Treasure Chest - My first Creative Expressions DT Project

WOW! That was the first thing I said in response to my invitation to join the fantastic Design Team at Creative Expressions.

YES!  ...was then next word. 

Oh My Goodness, what shall I make????? ...were my next words.

So, here I am, doing my first blog for Creative Expressions.

For my new readers I suppose I should introduce myself properly. You may know a little about me already but here is a brief bio.

I am older than I would like to be but young at heart. I live in Buckinghamshire with my husband, 3 sons, 17, 26 and 27 and 2 dogs. I have crafted ever since I can remember.  I come from a background of crafty people.  Sewing, knitting, baking, painting, paper crafts, woodworking, pottery, model making, etc have always been part of my life. I have upholstered three piece suites, made patchwork quilts, done cross stitch, made my own paper, made stained glass pieces, and so much more but always come back to working with paper.  I started making cards 20 years ago. Things were hard to come by then, all that you could get was office stationary.  Rubber stamps were what the post office used, ink pads came in red, black or blue, and envelopes were either white or Manila!  And of course there was no Internet!  How things have changed! I am thrilled that we can now all get such wonderful products to craft with and have such easy access to inspiration. I look forward to sharing my passion for paper crafting with you. 

Right, I suppose I need to get on with the project! I have a passion for taking dull, uninteresting brown papier-mâché shapes and boxes and turning them into  "über" glamorous decorative objects and my project today is no exception. 

Look how uninteresting this little box is.  It really is dull, sorry box, but you are! What you need is a bit of black card, some gilding wax and an embossing folder. No, really that is pretty much all that you need to transform a drab box like this into a beautiful box. 

Ingredients (Click to link)

• papier-mâché box
• Eco Green black acrylic paint
• Foundation black card
• Cosmic Shimmer Mister(s)
• Spellbinders embossing folder
• Cosmic Shimmer Glue
• Gilding Wax
• Thank You Stamp 
• Black Embossing powder
• Embossing ink

Take it Further

• Key
• Tassel
• Beads for feet

The How2 Bit

• Paint the box with the acrylic paint. As the central bits are going to be covered by the embossed card it is only necessary to paint the edges. Allow to dry.
• Now this is optional but I did it before realising I would go wild with the gilding wax! Spray a couple of pieces of black card with your preferred colours of mister(s) and allow to dry.
• Run the misted pieces of card through your embosser with an embossing folder. Select your pattern according to the size of your piece. I find the smaller the design the better and I try as much as possible NOT to use anything that has a specific direction, unless I am being VERY careful when cutting out the pieces. An upside down element is something to avoid!

• Measure and cut out each 'face' of the box. Handy tip, use a silver gel pen to label the pieces.
• Stick the pieces on. 
• Rub on the gilding wax. Do this lightly with several applications to build up the colour. You can add but you cannot take away. Buff up to bring out the shimmer. You can barely see the earlier misting but somehow I sense that it would notice if I hadn't done it at all. It adds depth.

• Using a scrap of thick card I made a cartouche for the front of the box. Plenty of black embossing powder built up 'old school' style with embossing ink and a heat gun, and then while it was still liquid, I squished (technical term!) the rubber stamp into it. The floral section of the Thank You stamp was perfect for this project.
• Cut out the design to get rid of the messy bit and then apply more gilding wax, especially on the edges to cover up the bare card.
• Strips of card were cut to make the straps. A key was gilded to help it tone in.

• The straps are glued to the box.
• The embellishment was added on the front panel. I added a little gem for more interest.
• You can if you like add some feet. These are beads glued on and then painted black and gilded. 

And there we have it. Remember that little dull brown box........ta..dah! It has become a beautiful box. I added the key and a tassel, simply because I could!

I don't know about you but I am ready for a sit down after all that! Hope you enjoyed this journey? I hope you come back to visit soon. My repertoire isn't limited to gilded boxes, I have another project lined up for you already which is nothing like this! Variety is the spice of life, or so they say.

Before I go I would like to remind you that the BSSBS is only a few weeks away! There is a discount on ticket prices if purchased before 8th April but you could still buy 'on the day' if you prefer. All the details can be found by clicking the logo to link to the web page. See you there?

Thanks for being here. I would love to know what you think about my project and my blog. It would be great to read your comments.

Bye for now! Kim xx