Flower Power ~ New Challenge at The Artist Trading Post Exchange

It's time for a new challenge over at the Artist Trading Post Exchange. Julia is our lovely host, and she has chosen  to brighten up these winter days, with a wonderful theme, 'Flower Power'. If you love making flowers, this challenge will be right up your street.  Make a project featuring handmade flowers, include stamping somewhere on your work, no digis please, and share it with us over at the Artist Trading Post Exchange. There is a £10 gift certificate to spend at the fabulous Artist Trading Post, for the team's favourite project.
I've had a lot of fun, firstly emptying and then recycling this little round chocolate box. Christmas is a great time to add to your stash of interesting boxes, this one was just perfect for up-cycling. this is what it looked like before I got to work.

Firstly, I removed the label and then lightly sanded the smooth surface, before painting it with white gesso. I decided to leave the bottom half as it was. The lid fits quite snugly and I wasn't sure if painting the bottom half would affect the way it fitted together. Once the gesso was dry, I painted on a base coat of brown acrylic paint and left it to dry. I then applied Crackle Glaze, left this to dry and then added a top coat, which is a mixture of Vintage Lace and Concrete Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paints. I love seeing the cracks appear as the top coat dries. This is what it looked like....

In order to give it a more vintage look, I blended in a little Potting Soil Archival Ink. I then started to dress the lid up a bit. I adhered  a black ribbon around the middle and edged it, either side, with  a narrow cotton lace. I then  made a stamped label using one of the stamps from Tim's Travel Labels set.

The roses were a little challenge I set myself. I wondered if it was possible to make them using the Jumbo Tattered Pine Cone die and yes it is. It's not quite as easy as making the smaller ones, as there is so much more card to gather in. I used a light weight manila card for the die cuts, which I firstly sprayed with Antique linen and Tattered Rose Distress Sprays. If you haven't tried making roses with the smaller Tattered Pine Cone Die, Tim has an easy to follow tutorial on his blog which you can view with this link. I used the same method but secured the layers as I went along, using my glue gun. The pink flower  was made with the smaller Tattered Pine Cone Die, so you can see the difference in size between the two dies.

I love making flowers, so I am pleased to add this new one to my repertoire. The leaves were cut from the Jumbo Tattered Florals Die and once again sprayed with Distress Ink, this time with the addition of one of the metallic sprays, Tarnished Brass. I added a little stamped tag to continue the Parisian theme. So there you have it my vintage chocolate box, I imagine that it could have been left on the sumptuous feather pillow, in the bedroom of some swanky hotel in Paris, filled with delicious hand made chocs.... Yes, I think this would feature in the life I have imagined !! Now it's over to you. Hop over to the Artist Trading Post Exchange blog and you'll find full details of how to join in this fortnight's challenge. If you want to purchase some of the items I've used to up-cycle my choc box, just click on the highlighted links and you'll be transported to the fabulous Artist Trading Post Shop. so until next time.... au revoir !