Making scratch off tickets

So I've been working on new and improved ways to promote myself.  I've been trying to think of ways that are unique and would grab peoples attention more then the traditional business card.  I've already showed you my button pins and magnets, but I've also been working on a more fun coupon type card.  Something that I can hand to potential customers at shows that is interactive and fun.  I got the idea here from the Art Mind blog.  Scratch off tickets.  How fun!!

I loved this idea and I couldn't wait to try it out.  I decided that I would make a number of tickets that had either 5, 10, 15, or 25% off your purchase.  So I sat down and made little tickets on Photoshop.  I made mine 1.5 in x 2.5 in in size.

I then cut out the printed tickets with my handy paper slicer (best purchase ever).  I wanted these guys to look pretty, so I used some heavy duty scrap book paper for the back.  These were cut 2 in x 3 in in size.

The original tutorial used a glue stick to glue the two pieces together, but because I planned on making so many of them, I decided to use some spray adhesive.  I love this stuff.  I use it for so many things.

After the tickets were glued together I applied contact paper, just like the tutorial said.  The best part is, I picked up the contact paper, brand new, at the thrift store for less then a dollar.

Then it came time to add the scratch off paint.  This is where I made the mistake of not reading the directions correctly.  Well I read them, I just read them wrong.  I swore they said two parts soap to one part paint.  It does not say that.  I says two parts PAINT to one part SOAP.  My first attempt looked like this.  And this was after three coats of paint.

So on to plan B.  Try to figure out the best combination of paint to soap.  I had this great metallic blue, but I also had some silver because I wasn't sure if the blue would work.  I mixed up a bunch of different combinations to find one that looked like the tutorial.  What I learned, not all metallic paints are created equal and my blue paint didn't work.  At all.  And it stained the contact paper.  So silver it was.

Once I was happy with the paint/soap mixture, I moved on to painting my scratch off tickets.  It took 2 coats to cover the text completely, but oh am I excited about this.  Look at how cool they are.  I can't wait to hand these out to customers.

Here are my scratch off tickets, magnets, and buttons that I plan on giving out at my next show.  I hope that they help build a dialog between my customers and me.  Make them feel comfortable talking to me and maybe even buying something.  I'll let you know how these go over in a few weeks at my first show of the season.