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Wednesday 20 April 2016

Thinking Outside the Box....

Hello friends!

One of the reasons I wanted to join in both Wanderlust and Creative Carte Blanche is because
I wanted to learn new techniques, do new things, take myself out of my comfort zone.
So, when Creative Carte Blanche's April Adventure required us to
Think Outside the Box, using a cigar box, I just knew I wanted to join in the fun.

I had no idea how hard it would be to find a cigar box, I searched the internet, ordered one
from a auction site, going for the 'pot luck' option.  They sent me a beautiful box, which cost
peanuts, it is beautiful, quite large, but definitely not a cigar box, but a tea box!   Then we were 
out shopping and we went past an old fashioned Tobacconist shop and I got one - for free!

I decided after having some success with some Structurizer fabric hardener, that it was time
to move on to Powertex - scary, messy but lots of fun!  I really didn't know where I was
going with the project but in the end it became a sea theme - no surprises there then!

Here is the finished box:
This is how it started out:
A coat of Gesso
Now for the fun part, adding the fabrics, stings, mesh, art balls, all coated in Powertex, I gave the sides a coat of DecoArt Texture Sand Paste.  I left it to dry overnight.
I cannot tell you how many inks and sprays I used to colour the top, I didn't like the colours at first and changed them at least half a dozen times - I used DecoArt Media sprays, Dylusions, Lindy's Stamp Gang, Tim Holtz Distress Stain and even some Ranger Perfect Pearls.  I finally got to the stage where I actually quite liked it!  It was the final colours that made me decide on a sea theme.
I found some bits and pieces and also painted the inside of the box with Powercolour crystals in Ultramarine blue mixed with water, the colour is much more beautiful in real life.  I found some Calico Craft chippies and a couple of other things that I intend to use to decorate the inside and outside of the box.
I added a couple of starfish, coloured with Spiced Marmalade Distress Stain.  

The wheel was rusted Andy Skinner style using a layer of  DecoArt Texture Sand Paste, DecoArt Media Fluid in Paynes Grey topped with a layer of Quinacridone Gold and finally DecoArt Ultra Matte Varnish, drying between each coat.

I was going to decorate the inside with an underwater scene but I ran out of time, so I will do 
that at a later date.

I am entering this into Create Carte Blanche's Think Outside the Box Adventure.

I am adding this project to Frilly & Funky's challenge - It's not easy being Green - I up-cycled
a cigar box

I am also adding this to The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #23 where the
challenge is 'Dimension'


As always, thanks for looking!

Hugs, Anne xx


46 comments:

  1. Wow, you certainly have had a wonderful play.
    I love all the texture you have created on the box - it looks fabulous.
    Toni xx

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  2. Awwww, love this box!!! I love sea themed projects and your choice of colors for this amazing make is just spectacular!
    Thank you for the inspiration!
    Hugs
    Samra
    Paper Talk with Samra

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  3. Oh my goodness, Anne! This is so beautiful. I've just been hearing a lot about Powertex and see that it is such a fun and exciting product! Love this awesome sea inspired creation and your beautiful color contrast. hugs, Autumn

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  4. What a great way to upcycle....love those vibrant colour choices...fabulous xxx

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  5. This is sure to be a winner, Annie! It was a beautiful box to begin with and you've turned it into an undersea treasure chest!! Outstanding!! And a wonderful phototute, as well!! Hugs, Darnell xxoo

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  6. Holy Anne this blows my mind. It's so thick! Brilliant!!! I have been trying to get my hands on a cigar box :/

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  7. Oh Anne this is magnificent! What a way to transform your box! I love the whole structured seascape and the shimmer effects you've added to it xx (seen the latest F&F challenge btw?) xx

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  8. Anne, your cigar box turned out great. Love all the textures.
    Hugs

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  9. Fabulous once again Anne. As you know, we both like the sea!! Love all the texture you've achieved and the colours are wonderful!

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  10. So pleased to see you have finally got to play with your powertex Anne, and wow what a fabulous result. The textures you have achieved with mixing this stuff with the fabrics, mesh and art balls and is amazing and together with the colours you have given it so perfect for a sea bed scene. Love your darling little starfish and I can see you have been paying attention in class with the Andy skinner techniques used on the wheel, Bravo my clever friend. Mo x

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  11. Oh wow, Anne, this is absolutely stunning!! The texture is amazing!! I love the beautiful colors!! The sea theme makes me happy!! What a gorgeous project this is!! I've been wanting to try powertex!! You've inspired me to purchase it!! Love, love this!! Have a great day!! Big hugs :)

    Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  12. Fantastic with all the wonderful texture. It looks like it has movement as the sea would. Love the pops of colour you added too.
    Hugs!
    Cec

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  13. I so love your box! The colours and texture are amazing! Perfect colours for the fabulous theme. I have got myself a cigar box - I just have to decorate it now which is a bit scary as I haven't tried anything like it before! xxx

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  14. I absolutely love this Anne. No-one quite does the sea theme like you and boy oh boy you have outdone even yourself here. It is splendiferous!!! Incredibly brilliant texturising and then all those oceanic hues really do evoke the ocean depths with debris and nets. A masterpiece my dear! Nicola x

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  15. Good Golly Miss Molly - how lucky to have found this wonderful cigar box and get it for free. Anne this is truly wonderful - you used products I have never even heard of. Your box is fabulous and perfect to hide treasures from the sea. A couple of gold doubloons would be perfect!!
    Will write more later - we have been gone all day and I am pooped. Saw you had posted and I had to see!
    sandy xx

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  16. Sorry about your luck with the tea box but happy you found this gem and got it free as well. That's awesome sauce! I go to the nearest tobacco store and get cigar boxes from their dumpster. Hehe! I can totally see why you chose this lovely sea theme. Such rich dimension and textures from the very beginning! Your colors are so vivid and beautiful. The added chipboard elements are fantabulous! The starfish color is amazing! Awesome sauce design. Hugz to you muffin! ~Niki

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  17. Great job, Anne! I had never heard of Powertex. Love the finished product! I am so glad you were able to find a cigar box and free at that! Thanks for sharing it with us at Creative Carte Blanche!

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  18. Lovely and I do like the contrast of the orange starfish with the blue and green of the ocean. Love those starfish so much.
    Hugs, Neet xx

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  19. Absolutely yummy Anne!! Love love the Sea theme- you rocked it!! xx

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  20. Wow, what a fun altered box this is, Anne! I love how you didn't go in with a specific plan and once you got going, you found your ideas. That's definitely the artist's process, and what makes art so much fun. No constraints, no plans, just exploration and experimentation. Awesome job!

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  21. Wonderful recycling project with a great texture on the top and nice decoration inside the box.
    Thank you for your friendly words on my Blog.
    Dear Greetings
    Sabine

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  22. absolutely brilliant - I love this to bits and the colours and theme are so you anne - fabulous! Hugs rachel x

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  23. Glorious textures and fabulous marine colours and sea life - love what you've done with the Craft Parts - and the whole project is a great piece of recycled artwork. Lovely! Guess we'll be seeing some more Powertex round here, by the sound of it!
    Alison x

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  24. Another winner! I'm loving the sea themes when you do those, and you managed to put on the most perfect embellies. Love the rusty distressing you've done on some of theme. How did you get the 'smell' out of the cigar box? I've a couple of those, had for a while, aired, sunned, and I can't get the smell to dissipate. You have done wonders with the texturizing products & what an amazing, and so realistic look you've achieved - yet again! TFS & Hugs (I don't think you HAVE a comfort zone! You do it all!)

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  25. Oh, Anne, what a textured gem you've created! I love the movement you have managed to achieve here and your colors are so vivid and rich! It's a mindblowing alteration, my friend! Big hugs to you! Branka xx

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  26. Wow Anne!! If I used that many inks and sprays, my project would look like mud! lol. What a glorious palette you ended up with, so perfect for the sea theme as the texture really looks like waves! Amazing results Anne and I love that you did up a cigar box!! Thank you so much for joining us at Frilly and Funkie for our 'It's Not Easy Being Green' challenge! Hugs, Pamellia DT :)

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  27. What a wonderful textured ocean floor you created on your box cover Anne! I even liked it when it was just white!! Julia xx

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  28. wow Anne this is amazing...love the fabulous texture and shimmer...you have inspired me to unearth my Powertex products...hugs kath xxx

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  29. Hi Anne, loving this but then you know how much I love getting messy with Powertex Lol! Have a great weekend, Angela x

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  30. Well, I guess I will be looking into Powertex now, lol! Love this theme and all those fabulous hues you achieved.... beautiful! And also want to tell you how charming in person is your little Flower Box (Eileen Hull) make with that fantastic galvanized metal finish and stunning flower - I took a class with Eileen today (making the train case) and she pointed it out to us especially! I am especially taken because I have a very old small baking tray from my mother that has this pattern.... you nailed it! (Except mine is a lot dirtier from decades of regular use when we were growing up!) And I loved seeing your other inspirational projects with her dies in person - feel like we almost met, lol!! Maybe one of these years once I retire in 2018..... xxx Lynn

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  31. Oh Anne! I just want to reach in and touch your amazing cigar box!!! That texture is calling to me...the colors are spectacular!!! Way to go!!! You hit a home run! Thanks for joining us at Creative Carte Blanche!

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  32. Incredible recycle Anne! love this box and the unusual palette you've used! Barbara!

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  33. Amazing texture Aanne, a wonderful piece xx hugs X

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  34. Wow Anne. Your altered cigar box looks absolutely NOTHING like a cigar box! It's fantastic! Oh how I adore all of your added texture and the nautical theme you gave it. Love your colors and your end result! Thanks for joining Creative Carte Blanche and sharing your wonderful art.

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  35. Fabulous box in my favourite colours and theme. I love Powertex.

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  36. What a fabulous transformation Anne, the Powertex adds such amazing texture and the colours! Just gorgeous, thanks so much for sharing it, Deb xo

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  37. fantastic cigar box transformation! i have got to try that fabric stifener! Thank you so much for playing with the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge!

    -Rachel
    rwkrafts.com

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  38. This is wonderful Anne! What a fantastic transformation from cigar box to beach scene! I can almost hear the gulls and waves! Thanks for joining us at Frilly & Funkie for the "It's Not Easy Being Green" challenge!

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  39. Anne
    Oh my word this is incredible. I absolutely love the texture you achieved and the box definitely speaks of the sea. Stunning colours also. How lucky to find a box for free, it was meant to be!
    Thanks for setting me straight on me wondering if that person was a relative. Seeing the name and from the U.K. it got me wondering - her name appeared for an upcoming issue of a Stampington publication.
    So glad I was able to stop by this evening, missed your art.
    Wishes
    Lynne

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  40. Beautiful visit to the sea by admiring your lovely textured box. The colors and texture have the motion and feel of the water. Gorgeous! Thanks for playing along with us at the Frilly and Funkie Challenge!

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  41. Wow! Anne, you absolutely thought outside the box and inside as well! I absolutely love the transformation and all those incredible layers! Love this to bits! Hugs!

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  42. Wowser Anne! This is truly amazing! Such brilliant colours and texture! Hugs,Chrisx

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  43. BEAUTIFUL cigar box transformation, Anne! You have worked wonders with that Powertex, and have convinced me I must get my hands on some. How 'bout I trade you a cigar box for some Powertex??? I have a ton of cigar boxes; wood, square, rectangular, you name it! And NO time to enter CCB challenge this month! Boo Hoo! So I will just have to admire yours!

    Love those orange starfish! I would have never guessed you used Distress on them! Faboulous work of art, Anne; probably one of my favs! Hugs!

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  44. Wow! Incredible! Anne I was sold just reading your intro about how you obtained the box -Love the little tobacconists shops that are so few and far between these days . Remind me of my grandad .
    Totally love how you have altered the box with all that fabulous texture and colour - Amazing and it must have been a delight watching it all come together.
    Creativity at its finest my talented friend .
    hugs xx

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  45. Anne, you always do such beautiful work and no change here!! That texture is just delicious! I loved the way you just began and let the creativity carry you away. We're very lucky to have you join us at Creative Carte Blanche!!

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  46. Fabulous box Anne ! Love the use of the Powertex on the lid, I'm getting very tempted to have a go with this myself. Thanks for joining us at Frilly and Funkie. Sue C x

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