Amiens Cathedral inspired printable box

Amiens Cathedral in France is a gorgeous Gothic cathedral in France, and is just an amazing example of engineering and artistry in the early 13th century. Last night, my husband and I watched Building the Great Cathedrals on Nova, and you all know how much I love rose windows and architectural details. You can watch it online for free here at the PBS/Nova website and the show is just wonderful.
What really got my attention was the floors at Amiens, black and grey brickwork in geometric patterns including the labyrinth above. I used them as my inspiration for the printable box below. Instead of doing it in color, the black and white seemed to suit, so the fold and cut lines are in grey.

Click the image for a larger version. Print on card stock, cut out, score folds, fold, glue!

Etruscan Inspired Mandala to Color

The image above is the small jpg version of the mandala. Why isn't there a colored version? Because I've spent hours drawing it and just don't want to spend another few hours coloring it right now!

The Etruscan civilization was in Italy, from about 800 BC until it was assimilated by Rome in 1 AD. A few years ago, I had the pleasure of seeing some gold Etruscan jewelry as part of a traveling exhibit about gold. What makes the jewelry absolutely remarkable for the era is the sheer amount of detail that goes in to it. While the techniques themselves are fairly basic, the fine detail and encrusted look of the gold jewelry is astounding. They would use wires and granulated balls of gold on sheet metal, soldering each piece in place.

Like a lot of other cultures and art, there were a lot of floral motifs, as well as radially symmetrical geometric designs. Like mandalas. 

I've worked in silver, and a little bit in gold. Using modern tools, and modern techniques, I wouldn't have the patience for the kind of very full, very textured look of Etruscan jewelry. Pretty much, I just know enough to really appreciate those long gone artists. 

Click on the image above, and the one below for larger versions to print.

Here's the large PNG version: