Little Curiosity Box by Lesley

Hey people.
Seeing as our glorious summer has taken a down turn........it’s got me thinking of Autumn (my most favourite season) I love the colours and how everything changes.....and it also gives me an excuse to go rusty with my work!!

This week I decided to alter a little trinket box.

I started off by painting it with gesso and then gluing it together. I used rust and mustard coloured paint. And then embossed it with rust embossing powder. Giving it fantastic texture.

Along the sides of the boxes, I use a couple of the strung baubles. I know they’re meant for Christmas.......but I just love them!

The front of the box, I used a stencil and crackle paint and then highlighted the the raised areas with gold wax. A few bits from my stash was used to finish off.

For the middle of the box, I meted some wax to and gave it a coat, letting it clump together in places.
Very hard to get a decent photo!

An old book page, screwed up, inked and waxed was added to the back. And then I added a few randoms I had lying on my desk, including a piece of the honeycomb.

As an afterthought, I added a hinge, so the little box will close.

Thanks for reading.
L.x

Ingredients used

Strung baubles and holly
MDF trinket box kit, style 2
Sheet of MDF bees and honeycomb

Bloom on a Driftwood Island - Mini Tall House by Julie Ann.

Hello, it's great to be back at Calico Craft Parts blog. I hope you've been finding somewhere cool to create if the weather has been hot where you are! I seem to have spent  some time seeking out shady nooks when I've been out and about! Earlier in the Summer I took a workshop with Stephanie Rubiano, where I learned how to create miniature shrink plastic characters using vintage photos and my own art work. Having created a collection of tiny folk, I needed somewhere to house them and Calico Craft Parts provide some brilliant little houses and shrines. In this project I created a shady retreat for Fifi, the feline pierrot to relax after entertaining holiday makers on the pier.

The project began with me discovering that Fifi was exactly the right size to fit into the smallest Calico MDF Tall House shrine kit.

I set about creating a little mural for inside her shady retreat, using acrylic craft paints on the inside of the shrine.

I wanted to create a weathered look for the exterior of the shelter and I chose bright summery colours.

By using a crackle glaze with a fuchsia pink first coat and a turquoise top coat, I was able to create a home for my little pierrot that looked both bright and vintage.

I love the texture and shape of driftwood sculpted by the sea and the sun, and this piece was the perfect shape and size to accommodate Fifi and her shelter. I created a base for the house with some PaperClay, shaped and moulded to fit the driftwood. This takes about 24 hours to dry fully. As you can see I added a little branch of dogwood while the clay was still moist.

It's a good idea to seal the PaperClay with Gesso once it's completely dry. I then added a layer of Heavy Matte Gel Medium as an adhesive for the moss. The crown decoration is made from an 'off-cut' of shrink plastic with 2 tiny Calico oak leaves either side. I used a wooden tile to fix Fifi to the back of the house so as to bring her forward out of the shadows.

These tiny calico seagulls are perfect for adding atmosphere.

Now, between shows, Fifi can bloom rather than wilt in the afternoon sunshine. I hope you manage to find some cool and shady spots yourself as this heatwave summer so many of us have been experiencing reaches its peak!
Calico Craft Parts used in this project.
Plain MDF Tall House/Shrine Kit (small)
Sheet of Mini MDF Acorns and Oak Leaves
Sheet of Mini Wood Birds - Seagulls

Sea View by Kerstin

Hello crafty friends!

I'm back with a new inspiration with some products from Calico Craft Parts.

It's an upcycling project; a wooden bookend, on which I used the beautiful

Window MDF Wood Shape - Style 7

together with a sea photo behind it as central element.

 that's how I started

some details

 The window in weathered wood style

 using some DecoArt Media products 

(White Crackle paste, White Gesso, Fluid acrylics, Texture Sand paste)

 a little seahorse from the

Sheet of Mini MDF Nautical Motifs Style 1

Word Elements - Summer & Seaside

 Beach & Seashell Collage - MDF Wood Shape

I have removed a shell so that it doesn't cover up the quote from the word band.

Can you see the awesome  accentuations and shades on this seashell collage?

They're absolutely striking! I love it !

Anchor & Banner - MDF Wood Shape

and a very small diver from 

Sheet of Mini MDF Nautical Motifs Style 1

I hope you will like my window with a sea view.

Summer greetings from 
Kerstin

Family Memories by Jennie

Hello and welcome to you all !

Today I am sharing one of the the smaller Calico Craft Parts ATC boxes which I have used to house three special family ATCs which I made last year.

You may remember that last February I made this small Tryptych of ATCs using photographs of my Nana (Eva) and her two sisters. It is a real favourite in our sitting room but unfortunately the ribbon is not strong enough to hold the three ATCs and they are always falling over! So I decided to cut off the ribbon and make a new holder for them.

If you would like to see how the ATCs were made then click the link HERE.

I painted the insides of the ATC box first with brown chalk paint and then stamped over the top with brown ink. I then stuck the box together before proceeding to the outside.

The outside of the box was painted with the same brown chalk paint before adding DecoArt Weathered Wood and a final coat of chalk paint. Finally a little bit of text stamping around the outsides.

A small Tag and Word Element were given the same treatment as the insides of the box.

The Copperplate letters fit nicely on the bar and a bit of muslin fills in the gap at the front.

The finished box ready to house the ATCs which will now no longer fall over!

As always thank you for joining me today and happy crafting!

Jennie x

Live The Dream

Calico Craft Parts used:

ATC Display Box (Small)

Word Elements Steampunk & Vintage

Mini Tags (Classic)

Mini Letters Copperplate Gothic

Morning Glory Birch Plywood Gift Box - by Claudia

Hi, servus and thanks so much for stopping by! It is my turn again to share a bit of Calico Craft Parts inspiration with you and I hope you will like my little "Morning Glory Box" that I have made as a (part of  a) present for a dear friend who will soon be celebrating a big birthday.

Calico Craft Parts used: 

- Birch Plywood Box Kit - Rectangle - Size 2
- Morning Glory MDF Wood Shape - Style 45

This is how the Birch Plywood Box Kit looks before assembly.

I have used matte DecoArt Decou-Page (my favourite go-to medium for assembling boxes and other MDF or plywood pieces).

I primed my Morning Glory flower wood shape with a coat of DecoArt Americana Alizarin Crimson acrylic paint, that I dry brushed on to not use any detail.

That was followed by a layer of diluted DecoArt media Titanium White Antiquing Cream that I partially dabbed off again with some kitchen roll.

Then I went in with a wash of DecoArt media Gold Metallic fluid acrylic paint and did the same as with the Antiquing Cream.

I repeated these steps, adding and wiping back layers and washes until I was content with the look.
Next I added a base coat of Alizarin Crimson Americana paint to the box and let it dry, before I painted on a thin coat of DecoArt Americana Weathered Wood crackle medium.

As soon as the Weathered Wood had become dry to the touch I lightly brushed on a thin coat of Americana Bleached Sand using a soft wide flat brush.

I let everything air dry and finished my Morning Glory wood shape instead by adding some detail with a thin brush, emphasising the blossoms and leaves with a bit of Alizarin Crimson, Bleached Sand and Dusty Rose acrylic paints.

To make the lovely reds and old rose tones pop, I added a wash of a contrasting colour to the leaves and stems - in this case Sap Green media fluid acrylic paint. I also applied some DecoArt Gold Rush Metallic Lustre around all the edges of the box and also sprinkled some diluted Metallic Gold fluid acrylic paint on the flower wood shape. The box itself was covered with sprinkles of diluted Dusty Rose.

Once all was dry I added a generous layer of DecoArt Americana Triple Thick to the flower woodshape that I had glued in place with matte Decou-Page first.

My box was done - all I had to do was to set it aside to let the Triple Thick air dry. Voilá!

I think it is the perfect box for a small piece of self made jewellery or money to give someone in.
The Birch Plywood Box Kit comes in six different sizes - from about six centimetres on its longest side to about twentysix! So whatever you want to put or store in - there's the perfect size for it. See you in two weeks!

Hugs and happy crafting!

Claudia 

xxx

Roll up! Roll up! The Clowns are Coming. - by Lesley.

Hey people...…I am back!
Have been missing in action for a while...…..family stuff had to come first for a bit, but all is settled now. :)
To get back into the flow of creating again, I decided to alter one of the fab cube storage boxes.

As well as dolls......I have a thing for circus type stuff, especially clowns! Not everyones cup of tea, I know! Whilst taking apart an old clown, I fell in love with the boots, so I had to use them.

I started off with gluing the box together and then priming it with gesso. next I painted the outer box with white acrylic paint, as well as the front of the pulley out bit.

I used low tack masking tape to create the stripes. The lines were quite harsh, so I doodled along the lines with black paint.
I painted some of the fleur de lis hinges with blue paint to match the clowns boots.

The whole box was given a coat of varnish to protect it. And then the boots glued on top.

Thanks for reading. :)
L.x

Ingredients used
Fleur di Lis hinges
MDF cube storage