Craft Caddy - Thursday 20th February 2014

Good Morning Friends,

Since going to Stitches with Amy on Monday, I've had some holiday from work and I have no idea where the time has gone! But with Tom at work, being home alone (except for the hens), I did manage quite a bit of crafting time...

Tuesday (and about an hour on Wednesday), was spent making this craft caddy box and then decorating it. The box kit comes in pieces to be put together and I bought it as one of Christine Emberson's Charity kits, being sold in aid of Ronald MacDonald House and The Royal Marsden and is available from Christine's site  here.

Before putting it together I decided to give all the pieces a base layer of matt paint; there were a lot of pieces, so I mixed some ivory paint from a tester pot with a little Paper Artsy 'Mermaid' Fresco Finish paint. Although the paint dried quickly, it took a while to paint all the pieces. Once it was all dry (I left it all day to be sure), I started to glue it together. I used Cosmic Shimmer, but it was important to let each piece thoroughly dry so that the box was strong enough when put together - I am now really wishing I had taken photos along the way!

Once the box, which comprises a top opening box tray and two drawers, was put together and the glue had completely dried, I gave it a top coat of colour, this time using Fresco Finish: Blue Pacific. I chose these colours, because the papers I was using (by Teresa Collins and included in the kit) were a red/torquoise pattern.

I had measured and cut the paper sizes before putting the box together and had also inked the edges with Aged Mahogany distress ink. When the paint was dry, I stuck the papers to the caddy. 

Once all the papers had been glued on and left to dry, I gave it a coat of Mod Podge matt to finish and seal. I have been using this product for years and love it.

There were some paper pieces left over, so I decided to decorate the top of the box with die cut flowers, which I made using Spellbinders dies: Spiral Blososm One,Blooms Four, Bitty Blossoms, and Carnation Creations. I inked the edges of all the petals with Aged Mahogany.

The flowers were arranged on the lid of the box and I also added turquoise lace and pale pink beads to the edge of the lid in front of the flowers.

I didn't want to over do the decoration, after all this is to be a 'working' box, but I did decide to add some further decoration to the front. The gorgeous handles/knobs come with the kit, I love them!

Box from the side

I used a die,  Spellbinders Ironworks Accents (one of the first dies I bought and haven't used in ages!) and cut 6 corner shapes using craft metal. I then dipped them individually into embossing ink and dusted with some coarse embossing powder. It's a pot that has been in my drawer for years and is a bit like distress embossing powder, but a little finer. I chose it more for the colour than anything. I was really pleased with the die cuts once heat embossed: they look and feel like coloured metal.

with lid open

The lid opens at the top to reveal a storage tray; I added some floral paper from stash to the base of this and all the drawers. I am still trying to decide on the inside of the lid, a little bit late but I had thought of stamping a flower or sentiment on it..guess I still could!

So there it is! A new caddy for my craft room...but what to keep in it? I think it might be placed in the sewing part of the room for cotton reels etc, rather than for paper craft.

That's all for today, thank you so much for stopping by!

Love and Hugs,
Carole X

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