Tuesday, November 3, 2020

Making Stitch–from my bears&boxes series

After quite a few starts and stops, I have completed “Stitch” and it is currently on the way to its new home.  With my bears&boxes pieces, the first thing I determine is the style, size and configuration of the basic box.  My husband Jay built this box for me.  I’m pretty sure he must have wondered if I was ever going to make anything with it.  Sometimes, these things take time – almost always in other words.

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I painted this box with gesso so the paper I used to cover it would have a better surface to adhere to.  It’s often about looking ahead and working backwards.  So after determining which paper I was going to use, I then painted the edges to match.

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Painting the edges first and covering the box afterwards helps me to avoid messing up the paper. 

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I purposely left the front unfinished for two reasons.  The art I had planned for the front would create an uneven surface when I was working on the inside.  And I was still working out the details of the front artwork in my head.

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There are so many parts and pieces to these things.  Often they begin as one thing and end up as another.  This little sewing machine Christmas ornament was perfect – except for the coloring.

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Here are a few photos of various stages of the inside details.  I began with the bench I knew the bear would be sitting on – made from small wooden vintage style rulers.

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Then I created the shelf for the top part of the box.

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One of the main features of the box was a panel of various kinds of scissors.  I love scissors as many sewers/seamstresses/makers/creators do.  I have many variations of them.  I decided it was a detail that should be quite prominent.  Here’s the beginning of the panel covered with coordinating paper.

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I cut the wooden frame to size and painted it and added the tiny scissors.

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And although it was really stating the obvious, I created a little sign to go above it:  “SCISSORS”  Here you can also see the repainted sewing machine and the shelf supports that are vintage wooden spools.

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I cut out these panels and covered the edges with metallic silver tape.

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These tiny thimble charms were also part of the plan dangling from this wooden support.

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Here’s a peek behind the scenes so to speak.  I fiddled around with the layout of the elements to get a feel for how things will mesh and how they should be spaced.

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Once I have a good plan in place I try to sort it out a little more.  Note the lack of paint and details on the spools, jars, bottles and other items.  They will show up later.

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The artwork for the front of the box consisted of several steps.  I started by arranging these sewing related bits and pieces.

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I took a coordinating piece of scrapbook paper and added a clear texture to it. I gave this same treatment to the board that the bits and pieces will be mounted on which you can in these photos. I made sure everything was properly adhered in place and added some texture with tiny glass and steel beads.

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Painting the piece was the final step of this stage – black, a bit of blue chalk-like paint and silver highlights.

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I added yet another wooden frame cut to size around the panel and mounted it on the textured scrapbook paper.  Then I mounted both onto corrugated paper.

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I had already created “Stitch”, the bear and had to decide on his hat.  A thimble? A button?

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How about both?

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So finally, the piece is completed  Here’s the front:

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And here’s the box opened:

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The left side:

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And the right:

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And “Stitch”!

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I loved, loved, loved creating this box.  It was fun working with all the so-very-familiar objects in teeny, tiny sizes.  The scissors  I especially adored.  Several of these items were once pins that came from my mother’s jewelry box. She was quite the seamstress and I like to think she would have enjoyed this piece a great deal. Now my next box piece underway and it’s slow at first but I’m hoping to make some headway soon.  Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!

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Tuesday, February 18, 2020

BookNook – a bears&boxes piece

For the last few weeks I have been working on several projects at the same time. I completed this one recently, sent it to the recipient and can now share the details of its evolution.

Jay created the basic box – although basic doesn’t necessarily mean simple. It is a concept that I have used previously – where the shelves “close”.

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Here’s a photo of where I began with the exterior treatment of the piece. Some areas are masked off for things to be added later. In this instance, a window, hinges and the title of the piece.

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Applying the texture is a time intensive endeavor mostly due to the time it takes it to dry.

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After the texture is applied and dry on the exterior of the box, I move to painting it. The outside colors coordinate with the scheme on the interior.

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Once complete, I move to the inside of the box. I cut and bend card stock to fit and add it to the inside in a very specific order. At the same time, I worked on the shelves on either side adding paper and paint.

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The next detail I worked on was the upholstered bench window seat. A little tricky with the sizing and the addition of padding and fabric, but it all came together.

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After the exterior and the interior are finished, I move on to the details of the interior. In this case, there were loads and loads of tiny books to be covered and placed on the shelves.

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There were other details as well like the three-dimensional items I created that represent a few of the books that will be on displace underneath the window seat. This bit is for “The Beauty and the Beast”.  Beside it, the makings of a small snow globe for  a shelf.

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Of course, there’s a teddy bear who occupies this BookNook and he reads to his three little friends.

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I also created a couple of shadow boxes that hung on the wall along with a few other pictures, related to some the teddy’s favorite books.

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Here is the one side of the finished piece, BookNook.

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Here you see it fully open.

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Below is the center section of this box.  Making the decisions on where all the items should be placed is one of the most time consuming things.

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In the photo below, you can see a bit of the exterior and how it coordinates with the interior.

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A view of the other side of the closed box with the open shelves.

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This is Kurt who loves books – just like me.

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Thank you for dropping by and checking out my most recent bears&boxes piece.  I hope you enjoyed this window into my process.  Yeah, a bit nuts at times but I’m used to it.

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