June 24, 2016

Anglerfish

Hello Everyone!

Today I have a new project to share with you - it's an Anglerfish.

This original design is made entirely of chipboard and paper.

I used the Graphic 45 "Voyage Beneath the Sea" paper collection. I included lots of metal embellishments since the paper collection has a Steampunk vibe as well as the underwater theme.


 The fish itself measures about 15" long (not including the lantern), stands about 10 1/2" tall at the periscope, and is 10" wide at the tips of the side fins.

There is a hidden compartment inside which measures 2" x 5" x 7" and it holds the little mini album.





Let's start out tour at the head of the fish.

The anglerfish has a light suspended in front of its body.

I used some 1/4" tubing and strung the electrical wire for a Tim Holtz Mini Lantern through the tube along with a piece of florist wire so I could shape it into an arc.

That electrical wire passes through the head and goes into the side of the body, and we'll see the battery pack location later.

I slit the tubing along the bottom in order to accomplish this, then painted it with some Evergreen Bough Distress paint to coordinate with the paper line.


The fish's jaws are open wide showing all his teeth.  The teeth are painted 1/8" dowel pieces.  There are 12 on the top and 13 on the bottom, cut to give a kind of snaggletooth look.

I decided to round the ends because pointed teeth just seemed a little out of keeping with the soft colors in the project.

At the jaw hinge points on each side there is a chipboard circle finished with a Tim Holtz Faucet Knob.




The eyes are composed of many layers of chipboard and paper.

The blue base layer is attached to the head.

In the center of the blue circles, I cut holes through the head so I could insert a flat chipboard cylinder that measures about 1 1/4" across because I needed a flat surface for the upper part of the eye.

The upper part of the eye starts with a yellow circle, then an orange gear (TH Gearhead die) with a blue center, and is finally topped by a Tim Holtz monocle.  The monocles are connected to a chain attached behind the light tubing.



Behind the head there is a little platform.

Centered on the platform is a 3" tall periscope.  I used a square of packaging plastic with an eye cut from the paper line to embellish the front of the periscope.

On either side of the periscope are two Tim Holtz light bulbs standing in chipboard tubes.  These light bulbs are about 1" high.





Continuing along the top of the fish, we see the three parts that make up the top fin.

The left and right sides (yellow/orange) are about 5/8" wide and the middle (blue) section is 1" wide.




On each side of the fish there is a porthole.

The porthole is a chipboard cylinder approximately 3" in diameter and 1/2" high.

A double thick chipboard gear (TH Gadget Gears die) forms a frame for a Tim Holtz Pocket Watch.

In the center of the pocket watch is an image from the paper collection.

In front of the porthole is a yellow side fin.



On the left side of the fish the porthole is attached with magnets,

This allows it to be removed to access the battery pack for the mini lantern.






On the bottom of the fish there is a yellow fin which is about 3/4" wide.

The fish stands on four Tim Holtz Pulley Wheels.








Moving along to the back of the anglerfish we have the tail.

The tail is composed of five sections - one cylinder, three that are sections of a cone, and a central section specially shaped to provide a flip up in the structure.

The end section has a scalloped edge, and a TH Gadget Gears #2 chipboard gear acting as a propeller.








The tail is held onto the fish with four strong magnets.

Removing this back panel provides access to the little mini album.






The mini album is on the smaller side - it is 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" x 1 1/2",

On the front cover, I fussy cut an image from the paper collection of a mermaid riding a fish to form a pocket for a tiny envelope and some tags.

On the spine I added some charms made from the decorative chipboard that is part of the paper collection, along with a couple of gears.




This is the inside front cover.

It has a pocket and tag from the Tags & Pockets that are part of the paper line.

That pocket also forms a secondary pocket that holds a 3" x 4" Journaling card, and has room for more photos.



This is the front side of the first double-sided page.  There are four double-sided pages in the mini album.

A couple of slits have been judiciously cut along the edge of the fish to form pockets for tags.

This first page and the last page also have large pockets into which a
4 x 6 tag slips.





Flipping the page we come to page two.

This page uses a section of a border print from the 12x12 pad to make a horizontal pocket.









On to page three.

On this page I used one of the pockets from the Tags & Pockets on the left.

I attached it with glue forming a backwards "L" so that more photos and tags could be slipped behind.





This is the middle spread with page 4 and 5.

The two images on the far left and right are on flaps, and have slits cut in them to make pockets.



Here we have page 4, shown with the flap open.

I used some items from the 12x12 pad to form two pockets on the page.









And this is page 5 with its flap open.

As you can see, it is a mirror image of page 4.







On to page six.

This page is similar to page two.

It uses a pocket from the Tags & Pockets and there is space behind for more tags and photos.







Page seven.

Again a border section was used for a horizontal pocket.












And this is the final page, page 8.

I used a 4x6 Journaling card and cut slits on three of the journaling lines.

Each slit becomes a pocket for a small tag or photo.






I did video the construction process and in a few days I will post links to the Materials & Cutting Guide, Templates and the Construction Video Series.

I also posted a video of the completed Anglerfish and Mini Album on YoutUbe, if you would like to take a virtual 3D tour.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing this project.
Thanks for visiting.

April

YouTube video of completed project:

7 comments:

Artfully Musing said...

Your fish is just fabulous!!!

PaulaB quilts said...

This is wonderfully imaginative. You are an excellent crafts person and even an electrician! Congrats on a great job.

Donna Carmack said...

This is one of the most creative Graphic 45 projects ever! This is so unique......love the Steampunk gadgets you used too!

Sandra said...

Thanks so much for sharing so generously this wonderful project. your explanations are very clear (even for me as I am french). You have an incredible "savoir-faire". Thanks again :)
Sandra

Ulla said...

This fish is so great. I thank you so much for sharing, unbelievable your generosity. I downloaded the instructions and will give it a try during fall time. Such a great project. Thank you so much.

Constance Sheehey said...

I love this! Where can I find the instructions to download?
Thank you!

Unknown said...

Thank you Constance! The post on June 30, 2016 has links to the download files as well as all the construction videos on YouTube.