Box Tastic!

Box Tastic as in fantastic, even if I do say so myself.

I started to play around with this idea some time ago while staring at an empty 6"x6" card box,

wondering if I could give it a new lease of life.

This is what I came up with.
 

I began with an A3 size piece of card which I scored at 7",8",15" and 16"( along the long edge), depending on the size of your score board that is, I did mine by measuring 7" and 8" scoring , then bending and using the folded edge as a guide measured and scored at 7" and 8" again the last 1/2" was used as a flap to tuck in at the end of the box. While the box was folded at one of the score lines I trimmed the card on the shorter edge to 7"  making a sort of 7" square box shape when folded.

Sounds complicated but couldn't be easier really.

Next I glued the 6"x6" base box to the centre of the 7"x7" flap closest to the small flap as that creates the base, followed by putting the lid on the box, applying glue and lining up the top.

This is when the fun began, I chose three paints using the same technique as the butterfly canvas last week by scraping the paint across another piece of A3 to create a background.

Script was then stamped randomly with a juicy black onyx versamark ink and heat set.

The card was cut into two 7"x7" squares and two 7"x1" rectangles.

Ribbon  was wrapped and stuck onto the 7"x7" box, with the longer lengths at the opening so that a bow could be tied as a fastener.

Black stitching was added around all of the edges of the painted card stock, the top piece was stamped with a Woodware Poppy stamp to add depth to the project.

The Poppy was stamped several times on printed music paper, cut out and coloured with distress ink.

These where then glued over the stamped poppy images, taking care not to line them up.

The painted panels were attached to the box enclosing the ribbon to keep it snug and in place.

Black sugar dull glitter was stuck to the poppy centres to add a bit of zing.

Using the left over painted card and stamped poppy images,  small note cards were made measuring 5"x5".

Here are a few more pictures.
 

A cool gift  for people who appreciate handcrafted gifts.

Sue x

Furniture Re-vamp

Occasionally I like to undertake a project that requires a little more labour and

 get a lot of satisfaction from re-vamping bits of furniture and giving them a new lease of life.

Hence my next project, this item was made specifically for us by a local carpenter to fit into a gap.
However, with a need for more storage and space to hide stuff it was replaced by a bookcase with doors.
Moving on, I decided to paint the side table type thing with chalk paint by Anne Sloane and distress it to make it appear old and French like.
I treated the knots in the pine and gave it a couple of layers of chalk paint, which dries super fast.

 Next up I sanded back a few of the edges to reveal the wood grain and gave the piece a coating of clear soft wax.

 

This was buffed to a shine around two hours later, now if I was feeling brave I could have applied a tad of dark wax to the edges but I wasn't so I didn't. You can have a little look at loads of on line videos on how to use chalk paint and wax and maybe my next attempt I will be ready to do the dark wax thing too.
A second coat of wax was applied and buffed up as before.
It recommends you wait 72 hours before using it to allow the wax to cure and harden, various videos even suggest for the wax to harden completely it takes up to 3 months.
Watch this space I'll let you know how it goes.

Sue x

JOFŶ Inspired Canvas

Friday 24th April 2015

Today was a play day, my crafting friend Rebecca invited me round for a crafty play and of course I said Yeah! followed by, what we doing, do I need to bring anything.

So armed with a couple of 6"x6" box canvas's and my new JOFY stamps I headed on round to visit her.
 

We began by applying paint directly to the canvas and spreading it around using an old credit card.
 

This was mine.                  This was Rebecca's.

   

As you can see the same paints, the same technique but very different effects.

 Texture crackle paste was added through a stencil and left to react. Although the paste was supposed to be clear  I was a little impatient, so  gave it a blast with the heat gun and it has remained a white opaque colour. This picture was taken before I blasted it as I didn't think the texture would show up afterwards. I was wrong.

 

The honeycomb image was stamped on tissue paper along with the bees and coloured with  paints on the back to preserve the stamped outline, then glued in place on the canvas. (We stamped on tissue paper  as when stamping directly onto the canvas areas of the image may not stamp evenly due to a little bit of movement, also tissue paper blends into the background when glued).

The Bee hive was stamped onto watercolour paper and cut out, the edges were coloured with distress ink then mounted on card with 3d foam to add height to the project.
 

Bee's (stamped on tissue) were cut out then glued into position, the body of the bees (stamped on watercolour card), were cut out, coloured and glued onto the top of the tissued version. The larger bee was also stamped on a rather nice textured bit of mulberry paper to give the impression of fluttery wings, this layer was added between the tissue version and the watercolour card body.

 

Flowers were stamped, cut out, coloured and added to the canvas with 3d foam to lift them off the canvas.
 

 Before we knew it time had flown by and I had to leg it home for the girls to get back from school.
 

This was my finished project.

You may have noticed the textured mulberry paper behind the bee hive, this was left over from the  bee wings and I needed to use it, so I added colour with the a touch of paint and added it to the project.

This was Rebecca's almost finished project, pop on over to her blog and check out the completed version. She was keeping us both topped up with tea and chocolate as well as emptying the washing machine, putting it on the line and keeping an eye on Daisy the dog all at the same time.

Thanks for the play day Rebecca.
 

Sue x

Card Time

 

 Just a quick post.

This is a card made for my niece who celebrated her birthday on April 1st.

 

 

I'd had the stamp for a while and took this opportunity to use it.

The card was stamped, coloured, layered and put in the post with plenty of time to spare.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Sue

Bird Cage Project

I wanted or needed to make a project which included a bird cage,

this is how it turned out.

 

I began by cutting a grey board square to 8"x8", and covered it with a nice, rather plain paper to create a background to work on.

Rectangle shapes in all sizes were inked around the edges then placed down and interlaced in a pleasing manor then stuck into position.

 

A small amount of stamping was added to create depth and interest.
 

White paint was then splattered across the background again to create interest as no two splats are the same. The edges of the base  were inked and distressed with Black Soot distress ink.

 The birdcage was cut from reasonably thick card but I needed it thicker and so glued two together,

this was then part embossed with Gold UTEE and finished off with Black and Silver UTEE

The leaves were coloured and shaped, followed by the flowers and added to the piece.

The project needed a little something so I added a few arty words.
ART With Everything.

Thank you for taking a look at my project.

Sue