New Display! (Patreon)

My patrons and supporters are generous people, and I do my best to put the funds and resources they provide me with to good use making cool new things and making existing works available in new forms as my audience requests. Part of making good use of my resources sometimes includes looking at what I already have and deciding how I can re-purpose it to save money and accomplish a goal at the same time. That's the case for my new display board, shown above, which I made this past weekend out of an old corkboard that had been hanging by my bed covered in several years' of convention badges. Here's a twitter thread on the process from start to finish.

This board has been with me since childhood. I painted the frame and added the dolphin and sand dollar embellishments probably in my preteens. The frame looked fine from the front but had some help in the back with a network of masking tape where it had weak corners.

Taking the frame apart revealed some weaknesses.

I spray-painted the cork with a can of black matte paint - the only purchase I needed for this project at about $8 before coupon. The photo shows the first coat; it needed several to get as dark as I wanted.

Had a little fun with the back!

The frame looked MUCH better after sanding and painting. I was able to reattach the chunk that broke off and conceal the damage pretty well! When I reassembled the frame around the cork panel, I made sure to superglue the corners together and give each a firm jiggle to test the sturdiness after it'd set.

Printed and cut out my logo to complete the signage and demoed some product arrangements. The final setup I decided on appears in the header photo!

I'll be taking this new display to BLFC this weekend! It shows off many more pins than my old sign and is highly versatile for future use. This might not be as exciting as coming out with a new piece or product design can be, but I do a lot behind the scenes with the resources available to me that enables me to make and market new things! A little willingness to do it yourself goes a long way in creating stuff on a budget that still looks great and works well.