Made these ATCs for some of my scrapbooking friends for V-Day. (Shhh, don’t tell them.) Warning: lots of photos!
I was inspired by the October 2009 Art Journal Challenge over at the Mixed Media & Arts forum over at Blue Bazaar. (Click on Message Board.)
I have had these chipboard letters and elements ever since I started scrapping in 2006. I think it’s time to finally use them up. So I sanded the ones with a glossy surface.
Then I got some random cardstock and cardboard and cut them into ATC size (2.5″ x 3.5″) and adhered my chipboard with gel medium. Let dry.
Painted over with Gesso. Let dry again.
Painted over with red acrylic paint. Let dry.
Smudge with brown acrylic paint. It’s much easier just to use your fingers. Let dry.
Smudge with turquoise acrylic paint.
Paint dots with orange acrylic paint. Let dry.
Apply a thick layer of crackle paint and wait the full 4 hours to see the effect. (Yup, the waiting kinda gets you crazy. But it gives you time to eat or do chores in between.)
Almost there. Swipe a Black Staz-On ink pad on top. Then spray with an acrylic paint fixative. Let dry because that stuff is stinky.
If you want to try this for yourself, you can totally skip a step or two. I wasn’t crazy about the orange dots but I figured it’d give an extra layer of interest. And I just wanted to share the step-by-step because it looked so cool unfolding before my eyes.
Thanks for reading!
*hugs*
Nina
Filed under: design team, diy, tutorial |
Gauche Alchemy 
These are so cool Nina!
Funnily enough I’m planning to do something very similar with a lot of chipboard framesI found in the bottom of a drawerlast week! I almost threw them away but then thought painting over them would be intesting. And you’ve proved me right!!
Great project 😀
Seriously funky. Amazing transformation, I must have a go.
Now I simply MUST get me some gel medium.. been thinking this for ages but i love this idea and have zillions of unused chipboard letters and other shapes.
Love the step by step photos too, Nina!
these are super eye candy!
you amaze me with all the creativity that oozes out of you!
i’ve got soooooooooooo many mismatced alpha chipboard too – very cool idea on how to use them all up.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Wow, the final effect is awesome! I’ve got to try this and I so appreciate all the pictures, very helpful to see each step!
Hiya, girls! Thanks so much for checking this out. Glad to have inspired you some today. =)
*hugs*
I love the step by step on this. Amazing stuff!
Wow! cool ATCs.
I love them! the girls are gonna love these too!
shhh i wont point them to this page yet. hehehehehe.
thanks nina.
Wow. These are really cool. I love how (it appears that) you haven’t agonised about which letters or shapes go where.
Love the colours too.
😀
We just placed our gel medium order today and should have it back in the shop next week sometime! Convenient if you decide to order anything else. 😉
These are FREAKIN’ AWESOME, Nina! Thanks for showing how easy it can be (if you have patience – good thing acrylics dry so fast, huh?). What color crackle paint did you use? Great way to de-stash, too. 😉
Amy dear, I had this bottle of crackle paint for like forever, sorry forgot the brand, it’s a clear one that you put on top of acrylic paint. I always hated using it because it was prior to the easy-to-use Ranger ones. =)
You might also try Mod Podge for this project, Sarah… we like to offer “the essentials” through our shop, should you care to throw them in with your next order!
http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=421669
http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=1060971