I have a couple of unfinished projects in the jewelry making bag.  One is has a lot of promise.  I just need to get some more schtuff to finish it up.  It's real 'beading' with those pins and actually wiring it all together.  I discovered late one night that I really didn't have enough to finish up the long strands I wanted and so there it sits.  I need to pull that out and finish it!

But I have to say, I prefer to work with dominos as beads.  There aren't so many moving parts – and you can create one so quickly with some basic knowledge and no special tools.  Dominos are easy to find.  Bamboo Beads are a great alternative.  Scrabble Tiles and the odd missing game piece often find their way onto the craft table.

One domino jewelry piece I made was published in a Paper Crafts Creative Jewelry a few years back.  Sadly the photography of the piece in the publication was so poor, even I didn't want to point that one out and say, 'Mine!'.  LOL!  Here is my photograph of that piece.  The fun part was that I used the paper 'index' for a paper collection packet, e.g. the tiny thumbnail prints on the front of the package, to decorate the top of the dominos.  I love the scaled down pieces like that – they are perfect for jewelry making.

Another project was a featured project in the second segment of my episode on HGTV's 'That's Clever' television show. 

  
Because it was so well received, I taught a class at a scrapbook retreat using dominos and alcohol inking the background.  The student's results were stunning and varied.

Then I decided to play with dominos by decorating just one and attaching a pin-back to make them wearable. I sold them at a local craft fair.  Here are some of those experiments.

And the more fantastic variety:

And then I went 'domino-silent' for a while.

But last week I happened to peek in on an old Yahoo Group I hadn't visited in a while, and they were going great gangbusters with activity!  I got inspired to try out my Copic Markers on some dominos.  Here is the bracelet I finished tonight:

And because I often get asked about stamping on non-porous surfaces in conjunction with using Copic Markers – I took a few pictures to explain how I do it.

  
I make a stamp positioner sample, stamping the image with the mount placed against the upper corner of the paper.  This way I can easily place the stamp in the same location to 'overstamp' the image once I finish coloring it in, or making a background.  I used a scratch piece of paper, and stamped the image in light ink, Stazon Dove Gray, so I could see my domino outlines.  I figured out which parts I wanted to use of the wing, placed my dominos there and traced them for easy replacement.

 
I then place dominos into those blank spaces and carefully position my stamp over the top using Stazon Dove Grey.   Now I have a light impression of the image.  The light color won't mess up the tips of my Copic Markers and will also guide my coloring, in this case, with the Airbrush System.

Once that coloring is done, replace the dominos and overstamp the background with the stamp image in Stazon Jet Black.

To seal your work, use an acrylic UV sealer, such as PYMII.  Unlike Krylon, or similar sealers with alcohol or solvents in them, PYMII won't mess with your alcohol ink coloring or background.  And you can apply enhancements to your piece, such as Glossy Accents – which will adhere to the sealed work.

  
I hope you play with your dominos and other game pieces – and please, post a link to your work in the comments.

P.S. the lovely butterfly stamp is by Judikins.

Also, I wanted to thank everyone for welcoming Jenn Balcer to the Copic Certification Team.  From the comments posted, using Random.org – the winner is:

Marge R. said…

Not surprised your team is growing! I'd LOVE to have this for easy "take with me" transport of my Copics — thank you! Enjoying the comments on all you ladies' blogs too. Will have to check a few out now!