#box-making

Three book-boxes!

The Galaxy Fabergé Egg

I have always had a fascination about how much details Carl Fabergé put into his Easter eggs that were made for the Russian Tsar, Alexander III. Apparently out of the 69 that were made, only 57 survived. I have seen it featured in movies and television series, often traded as a very high value treasure. They were made with precious metals, gems and a very beautiful enamelling method called the Guilloché.

Initially, I bought this pattern that was meant for a pineapple box made of glass. It is sold by a Russian designer, Алексей Тонких, on Etsy. I decided that I did not exactly like the pineapple, so I decided to attempt a Fabergé egg inspired box instead. 

This box took me a total of 10 days to make, which is 5 times longer than I would spend on a normal (or rather rectangle or square) box with a simple structure. The parts had to be meticulously cut. Even though I tried my very best to be as accurate as I can, the two halves did not match up very well. There were a lot of tweaking and forceful manipulation to bring the box to its final fixed shape. 

I covered the box first in a lime green book cloth, and then decorated it with a sheet of Tyvek® I coloured last year while making the covers for a competition book. As the colours the the Tyvek® resemble deep space, I decided to add gold foil dots so that it reflects light like stars in the galaxy. The inner paddings are covered in a dark blue velvet book cloth which makes it look almost like an endless abyss.

There were countless problems which I took as learning experiences. For one, my ribbon is not in a good position and hence it does not hold the lid up at an ideal angle. The lid of the box is heavy, so it tends to lean backwards when there is nothing in the box. Lastly, geometry is really very mind-blowing, It is amazing how a slight deviation to angles can result in parts not lining up.

Little Unassuming Box of Surprises

Just before I take a break from making boxes and go back to starting work for bookbinding commissions again, here is one little unassuming box that I made, inspired by Bep van Gasteren’s Surprise Box.

This is similar to hers except that I made the box only open in half, with triangle top and bottom. I did not make any plans for the size of the box, but it happened to be in almost the exact size for this tile patterned paper that I had. So I went ahead and use the tiles to feature the sides and the bottom of each tray. 

After multiple non-squared boxes, I made sure that I was as accurate as I could for this box, since it was made up of square trays and a rectangle outer box. To my surprise, I was too accurate and the box is an air-tight fit. I also tried using a mitre cutter that was meant for woodworking, to cut the mitred edge of the outer box that meets the triangle base and top. 

Finding Treasure in Box-making

This is the second week of box making.  And this week, I decided to attempt the treasure box, or treasure chest. A palm-sized one.

The box turned out quite pretty. The patterned paper was from some wallpaper samples I took from Mark’s studio when I was there. It was a stack of outdated wallpaper samples that were discarded by an interior designing firm. Wallpaper samples are great, because wallpaper is made to withstand hard use, and it is ideal for box-making, and they come in various colours, patterns and even textures. 

For this box, I did not follow any instructions and simply build it based on deductions, drawings and measurements. As I have not made this shape before, I attempted building the round arch lid first, and I did not use a former or any jigs to get this done. I merely measured and cut the sides, and attach the arch by using various thin cardstock before layering it with a 1mm greyboard.

That was a mistake, because when it came to making the base of the box, I did not measure the thickness of the lid’s walls and therefore my base had thinner walls and when I added the padding for the gallery (that part that slips inside the lid to close the box snuggly), it did not match up. 

In life, when faced with a conundrum, it is best to walk away, have a thought and tackle it when the mind is fresh. After a good sleep, I woke up deciding that I should add an extra padding between the box wall and the gallery padding.  Instead of trying to hide it, I covered it with the same patterned paper as the linings so that it becomes an accent. 

Of Triangles, Squares and Diamonds

When I first started making this box, I did not have a clear idea of what I was going to end up with. I knew that the main section will be the triangle box as taught by Bep van Gasteren. The lid and the bottom tray came about much by chance and I was led by the box into how it would turn out. 

I made this flottage paper earlier this year for a lovely friend/customer who wanted flottage papers in the tones of nude skin, terracotta and rustic pink. I ended up with a lot of pinkish papers that I find difficult to use (I am not a big fan of the colour pink). Turned out, when I used it for this box, paired with the terracotta book cloth, it worked brilliantly. 

The end result of the box turned out to look almost oriental, perhaps it is the choice of colours, the beads for the lid and how when placed together, looks like a little shrine of sorts. 

A Trio of Drawers

This week, I decided to attempt making a drawer set. This involves making 2 smaller drawers, then using its measurements for the large drawer, and then using the measurements of the drawers to make the housing.

I chose a piece of marbled paper I purchased from Jemma Lewis some years back and decided to use the size of the small piece of marbled paper to determine the size of my drawer set. So it ended up rather small and cute.

The drawers and the housing are covered in a peacock blue book cloth to match the accents of blue in the marbled paper. The inners of the housing is lined with a dark green card, also to match the marbled paper but to give it a dark mysterious finish to an area of a box that usually is neglected and left uncovered. The paddings of the drawers are lined with a very nice dark blue velvet. I did consider making ring slots in the smaller drawers but I do not have much jewellery so I kept it as a basic drawer so I could keep other little things in them.

The Ugly Pumpkin Box

During Halloween, I am always very fascinated with the ugly pumpkins and gourds that are put on display at the local supermarket. They usually have knobs and bumps and to most people, they are very ugly. But to me, I love the textures and I often wonder if they are for sale. There is never a sign about whether if they are decoration or if they could be bought. When I was in Taiwan late last year, I saw a little ceramic tea caddy that was in the shape of a pumpkin, I really loved it, but decided not to buy it because I did not exchange much money, though now, I do really wished that I had bought it. 

When I found this hexagonal box, termed as the lantern box, all I could see is a pumpkin. And I wanted to look for a cloth or patterned paper that could bring out the distinctive shape of the box. I chose a piece of marbled paper by Jemma Lewis and it was ideal!

I must say, any box that is not square or rectangle, is really a challenge. The angles involved have to be carefully calculated and measured. Sometimes, when I make boxes, I tend to let the box guide me along with the measurements, i.e., it becomes almost organic and my boxes usually are extremely snug. But for a hexagonal box, I tried my best to be accurate, but when I was trying to measure out for the lid, it was no longer an even hexagon. It is almost oblong. During the making of the internal walls of the box, again, the angles at which I had to cut the board was mind-boggling.