ACEOs for Leslie

OK, here is a post for Leslie. She asked me about the ACEOs and how I am mounting them and I want to reply since it is rather interesting information.

First of all, it was suggested to me that one can buy ready-made ATC/ACEO card-size paper. I knew that and may do it in the future, but for now, I am using up good watercolor paper that I already have. I am also cutting the paper a bit oversized by 1/8" to 1/4" larger overall so that I can crop it after the original sketch/painting is done. I know this is not necessary, but I feel like it gives me a bit of leeway to correct the composition in such a small format.

And so I have a little frame cutout with an opening of 2.5" x 3.5" to position over the original small paintings to mark where to crop. After I mark those, I get the card-stock backs ready.

So far, I've tried a couple of different glue-ing methods. I bought a small Xyron machine (2.5" capacity) that makes "stickers". (It was on sale at Michaels) I also bought pre-cut card stock in the 2.5 x 3.5 size and ran those through the Xyron machine. The card stock came out perfectly sticky and I attached it to the back of the watercolor paper within the crop marks I had made. I pressed the little "packages" between stacked books to cure.

After a day or so, I took out the glued "packages" and trimmed them to size. I used a purchased punch to round the corners of each card. However, the glue seemed to come loose on some cards and the edges would separate. Bummer.

On the next round, I used YES! Glue for attaching the card stock backing. When I opened the pot of glue it was much thicker than I was expecting. I used a palette knife to swipe some glue onto each piece of cardstock and then spread it to the edges with a disposable craft brush. I placed the back onto each hand-painted card and pressed them between heavy books to dry. This glue seemed to make a better and more permanent bond and the cards came out nice and flat. I then trimmed them to size with a rotary cutter on a self-healing mat.

Meanwhile, I made a WORD document of my general info for the back of each card. It turned out to be easy to cut up the word doc and feed it through the Xyron machine (sticker maker) so that each card has the essential information on the back. Naturally, there is enough free space left for an original signature and date.

So it remains to be seen if these little pieces of art will sell. My main interest is in making a quality piece of work that will be worth the purchase price. I want the artwork to be on a good surface and have the piece secured to an acid free backing that will preserve it. So far I am happy with my efforts and will try to get the ACEOs listed on ebay later this week.