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

Shabby Chic Altered Jewellery Box by Astrid

Good morning everyone, this is Astrid here with my second project for June.
I decided to make a little altered jewellery box as I needed a present for a friend that loves jewellery and adores this style.


I used a medium sized wooden box and first of all sanded it down a bit and then painted it all over with Gesso. When that was dry I painted it with Hazlenut Paintdabber. This colour is not at all like hazlenuts but more an old rose pink, which is just the colour I wanted. Next I sanded it a bit again to make it look shabby and stamped all over it with the Calligraphic Mat 12 in Archival Coffee.

I then darkened the edges and corners a bit with some dark brown chalk ink from my stash and added some gold highlight with Viva Decor Inka Gold.

My next step was to create a topper. I cut some smooth white card to fit the top of my box and sponged it all over with Victorian Velvet Distress Ink  Next I stamped three different stamps, The regency background stamp, the Script stamp again and one of the stamps from the swirls, splats and dots plate. I love how you can create some amazing old looking paper by using these stamps together and destressing the edges a bit.

I also added a strip for which I used one of the music stamps.

To finish the box I stamped one of the clocks from the Time and Key set in Black Archival, cut it out and shaded it just a little bit with The Tattered Rose Distress Marker. I added a lock embellishment from the Tim Holtz Locket and Keys set and finished by adding some lace from my stash.