Collecting Memories

Welcome back!

   I had to do a project for over at PaperArtsy where Julie Ann from magpieheaven is one of the guest Designers! I adore Julie Ann's work and was so lucky to get to meet her at Ally Pally last September - she is as lovely in person as she is on her blog!!! ;o)

  I was very inspired by her use of the colours on her project and the box with the tags inside, gorgeously decorated with leaves. I bought a little box on holiday in the Czech Republic in the Czech equivalent of a 'poundstore' - Usually it is just lots of junk there, but you do sometimes find little treasures.

   This box was a mahogany one with a gorgeous embossed texture on it. While it looked lovely as it was, I knew it was perfect for a little alteration. So back home it went into the craft stock pile where I keep frames, hangers, paper mache and canvases and waiting until the time was right to use it.

     I covered it with Snowflake Fresco paint and then added a layer of Guacamole paint over all the embossed area and the edges of the box.

 I then brushed some Hey Pesto paint over this and then I dry brushed it with Chocolate Pudding Fresco Paint.

     For the sides of the box I applied Chocolate Pudding Fresco Paint and then applied some Crackle Glaze. When dry I brushed Guacamole paint over it before brushing some Hey Pesto over the top.

   When everything was dry I lightly sanded the edges down to reveal the dark wood underneath to give a very shabby look and then I went to town brushing White Fire Treasure Gold over it all!

   The top was decorated with a torn book page covered in Brushed Corduroy and Frayed Burlap DI's

    The die cut flowers were covered with Guacamole paint before being stamped with a text stamp from the Bluebird set of Artistic Outpost Stamps.

  The leaves and the edges of the large flower were brushed with Decoart Crackle Glaze and then when dry they were inked with Brushed Corduroy DI ink to enhance the cracks.

The words 'Wonder and think' were from the 'Think and Wonder' set of AO stamps. The twigs were coated with Mocha Mousse paint.

     I cut four little tags to size and put some Gathered Twigs DS and Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap DP on the craft mat, spritzed with water and then and swirled the tags in the pool. After drying with the heat gun, I dabbed any bare patches with Frayed Burlap DI.

   I then stamped the images in Potting Soil Archival ink using the stamps from the 'Think and Wonder' and 'Bluebird' AO stamp sets before adding various flowers that had been painted with Guacamole Fresco Paint and stamped with text.

As a finishing touch, a flower and a pen nib with the word 'thoughts' on it were glued to the inside of the lid.

I hope you like it! Thanks so much for being here - See you soon!

     

I would like to enter this in the following challenges -

PaperArtsy

Simon Says - Anything Goes

Artistic Outpost - Anything Goes