Once in a while, for reasons beyond my understanding, I have this urge to craft, to do a project, despite the fact that "now is not a good time." I mean, it's an almost physical compulsion to dive headfirst into a project even when the timing is COMPLETELY off.
Such an urge consumed me this weekend. I had remnants of Valentine's Day candy and cards, and before you could say, "Roses are red..." I was knee-deep making this "Love Box." (Partially inspired by Betty's awesome post about turning nothing into something.)
I started with an empty Truvia box. I love the slant of the lid. After I covered the box with paper, I glued ribbon around the top and on the inside lip. Finally, I gathered a piece of tulle from a bouquet of Valentine's Day roses, stuck a sparkly brad in the center and ta-da! I had my "Love Box." Only one problem: It was empty.
I decided to do a variation on a map-album, so called because it folds up like a road map. Using waste cardboard from packing, I cut out ten rectangles that would fit inside the box. Then I started working on "covers" or decorated rectangles that would fit over the brown, yucky side of the cardboard.
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| This pattern is called "Zin." To it, I added a simple blue heart, a sparkling foam flower, and a brad. |
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| The plastic square was cut from packaging. I painted on a heart-shape with pink nail polish. Then I added sparkle/glitter and 3-dimensional clear glue to make the heart. A pink brad (bar shaped) attaches the heart to the "page." |
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This is the plastic covering for a bunch of flowers. At least, the rose portion was printed on plastic. Beneath the rose, which is transparent, is a Zentangle pattern called "Hurakan."
This is an overlay made, again, of clear packaging material. I colored it with alcohol inks. Beneath it is a Zentangle design. I have rotated the plastic here so you can see how it covers the tangle. Instead of a brad, I used a thumbtack in the center.
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Once all the "covers" were finished, I sandwiched a long piece of blue ribbon (leftover from a gift, part of the packaging) between the "covers" and the cardstock to make "pages." When I finished, I had ten rectangles strung together. But you could flip these over and then you had ten rectangles on the REVERSE side, for a total of 20 "pages." I'll go back and add small photos and journaling to these "pages."
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| When "folded" up, the pages look like this. They all fit neatly inside the box. |
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See?
It took me the better part of two days, but I also did some writing, cleaned house, and spent time with my husband. I'm pretty pleased with the final result.
How about you? Ever get the urge to create? Do you give in? Or lie down until it passes?
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