Paint Chip Clip Board for Dad

I was going to share this last week but life got in the way...

I mentioned we'd be using something that virtually everyone can get for free....PAINT CHIPS!

They come in all different shapes and sizes as you can see here...

(Yes, I am a paint chip junkie!)

Today we'll be using a few select chips to create a stunning clipboard for Dad!

First thing you'll want to do is determine how you want to align your paint chips.  This will dictate how many chips you need.  I am going to go gradient by color and size as shown here.

To begin you'll need a nice selection of book and paper ephemera...

which you need to cut into a variety of squares & rectangles.

Then begin gluing these pieces onto your chipboard.

And here is what mine looks like totally covered (and drying).

While the glue is drying on the book pages you can cut your paint chips to the desired size.  I started off cutting each strip 1/4" then increasing a bit at a time.    For the center strip I cut 2 of each size and for the two outside strips I cut two paint chips at a time and 4 pieces of each size (2 per side).

After the board had dried I began gluing the center strip onto the board.  By starting with this center strip it will help with placement of the outside strips.

Once the center is finished you can immediately begin adhering the two outer strips.  I find that  working back and forth helps to keep both sides even.

And here is what it looks like at this point.  Add a finish layer over the entire clipboard smoothing down any edges that might pop up.

After the paint chips have dried you can cut off the excess chip.

Sand all of the edges and you're ready to finish it off...

Tomorrow I'll show you several different ways you can decorate...

Till then ~

have a wonderful evening!

Charm Swap Anyone???

Anyone up for a charm swap????

The poll is to the right ~ if you have any questions, please feel free to post or email me.

I will again be giving away a chotski pin to each player.

Make 5 get 5 different back ~ you will not get your own charm back  ~

so if you want one of your own charms be sure to make an extra and keep it.

Nifty Daddy-O

Happy Thursday!!

Gosh it seems like this week has just flown by.  What with getting things all put back together after the grad. party, taking MIL to a dr appt, making deliveries for the business for the last couple days it feels like it's Tuesday!

I wanted to share a fun Father's Day card that has a retro feel to it....

I just love these images from Just For Fun Rubber Stamps...they are very nostalgic and I'm sure will bring lots of good memories back for my Dad.   It's sort of fun, Indiana actually has a few drive-in type diners left.  A couple of them even have the waitresses deliver meals in their skates! 

In addition to the card I posted a new poll asking about postage stamps.

I know, it's a bit off the wall but I have noticed more and more that most people for convenience sake are using meter or computer generated postage.  It's sad because I for one love all of the neat images available on postage stamps and I hope that the people who receive mail from me enjoy it as well. 

I try to use postage stamps when ever I can even though that means I have to go to the post office to drop heavier things or foreign mail off in person (it's a stupid new rule!).  I collect all of the stamps I get in the mail to use in future art work...do you?

(these are some of the stamps I just picked up today)

Anyway, if things go well tomorrow I'll be sharing a fun project to make for dad using something that most people have access to for FREE!

Can you guess what it is???

I'll give you a hint...

A small bit here = something that surrounds you!

Vintage Specimen Plaque!

I am so excited to share a couple pics of my newest kit at Altered Pages!!

I was inspired in part by a recent movie on PBS....Great Expectations... Part of the show was set in a crazy old manor house filled with lots of cool old bits and pieces.  One thing that really caught my eye was the Victorian Specimen Collections!  I LOVE them.  Our zoo actually has modern collections of bugs, butterflies and other creatures in the Rain Forest section of the zoo. 

Anyway, that's where I came up with the idea for this kit.  You get supplies to create both a butterfly and egg collection to adorn your own walls or to use as gifts for others.

Victorian Specimen Collections

The butterflies on my plaque are actually pinned on just like the real collections!

I even came up with a fun technique to use with this kit...

It makes your eggs & butterflies look very realistic!

At some point I will share it with you :)

Vintage Flash Cards - Note Pads

Hi All!

I hope you're having a super day!

Not long ago Melanie noticed I have vintage flash cards in my Etsy store and she wondered what you can do with them so I thought it would be fun to share a few projects here and there.

Today's project is doing double duty... 

They are super to make for yourself but they also make GREAT little gifts! 

(to mom....I already know what's coming...yes, I will make you some.)

Dad's day is coming up and these would make perfect gifts for him to keep in his car (or truck); in the garage; at work; etc. 

Let's begin...

Vintage Flash Card Note Pads

Supplies:

Vintage Flash Cards (2 per note pad)
Copy Paper
Binding Machine or Hole Punch
Binding Wires, Wire, Ribbon, fibers, etc.
(Optional) Other Embellishments

Instructions:

1. I start off by measuring the flash card I am going to be using to determine what size I will need to cut the inside pages.  I normally cut my paper about 1/8" - 1/4" smaller than the actual dimensions of the card. 

For example if my card is 3x5 I will cut the paper 2.75 x 4.75". 

 

2. Once I know what size my paper needs to be I cut a large pile of paper.  I like to plan my cuts out ahead of time because much of the time you can use the entire sheet of paper by making multiple sizes of note pads at one time.

As far as how many pages to cut...that's totally up to you.  You can make the note pads smaller with 25-50 sheets or make really fat ones and pack lots of pages into it. 

3. Now it's time to punch holes in both the pages and flash cards.  I am using my Bind-It-All by Zutter...  You can of course use any binding machine you might have or you could simply use a hand held hole punch.  Just make sure you line your holes up so all of the pages and flash cards will line up accordingly after they are bound.

4. It's time to bind your flash cards and pages together.  Again I am using the wires which go with my bind-it-all but you can use any number of things for the binding.

I have in the past made my own spiral binding by wrapping heavy duty wire around various items (anything from pencils, chop sticks, dowel rods, etc.). 

Other binding ideas include (but are not limited to): Book Rings; Fiber; Ribbon; Leather Strips; Seam Binding; Twine; Ball Chain; etc.

After your pages have been bound together you can leave the note pads as is or you could go on to further embellish them with virtually anything you desire. 

How's that for a fun gift idea?

And btw....

these also make excellent stocking stuffers....

Remember Christmas is just around the crafty corner!

Birds of a Feather...

I'm happy to report that Bob's graduation party went off without a hitch!

We had lots of good food, family, friends and perfect weather.

I think he really enjoyed himself :)

YEAH!!!!!

We're done with HS!!!

On to inky business...

Today I have a card to share with you that I made using stamps from several different companies ~ The Pansies are StampersBest, The bird, nest and sentiment are from Artistic Outpost and the leafy background is from Just For Fun Rubber Stamps.

All of the pansies and the bird are stamped, colored, accented (pansies with Stickles & Bird w/ Enamel Accents for it's eye) then was cut out and affixed to the card. 

The pansies were added to the card in layers...some affixed directly to the card and others were mounted using thin double stick foam tape, regular foam tape and even more using a double layer of foam tape giving lots of dimension to the over all card.

Hope you all get a chance to play today!

Fashion Tickets & more New StampersBest!

Hi All!!

StampersBest just released a whole page full of cool new stamps.....

Don't ya just love the wings and cool steampunk goodies!

What Fun!!

Today I wanted to share a card I made using a newer set of SB stamps ~

Fashion Tickets!

The first thing I did was to stamp a few of the tickets from the set.  I did so by coloring them with my Distress Markers, huff a bit of hot air onto them and stamp.



I then edged them with a bit of sepia ink.

I thought a nice little lace envie would be the perfect compliment to these tickets.  The first thing you need to do is place a paper lace doily face down on your work surface.  Fold the bottom third towards the center. 

Open that fold up then fold the left and rigth sides of the doily in towards the center.

Then fold the original bottom flap back into place.  I also used one of the text stamps from the set along the bottom edge of our new envie.

I test fit the tickets to make sure they were going to fit o.k.

I stamped a piece of cardstock with a few of the tickets in Victorian velvet, covered them with a mask and stamped the text over and over using Broken China. 

Glue the envie to the front of the card....

Mount on a dark blue card panel, add a few Liquid Pearl flourishes....

add a few flowers and pearls...

and you're done!

Now, it's your chance to win a set of the Fashion Ticket stamps for yourself :)

Simply post a comment telling us what your favorite image is from the new release for June at Stampers Best!

You have until 6-15-12 to post your comment!

Good Luck Everyone!!!

Faux Rusty Metal Technique

Today I wanted to share a technique I shared quite a few years ago....

Faux Rusty Metal Technique

I thought it would be perfect for masculine projects but with the popularity of Steampunk I think it would be a great addition to those as well!

Supplies:

Metallic Paint
Greens, Browns, rusty colors of paint
Rough Textured Sand Paper

Instructions:

1. Dab the green paint onto the paper and smear it around with your finger working it into the sand paper.

It should look something like this.....

2. Continue by adding the desired metallic paint and finishing it off with a bit of brown paint here and there.  Rubbing each additional color into the sand paper as you did with the green.

Here is how the first example turned out....

And a few more using various colors of metallic & plain paints.

Now, what can you do with your faux rusty metal....

Check it out ~

This is a much lighter alternative to real rusty metal and it's also easier to attach to your cards and other projects.

ENJOY!!