Pointilist Edge Lit Card With Auto On/Off Switch

Several months back, I wanted to send a thank you card to the folks at instructables HQ for letting me hang out with them during Maker Faire.  I knew a store bought card just wouldn't do, so my mind immediately turned to the edge lit cards created by the nice people at evilmadscientist.com.

These cards are simple and fun to make, and I wanted to add my own touch to them--a pointillist drawing of my avatar and a pull switch arranged so the card is off when it's closed and turns on when it opens.

Step 1: Gather Materials

The card is made from:

• Heavy cardstock
• 2 LED's of whatever color you would like
• 3v Button Cell (CR2032 or similar)
• A small sheet of clear acrylic
• Tape (I used electrical tape to go with my black cardstock and some clear tape)
• A tiny bit of tin foil
• Hot glue
• Epoxy
• Electrical tape

Tools used:

• A sturdy, very sharp awl
• Hot glue gun
• Scissors

Comments

[jasontilley71]

Very nice. Good imagination . I like this whole concept

[depotdevoid]

Thanks!

[CatTrampoline]

This is 20x nicer than the constellations on a black lampshade I made long ago.

[depotdevoid]

Thanks!

[tholopotami]

I like it!

[depotdevoid]

Thanks!

[ChrysN]

Awesome, I like how that turned out!

[depotdevoid]

Thanks! About halfway through I started to get worried that it wouldn't turn out, but by the time I was done, it had really shaped up.

[mikeasaurus]

Great build, Ian! There's no picture that can really capture the visual impact when viewed with your own eyes.

[depotdevoid]

Thanks Mike! I kinda felt the same way, which was one of the reasons I dragged my feet about posting this--I never felt the pictures did it justice.

_{^{I'm also glad to hear it made it there in working order!}}

[Jayefuu]

Nice work! Good to see people doing stuff with acrylic without laser cutters :)

[depotdevoid]

Thanks! It's a good medium that gets overlooked sometimes by those of us without vast laser resources.