Matchboxes

One of my resolutions was to make at least one matchbox art by the Finnish artist and master bookbinder paperiaarree. I think I originally found her beautiful books on Etsy, and through that discovered her "Letters to You" matchbox pieces. I've been totally smitten with them ever since. She makes and posts one a day during the advent season, and I just love seeing the objects and arrangements of these little mini collages.

I've wanted to make my own for some time now. Lord knows I have enough little bits that will fit into a matchbox. Now that I've finally made it a priority, I've managed to make a few. They're not perfect, my craft is off and there's been some trouble shooting. I keep getting hung up on the right type of paper for both the box and the cover. It needs to be sturdy, but not a board. The only stiff paper I have is white, so that means covering it with another paper. I'm not super happy with the paper for the covers either. It also needs to be stiff, but I think somewhat thinner than the box. I get discouraged because I have so much paper, but it never seems to be the right size/weight/color. The fantasy is to someday have a large flat file with wider variety of basic papers.

These are a few of the first efforts. Some are better than others. I'm also getting hung up on what the heck am I going to do with these? They're not professional enough to sell for much money, so I'll probably just start mailing them to people. Perhaps they will become new homes for charms I make and sell. We'll see. For now it's just a fun thing and a good use of all my little bits.

Thanks for reading!