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Wednesday 26 November 2008

A mathamatical labour of love.

Hi all :)

As i type this i am literally dropping on my feet from tiredness. All my girls have been saying since i picked them up from school today is, "You look very tired Daddy".

That would be due to my latest project for them below, a times table tag board.....don't forget to click on the image for a larger view......



I have been working on this for a few days, my girls wanted something to help them with their tables, so i thought about putting some tags on book rings which they could flick through.

Then came the idea of doing a whole set.....1's to 12's, all 12 tables in each set.

So i started, and what followed was the most tiring project i have ever done! Not because it was difficult, it was the repetitiveness of everything. More about that later though. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.....



The board is just MDF, covered with a couple of bits of Wassail paper. The lace was layed around the edges and also across the board so it sectioned it into squares. This was handy as the tags fitted into each one nicely.

A bit of fibre on each book ring went nicely, and a Prima bloom behind the brass hooks looks gorgeous. I made a little wooden sign for the top too :)

Finished off nicely with some brass filigree corners, and there you have it......one full set of times tables for the kids to learn with.



Now as i said at the start, this was a labour of love. "Labour" being the operative word!

Just to give you an idea of what i did, in case you were thinking of giving it a go.....

1. Cut 144 tags on the Big Shot.
2. Stamp flourishes on all 144 tags.
3. Blend all 144 tags with Distress Inks.
4. Then edge all 144 tags with another colour. (I was tired at this point!)
5. Write the times tables on every tag.
6. Round the corners of every tag. Two corners on each.....288 corners!
7. Laminate each tag.
8. Hand cut round every laminated tag. (I'm wondering why i started this now!)
9. Crop-A-Dile punch all 144 tags.
10. Eyelet all 144 tags.
11. Book ring and add fibres to them.
12. Spend a day making the board.

The only reason i kept going was because my eldest learnt her tables so quickly with the one set i did the other day, i knew it would be worth it in the end. The look on thier little faces was a picture when they saw it. :)

I do however seem to have aged 10 years!

I would love to make these for the girls primary school, but i think it will be a while before that happens! :)

23 comments:

Hels Sheridan said...

Blimey Calv - you have been busy!! Your girls are so lucky to have such a clever Dad - good on ya hun, I just love what you have made there.. hugs x

Sarah C said...

WOWEEE this is just utterly, superbly, fantastically, truly amazing!! You are one dedicated Dad. Your girls must be so proud of you.

I wonder if I can make one of these in time for my nephew to need it? He's early 10 months old now!! LOL

Maya Ariffin said...

Gosh these are lovely Calv!! Maybe I'll make something like this for my kids in the future :)

Anything else?? Haha.. :D

Anonymous said...

It's absolutely totally crazy ! It's definitively something I can't do, you are a hero !

Jennie -The Artistic Stamper said...

You are so good to your girls. I love the idea, and wish I had younger ones to make it for...
xxxx

♥ Lydia ♥ said...

You're a STAR!!!
But I guess some little people closer to home have told you that already!! ^.^

It looks fantastic and worth every second you spent on it....however...it did make me laugh when it took you to number 8 on your 'what to do' list, to wonder why you started it!!! lol ^.^

crafty creations said...

This is a wonderful project that you did for your children Calv I'm sure they are thrilled to bits with it

x Hilda

Tonniece said...

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! This is amazing. You my dear are one special dad I'll tell you that.
I'm speachless. I agree with Sarah C, by the time I did all that my grandkids would already be out of Collage.

Bravo Calv, they are all stunning.

Lea Sanders said...

Beautiful! What a crafty (the good definition, not the sinister) and dedicated daddy you are! =)

maddy hill said...

They look stunning calvin and you are a clever daddy indeed ! You can tell you have put alot of love and effort into each and everyone ... x

Carol Q said...

my god Calv, my jaw dropped when I saw the huge amount of work you've put into this. it's just beautiful. what a labour of love!

Audrey said...

wow - what an amazing idea, what amazing execution, what lucky girls!

Rachelxx said...

Fantastic Calv :-)

melody said...

holy smoly calv ~ that's a lot of work..and WOW..what results! totally fabulous project! love it

Jo Capper-Sandon said...

Patience and dedication. Amazing!. Are you left handed by the way the tags flip? We only just received a school letter this week about learning tables so this may well be tweaked a little to make a boy version...thankyou :0)

Calv said...

Thanks everyone for such lovely comments :)

Hi Jo, i'm right handed, as are my girls, they hold the ring in their right hand and flick through the tags with the left. Maybe thats just because i made them that way. It wasn't intended, i wanted to start the flourish stamp from the left side of the stamp and write the tables on the right side.

I still see this as a right handed tag set though as i hold them in my right hand. :) Mybe i'm just odd.

Liverpool Lou (Anne) said...

Definitely a 'labour of love' eh Calv. They are mega wonderful!!! :)
Anne x

Mardi said...

These are so cool and beautiful! What a creat keepsake for your girls to pass from generation to generation!

Kazza said...

This is so clever and gorgeous (I instantly wanted to make one for my 5 year old until I read all the work that had gone into it - a true labour of love! - maybe if I have a week to spare........)
Karen x

Claireabelle said...

Fantastic! What a fab fun way to learn boring times tables!

Jami said...

WOW! What an amazing project - your girls are very lucky!!! I am so impressed that you hand wrote them all!! I love the flowers behind the hooks! This is absolutely gorgeous!!
hugs, Jami

Anonymous said...

You are such a wonderful father - and those lucky girls of yours will be storing away all these memories and have all these things you make them to hand down to their children.

What a star you are.

Rach said...

What a fantastic idea, and what a wonderful Dad you are...These look gorgeous.
Rachx