Sunday, April 18, 2010

Altered Clipboards


This is what you do when you have way too much time on your hands (like me, these days). You decorate blank clipboards. They can be useful around the house, so why not spice them up a little.

I've seen altered clipboards before, so it's not an original idea, but I wanted to give it a try and just see how they would come out. It's a great way to be creative and have fun at the same time. In my case, I had several weeks in front of me where I would be "stationed" on the couch with nothing to do, so I put my time to some good, creative use. The fact that clipboards are so cheap and provide a perfect medium for art work also makes it a great gift idea for others.

The first one I created was a combo of fabric, acrylic paints and Mod Podge. The second one was just some free flow hand painting.


I had some fabric laying around that I cut into squares. I lined them up on the clipboard and applied Mod Podge on top (at least 4 layers). In between the squares I painted some flowers. When it was completed I taped off the clip at the top and sprayed it with clear finish.



Below is a close up. It looks pretty cool right? The only problem is (and I didn't think of this while putting it together), is that it's "bumpy". So ya can't use it to write on......duh....
Well, I put a yellow legal pad on it and use it that way, so it's still useful.



Next up: Remember your "hippie" days? Doesn't this remind you of that?


Needless to say, this one took some time, but was so much fun to make.


What is all this stuff anyway? The contents of my mind? Scary, isn't it?



How I did this:
I drew out the design with permanent marker and then painted over all of it with acrylics-outlining in black paint. It was finished off with 5 coats of hard spray gloss.

This one I like and it's smooth, so it's very useful.


Christy





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2 comments:

  1. I've been gathering clipboards for ages, for just this reason, but I've never actually done it! Maybe this will be the inspiration I need, huh? Cuz they sure did turn out well!

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  2. Those turned out beautiful! I just recently bought a new clipboard. Maybe I will find some way to decorate it.

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