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A Digital French Board

Make a French Board for Your Digital Layouts

My sister-in-law Jill has very elegant and traditional taste. Years ago I noticed a beautiful bulletin board in one of her bedrooms.

I had never seen one before and just thought it was so elegant – so Jill. It wasn’t until years later that I learned these bulletin boards are called French bulletin boards or simply French boards.

If you’re as clueless as I was (LOL), a French board is a bulletin board covered with pretty fabric and a latticework of ribbon or elastic secured at their intersections by decorative upholstery tacks.

Instead of using push pins or tacks to hang your photos, notes, keys or kids’ artwork, you simply slip them into the latticework. Very clever; very pretty; plus you don’t damage your keepsake photos or children’s artwork.

When I saw Kerry Veale’s digital French board kit at Scrap Girls, I was just delighted.

I thought I would make a layout for my brother Tom and Jill and give it to them when we met in Cancun for vacation.

With two days to liftoff, I hadn’t even started it. What in the world was I thinking?!

French boards are so Jill; this predicament was so me!

My French Board Layout

Fast forward ten days … We had a wonderful time with Tom and Jill. My brother and sister-in-law are a really fun couple. We live far apart so don’t get to see each other often; and sharing the vacation with them made it extra-special.

I barely got the French board completed in time and Jill was ecstatic. Jill is the sister I’ve mentioned before who started a very successful tablescaping business.

The top left photo in my Layout is one of her competitive table designs. The competition’s theme was “Last Night I Dreamt …”. Jill’s table was a nostalgic Victorian table with parasols, vintage china and white gloves used as napkin holders. Just lovely!

The top right photo is their three kids in 1987. Don’t they have terrific smiles? And the strip of photos is Tom and Jill on our last trip to Cancun together in 1999. Was it really nine years ago?

Assembling the Digital French Board

At first I was daunted by the seven pages of instructions and all of the pieces. But after I read through the very clear directions, I realized that the key to assembling the board was getting the layers in the correct order.

The patterned fabric is the base. On top of that go shadows that give a cushioned appearance once the ribbons are in place. Then there is a highlight layer to go behind the ribbons and complete the cushioned look. Next come the ribbons and the buttons.

Once I had read the directions, the rest was a breeze. The pieces just snap into place.

That’s something that Photoshop does which I don’t pretend to understand. It somehow detects similar objects and when you move one close to the other, they just kind of snap together.

In addition to Kerry’s French board kit, my layout uses:

• Word art and blue paper from Brandy Murry’s Shabby Fabulous Collection and “Family Ties” charm from her City Park Collection;
• Tropical flowers from Brandy Hackman’s Blossoms & Blooms - Tropical Embellishment Biggie;
• Tag and daisy from Cheryl Barber’s Antique Charm Collection;
• Photo frames by Melissa Renfro and Jan Hicks; and
• Tags by Amanda Sok (Appassionata Collection) and Valerie Randall (Flight of Christmas).

All from Scrap Girls.

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