Altered Clipboard

As you might know, I've become infatuated with all things Paper Artsy. I joined their #3Up PATWITS challenge and now I've altered a small clipboard using techniques that I gleaned from Alison Bomber's Paper Artsy Blog posts during her first week on Paper Artsy's Design Team.

I didn't make a project composed of three parts, I just decorated my little clipboard. However, I did use some of the techniques that she used in her projects. 
• Stamped and embossed with clear embossing powder.
• Applied Grunge Paste through a stencil.
• Painted and embossed with clear embossing powder.
• Brushed diluted Fresco Finish paint over a stamped image.
• Stamped my images onto tissue paper, cut 'em out, and moved 'em around to get an idea of what I wanted where. 

My first step was to paint the clipboard with gesso, which I had actually done a few months back. Then I set the clipboard aside, put it somewhere safe (aka the black hole of my craft room), and worked on other stuff. I decided to use the clipboard for this challenge and had to find it. Oh no!

When I finally found it, I painted it with a variety of Fresco Finish paints and heat set them.

I painted the metal portions of the clipboard with Fresco Finish paints, heat set it, squished my Frost Dazzle VersaMark inkpad onto the front of the clip, dumped clear detail embossing powder onto it, dumped off the excess, and heat set it. I did that twice.

A sun charm was painted with Fresco Finish paint and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. The dragonfly charm was plastic, so I didn't want to risk heat embossing it, so it was painted with Fresco Finish paint, then pressed onto an inked stamp. The charms were set aside.

I tinted some Grunge Paste with Hyde Park Fresco paint and used a palette knife to apply it through a vine on a very old Pebbles stencil. I immediately cleaned the stencil and the palette knife and had dinner to give the Grunge Paste time to dry, though the first side seemed to be dry as I was finishing the second vine.

I stamped the birds with grass from Paper Artsy's Hot Pick #1005 set using Onyx Black VersaFine ink and heat set it. Sadly, the impression is not perfect because the paint/gesso was slightly uneven.

The quote, from Paper Artsy's Ink and the Dog Mini #48, was stamped and heat set with clear embossing powder.

Fresco Finish paint was sponged over a stencil from Tando and heat set. The two moths, from Paper Artsy's Stamp and Die Set #01, were stamped with Onyx Black VersaFine ink. Stamping them took a bit of juggling as I had to keep the clip open to maneuver the stamp and block under the open clip to stamp the images where I wanted them. After some fiddling, I used a bottle of glue to prop the clip open while I stamped. Ingenuity is the mother. I'm a mother. Yeah.

The Fresco Finish paint colors I wanted to use are opaque, so they were misted with water to dilute them, then painted over the moths. The piece still needed something, so I stamped the two-pence stamp, from Paper Artsy's Hot Pick #1005 set, into the upper left hand corner.

The vine was touched up with a fine paint brush and Hyde Park Fresco Finish paint. The charms were added to the clip board, and it was done! Best of all, the clipboard is both decorative and useful! Gotta love that!

I shall enter this project in the following challenges:
• Paper Artsy Blog: Challenged By Alison Bomber
• Simon Says Wednesday Challenges: Emboss It!
• Simon Says Monday Challenges: Embossed