Make Art Every Day, ATB Storage Cube - by Julie Ann Part 2

Welcome back to Part 2 of my Storage Cube Odyssey! I hope you've been having a lovely summer and  managed to fit in some voyages of discovery yourselves since we last met. 2 weeks ago I shared some ATB storage cubes with you and here is a reminder of how they turned out.

Last time we concentrated on looking at the top 2 boxes in the stack and this week it's the turn of the bottom ones. Because only the little house at the top is attached you can arrange the boxes individually or pile them up on your shelf or table.

I worked on this project over quite a while, coming back to it and adding once the basic layers were in place.

Although I've always admired Steampunk style, it's not something that I've played with much myself so far. This panel, which features my own artwork, however, does have something of a steampunk look. To me it suggests the little cogs and wheels moving in my brain when I'm creating! I used extra thick embossing enamels on 2 of the cogs and some gilding on the one in the middle. Tiny faux pearls appear to fix them onto the cube.

I used Black Gesso on the tops of the storage cubes and Washi tape around the edge. The cubes are coordinated with little Scrabble tiles covered in map paper. I have a bag of stamped words left over from other projects and I used these ready-stamped elements along with scraps with design papers, my own art work and beautifully detailed Calico Craft Parts.

Here is my Muse gathering wild berries before taking me by the hand and flying into new adventures with me!

The King of the Beasts reminds me that sometimes you have to be brave and step out of your comfort zone if you want to challenge yourself.

I don't know exactly why it was but this panel was the one it gave me most pleasure to create. I used the galleon from some map paper in the background, stamping and collaging  my own art work with classic painting. I was really pleased with how the canary appears to be toying with the idea of joining his friends up in the trees.

For this panel, I combined the mini seagulls from the sheet of birds with one of the individual wood bird shapes of a seagull in flight. There is real lace on the lady's dress and a tiny wren looks on at his cousins in flight.

Sea-horses have always intrigued me and I love the way they feature on this Calico frame. It fitted the cube perfectly too. Once again, I especially liked the effect of melting ultra thick embossing powders onto the Calico Craft Parts. What's great about these cubes is that I can keep adding to them whenever I need storage. The possibilities for personalising them are endless too. You could do as I did and combine your own art work with collage materials, or you could use rubber stamped and coloured faces and figures; downloaded images or digital collage. I hope you'll have a go at creating ATB Cube Storage just for you, or as a gift for a creative friend. Have a happy, creative time until we meet again.
Calico Craft Parts used in this Project
MDF Cube Storage Box Kit, Medium
MDF Cube Storage Box Kit, Large
Mini Steampunk Motifs, Style 1
Sheet of Mini MDF Angel Wings, Style 4
Sheet of Mini Crown Wood Shapes, Style 2
Sheet of Mini Bird Shapes, Seagulls
Soaring Seagull Wood Shape
Songbirds in Spring Branches Wood Shape
Nautical Multi Frame - Seahorses and Sea Foam
Mini Label Holders MDF Wood Shapes
Sheet of Engraved Scrabble Tiles
Sheet of MDF Mini Garden Birds