Saturday, March 15, 2014

Trying A New Technique

 I was inspired by Diane at My Art Journal to try a new technique this week.  I have quite an accumulation of bits and pieces of costume jewelry and this seemed like a perfect use for them.
 I picked out a group of random earrings, pins and pendants and used E6000 to attach them all to the top of a wooden cigar box I had in my stash.  I let it dry overnight.
 Next I painted over the whole thing with Glidden Gripper.  Once that was dry I went over the jewelry pieces with watered down black acrylic paint and then dabbed it back off with a wet paper towel.
 I went back in with silver, violet, turquoise and green mixed with pearlizing medium and just randomly dry brushed, wiping off what I didn't want with the wet paper towel.  I let that dry then painted the rest of the top black.
I wanted something more than a plain black background, but not too busy, so I used my fall-back black and white dot paper.  I got out my Fiskars Shape Cutter and one of the oval templates was just the right size to fit around the jewelry collage.  I inked a bit with black Stazon then used Mod Podge to glue it on the top.
 I used the same paper on the sides and then inked a little more.
 Next, I needed to give it a more finished look with borders.  I had some braid trim in the my stash that was lurking somewhere between lavender, pink and gray.  An odd color indeed but ALMOST what I needed.  I used the same colors I had used on the jewelry thingy and did some more random dry brushing.
 I used hot glue to attach the trim around the bottom edge...
 And around the embellishment on top.
 I painted the inside black then covered the bottom with a coordinating paper.
I decided to leave the original label in the box because I like the logo and just added some layered paper petals with a tiny cabochon in the center.  I finished off the outside with a good coat of clear spray acrylic to seal everything.  I didn't take another picture after that last step but it did get everything that final "blending" that it needed.
I hope you are finding time to try something new!

15 comments:

Lou Anne Hazel said...

I love how this turned out! Thanks for sharing the process.

oldgreymareprimitives said...

very cool and I learned about some new products..new to me anyway <3

Jewels said...

Wow beautiful!

Betsy@My Salvaged Treasures said...

I love this idea! Who knew that an old cigar box could look so pretty and feminine. Thanks for sharing the process Kathy.

Betsy@My Salvaged Treasures said...

I love this idea! Who knew that an old cigar box could look so pretty and feminine. Thanks for sharing the process Kathy.

Annette said...

How fun is that!!? I always hesitate to try to "redo" a box because I'm afraid I'll just make it a mess. Kudos to you for trying and having a success!!

Maureen said...

Awesome Kathy! That E6000 is the best, isn't it? Love what it allows us to do... that "jewelry thingy" ;) decoration is wonderful all painted and distressed!

Celestina Marie said...

Hi Kathy, this is incredible. What a wonderful creation you designed. Love it and the details you added with the dry brushing and the jewelry layered like this. I so want to try this.
E6000 glue is the best.
Thank you for sharing the steps and the inspiration.
Beautiful my friend.
Hugs!!

Annette said...

Wow and Wow!! The jewelry thingy is gorgeous and I never would have recognized it from it's original state! What a cool box!

Janet's Creations said...

As I was reading your blog, I was mumbling to myself, "I hope she didn't cover the inside picture/label" and nope, ya didn't. That label just POPS out of that black paint. Great job. I might try something similar, myself.

Glad you can see again. I've been seeing squirrels again myself. Time to see the doc.

The Junque Seeker said...

What an interesting process and fascinating results. Going to have to try this with some of those pieces I've never found a use for but just can't throw out. Thanks for sharing!

Blessed Serendipity said...

This is beautiful Kathy. I never thought about painting the jewelry pieces - genius!

xo Danielle

suziqu's thread works said...

Wow Kathy that is very impressive!
That is such a great box too and I love the original label inside.
Yes I can hardly wait to try the next new thing.
x Suzy

Laurie said...

I love your work -- it's always so detail oriented and you always go the extra mile!

CATHY said...

What a fun idea - and your box came out beautiful!