All Geared Up Altered Clipboard Tutorial

Hello Friends!  Welcome to Heartfelt Creations Wednesday!  I have a great altered clipboard tutorial to share with you today, loaded with step by step pictures.  It’s a long post, and photo heavy, so go grab a snack and a beverage and we’ll get things started!

I was rummaging around in the Closet of Shame, looking for inspiration, when I ran across one of our youngest son’s old clipboards from our home schooling days.  Oh, the memories!  It only took a second for me to decide that I wanted to transform this gnarly old thing into a sort of a picture frame.  Here’s what I came up with:

The handsome hunk in the photo is Dale, my darling husband of (almost) 39 years. And the sentiment fits him to a “T.”  He is the most fun loving, amazing guy in the world.  He is strong…both physically and spiritually, courageous (hey…he raised 5 kids and started his own business from scratch, not once, but TWICE!) and he inspires me every single day.  This was a really personal, fun project for me to create.  And, since you just might have an old clipboard laying around your house, I thought I’d do a photo step-out for you so that you will know how to proceed. You’ll also find a complete supply list and written tutorial below.

This is how the clipboard looked at the beginning of this venture.  I almost couldn’t bring myself to cover up my son’s childish handwriting on this…it really tugged at my heartstrings.  But  I know he would approve of the plan, and I’ve kind of preserved it forever in this photo.  I began by priming the sides and the top 1/3 of the clipboard with a light layer of Gesso.  Then, you have to let it dry.

Next, I sponged the gesso with Viva Decor Copper Stamp Paint.  You don’t have to cover every square inch…just a nice light coat.  When the stamp paint is dry, spritz the entire area thoroughly with some sort of turquoise mist.  You can make your own, or use Tattered Angels Aquamarine Glimmer mist, as I did here.  Dry this with a heat gun, and don’t worry about the mist pooling and puddling…that’s exactly what you want to have happen here.

Take a bit of sponge, and your copper stamp paint and dab it all over the metal clip, and over the area you just misted.  This creates a great rusty patina on the surfaces.  It’s best to use a light layer, and go back a second or third time if necessary. Then spritz it with the Glimmer Mist again, and heat dry it.  Look how cool it looks when this step is done.

Trace around the back side of the clipboard onto your chosen paper. Trim out, and ink the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and then glue down onto the back of your clipboard. Use a bone folder or an old credit card to smooth the paper down from the center toward the edges to remove all the air bubbles. Seal the back of the clipboard with Studio Matte Multi Medium and set aside to dry. Once it has dried, Tap all around the edges with Copper Viva Décor 3D Stamp Paint. This will dry in just a few minutes.

Next, position the paper you’ve chosen for the front of the clipboard where you want it to be and underneath the clip as close to flush as possible. You don’t have to worry too much about this as you have painted the top third of your clipboard. Trace around the clipboard and then trim the paper to fit.  I used Aleene’s Tacky Glue to adhere my paper to the clipboard, then I added more Copper Stamp paint around the edges.  Ink the edges and glue down the same way you did on the back side.

Tear a piece to run along the base of the clipboard if desired.

And add a piece to the top of the clipboard if desired.

When everything has dried, run the Scor tape from the sides of the metal clip all the way around the back of the clipboard and around to the opposite side of the clip. Cut a piece of Natural Jute Ribbon that is equal to the length of the Scor tape. Pull out some of the strands to fray the top and bottom edge. Set these aside to use for a ribbon on the top of the metal clip. Remove the liner from the Scor-tape and press the jute ribbon into place. Use a glue gun to glue two pieces of the burlap ric rack on either side of the clip as shown.  Now you are ready to decorate your clipboard in whatever way you choose.

I die cut LOADS of the fun gears from metallic cardstock, glitter cardstock and plain cardstock.  The chains were cut from copper metallic card, then linked together.  I stamped the sentiment on baked brown sugar cardstock, heat embossed it, rounded the corners and then added a little color.  The license plate was stamped onto a scrap of water color paper and then heat embossed.

I used my glue gun to add the embellishment onto the top of the metal clip, and used the reserved strands of burlap to make the bow.  Even though this  altered clip board has loads of gear flowers, it still has a great masculine feel thanks to all the inking and metal bits.

I also stamped the wonderful Nuts and Bolts Flower multiple times and layered the inked images to create great dimension.  I saved bits from the centers of the die cut copper paper and glued them onto the background.

I also coiled up jewelry wire around a small screwdriver to create these fun “springs” that I tucked into the layout.  Aren’t they fun?

This is one of the most FUN altered projects I’ve done in a quite some time.  I hope you enjoyed it and were inspired to create your own altered clip board. If you have any questions about any of the steps or techniques involved, please feel free to ask in the comment section below.  I’m always happy to help!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

TUTORIAL

Heartfelt Creations Products and Products carried by HC:
Paper: HCDP1 248 All Geared Up Paper Collection
Dies: HCD 754 All Geared Up, HCD 751 Cut Mat Create set 2A, HCD 752 Cut Mat Create Set 2B, HCD 745 Luggage and Tags Die
Stamps: HCPC 3632 Plates and Gears PreCut Set, HCPC 3633 Nuts and Bolts PreCut Set
Other: 452255 Grand Calibur, 119390436 Copper Viva Décor 3D Stamp Paint, 159223 Paper Blossoms Molding Mat, 459222 Paper Blossoms Tool Kit, ASTM D4236 3D Crystal Lacquer
Other Products: PAPER: Tan, Brown, Teal, White Cardstocks, Aqua Glitter cardstock, Rust Foil cardstock; INK: Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Broken China Distress Ink, Ranger Black Archival Ink, Clear Embossing Powder, Aquamarine Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist; COLORING MEDIUM: Spectrum Noir Pens (BGR 1, BT4, GB 4, GB 11)TRIM: Natural Jute Ribbon, Jute Ric Rack Embellishments: Assorted Screw head brads, gold jewelry wire, small paintbrush handle; Gesso; Tools: Corner Rounding tool, Heat Gun, Glue Sticks, Studio Multi Matte Medium, bone folder or old credit card. 1/2″ wide Scor-Tape or other strong double sided adhesive.
Directions: Prime the sides and the top 1/3 of the clip board with Gesso. Let dry. Sponge with Viva Décor 3D Copper Stamp Paint. Let dry. Spritz with Tattered Angels Aquamarine Glimmer Mist and blow dry with a heat gun. Trace around the back side of the clipboard onto your chosen paper. Trim out, and ink the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and then glue down onto the back of your clipboard. Use a bone folder or an old credit card to smooth the paper down from the center toward the edges to remove all the air bubbles. Seal the back of the clipboard with Studio Matte Multi Medium and set aside to dry. Once it has dried, Tap all around the edges with Copper Viva Décor 3D Stamp Paint. This will dry in just a few minutes.
Now, tap the entire metal clip assembly with the Copper 3D stamp paint. Let it dry. Stamp again if you need heavier coverage. Then spritz with the TA Mist and heat dry.
Next, position the paper you’ve chosen for the front of the clipboard where you want it to be and underneath the clip as close to flush as possible. You don’t have to worry too much about this as you have painted the top third of your clipboard. Trace around the clipboard and then trim the paper to fit. Ink the edges and glue down the same way you did on the back side. Tear a piece to run along the base of the clipboard if desired, and add a piece to the top of the clipboard if desired. When everything has dried, run the Scor tape from the sides of the metal clip all the way around the back of the clipboard and around to the opposite side of the clip. Cut a piece of natural jute ribbon that is equal to the length of the Scor tape. Pull out some of the strands to fray the top and bottom edge. Set these aside to use for a ribbon on the top of the metal clip. Remove the liner from the Scor-tape and press the jute ribbon into place. Use a glue gun to glue two pieces of the burlap ric rack on either side of the clip as shown.
Stamp the sentiment from Nuts and Bolts onto tan cardstock using black ink. Heat emboss with clear embossing powder. Trim out and round the corners with a corner rounding tool, ink the edges and mat with Teal Cardstock.
Stamp the mechanical flower onto white cardstock three times. Color with Spectrum Noir markers. Cut the first stamp out in its entirety. On the second stamp, cut out the screw and the petals of the flower and shape with the molding mat and tools. Use foam dots to attach the screw to the first stamped image, then glue the bottom edge of the shaped petals behind the screw head, staggering the leaves a little to add dimension. On the third stamp, cut out just the petals and shape and glue on top of the second set of petals, staggering a little to add dimension. Coat the top layer with Crystal Lacquer and set aside to dry.
Print out your photo and use the 2B dies to crop it to size. Use the 2A dies to cut a mat from teal cardstock. Use a larger 2A die to cut a long mat from the tan cardstock. Use foam dots to attach the photo to the tan mat so that the tan mat is at an angle. Glue down as shown. Glue the prepared sentiment as shown. Stamp the U Inspire Me sentiment onto white cardstock and cut out with the license plate die. Ink the edges with Vintage Photo and the center with Broken China. Use foam dots to place below the photo, as shown. Use the tab die from Luggage and Tags to cut out Courage and Strength from the cut apart page of the collection.
To make the metal springs, wrap the jewelry wire around the paintbrush handle and push down to coil tightly. Remove from the paintbrush and shape. Set aside.
Die cut several sets of the gears and leaves from all the various cardstock. Die cut the chains from rust foil cardstock. Layer all the gears, stamps, springs and chains as shown. Tie the jute string through the loop in the top of the metal clip.