My Other Creations: Upcycled Cassette Tape Magnets

"Inspired by Music" is this week's theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.  Such a great theme!  To pay homage to all those years I sat by the tape player waiting to hit "record" on my favorite song and hoping the DJ didn't talk over the ending, I decided to turn an old cassette tape into a set of magnets.

 I started by splitting a cassette tape into two halves (this one had tiny screws that I had to remove) and then sanding each tape.  I sanded for two reasons: one was to make it easier for things to adhere to the surface (wasn't sure if I would be painting them or what) and the other reason was to remove the musician's name so he/she wouldn't feel bad that I'd destroyed their life's work.

Next up was a few coats of heavy white Gesso.

And behold the magic of ink!  Using just a sponge, I applied ink (Peacock Feathers, Ground Espresso and Ranger Jet Black Archival in this case) to the cassette tape's surface.  Great color and coverage!

With the base color done, I just traced out the pattern for the rectangles in the middle and added embellishments and words.

On the back of the tapes, I used an adhesive 3-D dot to stick on some magnets.  I also glued the black cassette "spokes" back on to the teal tape to make it look more legit.  Here's how they look from the back:

And here's  how they look "in action" on one of my magnetic bulletin boards:

These were fun and easy to make and I love how they take me back in time to the days of Debbie Gibson and Milli Vanilli!  

Here are the supplies I used that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

American Crafts Shimelle 12 x 12 Starshine Paper	Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid 6x6 Paper	Prima White Heavy Gesso	Tim Holtz Elementary Flash Cards	Idea-ology Ruler Ribbon
Sanding Grip - Idea-ology	Mixed Media Sponges Bars	EK Success Foam Dots	Peacock Feathers - Distress Ink	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad GROUND ESPRESSO Ranger
Ripe Persimmon - Distress Ink	Mustard Seed - Distress Ink	Spiced Marmalade - Distress Ink	Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink Pad

So how will you be inspired by music this week?  Can't wait to see how you interpret our theme!  Be sure to upload your creation to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $50 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store!