I’m still in making mode ready for my church’s Christmas Fayre at the end of November. I’ve decorated these pre-made metal blanks and made them into brooches by using an epoxy glue to stick on the brooch clasp – details on the decoration are here.

I wanted create a bespoke presentation box to show them off at their best – it just so happened I could use the same size for the peacock and the dragonfly. Designing started with a 3×2″ base. I added ½” sides and tabs. For the lid, I enlarged it slightly, adding the thumb divots in the centre to aid taking the lid off. To raise the base (and create a hidey-hole for my business card), I designed a stage slightly smaller than the base, with ⅛” supports at the side to hold the item off the bottom and the holes with a slit between allows me to press the brooch back through and fix the item in place. Two boxes come from an A4 sheet of card, cut on my Silhouette Cameo. For placement of the holes/slit, I pressed the item down onto a piece of card, and was able to see a dent where the clasp and hinge of the brooch back were. A bit of triangulation later, and the hole placement was perfected. This was ideal as the brooch clasps were in roughly the same position on each item – it would have been much less practical for several different placements.

Continue reading →