Altered Cigar Box

To start out the new year, I decided it was time to put the finishing touch on some projects that have been sitting around my studio for a while. You know the kind...the ones that got put aside so you could start something else. Don't tell me that I am the only one to do that!

My first completion is an altered cigar box. I took this class back in October but just now finished the album that is housed in the box. The class only allowed time to construct the box and album. We were on our own to select what we wanted in the album and finish it at our leisure.

The inside of the lid with a few cabinet cards and cigar labels.

The inside of the box has been divided into 3 sections. The 2 small sections at the top hold a small cigar, tiny booze bottle and an old Jim Beam key chain. The third section holds a hand constructed album.

Here is a view without the album:

The album consists of 3 hand stitched signatures and a variety of page sizes.

I'll show you a few of my favorite pages:



The class was taught at the Stamp Asylum in Plano, TX by Joni of Mrs. Oleary's located in Wichita, KS.

Halloween Shadowbox-part 2

Yesterday's post gave you an overall view of my Halloween shadowbox. It is 12 inches wide and 16 inches tall. Today I will break it down into sections and give you a closer look.

A metal bat (a junque shop find) colored with alcohol ink and distress ink shows off his wingspan by hovering over the corner of the box. The Tim Holtz ticket as well as the witch were stamped on dominoes. The sign says "Witches Castle 1 mile Trespassers will be Melted". Between the sign and the witch is a puddle of wax aka a trespasser.

The box on the top right is from The Toymaker.com where you can download a variety of fun Halloween items. Several of the images in this section are from a collage sheet by Itkupilli. For the grungy bottle, I took a clear bottle, swirled alcohol ink in it then used matte multi medium on the outside to tone down the shine. The top was wrapped with fibers and dipped in beeswax. The label from Love Manor is for a life renewal potion.

The creepy doll face from Digital Collage Images has been mounted on a cracked optical lense. The clock was a tiny brass clock that no longer worked so was distressed with acrylic paints and given a new purpose.

The cabinet cards, cauldron, and birds in the trees images are from Seneca Pond Crafts.

Tombstones are from Inka's Etsy shop Altered Artifacts. The fence is by Jolee's and has been covered with crackle paint and distress stain.

The outside of the box which I failed to take a picture of was covered with crackle paint, chipped off in places then covered with distress stain. When that was dry, I sealed it with Claudine Hellmuth's Studio brand multi-medium matte. It ended up with a nice chippy, grungy look.

I didn't list all of the sources of the papers and items I used. If you have a question or want to know where I came up with some of these items, please email me. You can find my email link on the sidebar. If you are still reading this, thank you!

Halloween Shadowbox

I have been working on this shadowbox on and off for about a week and a half. Finally it is done...maybe. This was one of those projects that you get done pretty quickly without gluing anything down because you know that changes will be made every morning when you look at it again. Everything is now attached and there will be no changes...maybe just add one or two more things.
I am entering this in the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge this week where the theme is Anything Goes. There is also a blog hop and festivities this month for their STAMP-tember festivities.
For close-ups and more info see Halloween Shadowbox-part 2.