Where was I?

How busy I've been! Life can throw you some angles, def. A couple of days ago, I was sifting through some storage boxes and stumbled upon my most delicate, tiny seashells and a box of domed antique paperweights. I could not resist either of them.

But did I still know how to construct my fleur de mers?

I think I've done well, but oh how I miss my dental tweezers! So handy to have. I enjoy the challenge of working inside these domed paperweights. First, the craftsmanship must be well done, as the domes are cast to magnify the curiosities inside. Second, I only have 3/8" height inside each dome. I must be extremely careful in constructing the flowers so that they are intricate enough to keep your attention, but small enough to fit easily inside. The domes themselves are 3.25" across and the inside is about 1.75" wide.

The challenge is to construct an arrangement that is simple but arresting. There is tons of editing that goes on inside my mind as I make my design choices.

Here is how I go about making them—I start first with making flowers and seeing how they will look and fit under the dome. Lovely! Next, I carefully cut circles out of all black presentation board and then back the black presentation board with cork. This way, the paperweight won't slip about your desk. I love the contrast of my shell flowers against black. I choose all black presentation board as I think the color is rich and dense and looks better than other boards with a black top, but white board is underneath.

When the bottom of the paperweight is ready, I then construct how the flowers lay and the overall design inside the paperweight. This is when all that editing happens. Only the smallest, most colorful shells and tidbits will look best. I then painstakingly glue the elements to the board, working from the center out, like a mandala. Except, I try very hard not to be symmetrical, as I think having something just a little off keeps the design lively.

 And then it's a matter of carefully gluing the black board to the domed glass and admiring it before I compose a blog post about the process and put it up for sale on Etsy!

SB01: Black Belinda—Top is Finished

The top is finished for my Black Belinda shell art box, worked in traditional tramp shell art style. i had made the grey shell flower out of jingle shells a long time ago, but i thought—who would want a grey rose? it looks like a stone rose. this teaches me that its not so bad to keep the stuff you don't think immediately works. its perfect for our belinda, who—marine that he is—is fond of black and green. add grey and brown, and viola! instant colour palette.

the shiny black box is the perfect background for the sturdy, dark shells. even the flower feels somewhat masculine. the jingle shells are pretty sturdy and is a good counter point to the shark eye and whatever those two spiny brown shells are. from there, it was just finding the right shells and fossil shark teeth to encircle the gold black belinda art and then building out the shell design from there. i used blue mussels, brown clams, black umboniums, and dark green/black littornia.

the last time i've worked this dark in colour was when i started my mermaid diary. i should dig that project out later. but for right now, the belinda top needs to rest and the 527 needs to dry. i love these cigar boxes. they smell heavenly! in my mind, i have the sides designed, so i think i might be able to complete this project before the weekend ends. i love belinda box's traditional, tramp art style. i've even given the seashell box nerite footers, so it sits off the ground.