Windows Through Time
Level - Medium to Hard
Each of the windows in this 2-page spread is made from the different layering of shapes and colors. They are then used as the frame or mat for the individual pictures. Match frames or mats to photos that will showcase them best. All of this is time consuming, and some of the frames or mats can get slightly detailed. That is the reason for the difficulty of these pages.
Materials:
6 family photos from the past
2 12x12 sheets of a brick patterned paper
3-4 variously patterned and nonpatterned vellum
15 or so variously colored papers in at least 5x7 inch sizes
Patterned border punch
Black journaling pen
Black marker
Color printer
Circle shape cutter
Oval shape cutter
Mini sticky dots adhesive
Photo adhesive
Scissors/paper trimmer
Corner rounder
Step 1:
Take the 2 sheets of 12 x 12 printed brick paper and using the photo adhesive mount the paper to fully cover both pages. This brick paper will make a great background for all the windows you will add later.
Step 2:
Use the nonpatterned vellum and a color printer to make the title blocks for each page. Print the word WINDOWS in a distinctive font vertically on a 2½ x 6 inch piece of the vellum and use the mini sticky dots to adhere the top and bottom of the piece down from the top right corner of the left page, leaving about ½ inch between right edge of vellum and the right edge of the page. On another piece of nonpatterned vellum (about ½ square), print a graphic of an old pocket watch with the words THROUGH TIME over the center of the piece. Use the stick dots to adhere each of the four corners and mount in top left corner of the right page, leaving about ¼ inch between the vellum edge and the left and top edges of the page.
Step 3:
Window 1: Cut two ½ x 6½ inch strips from a cream paper, then two strips ½ x 4½ inches. Use these four strips to make a frame 4½ x 6½ inches, attaching the corners with photo adhesive. Cut two more strips from the same cream paper ¼ x 4 inches. Attach these strips as single vertical bars — one about one inch in from each side of the frame. Take a 1 x 6 inch strip of a tapestry print paper and use the border punch along one of the longer edges. Use photo adhesive to mount face down on top edge of frame, overlapping down over the opening of the frame and onto the two vertical bars. Mount a solid color strip 1 x 6 inches, over the tapestry strip but lowering about ¼ inch. Cut two 1 x 3 inch strips of a dot patterned vellum paper and mount to cover the remaining open space between the single vertical bars and the outside edges of the frame. Turn frame over. Cut four ¾ inch squares out of a solid beige paper and mount one square on each of the corners of the frame — place inside corner of the square at the inside corner where the edges of the two frame sides meet. Use a larger sheet of dark brown to mat this finished shape, leaving about 1/8 inch border around all of the edges showing. Cut a 1½ x 8 inch strip from a solid red-brown paper. Cut scallop shapes across one side of the longer lengths of the strip. Cut one scallop across one inch into the edge about ½ inch. Move up another ¼ inch and draw a straight horizontal line with the black marker all the way across the length of the strip. Cut the corners off each of the top edges, tilting from the drawn line into middle by about one inch. Draw seven lines connecting the horizontal line to top edge of the paper, tilting in toward center, one about every inch. Mount this over the top of the frame, scallop edge hanging down. Cut one of the photos to about a 3 x 6 size, and mount frame opening centered over the photo.
Window 2: Cut a 4½ x 5½ inch rectangle of beige solid paper and center and mount a 3 x 4 inch photo on top of this. Cut a freehand window curtain shape from a light colored patterned paper and a tie back shape from a dark solid paper scrap. Mount on top of right corner of photo. The top edge should not come in any further than 1½ inches, and the ridge edge should not be any longer than 3¾ inches. Hand draw fabric folds onto the patterned paper. Cut 3 1/8 inch strips from a solid vellum — two strips 3 ¼ inches long and one strip 4¼ inches long. Mount the longest strip vertically over the center of the photo, and the two shorter ones horizontally over photo (one about 1 inch down from the top, and one about 1½ inches lower). Cut a 4 x 5 inch frame out of a solid brown paper. The frame should be ½ inch thick. Mount frame over the top of the photo, curtain, and vellum strips, leaving about ¼ inch border of beige matting showing. Cut a 1/8 x 4½ inch strip from the same beige as back mat and mount across bottom of the frame about ¼ inch up from the bottom edge.
Window 3: Cut a 5½ inch circle of dark brown and mount a 5¼ inch circle cut from a light cream in the center. Cut a 4 inch circle from the dark brown and use the border punch to cut around the entire circle. Mount this cut circle in the center of the cream circle. Trim a photo to about a 3½ inch circle and mount in the center of frame.
Window 4: Cut a 4½ x 6½ inch oval from brown paper. Cut a 4 x 6 inch oval from a light tan paper and mount centered over the brown oval. Cut a 3½ x 4½ inch oval from the brown again, and mount in the center of the tan oval. Trim a photo to about a 3 x 4 oval, and mount in the center of the top brown oval. Use the brown paper to cut four keystones — two larger ones for the left and right sides, and two smaller ones for the top and bottom. Mount all four keystones overlapping outside edge and overlapping the photo edge.
Window 5: Cut a 3 x 7 inch rectangle from a solid beige paper. Starting about 1½ inch in from one of the short ends, trim up and over to the other side — leaving a dome shape at the top. Cut out a half oval shape, with flat edge being about 1¾ inches down from the top of the dome. Leave ¼ inches of width for a frame along all sides. After cutting that opening, move ¼ inch down and cut a 2½ x½ inch rectangle out of the remaining area, again leaving a ¼ inch width frame. Cut a 2½ x 2½ inch square from a striped velum and trim top to match the dome of the frame. Cut flat edge of vellum to make it look like the bottom of draped curtains. Mount the vellum with lower edge overlapping dome cutout and hanging down about ¾ inches into the rectangle opening. Cut a 2½ x 3 inch rectangle from a solid brown paper and trim top to mimic the dome as with the vellum. Mount over top of vellum, leaving bottom edge hanging past the bottom cut edge of the vellum. Turn frame over and trim photo to mount behind the remaining open space.
Window 6: Cut a 4 x 5½ inch rectangle frame from a solid grey paper. Crop a 3¼ x 4 inch photo and mount on upper section of grey rectangle, leaving a ¼ inch border of grey showing. Cut a ½ x 4 inch strip from a solid dark blue and mount to the top of the grey frame. Round off each of the top corners. Cut a ½ x 5 inch strip from the same blue and round off each of the four corners. Mount this strip horizontally across the bottom about ½ inch up from the bottom edge of the frame. Cut two 1¼ x 5 inch rectangles out of the same dark blue. On both the rectangles, use the black marker to draw another rectangle inside — starting about ¼ inch down from the top, about ¼ inch in from both sides, and stopping about ½ inch up from bottom edge. Inside these drawn rectangles, draw horizontal lines about 1/8 inch apart, skipping the line that would be in the very middle. Place a dot in each corner and lay aside for later placement around this window as the shutters.
Step 4:
This Step will be placing all the windows made in Step 3. Use the photo adhesive to mount Window1 in the top left corner of the left page, Window2 in the bottom left corner and Window3 in the bottom right corner. On the right page, mount Window4 in the top right corner, Window5 coming up from the bottom left corner, and Window6 in the bottom right corner — making sure to leave room on either side for the pre-made shutters. Take the two blue shutters and mount one on either side of Window6, leaving about ¼ inch between frame and the shutters.
Step 5:
Use your journaling pen to identify the people and/or places of the photos. You can use the window frames, or sills, to write your journaling on.
