ACT: No Paper!

The challenge of making an ATC without using any paper was one I readily embraced.

 Before I get into the description, I learned yesterday my phone has an option to select the type of light source. The photo above is using the fluorescent option...it is actually pretty close to perfect color match!

Here is another before I discovered that.  You can see some of the elements better, but the color was baaaad!

I started with a piece of Plexiglas from an old poster frame.  I cut a 2.5 x 3.5" piece using my Tonic/Tim Holtz scissors.  Two sides were finished because I cut from the corner, but the other two sides had little cracks all along the edge. :(  My swap partner works with metal, so I opted to just cover up the cracks, but before I did that, I used alcohol inks to marble the Plexiglas.  The copper was leftover from a project and was easily cut with the Tonic scissors.  I got out a long handled lighter and carefully added some patina to the copper, then hammered it flat--or at least flattER.

I glued the copper on (and all the rest of the elements) with Fusion glue.  The corner is brass, meant to go on the corner of a book cover.  It helps hold everything together, just in case the glue doesn't.  I added cork leaves, punched and painted with twinks, a circle punched from walnut veneer, an acetate clock face embellishment, a 7 Gypsies hourglass rubbing, some old watch gears and a couple rounds of thin copper wire.

The back is painted with a metallic white acrylic paint so it would help the Plexiglas shimmer from the front, and give me a place to sign my work.

In all I was VERY pleased with the outcome.  It was great fun to use things out-of-the-ordinary to create this, and I am sure it will not be my last challenge of this nature!

Full Sized Clipboard

I had a friend ask for a clipboard that would hold full sized paper. She actually gave me an old one and hoped I could refurbish it, but for the money, it was better to buy a new one. Here is what I came up with.
The pen is tied onto the clip so it won't "walk off" with someone. :)

Playing with Alcohol Inks and Dominoes

I decided I would make these little altered dominoes for my contribution to the Christmas ornament exchange this year. I have had so much fun with different techniques and designs, I don't know if I will be able to settle on ONE for the exchange--they will likely all be different!
These were the first ones I did. First I dropped the ink onto the domino, then used a stippling brush to move it around. Adding the thinning solution made them lighter. I love the marbled look.
The snowman and Joy stamps went onto un-inked surfaces. I colored with Sharpie markers to add color other than the Stazon ink I used for the stamps. The snowman is really cute in person, but I had a few issues with the wire.
Here is my work surface covered with all the different designs I have come up with so far. I think these are really easy to make and other than the cost of the ink, cheap as well--not that I was looking for a "cheap" ornament to make, but just sayin' you can make a lot of these for a little bit of money. The display of these I saw at Silver Dollar City at the Crafter's Market were selling for $7.95 or more. I don't remember how much the dominoes cost for a set, but I'm pretty sure that is a substantial mark-up!