Houses for Anniversary swap

These pages actually started with a trip to Ebersols, a gem and jewelry store that has been going out of business for ages. My dear friend Sally took me a couple of weeks before Kat and I went on her birthday. I already had some lovely stenographer shorthand paper that Dana had given me, so when I saw the nibs, I knew they needed to go with the paper. I also found some wooden number 5s, just perfect since this is ABC’s 5th anniversary and wood is the 5th year anniversary gift.

Several weeks ago, I played around with transferring images to wood Formica chips, to no avail. I soon discovered that the dark images didn’t go well on the Formica and my process left something to be desired. I had all the images, so I turned them into packing tape transfers, something I have much better success with.
I knew I wanted to make houses. I’ve been on a houses kick for awhile now, and I love the way they look. So, the first thing I did was cut the circles from (SHHH, don’t tell the PO) flat rate envies. I don’t eat enough cereal to generate 15 squares, and snacks at my house do not come in boxes!! I cut 42 squares to get 15 good ones from my Fiskars Circle Cutter, a tool the Arthritis Association would give a D-. I still have the blisters to prove it! The second set of 15, which I used for the first group I made (see post below) were actually easier, but no less painful. I only cut 27 to get 15 good ones.
I began this layout by making the packing tape transfers. Next I hand painted rosin paper seen in this photo, adding many layers of color for a worn look. I then cut houses from Sizzex tag dies using scrapbook paper scraps and my hand painted paper. When these were all cut, I painted both sides of the circles with blue and green paint, then squished on (a very technical art term) gesso for clouds. It sounds like a very quick process, but I didn’t think these would ever dry. However, they finally did and I was ready to proceed.

I had carefully drawn a prototype, but when I had cut the requisite number of houses and was ready to adhere them to the circles, I realized I had forgotten to include the Formica chip in the design. Consequently, the prototype and the finished product are not the same, but only on one side. The above photo shows all the houses with the wooden 5s and Formica chips.

From the beginning, I knew I wanted to wrap the houses around to the other side. That didn’t change, but the wrapped houses didn’t always look like houses in my opinion. Oh well, artists know it’s altered art and will just have envision that they are houses with their tops and bottoms cut off. It just goes to show that circles are very hard for me to work with, since I will admit this is my first time working with this shape.

One thing that surprised me was how well a glue stick adhered the roof to the Formica chip. Goes to show if you have that counter top, don’t use glue stick and paper anywhere near it. To add to the dimension and ensure a good hold, I used dimensional tape on the back of the roof.
The nibs were difficult to adhere, and I only bought 15, since they were a bit pricey. I used about a gallon of E6000 trying to get them to stay on. I tugged at a few last night, and I think they are holding. The above photo shows all 15 houses with the nibs for chimneys.
Once the assembly began, these were much easier than the others. However, the elements involved took a lot longer than the first set I made. I used glue stick to hold the paper houses in place. I’m not fond of glue sticks, so we shall see how well it holds.
Another closeup of a few more tape transfers. The glare never goes away, no matter how I position the camera.
Formica chip houses are shown here. They are all wooden, although the glare doesn't seem to show that.

A single side, the packing tape transfer is not as obvious, except in the glare of the photo.
The other side, with the glare now on the Formica chip.

Again, I used my camera to photograph these, since the nibs and the numbers would never have scanned well. Yes, everything I do seems to be very dimensional. I hope the photos will enlarge enough so you can see the various images I used in the packing tape transfers. They all came from "Antiques" magazine, a freebie I get once a month.

Thanks for looking and following my thought process. Comments are always welcome.