Still on the Campaign Trail

Hey People!!  Believe it or not, I have not fallen off the face of the earth!! We are still in the thick of the
8th grade campaign trail.  I have spent the last couple of days making more badges~~but this time the inspiration was this Army Sergeant bade that I found on the Internet:

Now, I will be honest here.  I am SICK of making badges.  Especially for knowing that most of these will get thrown away.  But, the kiddo liked this idea so I made a template and came up with this version: 

This one was a tad bit harder to put together than the last badge!! The main badge was cut from chocolate chip paper from the tracing of my paper template.  I then used my Krylon Gold leafing pen along the edges.  About 2/3 of the way through I was running out of the ink and had to force out as much as I could and "brush" the edges.  Not very pretty, but this was when I started chanting "it will probably get thrown away....it will probably get thrown away." I then put the Kiddo to work die cutting 104 of the smallest Spellbinders Nestabilities Star.  And realized that the gold edging on the chocolate chip paper did not match as close as I thought it would to the gold stars.  Started chanting again.



Doesn't he looked thrilled?!  I figure it was good for him to realize how much work goes into this craft of ours!! 

I then made my biggest mistake when cutting out the "stripes" (or what ever they are called.  I know there is a special name for them, but it escapes my noggin' at this time).  I cut out my paper template and got the "GREAT" idea that I would fold my gold paper in half, and cut two stripes out at once.  Wonderful. Except it never occurred to me that one of the stripes would be BACKWARDS.  Which means my stripes do not line up perfectly neat.  It's a good thing I decided against joining the military (I had a good friend try and talk me into joining the military when I finished my schooling for PT.  I would have been an officer.  Great way to see the world. Considered it for about a minute.  Then realized that I don't take orders very well.  Or handle change well.  Or being in situations where I know NO ONE.)  I would have been kicked out before I ever got my bunk made properly!!  So, I just started my chant again~~"it will probably be thrown away.....it will probably be thrown away...."

Last, I stamped the Kiddo's name using Encore Metallic Gold ink.  And discovered the COOLEST tool in the world.  I used this Fiskers Compact Stamp Press to line up all the letters of the Kiddos name ( I used Papertrey's Trajen Monogram set).  PERFECT.  I could line up all the letters on the grid, ink them, then using the grid to line up in the badge area!  Press, and PRESTO!! Perfect image every time!! I will be using this a lot with my unmounted stamps!!

Again, there were 26 of these made.  The Kiddo thought they turned out pretty cool.  Which is all that matters.  And he learned a lesson that it takes work, sometimes a LOT of work,  to go after something you want. 

I'll leave you with one last shot of my good looking Kiddo working on his poster that he made to mimic the badges (only in b/w.....again using the Spellbinders Nestie stars and SU's Headline Alphabet for his name)

And with that, I'm calling it a night.  There is rumblings about making "dog tags" for the last push on the campaign trail before Friday's elections.  Geesh.  I really hope this kiddo wins the office.  If not, it will just be another lesson of life!!

Thanks for dropping by again!!  Remember to make some time for creativity in your day.  Or night. 

Till next time~~