Christmas Triptych with Altered Pages Instructions

Hi everyone, Barbara here with one of my favorite art forms, the triptych.  With the Christmas holidays fast approaching, I wanted to make a Christmas triptych.  If you missed my post earlier this week, I did not give any instructions for how I made this.  So, I thought I would post them for you here today.  I hope you enjoy it and are inspired to give these beautiful art forms a try.

So,  some of you have asked, what is a triptych?  Wikipedia defines it:  

A triptych (/ˈtrɪptɪk/ trip-tik; from the Greek adjective τρίπτυχον ("three-fold"), from tri, i.e. "three" and ptysso, i.e. "to fold" or ptyx, i.e. "fold")^[1][2] is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works. The middle panel is typically the largest and it is flanked by two smaller related works, although there are triptychs of equal-sized panels.

Side 1 - Vintage Christmas

Side 2 - Traditional Christmas

Supplies used:

Altered Pages collage sheets:  Happy Holidays (AP-505), Holiday Postcards (AP-1155), Ivory Angels (AP 2090), 
Christmas Emporium 8x8 paper pad (Graphic 45)
Graphic 45 Coredinations Cardstock
Vintage Text Paper
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pen (Brown)
German Scrap
4x6 chipboard pennants (Paper Accents) (3)
Hinges (Tim Holtz)
Distress Stain:  Old Paper (Tim Holtz)
Copper Metallic acrylic paint
Ink Pads:  Dark Moss Chalk (Colorbox)
Doily die (My Favorite Things)
Ornate Frame die (Tim Holtz)
Mini Rosettes die (Tim Holtz)
Botanicals, decorative brads, bling

Directions:

Cover one side of three pieces.  This will be the front side of the triptych.

Attach hinges, as shown.  

 

Reverse side - brads holding hinges show

Cover the remaining sides of the three pieces, covering the brads that hold the hinges on.

Die cut ornate frame from Christmas Emporium red print paper and chipboard, adhere together.
Center holly flower girl (AP-1155) in center of frame and trim to fit inside opening.  Use brown big brush pen to finish off the frame edges.

Adhere to center panel with foam dots.  (see photo below)


Die cut one doily from Astroparche paper, distress edges with Vintage Photo, and cut in half.

Cut out two half circle poinsettia images (AP-505) and adhere to each half of the doily die.  

Adhere to both side panels, as shown.

Die cut two mini rosettes from vintage text paper.  Add a strip of washi tape to back of rosettes to give this fragile paper more strength.  

Form into rosettes following directions on die.

Stamp a "2" and a "5" onto a scrap piece of the vintage text paper with moss chalk ink.  Punch out with   1/2" circle punch, adhere each to center of rosettes.  Add 1/2" epoxy circle to center.

Add oval centers (removed from center of ornate frame die cut) and add to both outer panels, as shown.

Trim "Angels" image from AP-2090.  Adhere images to ovals, add botanicals and gem flourishes, as shown.  

close-up of decorative brad covering ends of botanicals

For reverse side, trim and distress edges of Climbing Santa, Merry Christmas Santa, and two ivy spray (AP-505-Happy Holidays), Santa with child  (AP-1155-Holiday Postcards).  Add Old Paper distress stain to edges and adhere to coredinations cardstock cut slightly larger than image.  Adhere to reverse side of triptych, as shown.

Adhere a strip of German scrap to the bottom of each panel.  If you want to tone down the bright gold color, you can apply a thin coat of a black metallic cream or black archival ink and wipe off excess.

A few close-ups of the botanicals and embellishments.

I hope you have enjoyed my Christmas Triptych and directions for making it.  These are very easy to make and are so beautiful as stand alone decorations for any occasion.

You can get all your supplies to make this at www.alteredpages.com.  And don't forget to stop by the Altered Pages Monthly Challenge Page to see all the inspiration from the design team, and go vote for your favorite in the side bar.

Thanks for stopping by.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Barbara