All Boxed Up :O))

Hello!

A few weeks ago my lovely Grim took me to Norfolk for a day on the Broads, messing about on the River is so very relaxing but never being one for missing an opportunity, on the way home we passed a store in Potter Heigham that sells just about everything under the sun....including stash and the most fab little wooden boxes that were just begging for altering!

I admit that I did go a little bit bonkers and I bought quite a few of these little wooden boxes - they had loads of shapes too, so I have a lovely variation to play with!



This is the first project that I have done using one of the smaller boxes, which is exactly the right size to store ATC's.

It is a good friend's birthday later this week and I have altered this box and have made two Stampbord ATC's to go in it.




I started by lightly sanding the box just to get rid of any rough patches and then painted Pebble Acrylic Dabber all over it. Once this had dried, which is pretty quickly, I then used a stipple brush and dragged small amounts of Espresso Dabber over all the sides. Finally, once this layer had dried, I used the stipple brush again and dragged a heavier layer of Gold Dabber over all the sides.




Next, using a fat paint brush, I painted the insides of the box using Gold Dabber again. The reason I chose this colour is because I wanted the box to reflect a little light from the inside and the gold, being metallic, is perfect for this.


Finally, I got stamping! Using Sepia VersaFine ink, I stamped the Tim Holtz flower head stamp randomly over each side. I used the Gold paint again and coloured some Grungeboard Mini shapes, using Swirls, crown, heart and Alpha's and used Pearl Dabber to paint the wings.




When all the painted surfaces were dry, I attached the Grungeboard to the box using Glossy Accents. I have found that this is the best glue to use as it dries clear and seems to like all kinds of surfaces too.

The little heart with wings embellishment was added to the front part of the box so when the lid is open the wings fly up into the air :O))

I won't mention the "oopsie daisy" I did with the 7Gypsies wax seal - cos I really didn't melt the wax onto the box and then stamp the seal into it upside down LOL



The ATC's were really easy to make - this is the beauty of using Stampbord - it is a very forgiving material to use and just seems to love all kinds of different inks being applied to it. First of all, I chose to use Chalk Inks by ColorBox. I started with Mustard and using a Tim Holtz Blending Tool, smudged the colour all over the ATC. Next I used Chocolate Brown to smudge patches of colour over the top of the Mustard and then edged the whole ATC with Dark Brown ink. I used Black StaZon ink to stamp the Cat in the Hat (Lost Coast Designs) and masked him off. I then used a heavenly background crackly stamp (Collage Stuff) over the top of the mask and inked this up with the Dark Brown Chalk Ink. I then waited, not so patiently, for the inks to be completely dry before inking over the whole ATC with clear embossing ink. I used the bestest ever clear Ultra Thick Embossing Powder and did three layers over the top of the ATC. The knack I have found with doing UTEE on Stampbord is to let each layer cool completely before re-inking and re-powdering. The Stampbord is very thick and keeps it's heat for a while, so this is not a quick 2 minute technique but I just love the effect I got! The Ultra Thick Embossing Powders are available from The Stamp Connection and are even more special because they have a special sprinkle top to the pot - like a Parmesan pot, so you can regulate the amount of powder you use - that means less mess :P))

The second ATC is made in exactly the same way, except this time I just used the one stamp which is also by Lost Coast Designs. I forgot to mention....I also used a metal file to scruff up the edges of the ATCs and once the UTEE was completely cold, I edged them with good old Gold Krylon pen.



Thanks for looking and watch this space - I have some more things that will be altered very soon....with all those boxes, I will be altering for a few months to come yet :O))

Hels x