A Box of Tricks

Hi everyone, time to show you my project for the current Frilly and Funkie challenge - Upcycle For Earth Day. Storage is always an issue, especially when your media stash keeps growing! My set of Distress Paints have until now sat in a small cardboard box, but as there is no doubt that the colour palette will grow in due course a larger container is needed.

And so here's what I've come up with...

And the 'back side'...

Here's how the box began its life...

I started by using a mix of Distress Paints, Stains and Inks to create sheets of 'rusted' paper and used these to cover the box. 'Rust spots' were also stamped around the edges in random patches in Archival Ink.

The next job was to reinforce and the corners with more cardboard - yes, that's corrugated cardboard, great for bending around corners! It was die cut, embossed and then covered in a mix of Distress Paints, Stains, Inks and Embossing Powder, with a final touch of gilding wax.

The handles were made from Grunge Paper strips, coloured with Distress Inks and anchored to the sides of the box with 'nail' brads covered in Alcohol Ink. The letters were made from Grunge Board covered in the same ingredients as the paper and again given a touch of gilding wax to highlight them. To highlight both the letters and the corners Black Soot Distress Paint was dry brushed and smudged around the edges. Finally I added a treasured rusted heart and bottle cap which were further enhanced with some old net curtaining cut into flower shapes and coloured with Distress Paints, heated to wrinkle slightly and finished with more gilding wax (you'll have seen some of these on my Tattered Florals bag previously).

This took some time to complete but will be used daily and holds my Distress Stains collection too (until the space is needed for more Paints when they are available/launched of course!) There's a full 'recipe' list below and if you want more details feel free to leave a comment and I'll get back to you. We would also love to see what you have upcycled for the Frilly and Funkie challenge - don't forget, there's a prize draw up for grabs.

For now, happy Wednesday everyone, hugs Jenny xxx

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Walnut Stain	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Vintage Photo	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Spiced Marmalade	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Rusty Hinge	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Frayed Burlap	Tim Holtz Ranger Metallic Distress Stain - Antiqued Bronze	Tim Holtz Ranger Metallic Distress Stain - Tarnished Brass	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Tea Dye
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Walnut Stain	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Rusty Hinge	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Spiced Marmalade	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder - Black Soot	Tim Holtz Sizzix Texture Fades - Diamond Plate and Rivited	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Weathered Wood	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Antique Linen
Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Black Soot	Rusted Metal Embellishments - Hearts, Stars, Bottle Caps, Bells	Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black	Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink - Rust	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Grunge Paper	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Grungeboard Basics Plain	Ranger Inkssentials Non-Stick Craft Sheet