T Stands For Epiphany T

 

Epiphany has come and gone, but I'm playing catch up.  I apologize for the length of this post.  It would have been even longer, but I cut it short, as you will see if I ever get this finished in time.

I want to finish opening all the boxes in the Christmas advent calendar.  These are all items that can or might be found in any altered book or journal pages.

We left off with Day 10.  Inside were these wonderful puzzle pieces I covered with words and an image dancing on a bed of gold netting. I wired them in place using colored craft wire.

 

Day 11 has one of my favorite box decorations.  I used two matching African beads to denote the day. But the fun doesn't stop there.

On the inside is a tiny vial filled with sand and tiny shells. Also in the box is a stand alone shell.  Both were laid out over a piece of silk fabric I stamped.

This is a horrible photo of Day 12, which was marked by vinyl numbers.

Scrabble tiles spell out the word "Fly," while a couple of bird feathers stick around for good measure, and the entire word is written on a wooden cube that has five other words on it. Not sure what kind of game it is from, but I thought it went well with the rest of the composition.

For the numbers, I dug out my deckle shaped decorative scissors and went to town on a couple of stickers.

Inside is a small white envelope that holds a tag and a coupon.

 

I used more vinyl letters to mark Day 14.

Day 14 is a blue day.  Inside is a bottle cap, a bit of rick rack, and a piece of blue wire that holds the pieces to the foam in the box. 

 

I once again used vinyl letters, but this time I painted them purple and added yellow dots.

 

I used a play coin for the outside, but a genuine international coin that I placed inside the tiny envelope.

This shows the outside of Days 16 and 17.  Day 16 is represented by a lite brite stick and one of those glow in the dark numbers.  The number 17 is represented by a bottle cap that I decorated/filled with a piece of silver solder (the "1" and a piece of copper wire (the "7").

This is from my original photo and it looks better than the one above.

 

The inside of Day 16 is all about cigar wrappers and cigar box labels.  The inside of Day 17 looks better in this photo than the close-up.

Inside are a photo of a cigar box lid, a miniature cigar box label made for scrapbooks, and two actual cigar bands.

 

Not much better, but at least you can see the texture and the numbers.

This box opened to a piece of golfer related ribbon and a golf tee.  I think my original photos were better than this.

 

This was the original box that was for Day 18, which revealed a length of tape measure, some snaps, and a heart shaped button. It looked like a well stocked sewing box!  Somehow I forgot to take a photo, so had to use my original photo.

 

This is the outside of box 19,which I also forgot to photograph. It looks like I need to stick the "9" down a bit better. I combined it, a vinyl sticker, with a strip from a Hershey's kiss tag to complete the number.

 

 Somehow I had trouble getting a shot of the inside of Day 19 which was a slide mount with the slide inside it.  I painted and covered the slide mount with Braille text I colored to show off the little raised dots.  To the slide mount, I added two tiny clothes pins that are about an inch long.

For Day 20, I adhered a piece of a map, then added one of those tiny compasses scrapbookers made popular. 

 

I also forgot to photograph the outside of Day 21, so I had to use my old photo.

 

I always love opening Day 21.  But I didn't seem to get all the pieces withdrawn from the box, so

I went back to my old photo and showed some of the bits I missed.

Day 22 through Day 25, the box lids open from the bottom.  This box is not velvet, but a shiny silky black jewelry box. On it, I've added some green masking tape and used my Krylon gold leafing pen to outline the edges and write the number.

Inside is a wreath, already hung and welcoming . I colored some paper using various acrylic paints, then cut hands from a tiny punch.  The colors are way off here, but I don't have time to change them.

 

A bit more realistic color wise.  And you can see the outside of boxes 23 through 25, too.

In case you can't tell, this box is purple velvet.  Inside, the pieces were polymer clay from molds I made myself. I first heated my hot glue gun and added a stick of "multiple temperature" glue. When the glue gun was hot, I inked a stamp with pigment ink, then poured a puddle blob of hot glue. As quickly as possible, I stamped HARD into the blob of molten glue. I left the stamp in the hot glue until it had cooled and turned from clear to translucent. At that point, I removed the stamp and had made a mold for polymer clay. If you have used enough hot glue, you will have a substantial mold. I use one short stick (about 4" long) for each mold. As the stamp buries into the glue, the glue forms a nice wall around the stamp.

On Day 24, out popped a set of vintage sparkly earrings. Now I could have altered them, but at the time I made the box, I just couldn't bring myself to do so. They look too sweet this way.  And they would have been so lonely if they had been separated.

For Day 25, the top of the case contains a lovely piece of decorative ribbon that has bangles and baubles attached.  

 

The bottom of the case tells the whole story. Everything I used in the jewelry boxes of this tree could be used in altered books, altered art, art journals, and assemblages. I stamped a borrowed "B" on some of my handmade paper, and the rest of the letters are vinyl letters and one sticker.  It appears the U lost its way, but this is supposed to read "A B Stuff."

 

Here again is the tree before any of the boxes were opened.

 

And here it is in all its glory, with every box opened to reveal "AB STUFF."  Please note, the last two photos were taken with my old camera.

I had intended to share some lovely gifts and cards I received this past week.

However, I also just received a card and a package (one I had to sign for, so I know it came about 20 minutes  before this is supposed to go live.  I haven't had time to photograph or open either, so all these goodies will have to wait till next week.  And YES, I realize T is running late this week.  It took longer than I thought it would.  BTW, the poinsettia has now dropped all but three leaves and I have moved it to my office where it is much warmer.  Since this is so late, I didn't have time to proof it.  I hope if I made any mistakes, you won't laugh too hard.

I'm sure by now, most of you know the rules.  Please share your own drink related post.  It can be gifts you received, photos, a place you visited, movies, postcards, mail art, junk mail, catalogs, books, sketches, mixed media, drawings, paintings, tags, scrapbooking, or other art that is digital, hybrid, or traditional, as long as it in some way relates back to a drink, any drink.  Regardless, please share below and Bleubeard and I, along with the rest of the T gang will be by to visit.   Please link only your T post and not your blog in general.  Bleubeard would like to remind you that old photos are acceptable because they may be taken any time, not just on Tuesday and not just this year. 

EDIT: Because there is some confusion, the items in the little boxes are either glued or wired in place. I made this tree in 2010, all items are the same as when I made it, and it is starting to show its age.