Lady Vagabond Decorated Box

by Gill Humphrey

I love to create pieces that are both decorative and functional so today I am sharing a rather large box decorated in a mixed media style using the Lady Vagabond papers by Stamperia.

 

The top of the box has been created using a collage of papers with some lifted on mountboard for added dimension. The papers were sealed with two layers of Pentart Matte Varnish and once dry radom areas of Pentart Transparent Crackle gel added. It is important to use the primer first and allow it to dry and I personally find that the top layer cracks better if left to dry naturally. Thin applications result in small crackles and thicker ones bigger crackles. An elastic wood trim was then added to the edges.

 

The rim of the box and the main box were then painted by putting blobs of assorted blue and grey Pentart Matte paints onto an Indigoblu paint mat and then picked up randomly with a sponge applying two or three different colours at the same time and building the layers until I had a stormy sky - typical British weather and just perfect for a London themed project.

Once the paints had dried I added houses cut from the papers - my box is huge and it actually required 2 sheets of 12 x 12 and 1 sheet of 8 x 8 papers. These were adhered around the base of the box with Stamperia Mixed Media glue and once this had dried the rim and sides of the box were given two coats of matte varnish. Random areas of transparent crackle glue were then added.

 

Finally to bring out the crackles and to age my piece I covered everything with Stamperia Antiquing paste wiping back the colour until I was happy with the affect.