I recently participated in a
matchbox ornament swap hosted by Tabitha Campbell and Caroline Ouzts-Hay. The theme was the “12 Days of Christmas”. Each participant signed up for a day and made
ornaments for all of the other participants.
Each matchbox was filled with all kinds of crafting goodies. The picture above is the 12 Drummers Drumming
ornament I made for the swap. I used the small matchboxes that you buy 10 to a pack. I’ve received
a wonderful set of ornaments from the other participants and I’ll be posting
them for your enjoyment as soon as I get all the pictures taken.
Welcome
I love answering your questions. If you ask them in the comment section, I have no way to answer you (if you haven't heard from me, that is why). If you use the "EMAIL ME" in the left column of this page, I will be able to respond to you. You can also use it if you want to be added to my newsletter. Laura
Friday, November 30, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
The Carolers ATC and New Christmas Themed Collage Sheets
I’m happy to announce that I have
created two new Christmas Themed Collage Sheets that are available now at Alpha
Stamps. I used images from both sheets
in the Carolers ATC above.
The first is a “Twelve Days
of Christmas” themed sheet.
The second is a “Holiday
Phrases” sheet.
The sheets are available for digital download,
printed on high quality paper, printed on a transparency sheet or as a sheet of
stickers.
Giveaway
In honor of my new collage sheets
I’m giving two sets of them away. Just
leave a comment on this post or email me (the button is in the right hand
column of the blog) by the end of day on December 3rd and let me
know if you want to be in the drawing.
The winners will receive the collage sheets either printed on high quality paper or
electronically (their choice). I’ll
be using Random.org to draw for the winners on December 4th.
Winners of the Holiday Collage Sheet Set
Random.org has spoken and the winners are:
Karenliz
Jess
Congrats!!
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Toy Shoppe Domino Book
Last
year I created a large Victorian Toy Shop Diorama (click here if you missed it). This year I thought I go completely the other
direction, as in very small, and create a Toy Shoppe domino book.
Assembling
the Book
The
front and the back of the Toy Shoppe are dominoes with Masonite Gothic arch windows
attached. In the middle of the book are
4 Gothic arch windows that are hinged together and hinged to the dominoes.
The key to creating this book
is gluing and patience. Since I was
dealing with mostly non-porous surfaces such as the plastic (dominoes), Masonite
(arches) and metal (hinges and embellishments), I used E6000 to glue almost
everything. The only exception was the
paper items which I used Glossy Accents if I was gluing to a non-porous surface
and Tombo Mono Multi if I was gluing paper to paper.
The
book is held closed with a chain/clasp that is attached to fold over bails.
The key to creating this book is gluing and
patience. Since I was dealing with
mostly non-porous surfaces such as plastic (dominoes), Masonite (arches) and
metal (hinges and embellishments), I used E6000 to glue almost everything. The only exceptions were the paper items. I used Glossy Accents if I was gluing to a non-porous
surface and Tombo Mono Multi; if I was gluing paper to paper.
CONSTRUCTING
THE BOOK
- I started by inking all the surfaces of the dominoes with Silver Alcohol Mixative Ink. I used a wooden handle with a piece of felt attached to apply the ink. I choose this method as the ink goes on with a smooth finish.
- I added gold stickers to the front and sides of the dominoes.
The Closures
- To accommodate the chains and jewelry clasps (which keeps the book closed) I bent fold over bails and glued them to the sides of the dominoes. You will need 4 bails glued to the middle of each long side of both dominos. Add the chains to the bails before gluing them to the dominos. That way you won’t be putting extra pressure on the bails trying to attach the chain. Once your book is done you can trim your chain to the proper length (to close the book) and add the jewelry clasps to each chain. I attached the two chains to the bails glued to the front domino.
- An alternative closure is to use ribbon instead of chain. Another alternative would be to use ribbon without the fold over bails by gluing ribbon to the backside of each domino before adding paper etc. (see the picture below).
Painting the
Arches and Embellishments
- I painted all of the Masonite gothic arches red; this includes the ones for the front of the dominoes and the ones for the pages inside the dominoes. The arches come in a package of 10 and include various designs. These are the same arches I used to make bay windows for the large Victorian Toy Shop Diorama.
- I glued a Masonite Gothic arch to the front of each of the dominoes.
- I painted the various embellishments using acrylic paint. If this had been something that would be worn as jewelry I would have used products that are made for metal. But since this was an art project I went with acrylics.
- After the metal embellishments had dried, I attached all of the dangling bits like beads, snowflakes and chain to all of the embellishments etc.
The Clock
- To make the clock I glued a clock button into a round pendant. The clock had a clear domed covering. To create even more of a dome, I filled the round pendant with Glossy Accents and allowed it to dry.
- I attached all of the metal embellishments to the front and back arch/domino book covers using E 6000 glue and allowed them to dry. To get the strongest bond with E6000 glue you need to let it dry 24 hours or more depending on the dampness of your climate.
Toy Shoppe and
Closed Dec 25 Signs
I
made the Toy Shoppe sign out of a crest pendant and a cotter pin. I glued the wording into the crest and filled
it with Glossy Accents. I attached the
shield to the cotter pin and glued the cotter pin to the top of the back domino
using E 6000. I made the Closed Dec 25
sign out of crest tag and hung from one of the closure chains.
Below
is the wording I used for the signs. They
are sized to fit the pendants so feel free to download and use them.
Gothic Arch
Pages
- You need an even number of arches for the book to accordion fold properly. I would suggest using 2 or 4 arches. More arches and the book gets really thick and unwieldy.
- Glue the images and a piece of decorative paper to the backs of the 4 center arches.
- I attached the baroque scroll with loops with connecting chains and holly charms to the tops of the arches before hinging them together.
- Here is where patience is important. As you attach each hinge you need to give it plenty of time to dry before attaching the next hinge. You need to use very strong glue like E6000. The other important thing to be mindful of is the direction of the hinges. Each hinge you attach should fold in the opposite direction of the hinge before it. It is really easy to attach the hinges incorrectly (I did).
- The hinge closes in only one direction. In the first picture below I show the hinge closing towards you. I show this so you know what I mean when I explain how to hinge the book together.
- In the picture below the hinge is reversed from the picture above and the hinge closes away from you.
- You can either assemble the book starting from the front domino and working your way from left to right assembling each piece (one at the time and allowing it to dry) or if you feel confident you can assemble the book starting at both ends and meet in the middle. This option is also faster.
- As you assemble the pieces (dominoes and arches) make sure that they are level at the bottom so that you book will stand on its own.
- For the purpose of this tutorial I’m going to describe the order of assembly from left to right using 4 arches as in the sample book. You will need 5 hinges. Between each step allow the glue to dry completely which is probably at least 24 hours. You can also consult the diagram below for hinge placement.
Attach
a hinge to the front domino
Attach the 1st arch to the hinge attached to the front domino
2nd Hinge – Closes Away From You
Attach a hinge to the 1st arch
Attach the 2nd arch to the hinge attached to the 1st arch
3rd Hinge Closes Towards You
Attach a hinge to the 2nd arch
Attach the 3rd arch to the hinge attached to the 2nd arch
4th Hinge Closes Away From You
Attach a hinge to the 3rdth arch
Attach the 4th arch to the hinge attached to the 3rd arch
5th Hinge - Closes Towards You
Attach a hinge to the 4th arch
Attach the 1st arch to the hinge attached to the front domino
2nd Hinge – Closes Away From You
Attach a hinge to the 1st arch
Attach the 2nd arch to the hinge attached to the 1st arch
3rd Hinge Closes Towards You
Attach a hinge to the 2nd arch
Attach the 3rd arch to the hinge attached to the 2nd arch
4th Hinge Closes Away From You
Attach a hinge to the 3rdth arch
Attach the 4th arch to the hinge attached to the 3rd arch
5th Hinge - Closes Towards You
Attach a hinge to the 4th arch
Attach
the back domino to the hinge attached to the 4th arch.
- Now that your book is assembled you can add decorative paper to the inside of each domino and backs of the arches. The paper will hide some of the hinges depending on which direction they fold.
- On the sample, I added decorative paper inside each domino. On the front domino I also added the “The Toy Shoppe” verbiage and some snowflake charms. On the back domino I added gold stickers and the image of the boy and girl. Notice how the paper covers part of the hinge attached to each domino.
- On the backs of the inside arches I added a piece of decorative paper, gold stickers and images. Notice in the picture below how the paper covers part of the hinge attached to each arch. I used a separate arch as a template to cut the decorative paper to size before gluing it in place.
Alpha Stamps Products Used
Items used on the front and
back of the domino book
Lydia Connector – Antique Gold – You’ll
need 2
Ensign
Crest Pendants - Toy Shoppe sign
Ensign
Crest Tags – Closed Dec 25
Items used inside the
domino book
Dazzles Gold Holly Stickers – Inside of back
domino
Collage Sheets
Winter
Kids – Boy and girl inside book and girl on back of book
Snow
Collage Sheet – Back of book
Snug
in their Beds Collage Sheet – Back of book and bear.
Christmas
Dolls - Dolls
Victorian
Umbrella Kids – Back of book
Labels:
Christmas,
Dominoes,
Handmade Books,
Toy Shop
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Matchbox Advent Calendar Chest Tutorial
Just in time for Christmas is a fun
Matchbox Chest Advent Calendar project that can be enjoyed by your entire
family. I learned about advent calendars
when I lived in Germany as a child (my dad was in the military and was
stationed there). My mother would
purchase a calendar each Christmas and my sister and I would take turns opening
a door each day and eating the chocolate it contained. I thought my matchbox chest project would
make a great advent calendar project. If
you are not familiar with advent calendars they are calendars that count down
the days until Christmas; starting on December 1st and ending on
December 25th. Most have
doors that when opened; reveal a piece of chocolate or a Christmas themed
image.
THE CABINET TOP
In this calendar each day is represented
by a matchbox drawer. There are 25
matchboxes in total (5 across and 5 high).
With having a drawer as opposed to a door you can have larger surprises. The overall dimensions of the cabinet are:
Entire
Piece: 11” High x 7 ½” Wide x 2 3/8” Deep
Drawers
with Foam Core Border: 4 ½ “ High x 7
¼” Wide x 2 ¼” Deep
Height
of Feet: 1 ¼” Tall
Stuff
on the Top of the Cabinet: 5” Tall
The charms are the drawer pulls. To see the number or date of the drawer you
just lift the charm. The numbers are not
in order as I think that is more fun.
In this post I’m going to cover the
differences between the matchbox chest I demonstrate in the video tutorial and
this Matchbox Advent Calendar Chest. For
general information on how to make a matchbox chest you can watch my video
tutorial.
At
the bottom of this post is a complete list of products I used for this project
that are carried by Alpha
Stamps.
MATCHBOXES I USED
For this project I used a different matchbox
than the one I used for the matchbox chest tutorial. I needed a larger font to accommodate the day
of the month and the Christmas charm that acts as a pull. You can see in the picture below the
difference in the matchboxes. The one on
the right is the one I used for the advent calendar and the one on the left is
the one I used for the matchbox chest.
The one I used for the calendar is 2 ¼”
long x ¾” tall by 1 ¼” wide. Alpha
Stamps is carrying them and they come in a box of 8. You’ll need 4 boxes to make this cabinet. The container that the individual matchboxes
come in, are also a large matchbox. Stay
tuned for another project using the larger matchbox container.
Using this matchbox had two other
advantages; I could insert larger objects in the box, and all of the surfaces
where white which worked well with the Christmas theme and required no inking
or papering (except the front of the drawer) which made the project faster.
I did this for a couple of reasons. First, it gave me a nice deep frame around
the front of the chest to accommodate the paper and embellishments. You can see in the picture below where I have
glued the Antique Silver Leaf Flourishes to the front of the cabinet. These were originally silver, I added some
gold and then Diamond Stickles in the grooves for sparkle.
Second, it gave me a surface that I could
easily poke with a pin to insert dimensional embellishments. One of the tricks I use to get paper images
to stand up by themselves is to insert a pin in between the image and the
backing of cardstock and or decorative paper.
In the picture below I used this technique to attach the images to the
top of the cabinet. The Star Tinsel is
wired so you can strip off the coating and stick the wire into the foam core as
well.
ADDING A STRAIGHT PIN TO THE IMAGES
- Snip the head off of a small straight pin.
- Glue your image to a piece of light cardstock. You want to use light cardstock because by the time you have all three layers together it gets hard to cutout the image. The light cardstock makes the image stiffer but not too hard to cut out. Cutout the image.
- Glue the pin to the cardstock at the point where you want to attach the image to the foam core. I used Glossy Accents.
- Glue the cardstock to decorative paper. This is so that it will look pretty from the back side. Another option is to print the image in reverse and back the original image with a reverse of that image that way it looks the same from both sides.
Now you are ready to add the image to
the chest. To attach the image to the
top of the chest I pre-poked a hole with a needle then inserted the image with
the pin into the hole. Voila! The image is standing by itself, it looks
good from both sides and you can’t see the pin.
ADDING FEET TO THE CABINET
You all know how I love adding feet to
my projects. For the chest I used two
beads glued together. I thought the
beads looked like Christmas ornaments.
These beads have large holes so I inserted a wooden skewer (painted with
Silver
Alcohol Ink) to give them more stability. I added a little Glossy Accents to the dowel
before sliding it through the beads.
I sniped off both ends of the dowel so
that it was flush with the beads. I
painted parts of the beads with Gold
Alcohol Ink. Before attaching the
beads to the bottom of the cabinet I glued them to a silver washer. This was to give me more surface area to glue
the beads to the bottom of the cabinet.
Just gluing the tip of the bead to the cabinet did not provide enough
surface area to make the feet stable.
THE DRAWERS
The front of the drawers is the only thing
decorated on the matchboxes. The white
of the boxes matched my color scheme. I used the number stickers from the Turtle Dove line for the numbers on the
front of the drawers.
The charms act as the drawer pulls. Lifting the charm reveals the number or
date. All of the charms were originally
a gold color. I jazzed them up by adding
silver, red, black and green paint and Stickles for sparkle.
Paper lines that would work well for this project are: Joyeux Noel 6x6 Paper Pad and Festive 6x6 Paper Pad – These are the papers I used for my Christmas Mini Albums & Bookshelf Tutorial. Click here to see the tutorial if you missed it. Two others are: City Sidewalks 8x8 Paper Pack and Santa Journey 8x8 Paper Pad.
Paper lines that would work well for this project are: Joyeux Noel 6x6 Paper Pad and Festive 6x6 Paper Pad – These are the papers I used for my Christmas Mini Albums & Bookshelf Tutorial. Click here to see the tutorial if you missed it. Two others are: City Sidewalks 8x8 Paper Pack and Santa Journey 8x8 Paper Pad.
IDEAS FOR YOUR DRAWERS
You can fill your drawers with whatever
you like such as candy or small presents.
I also thought it would be fun to have other types of treats or prizes
such as getting special privileges like being the one to pass out the presents
(this was a big one in our house) or being allowed to open a present
early. Below are some of the ones I
could think of. Feel free to download
the images and use them as prizes in your calendar. I also included a blank one in case you want
to create your own. They are sized to
fit the matchbox drawers or you can roll them up and tie them with a ribbon
(prolonging the suspense).
Pulling
from a grab bag would be a great way to deal with items that are too big to fit
in the drawers.
THE CABINET TOP
There is a lot of space at the top of
the cabinet to add whatever you desire.
I certainly had fun filling it up will all kinds of stuff. As I discussed previously, having a foam core
top made is so easy to attach elements like the images and the Star Tinsel.
The tree comes already flocked in
white. I cut up Mardi gras beads and
glued them on the tree with Glossy Accents.
The lantern (oh the lantern)….I LOVE
this lantern and you are going to see it again and again in more of my projects. The pole is a wooden dowel. I cut a notch in the top of the dowel and
glued the ornament hook in the notch (using E6000 glue). The lantern was original all gold. I used Silver Alcohol ink to paint the scrolls
and then added green crystals. With the
top of the cabinet being foam core it was easy to punch a hole in the top and
insert and glue the dowel in place.
I decided to add the packages (which are
blocks of wood covered in the Turtle Dove paper) to give me a way of suspending
the clock. The paper die cut (from the
Turtle Dove line) is backed with light cardstock and decorative paper (to make
it stiff). The packages are glued to the
top of the cabinet, the die cut image is glued to the packages and the clock
and other embellishments are glued to the die cut image. My thought process started with me wanting a
clock and then I worked backwards to figure out how to hang it. The swirls in the die cut image made me think
of a decorative pole so I just needed a way to anchor it to the top of the
cabinet and that’s where the packages came in.
The whole assemblage was too heavy for my straight pin trick.
THE SIDES AND BACK OF THE CABINET
I used the decorative paper die cuts to
cover the sides of the cabinet. Because
the sides are foam core you could use the same trick to poke stuff in the sides
as in the top.
BACK OF THE CABINET
I added snow to the top of the cabinet
by drizzling Glossy Accents on the top and then sprinkling the glue with white
flocking. What I didn’t realize is that
some of the glue dripped down the back of the cabinet. Eeek!!! My solution was to add more glue to the back
and sprinkle it with Diamond Dust to create ice cycles. Problem solved!
I hope you have fun creating a cabinet for your family
and enjoying it for years to come.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A PDF VERSION OF THIS TUTORIAL
ALPHA
STAMPS SUPPLIES USED IN THIS PROJECT
Matchbox
Full of Matchboxes – You’ll need 4
Antique
Silver Lantern Bead – Feet
Antique
Silver Leaf Flourishes – On the front of the cabinet
Papers,
Borders & Stickers
Visions
of Christmas Die-Cut Cardstock Borders – Trim
around the front of the cabinet
Turtle
Dove Numbers Sticker Sheet – Numbers on the front of drawers
Christmas
Emporium: Joyous Noel Scrapbook Paper – Wording at the bottom of cabinet
Dazzles GoldHolly Stickers – Clock from
back view
and pole
Paper
lines that would work well for this project are: Joyeux
Noel 6x6 Paper Pad and Festive
6x6 Paper Pad – These are the papers I used for my Christmas Mini Albums
& Bookshelf Tutorial. Click
here to see the tutorial if you missed it.
Two others are: City
Sidewalks 8x8 Paper Pack and Santa
Journey 8x8 Paper Pad.
Images
on the top of the cabinet
Other
Embellishments
Mardi
Gras Beads – On the
tree
Large
Brass Snowflake with Hole – Tree
topper
Fly
Away Resin Birds Set – By the clock
Christmas
Green Buttons – Around the clock
Star
Tinsel – On the top
Giant
Snowflakes – Behind the clock
Swirl
Ornament Hooks – To hang the lantern
Tiny
Sheer Ribbon Red and Cream – Used on the Packages
Drawer
Pulls
Antique
Bronze Christmas Charm Set – I used two sets
Nutcracker
Charms - Gold
Candy
Cane Charms - Gold
Wreath
Charms - Gold
Christmas
Bell Charms - Gold
Used
to Decorate Drawer Pulls & Leaf Flourishes
Labels:
Advent Calendar,
Christmas,
Matchbox Chest,
Matchboxes
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