A trio of chests for That Craft Place and a bit more.....

Good evening folks.
Well, somehow this got lost in the ether and didn't post as scheduled, so here it is now.
It's a new challenge over at That Craft Place, where this week's theme is to alter a box. There is loads of inspiration from the rest of the team following the link and here in more detail is my offering.
I decided to work with this trio of paper mache  nesting chests.

 All three went though the same process, I just varied the colours slightly.

 To begin, every box was totally covered with a selection of vintage book pages. I chose pages with a strong focal image. I used DecoArt Faux Finishing Medium to adhere. Once it was dry I used thin washes of Traditions paints to add subtle colour but still allowing the image to show through. When that was dry I then covered with a layer of One step crackle and left to dry naturally.

 To highlight the crackle even more I painted the chests with warm white paint and rubbed it off to give a lovely pale whitewashed cracked effect..

 There is some stamped details added and some added embellishments to finish.

I love the shabby, tattered finish and I think the white adds a slightly different feel.
Everything used is available from the shop (except the old paper)
Today too I have spent a lovely day working with a group of ladies at The Craft Barn on the first part of a two part class, funnily enough, a trio of boxes too, albeit on a rather larger scale.

Today was spent working with clay, making plenty of embellishments. Getting a bit of a production line going with the die cutters and discovering just how versatile you can be with paper, scissors and glue.......
I can't wait till session two in March when it all comes together!

Yesterday was happy mail day when the postman delivered these lovely goodies from Wendy Vecchi.

I am already in love with the ink colours, especially the watering can. I love the stamp it stencil it, very cool and effective. The bottom stencil looks to be very versatile. I haven't really had time to play properly but when I finally get a chance next week I'll be sure to share the results.
Now, I'd better get myself sorted; I'm off to Stitches in the morning which I am really looking forward to. Need to charge my camera, pack my notebooks and remember my tickets!
Have a great evening folks and I'll catch up soon....