A working clock card!

For the longest time I have wanted to incorporate a working clock into a card, don't ask me why ...........I just did! Well finally I have done it. These are the kind of quirky projects I love to work on.

My big sister asked me to make a card for her friend Nicola. Now my sister is a sweetheart and is so good to me so I wanted to make something really special. (my little sister who never got a 40th birthday card from me.............don't read this post!!!.....lol............it's coming, its coming!!!!)

I was walking around our local Euro Shop here in Bray and they had little alarm clocks for €1.00 so I took the chance and bought one. Hubby dismantled it for me and I built in into the card below. It is still working and so as not to be mean I dismantled the alarm so it wouldn't go off while it was sitting on her mantlepiece (there is no way to get at the back to turn the alarm off..........hehehe......she would not have been impressed).

When  I get an idea in my head I have to complete the project before the creative flow disappears so this was an all night project. I started at about 9pm and finished at about 9.15am. There was a lot of messing about with sizes, making something hating it, trying something else,  remaking, remaking and remaking. I have to say I love how it looks but at about 3.25am I was not feeling in such a loving mood towards it! Getting the vision of what I wanted and working out the dimensions to make it happen always tends to be my bug bear. So have a peak and see how it turned out. I would love to know what you all think.

This photo below shows the front of the card. I wanted to keep it quite simple as the inside of the card is the showpiece.

 In this photo you can see that the card had to be quite wide to be able to take the clock mechanism. To protect the clock the card has been reinforced with hard card so it it quite heavy and like a box. The side flap shown on the right is kept closed with 3 hidden magnets.

 Here you can see that the card has loads of concertina folds in it. These hold the clock in place and create a large gap for the clock mechanism to sit in. At this point it still hides the secret of what is inside.

Card opening.................oooooh............hehehe. See the bit of red tape on the side. That stuff is so static it sticks to everything. I obviously removed it before I gave it to my sister but I found it about an hour later stuck to my jumper!!!! I was so busy taking the photo that I missed seeing it in the picture!

 And voila..........the inside of the card. When my husband took the clock apart  I cut a piece of hard cardbord to the size I wanted and decorated it. I punched a hole in the middle and placed the section that holds the clock hands through the hole. Then I got Gary to reattach everything and get it working again.  The card needed to be strong enough to hold both the clock and the battery to make it work.. I then trapped this card between the front folds of the concertina fold frame I had made so that it was suspended and had space at the back for the mechanism. .

A card this big needs a box to hold it, thee photos below show the box I made for it to sit in.

As I type this I have just received a text from my sister saying her friend, the guests and the staff at the resturant loved the card  so that's Happy Days for me :)

Ok, time for me to go for a sleep as  I have just spell checkd this blog post and had to add in loads of words I missed out and change some very unusual spelling!!!

Happy Crafting everyone :)

Camera Card

 

 Back of the card

 

 

 Lens Cap

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and just known what you have to make. Well this was the card that came to me a few years ago and I just got up the next day and made it. I got a phone call last night from one of the crafters in Dungarvan reminding me about this card and I just had to dig it out and show you.

If you look carefully you can see that its just all about shapes. A folded rectangle of card that has been cornered at the edges to soften the shape. Circles for the lens lifted with black 3D foam between each layer to give the telescopic look to the lens, finished up with a circular frame with Silver card behind it to give the actual lens look. Punches was used to make the holders for the ribbon and the view lens at the top.

For the back of the card I made a false back to hide my punched pieces and secure them. I have pulled the back so its a bit loose so you can see in the photos how everything fits in. I made up the  back buttons with square punched pieces and a silver pen. The back central panel with the acetate is actually lifted up with 3D foam around the edges so that a photograph can be fitted in as part of the card.

The lens cap is two circles that trap the ribbon between them. If I made this card again in the future I would put a magnet in the middle of these pieces of card and a magnet behind the silver Lens on the front of the camera so that the lens cap would stay on the card :)

This has got to be one of my top ten favorite cards that I have ever made, I hope you like it too. Just think of how many people would love to get a card tailored to match the camera they have. Cool right :) By the way Sharon if you are reading this, yes it is the card you were meant to receive 2 years ago that I couldn't bear to part with!!!! lol.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes - Just Keep on Creating challenge at   http://justkeeponcreating.blogspot.com.au/ . This is their first Challenge and my first ever Challenge entry so I reckon that's a good way for me to start out taking the plunge into the world of Blog Challenges. Go on take the plunge with me and put in an entry :)

Happy Crafting everyone.