipboard with acrylic and throwing in pre-cut “peekaboo” windows?

For this review I received a 6×12 chipboard and acrylic peekaboo album, one package of pink alpha transfers, and one package of blue alpha transfers. The peekaboo album was very cool and included 4 chipboard pages with windows and 3 acrylic pages to use for layering. Each of the chipboard and acrylic pages came in a different shape and size so that when you layer or stack them in order from the smallest to the largest, you can see a little bit of each page. The chipboard pages were very sturdy and two of them included a little pre-cut window so you could see through to the next page. The two silver book rings included in the package are large enough to allow the addition of all sorts of 3-D page embellishments and also the addition of extra pages! The pink alphabet transfers came on a 5×8″ sheet and included both uppercase and lowercase letters along with a set of numbers, flower doodles, and variety of punctuation marks. There was only one of each uppercase letter, but there were three of each lowercase letter and the font was very pretty. The blue alphabet transfers also came on a 5×8″ sheet and came in all uppercase letters. There were doubles of some of the letters and the sheet also included popular punctuation marks.

To create my “Highlights of Disney” album, I started by painting the fronts of all 4 chipboard pages. I covered the back of each chipboard piece with patterned paper and then painted the edges of all the album pages with a lime green paint dabber. I wanted to stick with a black, lime green, pink, red, and blue color scheme, so I painted the Tinkering Ink die cut alphabet letters and monogram to match. I decorated the pages by adding pictures, a variety of rub ons and embellishments, some glitter glue, and pen doodling and journaling. It was easy to journal and doodle directly on the chipboard, using several different kinds of pens and markers. When I wanted to write or draw on the acrylic sheets I simply used a permanent marker. I really liked how easy it was to wipe off glitter glue, paint, etc…from the acrylic if you happened to make a mistake. I also loved the fact that the acrylic was easy to punch through to add decorative brads! Although the packaging for this album states you can mix and match the pages as desired, I thought it looked wonderful that way it came so I chose to keep the pages in order. All of the rub ons I transfered onto the acrylic sheets came out beautiful and the effect of combining the acrylic with the chipboard really added interest and dimension to the entire project. The pre-cut windows provided the perfect opportunity to highlight a picture or embellishment and give a sneak peak of what’s to come!

Highlights of Disney 1

Highlights of Disney 2

Highlights of Disney 3

Highlights of Disney 4

Highlights of Disney 5

Products used:
Chipboard & Acrylic 6×12 Album (Tinkering Ink, Peekaboo Album)
Patterned Paper (Scenic Route)
Die Cuts (Tinkering Ink Die Cut Alphabet & Monograms)
Alphabet Rub ons (Tinkering Ink Blue Alpha & Pink Alpha Transfers)
Other Rub ons (Maya Road, Hambly, 7gypsies, Basic Grey, Jenni Bowlin)
Rhinestones (Karen Foster, Making Memories, Cell Phone Bling)
Flowers (Prima)
Stickers (Making Memories, 7gypsies)
Glitter Glue (Ranger Stickles)
Paint (Jaquard Lumiere, & Ranger Paint Dabbers)
Mirror (Heidi Swapp)
Metal Clips (7gypsies)
Mask (Heidi Swapp)
Rubber Plaques (Creative Imaginations)
Journaling Sheers (Maya Road)
Pens (Staedtler, American Crafts, Ranger Inkssentials)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner, & Zots)

When using the alpha transfers, I thought the pink and blue colors remained vibrant after rubbing them on the pages and they were extremely easy to transfer. I did prefer the pink alpha transfers over the blue ones because I like the option of having uppercase and lowercase letters. There were also several more duplicate letters on the pink, so it was easier to spell out more words. The blue alpha transfers did have duplicates on some of the letters but not all of them, so it was not as versatile. I think the retail price of $4.99 is a bit high for the blue alpha transfers, but overall I thought the quality of the transfers was great. I have used several other Tinkering Ink transfers and have always been happy with their quality and ease of use. I have to be honest and admit that I have a large stack of cute mini albums just sitting on my shelf waiting to be decorated. I am always inspired to buy them, but never inspired enough to figure out what to put in them or how to dress them up. Oddly enough, the minute I pulled the 6×12 peekaboo album out of the package I couldn’t wait to get started. There was something about the mixture of unique chipboard and acrylic pages that just got my wheels spinning and before long I was knocking out pages left and right! The difference in size and shape of each page really makes the entire album very eye-catching and I think it would look totally great even if all you did was add pictures! You have so many different options when it comes to this album and I look forward to buying and using more of the other peekaboo albums. I thought the retail price of $19.99 was a good price for this mini album considering what plain acrylic mini albums usually run. This is definitely one of my top picks for mini albums and I would recommend it to anyone looking to create a fabulous, super cute project!

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Tinkering Ink