Any Eggscuse For Chocolate

     Welcome back - Hope everybody is managing to keep warm in this unseasonal weather...I have a feeling the Easter Bunny will need scarf and mittens this year to hide the goodies in the garden - The kids will if they are going out there to find them!

    This is the first time I have ever made a special gift container for those chocolate goodies - Lets just hope I can keep my mitts off them till Easter! ;o)

     Frilly and Funkie have set as the Easter challenge - Easter/Spring Gifts - but not a basket. Well, first thing is to decide what to put them in....

    I considered making a box, putting them in a jar, a bag...all ideas went running through my head. Then I noticed the book box I had been wanting to use for a while...I considered trying to make it into something at Christmas time but I didn't have the confidence to tackle it and I put it away. I was determined now to make something with it...

 





















First I separated the box into six compartments with balsa wood. I painted the entire box, except for the lid with Vintage Lace Fresco Paint.

   To decorate the lid of the box, I painted around the edge with French Roast Fresco paint, added a thin layer of crackle glaze and then sponged Vintage Lace fresco Paint over the top. I then painted the rest of the lid with a brush.

    I dabbed the edges with Walnut Stain DI to make it look vintage shabby chic.

  I made the centre decoration with a piece of corrugated cardboard half covered with Melange Tissue paper.

I covered it all with a watered down layer of Vintage Lace Fresco Paint. When dry I dabbed with a bit of Walnut Stain DI and spritzed with some of my homemade distress ink glimmer sprays in Bundled Sage, Weathered Wood and Tattered Rose.

I then glued another piece of card that had been covered with the same tissue and paint and also spritzed with some glimmer sprays.

   I got some white lace and dabbed with Antique Linen DS and spritzed with the same three colours of glimmer spray to coordinate with the corrugated card.

   I stuck this onto the book box and arranged some handmade flowers and leaves around it.

     I made all the flowers with the Tim Holtz Tattered Flower garland die cuts.The roses, well they were made the usual way. The leaves were my usual Distress inked and stained and then covered in Crackle Glaze...The other flowers were inspired by the tutorials done by the amazingly talented Lisa Nazario-Gregory

 I didn't make any exact copies of these flowers - mainly because I didn't have all the punches, diecuts, inks etc...and anyway it was a lot of fun selecting parts that I could make and adapting them to make my own flowers. I also used the wonderful tutorial by Almo to make the pale blue flowers and the centers for the buttercup style flowers...

      I had to adapt it slightly as I just cut a strip of paper, inked it and cut very, very fine strands and then rolled the paper up....it made a gorgeous flower and the perfect flower center. I really recommend checking out both blogs for great flower making inspiration and before you know it there will be bouquets of flowers all over your creations! Perhaps I should do a flower tutorial as well?!!!

Thank you so much for being here...thank you so much to all my new followers for joining me on this crafty journey...and thank you to anyone who considers my work worthy of adding a comment...each comment is very special me to me and I am very grateful.....

        Have a SUPER Easter!!!

I am entering this into the following challenges -

Frilly and Funkie - Easter/Spring gifts - but not in a basket
Eclectic Paperie - Corrugated Card
Try it on Tuesday  - Use recycled products - Corrugated Card + Tissue paper
Tando creative  - Flowers
Fab 'n' Funky  - Boxed in