What's in the box? ........ HLS Mixed Media Challenge

Happy Tuesday evening ........

It's time to get another one of June's Blog Challenge underway .... this time it's the turn of the Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media Challenge

As you can see, the theme this month is GLITTER ...... we all like a little bit of sparkle here and there don't we!

I've got a little altered box for my DT Inspiration piece ......

I had so much fun playing around with this ..... I changed my mind about the colour twice!  And if any of my crafty ladies are reading this ....... this is one of my samples for the workshop at the weekend!!!

It all started out as a simple wooden box (approx  9cm square)  After a thin coat of white gesso I added some texture onto the box using a stencil and some texture paste along with a tiny bit of crackle paste.

I played around with my embellishments on the top and once I was happy with the arrangement I glued them into place using  Prima's 3D Matte Gel

I was looking for a seaside/beachy type feel to it.   In the end there's a little bit of everything on there .......paper flowers and a chipboard clock face, one of the Tim Holtz word bands .....

Metal cogs and a couple of seashells.  A cute metal seahorse charm from my stash

and a pebble I picked up off the beach ......

To add more texture and interest I sprinkled on some of the mini Prima Art Stones ... love these, and I can't wait to get my hands on the large ones!!

Once I was happy with the layout and arrangement everything was glued into place and then left to dry.

Next came the fun part ..... painting the box.  I used a chalk finish acrylic paint, over the whole thing, making sure to get in between all the layers and the embellishments and then I highlighted certain parts using some the Finnabair Art Alchemy Metallique and Sparks paints.  These are gorgeous to use and give great coverage with beautiful shimmer, and they cover everything.  I used some of the paler shades from the Opal Magic range ..... Green Gold and Violet Gold, with a touch of  Aqua Rose .... so pretty.  I spritz with water here and there to blend the colours slightly

Once the paint was dry ....... it didn't take long at all .... I went back in with some of the Alchemy Waxes ..... rubbing the wax over the embellishments to bring out the detail

To finish off, and add my glitter, I took a small glass bottle, sprinkled some fine crystal glitter into the bottom and then added some glossy accents over the top.  Before the glossy accents started to dry I tipped the bottle so that it started to pour out.  I then attached this onto my box and added a little more glossy accents around the neck of the bottle and sprinkled a little more glitter .....  a pool of mermaid dust I'm calling it

A few more touches of glitter here and there ..... a metal handle on the front of the box

and four ornate metal feet add the finishing touches

Inside the box I left things quite simple .... painted the inside with an off white acrylic paint and then added a pretty wooden heart to the bottom

Crackled and painted with the same colour as the box, and it's had a little of the gold wax applied to the edges

What will you create? ..... I can't wait to see.

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.

TT update ...... we're almost in the middle of race week and the weather is playing its part again. There's been a tight schedule the last couple of days with both races and qualifying sessions but unfortunately racing was cancelled today (sigh!)
Hopefully things will get back on track tomorrow (no pun intended) with a full schedule....... flaming June eh!!

Cheerio until next time .......