My boss turned 70 in September 2012, and instead of buying a present, I decided to make him an Exploding Box with memories of his past. I had secret meetings with his wife and contacted his sister who lives in Johannesburg a few months before the event. Both gave me lovely stories relating to the photos, some of which he could not remember ever seeing! It was quite a mission and in the end I could almost not close the box! Try and fit 70 years of living into a little box! I added little fold-out and loose mini albums to maximize the space available.
I used cardboard boxes to cut the different layers which I glued together with a glue gun. I then distressed the box by tearing off pieces and chalking it with Tim Holtz Distress Inks.
The box consisted of 12 single pages, a mini fold-out album with 4 pages on each side, a small booklet with 6 pages, 8 single and 5 double-sided tags, 5 mini tags, a matchbook with 2 pages, 6 certificates, a holder with 6 photos sewn onto ribbon and a 3- tiered jacobs' ladder made of wood and ribbon.
The Closed Exploding Box
Open view from the top
The Lid (The newspaper is a copy of a paper printed on his birthday in 1942)
I had four themes inside the box (small to large pages) - His Childhood & Family, Life in Rhodesia, Life in England and Life in South Afirca.
Above is part of his life as a policeman in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)
Yes, it is true - while staying in London, he was given the Freedom of the City, which gives him to right to drive his sheep and cattle over London Bridge while carrying a naked sword!
This is part of the fold-out booklet. The photo on the far right is of his little brother Dawson, who passed away as a young child. It was especially emotional as he had never seen this photo before!
The tags were nice to capture snippets of his life. Such as being granted
permission (by the then President of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda),
entrance for one day into the country to get married!
permission (by the then President of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda),
entrance for one day into the country to get married!
Another view.
Before I started this blog, a very good friend mine in the USA whom I met through scrapbooking (of course) posted an article on her blog of my Exploding Box. Here is the link to Carolyn's Creative Corner:
Following her blog is a bit like having a private teacher at home! She explains every project meticulously. Please feel free to join her circle.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
