A Wedding Keepsake Box

For the past few weeks, I've been teaching craft to some lovely ladies who are new migrants to my country and; we have been having a great time. I decided to show them how to take a plain paper mache box and transform it into a special gift.

I chose to make a keepsake wedding box as my example. I washed soft neutral colours in Jo Sonja's acrylic paints over the sides and base of box. Then; did my favourite technique of using sequin waste and sponging paint over the top to create a textured look.

I covered the box top with torn papers then; sponged the sequin waste over it. I made the bride from papers and embellished her with a lace veil and a pretty bouquet. I used Texture Paste to create her hair then; sponged a light fawn over the top when it was dry. Oh; the inside of the box is painted with Jo Sonja's 'White Pearl' acrylic paint which it has a pretty pearly shine to it.

And just for fun.......I'm entering my box into the 'Unruly Paper Arts' - MAY RAQ I: Anything Wedding-Inspired Except a Card. I've pasted the link below; as Blogger won't allow me to put the link over the wording at the moment ?????

http://unrulypaperarts.blogspot.com.au/search?updated-max=2012-05-01T15:00:00-04:00&max-results=3

"Show and Tell" Time

Hi There Blogging Friends; I finally found some time to have a play with a packet of shrink plastic by the name of 'Shrinky Dinks', which has been sitting on a shelf for quite some time. My goodness; I am completely amazed at this stuff.

I decided to have a go at making some spare key tags so; I stamped some houses onto the plastic with Staz On Ink. Then; coloured them in with ordinary colouring pencils and used a shape template to cut them out. They were quite a large size but after a few minutes in a hot oven, they shrunk down to these cute little tags.

Here is a pic of how big the stamp and shape cutter was in the beginning and; the size the finished tag came down to. It has a complete zoom down affect and was a lot of fun to watch in the oven....must find some more time to make some more!

I also decided to give my Stampin' Up Punches a bit of love and used them to make up some coasters. I used Artists Gel Medium (love that stuff), to glue all the papers down. Then; did a bit of sponging with sequin waste and acrylic paints and finally gave them three coats of Jo Sonja's Matte Varnish. Fill a new mug with some chocolates or freshly baked biscuits add a handmade coaster, wrap it all in cellophane and you have a great little gift for someone special.

I've also been blessed with winning two giveaways last month. What a lovely surprise it is to receive such gifts in the mail. The first win was on Amy's Blog; The Crafty Book Nerd and here are the gorgeous items. First are two elegant tags handmade by Amy.....

then; some beautiful embellishments......

then; some lovely papers, butterflies and flowers.....

then; some gorgeous cards, stickers, trims, some fabric and more embellishments.......

and finally; some pretty notepaper and envelopes plus the sweetest die cut cards. How wonderful is Amy to send all of these pretty and useful items.....thankyou sweetheart!

My second win was with Wendy at Art By Wendy and I received this sweet handmade carry bag which was made by Wendy herself. What a darling little bag it is and just perfect to hang off the shoulder on a night out.....

Wendy also sent me a card with her own Art on the front and two equally gorgeous metal embellishments. Love you heaps Wendy....thankyou for your generosity.

and......my monthly tag swaps with Tee on The Altered Paper Blog are a joy to be involved in. The April tag theme was 'Easter', so this is a pic of mine which was sent to Jenny in Virginia USA.

Apologies to everyone for not putting in the back links to their blogs, but Mr. Blogger (who seems to be playing up a lot lately) won't let me do that to-night!

Life is Good.....!