CC3C 3 - A craft in time saves disappointment!

Yay! I have completed my crafty idea for the Compendium of Curiosities 3 third challenge, hosted by the fabulously talented Linda Ledbetter and sponsored by the Funkie Junkie Boutique.  My daughter loves the chest of drawers and that makes up for missing the closing time for the second challenge...just ;)  This project began life as a plain brown box.  I coated with Picket Fence distress paint and when dried used a slightly stiff brush to apply Martha Stewarts metallic paint in Champagne giving a softly distressed look.

When I thought of roses I thought of bouquets, its the summer season after all, and I have hopes a lovely lady will soon become my sister-in-law! With this in mind I wanted to create a box to keep wedding day memory trinkets safe; garter, confetti, table decs, a pressed flower and the horse shoe etc.  I originally started thinking it would be simple and clean with just a suggestion of a bouquet and a button hole, I like designing with other peoples tastes in mind yet as usual it evolved as I lost myself in my crafty cranium and voila!

A wedding memory box with a special friend in mind

I started by making the flowers using... Oh no I'm not telling, go on get the book and go to page 65, it really is worth a look or 10. I coloured my roses using another of Tim's techniques, this one isn't from the book but from the Creative Chemistry 101 online class, these classes full of Tim showing us how to work the magic.  This particular colouring style involves distress inks and drops of water on a craft mat, dragging your paper through it, heating and going back in the inky mix,  drying again  and repeating  until you are happy with the look. Tim most definitely shows how better than I can explain.  I did add Victorian velvet and Antique Linen to water misters rather then plain water tho.  I also used both in their inky form along with squeezed lemonade, old paper and tattered rose, how could I not for this challenge.

I finished them by catching the edges with Victorian Velvet, it is my colour of choice at the mo.  

These flowers look intricate but with a small amount of practice are really easy to create

When I placed the roses on the box I thought my original suggestion of a bride and groom idea was just too stark. It is definitely more decorated than I first imagined but hopefully still a simplistic distressed design.  I used my, couldn't live without, Craft Artist programme with the Steampunk parlour digikit to put together a pic of a bride and grooms torsos.  The corset for the bride is in no way suggestive of my mateys choice of clothing!

 

Craft Artist designed background

I printed it out on Crafters Companion printable acetate and then placed the box lid on top, carefully scored around the lid and gently, sometimes not so gently, encouraged the acetate to snuggle the lid.  I then trimmed the corners out and secured with doubled sided tape.  To hide the tape I rummaged through my ribbon tubs (this took nearly as long as making the box!) and secured the ribbon with more tape.  I started and completed the ribbon trim in the place I knew I was putting the bouquet ribbon so I could again hide the crafty workings.

I always try to hide sticky workings

Next I arranged the roses on top of the happy couple, I did still want to keep it fairly simple knowing who I am hoping to gift this to but the roses did need a little something something.  I made a flower out of some lovely gold ribbon, I had wanted to use ot as the lid trim but it just didn't look at home there, I think she does like residing in the middle of the bouquet tho.  I then twirled some florist wire around a cottonbud (bud removed) and placed them around the bouquet.  Finally I perused my brass embellishments and chose some little leaves to scatter around the bouquet and button hole rose and some funky ribbon threaders which I bent into shape to fit around the lower corners of the box.

Everything's coming up roses

I hope you like my latest offering to the crafty Gods, I hope my matey likes it more!  I am super chuffed to have finally worked up the nerve (and got my timing right) to enter a Compendium of Curiosities Challenge. I am now off to pester the Awesomely Brilliant Curiosity Crew to let them know I have entered, I'm not stalking them tis in the rules ;)

Photos taken by my lovely daughter, thank you hun x