The Doll Collector

As many of you know, I love to travel. The thought of going back in time 100 years would be beyond interesting. Could you imagine how many awesome treasures I could find, not to mention how different things would be. 

Over the years I have collected a few trunks. I have my great grandmothers large trunk that I stupidly painted white, my great great aunt's humpback wooden trunk, a gorgeous, huge humpback trunk that even has the inside tray and top storage areas. The most recent purchase was a ginormous antique steamer trunk with four drawers on one side and a place to hang things on the other. It really is massive. I'd love to have it in my studio, but it's just too big. But Alpha Stamps solved that by creating a tiny chip board trunk that even comes with drawers and all sorts of details. I used it to make the "Doll Collector's Trunk". It's part of this months kit, "Vintage Vagabond".

 

 

Dolls in the Attic Collage Sheet 

 Dolly & Me Collage Sheet

 

The Doll Collector travels the world, collecting beautiful old dolls to bring home and keep her company in her art studio. She needs plenty of room because no doll can be left behind.

 

The Doll Collector has many letters and postcards from all around the world. Her contacts let her know when they have found more darlings for her to collect. It was super easy to create this bundle of letters. All I did was cut, fold, and glue images from  Tiny Vintage Letters & Postage Collage Sheet . Some letters are even double sided!

 Tiny Vintage Letters & Postage Collage Sheet

 

 

I didn't know this until a few years ago when a friend told me, but if you cut a piece of ribbon to use for a project, all you have to do is burn the end a little to "seal" it and it won't fray.

Simple trick when you have white or colored metal... use a bit of Alcohol Ink on it and you can make it the shade of metal you want, gold, silver or bronze.

 

 

To cover my trunk I simply cut a sheet of paper larger then the trunk itself and made sure to have enough extra to fold up and cover the sides.

After gluing the paper to the main trunk section, I could then cover the sides. I didn't measure, just cut each corner from the corner of the paper to the corner of the box, then wrapped it up like a present.

After trimming off the excess paper, I then used a file (stroking downwards) to finish the edges. Add a little brown ink and it looks like a top of the line, custom made trunk.

 

When making your drawers, be sure to score the fold lines. This will make for a better and more even crease. For an excellent assemblage tutorial visit http://www.alphastamps.com/art/TrunkInstruction.pd. The amazing Teri Calia shows every detail in assembling every part of this fabulous steamer trunk!  

 

Love those Alpha Stamps Digital Downloads! I can print up as many sheets as I want. Using two copies of  Steamer Trunk Parts Collage Sheet I was able to line my drawers. I just trimmed the excess off of the top and added some brown ink to my edges.

Steamer Trunk Parts Collage Sheet

Everything is already done for you. All you have to do is cut, score, and glue!

After assembling all of my drawers, I used a small hole punch and some Hitch Fasteners to create drawer knobs. The fasteners screw together to make an actual working knob.

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Thanks for visiting. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave it in a comment and I will get right back to you. I'm off to the antique store to find more dolls!