Hey Lady, where'd ya get those boxes?

I often get asked... where do you get your boxes? Well I make them of course. They start out as sheets of binders board that are cut into pieces, glued, sanded and then covered with paper or cloth. I guess I assumed that everyone knew that. Silly me! Each box at the very minimum, is made up of 7 pieces of cut board but usually many more... a base, 4 sides or walls, a lid, and an inner lid... everything else is embellishment. I also cut and cover pieces of board to use as "risers" to add visual interest and some dimension to an otherwise flat lid. So Yes, I build my boxes from scratch, so to speak, and I teach boxmaking too so that others can make boxes too.

Here is a stack of binders board just waiting to become something fabulous.

Here are a few boxes that have been cut and glued and are waiting to be sanded. They are glued up using PVA (poly vinyl acetate) adhesive onto mylar. The PVA doesn't stick to the mylar so when glue is dry the boxes can be pealed off easily (if not for the mylar the boxes would be glued to the table). The next step would be to cover the boxes with paper or cloth... this also requires a series of cuts and folds. I use PVA when covering the boxes with paper or cloth and also for attaching 2 pieces of board (such as when layering a lid).

 

 OK... I usually keep this area a bit more tidy... but this is my board shear. Oh how I love my board shear. It is a huge paper cutter that could slice off my fingers like butter....I use it to cut the binders board used to make my boxes and books. There is a counter weight that makes the blade light as a feather to lift but because I have little ones occasionally in my studio and because the blade is so sharp... I have left the counter weight off. This makes it more difficult to lift the blade but it but it is safer to have in the house this way. This little beauty has a cast iron base and a wooden top and is extremely heavy. When we moved it into the house, we took the top off the base and removed the blades and even then it took 4 guys to get it into the basement. 

Here is my little shop of horrors... it is in desperate need of some TLC. I cannot believe that I am actually posting pics of my studio in this condition... I usually try to keep things neat and tidy but obviously it has been some time since this space has known "neat and tidy. I have messy little piles everywhere and I sometimes spend more time digging for things than actually working. This is a great space but I really need to get it organized.

Yes, I work under these conditions

 

 

I love these big (there are 2) windows in my studio space that look out into the rest of the basement/play area.  We have mats on the floor and a swing and other fun things for the kids.  Depending on how well they are getting along... I can watch the play while I work in my studio. You would think that I would get more work done with a set up like this but sadly you are mistaken.  The boys don't want mom to "watch" them play they want me to help them fight the forces of evil or push them on the swing or fix the VCR tape that got stuck... So needless to say I usually get more done after they go to bed.