Doctor Who Fob Watch (with Hand-Painted Baqua)
My friend Ben is a Whovian -- so "something Doctor Who related" came up first in my mind when I was thinking of presents for him. He's also a disciple of the Northern Shaolin school of martial arts and to make the present uniquely his, I also got it in my head to include the Baqua in the design.
The idea for the watch came from browsing the aisles at my local Michael's: I spotted the Tim Holtz pocket watch frames in the middle of the store and fell in love.
For those that don't know, in the universe of Doctor Who, a Time Lord can conceal their memories and alien biology inside a fob watch and, upon opening the watch lid, have their identity instantly restored. The fob watch's Gallifreyan symbols were designed by Department Six and re-posted at The RPF by Ectropy.
Tim Holtz pocket watch frame
Tim Holtz large swivel clasp
Scotch tape
Americana Gloss Enamels black paint
Paint stylus
Smoky felt square
Mod Podge decoupage sealer
Scissors
X-Acto knife
Fob Watch design image
Baqua image
I printed out a black and white copy of the image, reducing the scale by 50 percent so that the cut-out would measure at 1.5" and fit inside the back of the watch frame. To make sure I cut the circle out precisely, I used the X-acto knife. Using the scissors, I then cut out a 2" x 2" square of the smoky felt and used the fob watch design, cut a slightly larger circle (approx. 16 mm) out of the felt.
I then used the Mod Podge sealer/adhesive to secure the felt in the frame. I covered the back of the fob watch design with tape so the adhesive wouldn't bleed through or wrinkle the paper and repeated the process, securing the design to the felt.
This was the first time I'd ever painted on glass and I was nervous about messing up the baqua design. I concentrated on the yin-yang symbol first, painting it free hand and going back over it with the stylus several times to re-shape it. Rather than try to make perfect symmetrical bars on each side, I used the stylus to paint several asymmetrical lines and, once dry, used the other end of the stylus to make the appropriate breaks (each quadrant representing one of the elements, based on where each line was broken).
Ben was over the moon about his present (so much, he promptly broke the glass less than two weeks after I gave it to him -- my heart is still broken).