Monday 23 June 2014

Not enough hours....

Good morning friends.
My personal crafting has taken a bit of a back seat recently with one thing and another so I haven't really got a lot that I can share at the moment. Currently I'm gearing up for some overseas family arriving tomorrow for a few weeks which will be lovely so though I will try to squeeze in some crafting I may not be able to so if it stays quiet on here please bear with me, I will be back, I promise! Today, though, I do have a project I can share with you.
My little box of Hopes and Dreams.

 I started out with two wooden flat boxes from The Craft Barn and glued them together as seen. I added some textural details with a mask and Grunge Paste and then started to play around with the Tim Holtz Frameworks dies. I love these shapes and I folded them over the edges, around corners, using some of the inside pieces too, until I was happy. It took a little lime to glue them as I had to hold them in place for a while to stop them springing off but hey, it was worth it in the end.
 I cut the words out of thin card using Tim's Time Out strip die which is another of my favourite alphabet dies and glued them down too.
 Obviously by this stage there was no way to open the boxes so I had to carefully cut any pieces that were over the lid joins.
I added some flowers made from the Tattered Garland strip die to add further dimension before painting in a selection of colours, blending them as I went to achieve a more subtle tone.
When the paint was dry I then added a bitumen mix to darken and age everything and used a damp cloth to wipe areas away to reveal more of the colour below. Lastly, I used white and grey paint to add some dry brush details.
 For the inside I inked card with Distress inks and stamped in Archival using Tim Holtz stamps
 So there you have it, a little box of Hopes and Dreams. I may add a couple of little journals to write in or perhaps just do a bunch of loose cards to remind myself of my Hopes and Dreams....... not sure yet.
Take care folks and I'll try to be back soon.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Ooh I love this look Neil it looks amazing
P xx

Rita said...

Magnificent work Neil. Love all the textures. Hugs Rita xxx

jan said...

I love these boxes Neil, such a great idea ~ thinking outside the "box" lol, Using the Tim Holt dies was a good move, they really add great detail and texture.

Another stunning piece, if you need my address, just ask lol.

Hugs Jan xxx

Nan G said...

Amazing boxes! your use of colors is truly an art...to go from such light beginnings to these finished pieces...amazing!

itsazoo said...

Gorgeous colors......The boxes are
so beautifully done......

Belinda Basson said...

When will there ever be "enough hours" in a day? I suffer from the same problem. Enjoy your visitors and see you when you return...

Anonymous said...

We could all do with a few extra days a week! Your altered boxes are gorgeous, inside & out, I love that you glued them together.

Claudine said...

Super fabulous, I love everything about these boxes!!!

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

Amazing boxes Neil, love the idea of attaching one on top of the other.
Hope you and your visitors are having a great time.
Happy crafting, Angela x

www.deeadamsart.blogspot.co.uk said...

Hi Neil, I really love this piece and like how you have used both the inside and frame from the die cuts, also how you have placed one box on top of the other brilliant! Dee

mark gould said...

I really like how they turned out Neil Love the texture