If you haven’t seen these awesome jumbo paperclips that people are altering, you need to check out the gallery at splitcoaststampers! Just click on the gallery button and do a search! They were originally thought of by SCSer Iris, and then the popularity grew when SCSer 11Valerie11 started uploding some! She was even kind enough to share how she makes them, and you can find that info here: Big Clippies. Valerie is so sweet! I’ve had the pleasure to stamp and get together with her, and I can tell you that she makes a mean salad!!! Yeah, baby!!

Wooo! That was a tangent! Back to the clip!

I picked up a pack of these jumbo paperclips from WalMart. I’m so glad Jami told me to get them from there because they really have the best price around! You get a pack of 15 sliver Jumbo Clips for 97 cents!! I went somewhere else and had paid $2.66 for only 10 gold Jumbo Clips. Needless to say, I took those back and went to WalMart! You can find them in the Office Supply section, and they come in a hard clear container. Mine were on a shelf instead of hanging, so you may have to search a little bit.

I started out by adhering the patterned paper to a coaster that I picked up while in Hawaii. Sadly this was my only coaster, but I have remedied that and will soon be getting some more! The patterned paper is from Kaleidoscope, called Pals Stripe/Blue Paper. I then put the coaster thru my Cuttlebug using the flower die and cut one for the front and one for the back.

For the front, I then punched out a smaller die from the same set out of the Kaleidoscope paper, this time using the flip side for the matching blue. Then I stamped little al (don’t you just love him!?!?) on WW with Palette Noir Black ink and colored him in with Prismacolors. I then punched him out using the Stampin’ Up! 3/4 inch circle punch and adhered the layers as shown. The finishing touch for the front was adding a page pebble over little al. This really gives a finished look!

For the back, I punched out a smaller die from the same set, as I did for the front. Then I used the 3/4 inch circle punch on the Kaleidoscope paper and adhered the layers as shown. I then rummaged thru all my brads and buttons before settling on this awesome brad from Queen and Company. It has the word “happy” on it and matches the orange perfectly!

At first I was going to put the same image I did for the front, until I realized that I wanted it to have a front and back. I’m using this as a book mark, and by having the sides different it helps me mark which page I’m on easier. I simply make sure that I always have little al on the page I left off on. The bonus of having the back done up nicely is that this bookmark looks great from either side and I can quickly see which is the front and the back.

Now, in Valerie’s directions she mentions that she used the E6000 adhesive to glue the two sides to the big clip. Well, I didn’t have any of that and it was late at night, so I did an experiment. I found out that the pop up glue dots DO NOT work well for this! They don’t stick evenly and leave a huge gap between the front and back. I would have to use too many mini glue dots and the hold wouldn’t be as strong as I needed it to be. I had one more thing to try and it worked really well! I ran a sheet of sticky tape thru my Cuttlebug with the same sized die I used for the coaster. (Note: the sticky sheet is the same thing as the Stampin’ Up! Sticky Strip, but it’s on a solid sheet. You can find them at Queen Pennywise or at your local craft stores)

So, to finish it off I added the orange polka dot ribbon to the clip, then adhered the front and back to the clip. I was careful to make sure I had my images right side up, and that the two sides matched up. I then squeezed the exposed sides together and my project was complete!

What I have realized is that I will be using the E6000 adhesive for any future big clippies that I make. I have one that Jami made for me, and it’s really nice and sturdy! The sticky tape is great if you want to try one of these and you’re in a pinch. I just feel that for the ones I’m giving away, I want to make sure they stick! I know I’m careful with the items I made and won’t abuse my big clip, so the sticky sheet is fine for me.

Don’t have a Cuttlebug but want to make one? I’ve read that several people have been using their Stampin’ Up! punches and cereal boxes instead of the coasters. You just want the base to be sturdy, so cardstock on it’s own won’t be strong enough.

All images from justjohanna. Inset shows the back side of my big clip!