Creating Alpha Accents

By KatieJ

Start out by rounding up some chipboard or cardboard.  This can be anything from a printed cardboard box to unprinted chipboard from the LSS, or mat board found in the framing department of Michaels.  For my Alpha Accents I'm using a box that came got at Sam's club. Cut out some rectangular shapes.  You can free-hand these like I did for a little character or you can use a ruler and cut more precisely.  I cut my pieces about 1"x 1.5" Inches but none of them are perfect and they don't need to be.  You could even round the corners for a retro feel.

Now comes the fun part - decorating.  Start out by painting the chipboard to match the theme of your project.  I'm doing a solid color but you could do something blended or even splatter-paint them.  Several coats may be necessary depending on how thick you want the paint to be.  (Note if you are using chipboard that's glossy you might want to sand it a little so it will hold the paint.)

Once they are dry you can add your letters. There are lots of options  to try - you can stamp them with foam stamps, rubber stamps, use letter stencils, free-hand paint your alphabet.  Calligraphy pens, applying rub-ons or sticker letters, are a few other ideas you could also apply letters cut from a magazine for more of a collage feel.

In my samples I've chose to use foam stamps, and I made ones that I inked stamped and  applied rub-ons too. You can use you letters after decorating them.  Or you can apply a top-coat with clear acrylic or Mod Podge.  Diamond glaze could also be used if you wanted more of a bubble like look.  Then use your accents on your page, card or project.  In my samples I applied Mod Podge to both of them just to give him a polished look.

EXAMPLES OF FINISHED PRODUCTS: