Owl ATC Box - Julie Ann

Hello! It's great to be back again on the Calico Craft Parts blog. It's Valentine's Day tomorrow and although my project has a romantic theme, it's not traditional - there's a complete absence of hearts or flowers, I'm afraid! This little project grew out of my love for owls and the need to find a special box for ATCs, but in view of tomorrow's date we could imagine it containing love letters! Please meet Ava, the Elf Owl. She does look a little dreamy: maybe she is contemplating her fiance, a handsome barn owl. Perhaps it's his love letters that the box contains!

Where did the idea for Ava come from? I once lived in Sussex and one of the most beautiful sights I recall from an evening walk was a barn owl sweeping overhead, his wings illuminated in the moonlight. Since then I've been fascinated by owls and the many species still extant. I returned from a walk the other day and sketched Ava on a page from a vintage natural history book, using water-colour pencils and fine line pens.

After scanning her into my computer, I played around with re-sizing her and experimenting with adding her head to different bodies. It seemed to me there was something romantically Renaissance about Ava, the Owl, so I combined her body with a Renaissance lady. For background, I used a master-board that I had brayered, stamped and stencilled onto.

The small Book Box Kit was the perfect size for ATCs. After positioning Ava's head, I wondered if maybe she is adjusting her feathers so that she will look particularly attractive for her beau!

These box kits are easy to assemble. They are designed with a tab, which fits through the little hole seen here on the left. As I wanted to use one of the decorative key-holes and copper wire to secure my lid, I cut off the tab and sanded down the edge, drilling a little hole in one of the side panels with my Dremel.

With a little gilding paste and some pearls, the MDF escutcheon looks quite effective.

Tiny hinges and a word band given a touch of a copper toned gilding paste and darkened with a little archival ink, help to give Ava's romantic box an aged look.

Attaching the master-board to a plain wood ATC gives dimension to the book cover.

Painting with a brick red Acrylic, a layer of a Crackle Glaze and a neutral top coat, finished off with a touch of archival ink and some gilding paste add to the antique look.

In the next 2 weeks I plan to create some more owl themed ATCs to fit into the box.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. When we next meet I hope to open Ava's tiny casket and share a couple of her ATCs with you.

Calico Craft Parts used in this Project

Small Book Box kit

Plain ATC wood blanks

Sheet of MDF mini hinges

Sheet of MDF keys and escutcheons