Mellow Fruitfulness and Autumn - Wooden Box By Florence

Hi everyone

I was so excited when I saw the new Stamps for November especially as, like many of you, I am in the middle of making gifts and stocking fillers for Christmas....I am not quite in panic mode yet though!

If you are making gifts for friends, family or to sell at School and Church Bazaars do check out not only the new stamps but the other stamps in the CB range. The image design and the quality of the stamps with the deep etching allows you to stamp onto not just card but they stamp fabulously on wood and fabric. 

Today I would like to share with you a wooden box I painted and stamped onto which is one of the Christmas gifts I have made for this year.

This really is not as complicated as it may look.  Do give it a go you will have so much fun.

I prepared the box for painting just by removing all hinges and clasps, cleaning it and sanding it down.

I then Painted the base and lid of the box, inside out, with 2 coats of Gesso.

I then painted the base and lid of the box, inside and out, with 3 coats of white craft paint sanding lightly between coats. I like to use 3 coats in case I need to remove any paint as mentioned in later stages below.

I diluted some blue craft paint with some water (to a milk consistency) and applied it to all of the outside edges of the box base and lid using my fingers.

Tip:  If you do put too much paint on or you do not like the look you have created quickly take the paint off with a wet wipe but do leave to dry before adding any more paint.

So when you have base coated the box in white and added the distressed blue edges you are ready to stamp.

Mix a small amount of blue paint (say, a tea spoon full) with equal parts of Stamping Medium (details can be seen on my craft blog HERE). You can mix more paint as and when required.  

 The stamping medium is optional.  I like to use the mix because I find it gives me a better stamped paint image.

Using a bathroom sponge, apply the paint mix to your rubber stamp and then start stamping.  

Tip:  I would recommend that you start stamping at the front of the box, both on the lid and the base.  That way you can alter any stamping at the back.

Tip: If you do make a mistake stamping or you do not like the position of the image you have stamped, as mentioned above, take it off with a wet wipe.  Do leave it to completely dry before you stamp onto the area again.

To create the crackle effects, I painted on one coat of Weather Wood Medium and left it to dry.  

I then painted on one coat of One Step Crackle Medium and left to dry.

This was a happy accident and I was pleased with the results.  

You can just use one coat of One Step Crackle Medium and leave off the Weathered Wood Medium if you wish.

I then diluted some paint with water and rubbed this over the surfaces of my box, in small areas at a time, just with my fingers, taking off any excess with a piece of kitchen paper towel.

Tip: If you rub/paint on too much paint and if some paint drys you can remove it by very gently wiping it over with a wet wipe.  Please do leave the surface dry before reapplying any more paint.

To seal the decorated box I use two coats of Gel Medium.  

An alternative to this would be to use household wood varnish or Mod Podge.  As this surface has been stamped in water base craft paint you can use most mediums. 

Thank you for looking.

Happy Stamping

Florence x

Summer Fairies - By Florence

Hi everyone

How is everyone this morning.  Has anyone got anything special planned for the weekend?

One of the stamp sets we are focusing on this month is the Summer Fairies.  Please check out the link to see the options.

What a magical set they are.

When I received the stamps the first thought I had was "wouldn't they be great to use whilst crafting with the children or grandchildren over the summer holidays".  They would keep the children happy for hours.  Saying that, fairies are always popular with crafters.

Not only would these make fab cards but what about invitations to parties.  Or, what about using them to make table decorations for a fairy themed party.  I would love one of those.  Any excuse to wear a pair of wings.

The possibilities are endless with these stamps.


Today I wanted to share with you an altered book project that I made.

please click on the image to see the detail


1. The Cover and Base.

Using a craft knife, I cut a rectangle out of the cover of an old book.
I
I measured and marked 1 cm around the inside of the book cover aperture, onto the first inside page of the book and started cutting away the inside of the pages, where I had marked, until I had reached about 1.5 - 2 cms depth, creating an internal box.

The book I used was a spy fiction book so I attached a page from Wind in the Willows to the page at the base of the internal box.  That is the page you can see as the background behind the embellishments.

I then roughly painted the whole of the book cover front and back with a lilac colored craft paint. 

I dry brushed some white paint over the painted cover, just a hint really, and then gave everything a really good rub with some sand paper.

The back of the book


When the paint on the cover was dry I used some stencil masks, a piece of bathroom sponge and some blue and pink paint to create some patterns all over it.

I stamped the butterflies, on the back cover, using Black Archival Ink.

I colored the butterflies with Distress Ink and a damp paint brush.


2. The Embellishments

 I stamped the 7 butterflies, 6 flowers and the fairy image on white coated card stock using Black Archival Ink.

When the ink was dry I *cut all of the images out and colored them using a damp paint brush colored ink from pens and Distress Ink pads.  I then gave them all a quick spray of artists water color fixative.  * When I cut the fairy out I left a 1.5 cm tab at the bottom of the image for fixing purposes.

I attached my flowers to cocktail sticks using silicon glue and added a sparkly gem to the centers.


3. The Assemblage.


With a craft knife, I cut away another small slot in the book page so I could slot the cocktail sticks in for fixing purposes

I placed the flowers and their wooden stems into the aperture, slotted the stems into the cutout slot and secured them with silicon glue.

I placed the fairy in the position I wanted and fixed her by glue the tab (as mentioned above) inside the pages at the base.

To add a little bit more of a support to the fairy, I placed and glued some trimmed bottle corks behind her.

To make the book solid, I glued the pages together.

 Firstly, I took a batch of pages say 1cm's worth and then glue two pages together, covering the whole of the page with glue and then repeated this for all of the book.

Holding the book closed I generously applied some PVA glue to the outside edges of the book pages. Firstly with a brush and then I pushed and smoothed the glue into the pages with my finger.

I then placed the book on the floor and laid 4 or 5 heavy books on top and left it to dry for a few hours.

Finally, I glued the butterflies onto the top left-hand corner of the front cover and added some ribbon to cover the title on the spine.  I had painted over this but the embossing still showed through a little.  I also trimmed off the ends of the cocktail sticks with a blade.

If you have any questions please drop me a line in the comments box.

I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

Kindest Regards
Florence x