Tarot Box-making hobby

celeste

Beautiful work! The boxes remind me of some I saw in Mexico where a tarot card (The Moon and Death) were decoupaged onto a wooden or paper box lid(the size of the card). There were also some were the card was somehow inserted into a tin lid as well. People have many good ideas out there! These boxes were selling for $15-20 each.
 

blue_fusion

i'm glad to be of help guys. and, it's something that doesn't really take much hand dexterity (as compared to, say, drawing). in fact, zen-type designs like the one i posted some posts back, don't demand much effort. :) with the other boxes i made - the ones with a hole in the centre, just follow the guide, but work with a "cover" piece with a preexisting hole. after covering everything with craft paper, the hole should still be there (you'll then glue another piece of illustration board - with a design - to cover the hole from the inside... i hope that made sense. :D)

another tip, for the "outside" face of the cover part of the box, try crumpling the craft paper finely before gluing it to the surface of the cover. and, when gluing, don't smoothen the wrinkles. it will give (hopefully) a rusticated look to the piece. use varnishing to strengthen it.

both the "holed box" and "wrinkled" techniques were used here: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/30681438/ - i covered the hole form the inside using another illustration board whose dimensions are identical to the cover's largest piece, and glued a cardboard cutout made to look like (hopefully) celtic knotwork. :D
 

blue_fusion

card box sizes?

help! hilfe! saklolo! i'm planning to create a "download and print" type of template for a lidded box to share to you guys. my problem is, that deck sizes vary. so, what would be the best dimensions (length - width - height) of the box? one that can accommodate the dimensions od a lot of different decks.

with the box - nothing fancy, something you can print on card stock (or that paper stock they use for folders), cut and fold. and even decorate.

thanks. :)
 

blue_fusion

Fournier Boxies

the designs are actually inspired by the wonderful art in the thoth, though here the execution's more abstractly executed: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/61804449/ sadly, the gold glaze didn't show much.

and, as a tip to other box-making enthusiasts out there, i discovered that mixing powdered laundry detergent with acrylic as a base coat creates a wonderfully uneven texture. here i used an ivory base coat. then i rubbed dark brown gouache all over it with my fingers to let the contrasts in the texture show. it's a wonderfully... random experience. lol
 

morticia monroe

I love the boxes, Blue. And your directions are very clear and easy to follow. Thank you for the wonderful ideas. I also love crafting, and have been having a ball creating ornate bags for my decks. But I'm ready to try my hand at something else, and the boxes are a perfect next project. Your designs are inspiring.
 

Debra

Good grief, these are exquisite.
 

Abrac

blue-fusion I've enjoyed looking at your creations. You've inspired me to post some pics of a box I made recently for a Visconti-Sforza deck.

Box 1
Box 2

I thought about doing a tutorial with pictures a while back but wasn't sure if there would be any interest. If this is something some of you would be interested in I'll be glad to do it. I can probably do a little each day and post as I go.
 

blue_fusion

yay. more crafters! btw, that looks nicely vintage abrac. really fits the deck it houses. i never could get that smooth finish with covering the box.

i'd wanna make print-and-cut downloadables for people here too - that is, they just run the cardstock on their printer and print the box template, as well as those intricate patterns they can cut out - but i dunno which dimensions would be ok. plus i have no idea how to make pdf files. haha

anyway, this quote from WalesWoman actually reminds me of something i just recently discovered:

WalesWoman said:
OH I really love the Tiffany styled box... the colors and design are nice. I wish the laser could cut in color. LOL

there are actually pc-compatible... devices that do that now. they look like printers, but cut the paper instead. you just plug them to a pc, and give them the designs you want cut. i just recently found out about them. they're actually different products: Wishblade (by xyron), Silhouette (by Quickutz) and Craft Robo. but... big caveat: the cheapest of them's worth over $300. ugh.
 

blue_fusion

Faux Fossilstone Slipcase

http://blue-fusion.deviantart.com/art/faux-fossilstone-slipcase-62509880

an attempt at a slipcase box. i still can't get the exact measurements for a snug fit. they either end up too tight, or in this case, a bit loose. the pattern's the same as one of those fournier boxes i posted earlier (in fact, the deck in the box is the fournier marseilles). din't expect it to look so... necromantic-y. hmmm...