A New Project

When I posted about my new storage boxes, you may have noticed sat on my desk some oddly shaped chipboard boxes beginning to take shape:

When I was sorting through my huge amount of stash, I came across some leftover pages of a paper pad I had used in a project ages ago (Memory Trunk)... one of my very favourites - "Mariposa". The problem with many of these scrapbook pages, is that they are just too pretty to cover with photographs and journalling, and it's hard to embellish a page that is already so ornate with decoration. So, they've sat in a drawer waiting to be rediscovered. I also had left over a clock mechanism, torn book pages, scraps of chipboard and so many other bits and pieces! I grabbed a whole load of inspiration from Kathy Orta (Paper Phenomenon - see link on the right) and have started making a mantle clock. It's a bit on the large size, as the clock mechanism I had needed about a 6.5" diameter clockface. Kathy's version is about 8 or 9 inches wide I think... Mine is nearly 12 inches - and just as high too! At the moment, it's in pieces as I'm doing this project slowly - adding and re-jigging things as I rediscover what's hidden away in my stash pile. Even the mod-podge I'm using to 'lacquer' the project is leftovers - a mixture of what I found in the bottom of old bottles. Instead of numbers for the 'dial', I've used some brads leftover from a previous project.

As I wanted this clock to be different from the grandfather clock I have recently finished, I decided that after covering it with the torn book pages, I would paint the edges (Gesso so thick it needed to be thrown out, but mixed with very cheap leftover childrens white paint to thin it out) and then age the edges a bit with some ink. I'm being so frugal that I even washed out and re-used a dilapidated old blending sponge that really had seen better days! The paper I chose for the back would have lost a lot of the wording - which is my favourite bit - had I cut it as is... so I used the top part of the paper for the bottom part of the clock base.

The inside is still a bit 'bendy', something which I hope will better itself when the middle banding is attached. I'm keeping the inside just as the torn pages design. I knew that the leftover pieces of chipboard I have really wouldn't be big enough to fill the whole space - so I put in dividers. I thought that I would use the long space for envelopes and letter paper, and the smaller spaces for pens and pencils - leaving a space large enough for an album that can be made from scraps - the space is about 9"x3".

The album will be bound with rings - as I found some lurking in a drawer - so that's just more leftovers to use up! What a shame my New Years Resolution wasn't to use up as much of my stash as I could - I'd have been doing brilliantly with that :)

I'm actually doing quite well with my resolutions...well, a couple of 'mantras' really:

Housework before Craft work!

and

A tidy desk is a productive desk!

We'll see how long those last! *lol*

Well, I've rambled on for a while now, so I'm off to look for Miss Violet - Baby does love to play in the snow! (Unlike Callie, the sensible cat and Lily the old dog).

Keep Crafting Happy!