A Homespun Year....Altered Clipboard Art & Free Printable Crown Collage...

 

These Altered Clipboards are all over Pinterest.

 

They come in varying degrees of complexity and ingenuity.

 

Some use vintage photographs for embellishment, others gingham and rhinestones (an odd combination, but it works on this particular project!). Brown paper, twine, found objects and old lace are other favourites.

 

My daughter and I find our own way with these. They are a popular gift amongst her Couture Stationery loving set, and the prettier, the better.

 

This one is a gift for a friend who has a birthday celebration this weekend. There is a co-ordinating Dreamcatcher under construction to pair with it...Dreamcatchers are another winner amongst teen girls, it seems. I'll share a photo of that later in the week when it's completed.

 

I actually meant for this to be a tutorial, but I neglected to photograph this one before, during and after embellishment, and the local discount store is currently bereft of the Craftboard style of clipboard necessary for this project. A task for another day, I guess.

 

Materials required:

 

Craftboard style office clipboard. These often come in pack of two for under $3.

Scrapbooking embellishments including flowers, rows and flourishes of pearls and rhinestones

Twine

Craft glue

Scraps of fabric and lace

Sandpaper or sanding block

Pearl effects paint

 

Then just:

(Note that this is a four step process, that you need several hours for, and preferably overnight drying time for the paint)

 

1. Sand the aluminium clip to give a more distressed and pearly look. I also hit this one with a hammer and nail in a couple of spots to make it more distressed and aged looking.

 

2. Paint the clipboard with Dulux Pearl  Effects Paint. One coat is sufficient, but you can do multiple coats to get a warm, pearly depth of colour if you wish. You just need to allow more drying time, obviously.

 

3. Glue embellishments as desired. We designed a Collage using PicMonkey that depicts a crown over some sheet music, wreaths and branches, and a few birds. You can download the Collage at the bottom of this post. The other embellishments used, were offcuts of lace we had on hand, scrapbooking bits and bobs, and a twine twirl, glued into place carefully as we twirled. A sliver of fine tulle dusted with faux sequins was layered over this, and pre-made rhinestone flourishes added to finish.

 

4. Finally, inexpensive rows of faux rhinestones and pearls, again inexpensive scrapbooking items, were added to the base of the clip. We were tempted to continue layering, but in the end, my daughter decided this was lovely as is.

 

 

The crown collage is a little creased from the gluing process (a hazard of allowing an impatient teen to take over the task...lol!), so we may decide to disguise this is some fashion. But I don't think it matters when it's this semi-distressed type of project, really.

 

We've made a few of these now in different colour schemes, and usually with this Olde Worlde touch. They're always enthusiastically received, both as an artwork, and as a practical piece of stationery.

 

Each one takes no more than an hour or two over a couple of days to complete, and costs well under $10, if not under $5.

 

Make a sweet altered clipboard of your own, or as a gift, and use my free printable Crown Collage to embellish it....

 

Printable Crown Collage

...Mimi...