Be kind to your sleeping heart

Sometimes we all need to remember to be kind to ourselves. To go out into the world, take a deep breath and reconnect with the bigger picture.
This week I've used the Vintage Triptych Florentine to make a peaceful and (hopefully) charming little reminder to do that.

Here is where I started...

I used the Vintage Triptych Florentine and Stamperia's 'Forest' Scrapbook papers.

Using the pieces of the triptych, I drew and cut out the papers I chose for the front and the back of the piece.

I used linen hinging tape to connect the triptych. I like taping both front and back, it makes a nice strong connection and remains flexible. I left about a 1/4" gap between the side and the middle to account for the addition of the scrapbook papers and still allowing for the piece to close properly.
Make sure your pieces are the placed straight across the bottom, otherwise when you stand the triptych up, it will be wobbly.
The above picture shows the first two pieces of tape already applied.

When I apply the second pieces of hinging tape, I use a folding tool or even a ruler (whatever is handy) to press the tape into the center of the 'hinge' before I stick it down to the side and center piece. This way there will be no gaps, the tape stays together and looks tidy.

I glue my papers down on both sides of the triptych. I painter the center frame cream and glued it down. I used a gold ink pad and a brown one around all the edges of the triptych.

The Kingfishers came from a rice paper collage sheet. I cut them out and attached them using matte medium. (I used Liquitex Matte Medium)

Using a piece of tracing paper, I practiced writing my quote and working out the placement of the words.....

I used a permanent black marker and wrote them over the arching center, used matte medium over the top of the words and after it dried, I inked up the words to soften the black words an dhelp them become a part of the whole.

After the inside dried, I flipped the piece over and glued a soft velvet ribbon the the center back piece ONLY of the triptych. I made sure the ribbon was high enough not to block the image of the fox. (which I cut out and glue in place from a piece of the paper collection and forgot to take a picture of)

I glued two pretty brass stamped leaf ornaments on either side of the front flaps of the triptych and added white paint dots as extra detail to the inside and the outside of the piece.

And there you have it! Thank you fro stopping by and don't forget to breath!

SUPPLIES:
Vintage Triptych Florentine

Additional supplies:
Stamperia 'Forest' scrapbook papers
Ciao Bella Rice Paper Collage sheet (the kingfishers)
White paint
Ink pads
Black permanent marker
Velvet ribbon
Brass stampings

The Horologium, a traveling clock

This is the Horologium.
Ever seen the movie Time Bandits?
I haven't worked out why yet, but I was thinking a lot about that movie whilst making this and this is what came out of that.
Maybe it's because the props were gorgeous and full of odd details and functions.
Horologium is the Latin word for clock, which seems kind of Time Bandits-ish. And this clock is pretty fancy and has an air of consciousness about it, so I felt it needed a smart name.
Clocks have moving parts, so it's a natural progression of fanciful thought to think they are intelligent. Lots of stories out there about clocks.
And I like making objects that appear to be a little bit (or a lot) sentient.

Here she is with her little traveling eye at the foot of the clock. She gets around.

Here is where I began..
I assembled and gessoed the inside of the clock. I did not glue the facade on-that comes later.

I made a template to build my stairs, then used it on some scrap thin chipboard and then cut them out. I actually made four staircases, but you can't really see the one behind the clock unless you look closely.

To assemble the stairs, I cut a piece of chipboard about 1/4 in wide and used that as the underside of the stairway. I glued both of the stair jacks (the zig zag bits) to either side of the chipboard making sure as best I could, that they were even with each other and straight.

I cut pieces of scrapbook paper approx. 1/4 in wide and glued them to the riser part of the stairs. I trimmed them to fit with a pair of scissors. After they dried, i did the treads and again, cut them with a pair of scissors to fit.

After they all dried, I dry-fitted the stairs into the clock and made adjustments as needed to get a good fit. I did not glue the stairs in until I had the background of the inside of the clock complete.
I decided that I wanted a piece on the inside of the clock that repeated the shape of the arched top of the clock, so i drew a template and cut one out of chipboard.

I painted it and put some lifts on the back to make it stand out a bit from the back. My intention was to put one of the staircases behind it to make it look deeper. After some fiddling around, I realized that the third course of stairs that need to fit behind the arch was too wide, so I ended up cutting the underside in half in order to get all the pieces to fit into the clock. You can see in the picture below that the third course (the one on the top) is much narrower than the other two.

Everything got a coat of brown paint and some detailing with gold paint, was dry-fitted into the clock once again and set aside.

I cut the paper for the facade of the clock using the piece as a template.

I fitted and then glued a piece of a rice paper image to the inside sections of the clock.

The paper I used throughout the piece, including the rice paper is from Ciao Bella's Codex Leonardo.

I gave it a good coating of matte medium, let it dry and began arranging some clock parts over the paper for more detail, dry-fitting my arch and staircases to make sure I wasn't interfering with the space I needed in the final gluing.

I used a lot of metal stampings in this piece. I decided to change the detailing on the stairs, ended up repainting them and adding little tiny flowers on the jacks. I like it!

After adding the deatils I wanted to the inside of the clock, i finally glued in the stairs and glued the facade on. I painted and added lots of details, like Dresden trim and the little birdcage on the right.

Little flower lanterns made from bead caps and wire,

 

lots of gold dots,

And hand painted details.

Thank you for stopping by!

SUPPLIES:
Eleven inch Grandfather Clock
Miniature Bookplates Shape Set
Simple House Ornament
Faux Metal Number Plates

Additional supplies:
From Alpha Stamps:
Black Zig Zag Dresden Borders
Codex Leonardo 12x12 Paper Pad
A lot of the bead caps and metal findings I also got from Alpha Stamps HERE
and HERE

Acrylic Paint
Matte Medium (I use Liquitex)
Wire

NOTE: The piece with the eye on it is a Simple House Ornament with about an inch and a half cut off the bottom and a tiny wooden block glued on the back!

Bees and Butterflies, Books and Boxes

I think in the insect world nothing is more drawn, photographed and generally admired than bees and butterflies.
If you're a human, that is.
I suppose if you were a dung beetle another dung beetle would look like a supermodel.
I could have made a book on dung beetles, but I don't think they would care. They're pretty busy as there is a lot of shite in the world right now.
Also, they are not photogenic.
Moving on...
Lora here for the wonderful Alpha Stamps! Today I am all about Bees and Butterflies and accordion books and boxes.
I'll start with my favorite: Bees.
I love them and it is a dream of mine to become a beekeeper.
Seriously.
But for now, here is a Book of Bees.

A view of the other side:

I started this by painting the Wide Letter Box Accordion Book black, back and front.
I covered the front side and flap with paper from the Butterfly Garden 6x6 Pad. On the inside flap and inside the cover I put a couple of pieces of lined tape where I knew I was going to screw in the little 'handles', giving the book more strength. Then I used an old G45 French Country paper to cover them, but any pretty black paper will do.
Front:

Inside showing the linen tape and before I glued the inside papers on. NOTE: Before I painted the inside of the book cover, I also added some linen tape on the folds as reinforcement, then painted it. You don't have to do this. My book will be handled a lot and strengthening the folds gives it a longer life.

Everything is covered and you can see in the photo below the little Mini Hitch Fastener Knobs I used as openers. I punched holes into the book cover where I wanted the knobs to be and screwed them in place.

Next I began working on the Accordion Book Folder.
I glued a pretty stripey ribbon down the center of the book and started composing how I wanted the pages to look. It looks a bit of a mess, but it's how my brain rolls.

In the end, this is the finished first tow pages I started above.

The last thing I did was to glue ribbon to the back page that would be glued down to the book cover. I let that dry and glued the accordion book in and used clamps to keep in place while it dried.

And since I was on a roll, I made a butterfly book with the same type of accordion inside, but with an open sided box, we call a Tall Letter Box Book as the folded book inside folds out vertically instead of horizontally.

The interior techniques for this book remain the same as the Bee Book, but here is a quickie tutorial on putting together the exterior:

I pre-cut my paper before I taped the covers together:

I used lined hinging tape and left about 1/8 inch of space between the pieces. Make sure they are lined up straight or your book will be wonky!

I glued my papers on, trimming carefully any excess off the sides.

I inked up the edges and then made the inside. A fun couple of projects that I hope you will try!

For a link to all the supplies for both projects, click HERE FOR BEES and HERE FOR BUTTERFLIES.

SUPPLIES LISTS:
Bees Accordion Book:

Wide Accordion Book Folder
Wide Letter Box Accordion Bk
Antique Mini Envelope Set
Butterfly Garden 6x6 Scrapbook Paper Pad
Birds and Bees Collage Sheet
Antique ATC Pockets
Sunflowers Collage Sheet
Bees Collage Sheet
Bee Banners Collage Sheet
Mini Hitch Fasteners or Knobs
1 Inch Bronze Bee Charm
Graphic 45 French Country 'Sunflower' scrapbook  paper (for the cut-out sunflowers)
Black Seam Binding 

Additional supplies:
Black Acrylic Paint
Gold Acrylic Paint
Ribbons
Gold Stamp Pad

Butterflies Box Book:

Tiny Scalloped Fleur Dresden Borders-White
Tall Letter Box Accordion Book
Tall Letter Box Book
Butterflies Dresden Scraps
Antique Mini Envelope Set
Stickles: Diamond, Waterfall, Lime Green, Gilded Gold, Tropical Pink
Linen Book Binding Tape
Double Dot Vintage Pear Scrapbook Paper
Double Dot Vintage Passion Fruit Scrapbook Paper
1 Inch Verdigris Butterfly Pendant

Gold Stamp Pad
Green leaf Washi Tape 

Thank you for stopping by!