Beach worn box by Zuzu

I altered this wee wooden box to make it look all beach worn. A bit like drift wood thats not been out long enough to loose all its colour. To get this look, I gave the box a coat of gesso, then white acrylic. Before adding the final coat of blue acrylic, I smeared some Vasaline (petroleum jelly) along the edges and in some random places on the surfaces. Then I put on my final coat of paint. once it was dry I used a soft cloth to remove the Vasaline and it took the paint with it, leaving a nice view of the white underneath to give it a bit more of a distressed look and also to smooth it down for stamping, i took sandpaper to it. You can sand it back as much or as little as you like.

I stamped on the box using some seaside stamps, with black stazon ink and used a white highlighter to draw on some accents. I realised that the fish lost his tail as it hung over the edge so i stamped him out again on to tissue paper and coloured him in so he matched the box, so i could glue him on and fold his tail around the edges.

Supplies List:

Stamps used from "Seaside No1" HERE
small wooden box HERE
Studio Gesso, Studio paint (blanc Canvas) and Studio Paint (Sky blue)  HERE
Jet Black Stazon Ink HERE