Darcy Wilkinson #4 House Of Books Part 2 ....

 "So here we are , part 2 of our house.Today I will show you how I filled up the spaces".

When Leandra sent my box of goodies I found a little bag of hinges inside, I knew straight away that I wanted to use them on this house. So I needed to make a door. I cut a piece of thick card , just slightly smaller than the largest of the house spaces. Literally only a couple of millimetres smaller. The card I used was really stiff and was actually the backing board from a pad of paper. With a craft knife I removed a small diamond shape of card from the upper middle.
 

I scraped on some grunge paste, randomly and unevenly. I stamped the 'lines' stamp from HPXT01 (Remember if you spritz the stamp lightly with water before stamping you will get a great result). Once dry I painted it with Toad Hall, Beach Hut and Hey Pesto.

Next I took a sharp pokey tool and scraped deeper lines into the surface to make it look like the gaps between pieces of wood.
(edit from Leandra: squeals with excitement - this is one of the cool features of Grunge Paste, it can be carved!! My tip, when the grunge past is dry to touch, but still feels cold, it has set, but not totally, the coolness indicated there is still moisture residue in the product that has yet to fully evaporate, it is at this point that it is easiest to carve with a pokey tool - we are all going to be making distressed doors now!!)

 I then rubbed French Roast into the grooves.

Next I dry brushed some Snowflake to the raised areas. Then I went back in and added more French Roast, especially to the edges. I treated the reverse of the door in pretty much the same way.

I used the hinges and clasps from PaperArtsy to attach the door. The hinges come with tiny screws, they are perfect for attaching to the wood of the house but no good in the card of the door. So I used brads to attach the hinges to the door. Of course this meant that the 'legs' of the brads were visible on the back of the door. I remedied this by glueing a piece of brass coloured fabric over the legs.

Now onto the attic space. I cut 3 triangles again from stiff card, attached them with strips of paper in a hinge style. I treated the whole thing in the same way as the door. I left a circle free in the middle for the faux window.

Here you can see the 3 hinged triangles, all painted up. I also made another window section. This comprised of 7 pieces of card, hinged with strips of paper and then treated with Grunge Paste and Fresco Paint.

The window frames were cut from corrugated card, painted to match. Then I poured in a little glossy accents to look like the glass.

I had no idea what to use as a handle. I knew that I would need something otherwise these pieces would be impossible to remove from the house. I searched through all my bags of bits and came across 2 little brass 'somthing-or-others' I believe they came off the top of an old clock. (See it does pay to keep EVERYTHING forever and never throw anything away, at least that is my excuse).

Now the books. Remember when we made the sheets of patterned paper , well only 2 were used to wallpaper the house. I used the other 2 on the mini books. This is the triangle book inside the attic space.

Here are the tags hung on a paper clip that fit into the large drawers. I used the JOFY09 flower stamps and coloured them with Aqua-markers.

Next we have 3 tiny,tiny books that fit into the small drawers. I actually filled them with lots of real photographs that are less than 3cm big. Again I decorated them with bits of the patterned paper. 

These are 'flag' books, they fit in the bottom left space.

These concertina books fit into the right bottom space. I used the alphabet stamps from Ink & The Dog  (Words Plate 2).

Next the window box. This has 2 sections inside, each section has a long concertina of paper inside. I doodled lots of patterns on all the little pages.

Finally behind the door I made a tag book. I took an A4 sheet of paper and folded it up into a booklet. This has turned up edges that are perfect for slipping a tag into. The booklet and the 8 tags were coloured like this.

Step 1: Spray 3 colours of ink onto a craft mat.
Step 2: Spritz with a little water
Step 3: Drag the tag or folder through the ink.
 

You can do this with spray inks or with Aquamarkers, if you are using the markers scribble with them onto the craft mat, add the water and drag as before. Once my tags were dry I put each one through an embossing folder.

Finally here are the 8 tags all decorated. I used pretty much every PaperArtsy stamp that I had. I used a combination of coloured images and black and white.

I was hoping to try the PaperArtsy crackly Tissue Paper, but as that is no longer available I used the 'packing tissue' that came in the box of supplies. ….see.. throw nothing away.

Here is the finished house.. The photo was taken in the library, a house of books inside a house of books.

 Finally, go make yourself a drink and snuggle back to watch this little video. In it I open all the doors and windows, take out all the books and show you all the insides. I hope you enjoy it. I would love to see you make your own patterned paper using Fresco Paints, maybe make a mini book with the paper, or use the idea to decorate a tag or a journal page perhaps.

P.S If you a re interested in making mini books I can recommend this book.
Making Handmade Books by Alisa Golden.

Thank you so much for spending time with me, I will see you again next month.

Darcy xxx

Leandra Says: Well, you have stunned us yet again, I bet no one ever in a million years expected you would go this far with the house you showed us yesterday! It really is the most beautiful and in depth project, and perfectly executed. Carefully thought out, cleverly constructed, and all the elements work perfectly together with your typically bright colours. The video is the icing on the cake.  I think it has to be the most stunning project I have ever seen Darcy. You must be utterly thrilled with it! And you have given us so many ideas to think about and experiment with this week. Thank you for that, and we look forward to seeing you next month! 

...Leandra continues...: I am sure the blog readers with join with me in saying you really had no need to be terrified or worry about being a Guest Designer !! You've been THE BOMB. I really love how each Guest Designer has something different to offer, there is no right or wrong, and we learn from you all something different every week. Darcy you have your own unique twist, and it is truly fascinating to observe, and that is exactly why we were so pleased to have you on board this semester. xx

Gillian Says: Where does one begin with this project, so many genius ideas Darcy ... creating the "door" for one, the "faux glass panel" , the drawers ... the list goes on. Love the use of colour and all the PaperArtsy images you have used in creating such an unique, arty project .... Bravo xx

I'm sure you will agree Darcy has blown us away with her projects this week. If your muse has been spurred into action, share with us all your creativity here, just link up from any web page. We'd love to see what you've been up to as a result!