Monday, May 6, 2013

~ Mother's Day, Paper Mache, Craqueleur, Chalk Paint®, Graphics Fairy and Old Lace ~


Hello friends....welcome back to my little blog.
Although The Empty Nest shop is closed on Mondays, I often head to the shop and work in peace and quiet. At least until someone knocks on the door and has a paint emergency.
Today it was rainy and dreary, so I enjoyed locking myself in the shop and getting creative.
With Mother's Day right around the corner, I wanted to create a few pretty feminine and vintage looking paper mache boxes for purchase as sweet gifts.
Come along...I will show you how I made them.

Paper Mache boxes like these can be found at your local craft store and are very inexpensive.
The ladies in my shop painted an array of boxes in pretty Chalk Paint® decorative paint colors.
I added an Old White wash and created a fun pattern by laying a textured paper towel over the wet wash of Chalk Paint®.
Don't wipe...just gently lay the paper down and press. Whatever print is on your towel will be on your painted piece...cool, huh?

I used this ADORABLE vintage cat image from
The colors printed out so beautifully!
Instead of cutting with a scissor, I carefully tore the edges to give it a softer look.


  
I then decoupaged the paper image onto my painted box.
Apply your decoupage medium, I used Mod Podge, to the area on the box where you will place the image.
Be sure to overlap a bit for good edge adhesion.
Lay down the paper image over the wet area and gently smooth out any wrinkles.
Pay extra attention to the edges as you do not want them to peel up.

I used Annie Sloan's wonderful Craqueleur varnish crackle medium 
to create the china crazing style crackle you see.
A little of Annie Sloan's soft dark wax brought out all the lovely cracks.
Remember...whenever you use Annie's Craqueleur, be sure to keep it away from water or any exterior locations. This product is for dry, indoor use and is water soluble.
To read about this wonderful crackle product, check out an earlier post
 Here
I then had fun gluing bits and bobs of vintage lace and trim all around.
The lace was gifted to me by my dear friend 
Patty Seaman and her sister Karen of Classic Wall Finishes. In case you don't know them, they were one of the original Chalk Paint® Stockists here in the US.
I bought my very first can of Chalk Paint® from Patty and Karen 
and we have been friends ever since.

Here is my pretty Mother's Day Keepsake box all finished.
Isn't she sweet?

All ready to be filled with special trinkets and mementos.

Here is another box in Provence Chalk Paint® and a lovely birds nest image
also from Graphics Fairy.
I transferred my chosen image onto some sheets of antique sheet music I had.


To transfer your image onto sheet music, simply place your sheets of music into your printer and when you print your image, it will be print on to your music instead of plain white paper.
Make sense? 
No vintage sheet music???? 
No problem...here you go!
Thank You Graphics Fairy...you ROCK!!!!

I also crafted a small round box with a vintage rose bouquet image.
So that's it...Chalk Paint® and Craqueleur....Graphics Fairy images and sweet trims all come together for a lovely
 Mother's Day Keepsake Box.
My creations will be at 
The Empty Nest
I am hoping you will create a few of your own now that you know how.

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.
PS...remember top hug your Mother or any woman who means the world to you!
Whether we are blessed enough to have our Moms with us or not, we all have a woman in our life who inspires us like a mom would...go hug that lady!

                                                          

13 comments:

Betsy Speert said...

Hey!
I want to see what you mean about the paper towels!
I don't understand......
I am confused.....
Oy!

Marcie Rhys said...

Your boxes are elegant and adorable. All those techniques really make for a visually rich surface. I use to decorative paint, so I know about crackle finishes, but I'm not familiar with the one you shared. Thank you for the crackle info, as I'm sure what I use to use would not work well with paper.

Thanks so much for sharing, and your boxes should be flying out the door as soon as they' re dry.

Amy Chalmers said...

Love these charming boxes, such a nice idea for mothers day Janet!

Lady Courtney said...

You inspire me...I'm giving you a big virtual hug right now! I'm going to get some of those paper mache boxes out of storage and make one of these. Have a very good day!!!

Debbie @DewdropGables said...

I love your pretty boxes! So creative, the crackle really gives it that extra touch. I had to pin, and want to try this.
Debbie :)

Suzie Q said...

As always, you have such a generous heart! Thank you for sharing your creativity...the boxes are so beautiful. Happy Mothers Day to you!

Claire said...

Well if I could, I would give you a hug Janet, as you really are an inspiration.......
Your enthusiasm, energy and inspiration are boundless and these keepsake boxes are just gorgeous.
Loving the crackle finish......
You certainly made good use of your Monday.

Claire X

Unknown said...

These are beautiful! Agreed with another commenter who said they were elegant and adorable - and you did a perfect job Mod Podging :D

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