Yesterday I decided that I was going to take a day off! A real day off! Not a I idly work all fracking day not really working and not really not working and then wondering why I am getting so stressed about stupid little things in life kind of day off. Nope I took a full-fledged day off. To do that I shut off my computer and totally ignored my phone/facebook/twitter and did nothing work related.  What I did do was get creative and it all started with this thought!

My guitar case is stupid boring!

I found myself wondering is there a great stylish guitar case that represents me as an ‘artist’ and is not the Iron Maiden style airbrushed mural of skulls/dragon/snake or rose entwined knife stabbed though a bloody heart on a crest formed out of rotting top hat wearing skeletons! I searched the Internet for an answer and the closest I came to awesome cases is this company called Postal Monkey. While on the right track with neat graphically intense cases none of them reached out to me; that and they specialize in Electric Guitar cases.  The only acoustic cases they have are Leopard fun fur and faux Louis Vuitton print. While it was not an Iron Maiden epic odyssey mural, also not really for me. The next option was to cover my guitar case in stickers and though that somehow express my personality.  Stickers like ‘everything is better with bacon’, ‘Sub Pop’, and the ever favorite ‘I am a rocker I rock out!’ and this is exactly what I started doing last year with my brand new SKB case. However, it would seem that guitar case technology has not really improved in the 10-15 years that it has been since I bought my last case, because in less then a year the case was broken and a total mess.  While the case was covered under warranty, transferring stickers didn’t seem to be covered, so I was sitting back at square one with a boring bland guitar case, and my personality left fully unexpressed.

Those that have been to our studio have probably seen the awesome table that M refreshed from something that was bland and beat-up into something awesome and wicked perrrty, if you haven’t been to the studio go here and see what the hell I am talking about. So then I started thinking, I wonder if I could decoupage myself up an epic awesome case, so nearly a liter of glue and a pint of Polyacrylic later I came up with these.

decoupage-guitar-case

decoupage-guitar-case

The photos for this one are from a couple of Blurb books that I had sent in a while back as a test.
decoupage-guitar-case

These are the maps that we used to navigate our way across Canada in 2004.

decoupage-guitar-case

Some of them like Saskatewan were hardly used while others like Ontario were all beat up and nearly destroyed. I think it is neat that parts of the case traveled around like a vagabond in a beat up old VW golf.

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Decoupaging this music stand was really an after thought.

decoupage-music-stand

I used the books that come with a Diana+ camera that are filled with the history of the camera as well as some neat examples of the Diana+ work.

Wanna know how to do this?  M has a step by step instructional on the art of decoupage

12 thoughts on “Decoupage, Or How I Made Two Guitar Cases Stupid Awesome!

  1. This is such a good idea! I’ve been trying to find a way to decorate a hard guitar case to prepare myself when I actually get one. *lol* I’m definitely doing this. The beauty of it is that it can’t be the same twice!

  2. Well I am also going to start selling them online as well so if you are looking for a Jerk With A Camera original let me know :)

  3. This is awesome!!! I was searching the web to find a really cool guitar case and this popped up…when can I get one???

  4. dude,
    those are AWESOME .
    i just got a new hard case .
    and have no clue how to decorate it .
    howd you get those to stick .
    ~Madison

  5. Now that you’ve had the cases a while, how does the decoupage hold up to flexing? I’m thinking of doing this to my Fender case, and I’m wondering if it will crack or anything.

    Those look killer, by the way!

    Thanks

  6. They have been great really! The one needed to be re-glued on one spot but I have done three more since then an they have all held up great!!

  7. You mentioned you sold these decoupage cases. Are you still doing it.. How did they sell?

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