Creative Heart Monday - Curvy Collage Box

                                                Happy Creative Heart Monday!

I hope that everyone is enjoying their holiday season!  My husband and I had a wonderful Christmas dinner, yesterday, with my parents, sister and brother-in-law, nephew and his girlfriend, and my niece and grand-niece.

I'll be honest with you about this project.....it's not one of my best.  My life has been a little chaotic. We've lost two family members over the past couple weeks and it's been hard to feel creative.

But....here's what we have.......



Supplies

Wooden Box  this link is to a different box...I found the curvy box at Joanns
Decorative Papers
Mod Podge
Black Pen
Metallic Acrylic Paint
Black Tattered Angel High Impact Paint

I'll be sending out information this week regarding my two new video projects for 2017......Art Journaling Jazz and Inspiration from the Greats.

Have a great Monday and a wonderful week!!  Happy New Year!

PEACE

Cyndi

I'm on StencilGirl!!!!!!!

I am so thrilled to have a video on the StencilGirl Blog today.  Oh, and.....Happy 4th of July!!!!

You all know that I love the hot glue...and I love to make boxes.....soooooo

So, check out my video!


Peace!

Cyndi

Creative Heart Monday - Gelli Print Box

Happy Monday to all of you Creative Hearts!

Today, I'm creating a little box, using prints that I, previously, made on my gelli plate.

List of Supplies

Box or whatever you would like to cover.  Something with smooth sides works best
Paper - I made my own prints on the gelli plate, but  you could use scrapbook paper, book pages, sheet music, wrapping paper, etc.
Decou-Page by Americana
Black Pigma Micon Pen
Black Faber-Castell Big Brush Pen
Marvy Calligraphy Pen
Black Sharpie Pen
Minwax Water-Based Polycrylic - Clear Gloss

This is an easy project with endless possibilities.  Here are a few other pieces that I've made.

Have a wonderful week!

Peace!

Cyndi

Collaged Boxes

When I become addicted to something, I really become addicted to it.......that is until the next shiny object grabs my attention.  For the past few weeks, it's been collaged boxes.  Cute little boxes that I cover with my hand-painted papers.

I have tons of hand-painted papers and gelli prints (another "addiction" phase).  I love to slap paint on a piece of paper, add stencils, stamps, little drawings with paint pens, etc.  These can really pile up!

I was waiting for a friend at a doctors appointment, looking at Pinterest on my phone, and came across a pix of beautiful boxes, picture frames, and other artwork that had been collaged with painted papers.  The artist's name is Diane Salter.  Her things were beautiful, so I had one of those "I can do that" moments.  Her's are much more intricate than mine, but she inspired me to try.  Thank you Diane Salter!

I already had several small wooden boxes in my huge stash of "stuff that I'm going to do something with" closet.  (this reminds of the saying "The woman who dies with the most art supplies WINS").

Here's my first box.

Then, I had to start adding little feet to them.

You might notice on this box that there are little, irregularly shaped, silver pieces on it.  There is, actually a funny story behind this.  I went to lunch with my friend.  As I was heading out the door to lunch, the strap on my purse broke.  I grabbed an old purse from my box of purses, only to realize on the way to the restaurant, that the faux leather was starting to peel in a little section.  During our lunch, my purse was actually disentegrating.  Everywhere I went, I was leaving a little trail of silver, faux leather, purse dandruff in my wake.  On the drive home I looked at my peeling purse and thought "that purse dandruff would be great collage material".....and it was!  So, the lesson here is - keep all of your crappy purses until they fall apart, or, maybe it's just that you never know what can be upcycled.

Then I had to Zentangle one.

My most recent box.  (I'm moving up into multiple compartments now)

This one is listed on ETSY.

Peace!

Cyndi

Love that Paris Grey

I was busy today with Annie Sloan's chalk paint again.  Since the only color that I have right now is Paris Gray, I've have a lot of grey sitting in my art room right now.  I just placed an order for some Louis Blue, Old White, and Versailles from Robyn Storey Designs.  I hope that I get it tomorrow.

Here are a couple of my projects.

I started out with an old wooden jewelry box.  I did some taping to protect the felt and mirror.

Then, I put two coats of chalk paint on the exterior and as much of the interior that I could reach.

Using a sanding block, I sanded all of the edges, corners, and drawer pulls.  I used the wax brush to apply Annie Sloan Clear Wax over the entire piece, then wiped it off with a clean, soft cloth.

I'm pleased with the way it turned out.  I just listed it in my Etsy shop..

Next piece -

This shelf with paper towel holder was originally pink (actually, it was probably stained wood, then some other crafter painted it pink), then I added a couple coats of Paris Grey chalk paint.

I printed out this typography from The Graphics Fairy.  I put a piece of transfer paper under it and traced the letters onto the wood.  Using tiny brushes and black,acrylic paint, I filled in the letters.

I found these chickens on The Graphics Fairy site too.  I printed them, using my inkjet printer, cut them out with a razor knife, then glued them to the shelf with mat medium.  

I distressed the edges with sandpaper.   I still need to add a layer of clear wax.

Let's see, what else did I do today?

I've had a little train case for quite a while.  I painted it with chalk paint a couple months ago, bit wasn't quite sur what to do with it.  Since I was busy printing things from The Graphics Fairy, I found some other cute graphics, so I did a little decorating.

Obviously, I have a ways to with this little case.

I also painted a basket.  I plan to stencil a number on the top.

That about does it for today.  If I get my Annie Sloan paint in the mail tomorrow, I'll start some of the furniture pieces that I got last week.  I can't wait!

Peace,

Cyndi

Graphics Fairy Transfer

Months ago, I picked up a silverware box at Goodwill.  It was black with a black velvet interior.  It was only a dollar or two, so I figured that I couldn't go wrong - certainly, I could turn it into something.

I've been a subscriber to The Graphics Fairy blog for a long time.  I love looking at all the beautiful things that so many creative people have made.  It's also amazing how many nice graphics they have.  They have lots of florals and French topography.

Since, I'm really starting to love anything French, I decided to try a Paris Apartment Sign.  I printed it in reverse so that when I laid the copy on the box, the letters would face the correct direction.

As usual, I forgot to take a picture of the box before I started.  Here is a picture after I had applied two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Grey.  (the box is actually sitting upside down because I had just added a coat to the bottom)

 

 

Since, this was my first time trying a transfer on chalk paint, I wasn't sure if I should wax it first or not.  I decided to add a coat of Annie Sloan Clear Wax.  Then, I did a little distressing with 220 sand paper.

 

Next, I printed out the design in reverse, as I mentioned before.  Using a regular brush, I applied Golden Matte Gel Medium on the area of the box where the design would be.  I brushed gel medium on the paper and, carefully, placed it down on the box.  I don't know why I didn't cut the excess paper away from the design before I attached it to the box.  It was crazy, but I continued on.  I used an old credit card to rub across the design to remove the bubbles and wrinkles.  I feel like I applied a little too much gel medium because so much was coming out on the sides.  I just wiped it away.  I left the access paper "un-glued" because I didn't want to have to rub all of the paper away.  

 

 

I let the box sit overnight to completely dry.  The next morning, I took a deep breath and spritzed the paper with water.  I didn't soak it, but I did get it wet enough to get the paper breaking up when I started rubbing the paper with my fingers.  This is the part that takes the longest.  I just kept rubbing off paper, spritzing more water, rubbing off paper, spritzing more water, etc. etc.

 

I got to a point where I wasn't really getting any more paper off.  There was still sort of a shadow around the design, but I kind of liked it.  I sanded the top of the box to make it look older.  I added another coat of clear wax and that was it.

This isn't the best picture, but I am pretty pleased for my first try.  This box still has the dividers in it for silverware.  It would be great for jewelry.

 

I still want to put a design on the coffee table that I chalk painted.  However, because of the size, I think I might transfer the design onto the table with carbon paper and then paint it.  I'll definitely use a Graphics Fairy design.  I'll just take it to the copy center and have it enlarged.

 

Peace,

Cyndi