An Altered Box in Vintage White

Well! What a fantastic day Saturday was. For a start, the weather was gorgeous. Lunchtime, I was sat outdoors almost burning in the October sun. When do you ever need sun cream in October? Anyways, as I write, the weather, though warm, is returning to normal. I'll be in a thermal vest by the end of the week.

The second reason the day was special was because I spent it with a wonderful group of local crafters. The day was organised by my amazing friend, Neet. She brought along a plain wooden box for each of us, complete with inspiration as to how to decorate it. The delight in this group is that when given the same project to play with, the results are stunningly individual and different. No two look the same. Mine, you can see above but to see what I mean about the variety, check out Neet's blog post here to see how others interpreted the workshop.

I'm on a vintage white vibe at the moment. It's still new to me and I'm enjoying the learning process of what works and what doesn't. So I tried it out on my piece. I began by painting the whole box in a cream acrylic paint and letting it dry (the sunny day was a boon for this and fortunately each layer dried quickly). The next coat was a crackle solution. Finally, when this had air dried, I slapped white acrylic paint over it. Though you can't see it well in the photos, there's a lovely subtle distressed look to the box.

That took up a good chunk of the morning but it was the afternoon was the fun part. Creating handmade flowers in cotton and linen, and decorating sewing reels in canvas and book text strips. Then there were the goodies that the group shared around. I was very lucky to be sat next to Jo, who proffered up such beauties as the cufflinks, a mini bottle of beads and, my favourite, a lavender bag.

I also sat close by to Donna, who had brought her art journals with her and which I was privileged enough to browse through. Such freedom of expression. Such colour. Such talent. Plus I saw how wonderful a soft backed moleskine journal is for allowing the pages to include chunky elements. I'm tempted to start up art journals again. Watch this space as they say.

If there's a downside to the weekend (apart from a dodgy back) it's the unpacking and the mess that I've created in my art room. There's not an inch of clear space. Every time I move around in it, I trip over something. Methinks a clear-out is due in the next few days.

Enjoy your week everyone! Pxx