A New Friend in New Mexico

Here's the box that started it all...it looks pretty innocent, just a 4" square box that opens up to a flat 12" square with nine little areas of fun places for photos and memorabilia.
The lid had a little metal embellishment circle on top. I had it for sale at "B Inspired," my favorite shop, and it was just minding its own business last fall when a gal came in and purchased it.

Now, let's jump several months ahead to the middle of April. A message on our answering machine was from a lady named Carol who was trying to track down the person who had made the box she received for Christmas from a friend. Lo and behold, she lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico! Now my curiosity was really piqued...how did a box I made in Central City, NE wind up clear down in the Southwest??? It turns out her friend had traveled through our fair state of Nebraska last fall.

Carol was interested in having me make a box for a friend of hers for her birthday in May. We corresponded via email and I learned that Carol had retired from an office position at the University of New Mexico and that she is a "First Reader" for the UNM Press. Sounds like someone I will hit it off with!

I had a lot of clues about her friend that helped me make a very unique box as a birthday gift. It has lots of movable and removable parts, and interesting little features. There is not as much area to put personal photos in as usual because I did get a little carried away with the clever(?) bits and pieces. Here is the box, with some instructions or comments about how the parts were made.

I had this scrapbook paper that was nice and heavy, and had kind of a "shabby chic" look to it. It had the greens and black and white that Carol mentioned her friend liked, and I think it looks rather sophisticated with the foreign words. I divided the paper into 4" squares, 9 in all, and drew very light lines with pencil on the inside. Then I took a ruler and a bone folder or some other tool with a crisp edge, and scored the lines. (Scoring simply means you make a crease on the lines but you do not press hard enough to cut through them. Scoring is an essential step to make your box edges fold sharply and accurately.)

If you look closely, you can see that I made four cuts, each 4" long, just to the center square. I would cut in a line then skip a line, rotate the paper a quarter turn, then repeat the whole process 3 more times. You can see where I folded the uncut side toward the other cut; all around the inside square I folded the sides up, which becomes the bottom of the box. To shut the box, you just bring up the sides, and one side nestles inside the other, to form a 4" box.

Here is one of the nine little "pages" in the box. It is a folded "flower" design, which is created with intricate folds and by pressing the edges crisply.

When you unfold all the little sides, there is a space inside for a circular photo or other embellishment. I chose to put in a clear acrylic piece that has a few words of wisdom about travel and discovery. It tucks back into the folded flower with very little effort. I glued the whole thing onto a 3-7/8" square piece of scrapbook paper and pondered which of the nine squares of my box shape to glue it to. I finally decided to make the individual "pages" or squares, and then arrange them to my liking and glue them down later. I am glad I did because there were some ways that looked better than others, or that shut up or closed better than others when I had them all done. Note: I glued all my objects to 3-7/8" squares, so the box would close easily.

Another page, which wound up being the center square, was a moveable puppet that I found a pattern for online and made it small enough to fit in the box, even if she had to be in a strange physical position. ( I will see if I can find the free website that had such adorable moving pieces.)I made the outside 7-7/8" x 3-7/8," folded the two sides in 2" and put a grommet and ribbon in place so it could be tied shut. Then I used a gold pen and wrote "All the World's a Stage" in gold ink.

For the puppet, I used cardstock and very small paper-fasteners such as are used in scrapbooking to hinge the arms, legs, and head. I used odd- and end-pieces of patterned scrapbook paper for her clothes, and I really like the colored plumes on her head! I added a star or two, and we were ready for stardom!

Carol told me that both she and her friend are fans of the Robert Sabuda pop-up books, and I found a really simple but pretty 3-D flower on his website. He has many great pop-ups and movable patterns. Since her friend likes flowers, this one seemed a natural. I made the inside first, with the pink flower, and glued it onto a plain white piece of cardstock. Then I made the outside of the "book" with some hand-made paper with leaves and flowers pressed into it. It ties shut with ribbon. Using grommets really helps protect the paper covers from tearing.

I inked the edges of the little saying and glued it onto the inside; it says "Friends are flowers in life's garden." I also inked the edges of the pink cardstock pieces with a darker pink and it really helps the petals stand out.

Last year I used a trunk idea as a design for the cover of a play about the pioneer days, and I thought it could work for a page in this box as well. I tinkered around with some paper and finally got my trunk the right size and configuration for the 4" area. I think the brown paper is probably about 9" or 10" tall and 3-7/8" wide. I folded it so the top of the trunk came over the bottom, and I made sure to cut out the tab in the center of the lid that would slide down through the suede leather strip I fastened down with the two paper fasteners. It serves the purpose of keeping the trunk closed when the tab is slipped through the leather. I used stamping ink and colored pencils to give the trunk some dimension and age. I used a white colored pencil to doodle a kind of design in the center of the lid. A few suggestions of wood and age with a black pencil, and the trunk was ready to go.

I took two pieces of cardstock approximately 3" x 6" and folded them in half. I then stitched down the center fold with my sewing machine. After inking the edges, I glued the front and the back pages of the book onto the trunk, and then I glued the whole thing onto a piece of 3-7/8" paper. Here's a place to display some small photos.

I found the best quote from Eleanor Roosevelt while I was scavaging through sites on my computer, and I knew I had to make a page for it. I cut out the teacup from a printed scrapbook paper and I kept the left side connected on the fold for part of the cut. Putting a piece of white paper at the top gave the impression of the inside of the cup. I could have the teabag tag sticking out through the cup that way, too. I added some old crocheted edging to the background paper and glued the cup on.

I took a teabag and slit it in the back and took out most of the tea leaves. Then I coated the rest with some acrylic varnish to give it a wet look and also keep the tea leaves in place. The inside of the cup reads "Women are like tea bags; you never know how strong they are until they get into hot water." Eleanor Roosevelt. Don't you just love it???

This page features a 3-pocket square. Using 3 different colors of paper, I cut 3 more-or-less triangle shapes, each bigger than the last. (Note the triangle is distorted on the left side so the edge can come up higher to hold more.) They are fastened with grommets and glued onto a 3-7/8" square piece of cardstock. There are three tags that are fastened with a metal hook and chain I purchased at a craft store. The chain is secured to the top grommet. I used some little stamps here and there. These little pockets are great for slipping in little photos or other memorabilia.

My Cricut machine has a cartridge called "A Child's Year," and features all silhouette figures. I have used the two little girls having tea for greeting cards, and I thought it would work here, too. The cover says "Nothing is better than time to spend, laughing and talking with you, my friend." It features a glass flower and a metal fastener that swings out of the way to open the page.

Inside, the silhouette figures of the two little girls are very striking against the light background.

Using a transparency that has a lot of synonyms for "friend" printed on it is a way to create a space where a small photo can be slid in behind it and still show up. I inserted a photo of two friends I found on the Graphics Fairy website, but it can be removed and a more personal photo put there. The rounded indented corners are first on black then white paper and secured with paper fasteners. Of course it is secured to a 3-7/8" piece of scrapbook paper.

My Cricut machine also cuts out fantastic little scrolls and corners and other decorative embellishments like the burgandy one here on this page. I like these corners because you can slip photos in easily. I just put in another image from the Graphics Fairy (one of my favorite blogsites) to show how it could be used. I think it's a good idea to have some relatively flat pieces to counter-balance the thicker or bulkier pages.

Okay, I got all nine "pages" done. Next, I tried them in various arrangements on the inside of my breen/black/white/paper that I had marked and cut. I like it when they are all viewable from one direction, so I settled on my arrangement and glued those squares down onto the inside of my box. This is the arrangement I came up with. I kind of had a bulky, then less bulky, then bulky, etc. arrangement. You will understand when you try to close the box up, that too much bulk on ones next to each other makes it harder to close.

Here's how the pages all fold together. When you pop the lid on, the pages stay nice and square.

Here's the finished box again. I picked up the old china knob at a garage sale for 10 cents and attached it with a nut and bolt to the black lid. This post is getting so long that I don't want to give the instructions for making the lid. I'll do that in the next blog.
Carol is giving her friend the box this week, and I can't wait to hear how she liked it. I'll post more on Carol when I do the box lid tutorial. I am always amazed when Chance or Serendipity or ...call it what you will....makes fun things happen and new people appear on the horizon! The Muses are busy, showing me the way to new friends, new ideas for creating things, and in general, making my life more fun, full, and meaningful. May it always be so for me and for you, too!