Have you tried stamping with Stazon Ink? That should work well. Stazon Ink won't work with Copic Markers though.

It could be the composition of the dominoes. If they have a plastic/wood mixture nothing may stick. You might try contacting the editors or ?? in some of the well know stamping/crafting magazines. Or try to find out what the dominoes are made of. Try going to a woodworking shop-- or woodworking magazines. If the dominoes are black, do you have to take the black off? That too may be a problem, depends on what is in the black paint. Did you post this in the crafting forum and the trash and ? forum, sorry I cannot remember the complete name.
Sounds like a real fun project.
Marie

I haven't heard of Stazon ink, Heather, so will look for that to try. Thank you for the suggestion. I've used Stampin' Up ink and Archival ink.

These aren't wooden dominoes, one set is yellowish while the other is bright white. Packages, of course, don't give me a clue as to composition. They're very solid and have a shiny surface which one site said to sand off ... I tried that and don't like the result at all. I think that might be for decoupage.

This site says something about bleaching? Also says something about rubbing alcohol?? I didn't reach the entire article sorry!
I've never done this but would sure like to see the finished product. I did wonder though about spraying with a clean varnish/matte spray when you are done? Would that help? When I did crafts I sometimes used the craft paint pens and I did have to be very careful to just barely spray it to give a thin coat, then I could go over it again once it was dry with no smear worries.

Here is a link that might be useful: Domino basics

That's neat, I've never seen it. I always thought Dominos were black. Can you explain this (the easy way) of what your doing?

Urgggh CLEAR matte spray not clean! LOL

I'm experimenting, so not going to guarantee this is all the "right" stuff.

I clean the dominoes, just wash w/soap & water and dry good. One batch, I'm using a combination of alcohol inks on a special applicator and the colors pool together into random & interesting patterns. You can then stamp a message over the top and glue a magnet on the back.

The next batch is what I'm really struggling with. I stamp an image, and color with ZIG markers ... have to do this VERY carefully since the colors blend if they touch another color. This is where I'm trying to set the colors with heat, but they still smear/blend. So I'm a bit limited. There will be another step, once I get a clear spray of some kind to cover everything with. And again, I'll glue magnets on the back.

The one on the right,k you can see how i've smeared the stem ... the middle one I haven't tried to color yet.

You can also drill into the dominoes and put an itty bitty screw eye in, and make a pendant out of them. I'm not in that league yet tho.

nodakgal, thanks for the idea of putting a light coat on first ... if I ever get one that I think is GOOD, I'd hate to mess it up by putting too much of the clear-coat on too soon. I didn't try bleaching ... I'm afraid it would do the same thing as the sanding, and take off the shiny coat and so far I don't want to do that. I have two that I sanded and I don't like the look ... altho I retain the right to change my mind after the clear coat goes on. LOL

Stoney, I emailed a ? for you to a lady who owns a stamp store. She is a retired art teacher. We will see what she says.

As for a clear coat, probably Krylon's Krystal Klear. Shake the can when you find it. If it rattles like it has the shaker balls to mix it, you have the wrong one. The one I used for my tole painting didn't rattle. That is the one that is indeed clear when it dries. The one that does rattle dries yellowy. You might be able to mist the domino first, let dry then try stamping and coloring. That might be just enough to make it stick without smearing.

Tami

They look like Mahjong tiles rather then dominos. They look great, but what do you do with them now?

Thanks, Tami! I hope your stamp store lady knows what I need to do next. LOL I'll stop by Michael's tomorrow and pick up some of the Krylon's. And thanks for the tip about listening for shaker balls.

Joann, I'm going to give them at Christmas if it works out. I thought I'd stamp the names of our grand-nephews on a couple and attach them on the outside of their gifts ... then their mom can use them on the fridge to hold "artwork." Also, we have metal cabinets at work, and I was thinking they could be small co-worker gifts. Someday I might get good enough to turn some into necklaces, but that will be another year. I don't have enough yet to practice til I'm that good. LOL (it would take a LOT of practice I'm afraid)

The dominos may be dirty or have a release agent on them from the manufacturing process. Clean the dominoes with a mild solvent. Do not use a highly active solvent such as paint thiner; That could remove some of the existing finish. Your goal is to clean the surface, not destroy it.

Suggested cleaners:

1. Rubbing alcohol, 70 %

2. Dish soap or laundry detergent and add household amonia. The amonia will "cut" grease and wax - The same mix you use to clean waxed linoleum floors. Rinse thoroughly and dry.

After cleaning, apply a sealer to prepare the surface for painting. Wood sealers should work. As an alternative, you could try coating with clear acrylic.

Stoney, Just got an email! She says to use the Stazon ink ONLY, then heat set it afterwards. Good luck.

Tami

Thank you Thank you Tami! I'll look for that tomorrow, I just *happen* to have a Michael's coupon so I hope they have it.

You are welcome!!

HAVE you thought about trying embossing powder?

Michaels here in Canada does carry Stazon Ink. You can also get the Stazon Ink cleaner for cleaning your stamps as well.

No advice, just wanted to say that I LOVE the ones in the first photo, Stoney, they are SO pretty! Good luck!

Stoney, this just came in my email.

You can soak dominoes in clorax for 24 hours..helps to let the ink stamp an impression better.
Dominoes can be tea stained by bringing water to a boil reduce heat add tea bags(different staining by using diff. teas 4 or 5 bags with burner on low simmer for 30 minutes or longer.
Lately I have just been using Stazon inks heat setting and use permanent markers (sharpies) heat setting and glaze with 3d crystal lacquer or diamond glaze. With this last I just wipe the domino.Also if you are using inks on the domino just plane out of the box and don't care for the stamping job before you heat set just wipe it off with Stazon cleaner and start over.

This came from the lady I emailed for you earlier, who got it from someone who does this all the time.

Hope it helps!

Tami

Thanks again! I'm printing off all this helpful information ... I stopped by Michael's after work and picked up a Staz-On ink pad but won't get any clear-coat til Thursday (using coupons! LOL) But, I can't work on the dominoes tonight because I have to do a card for a co-worker whose last day is tomorrow. How frustrating!

Glad to help.