The Artist Sees - wooden book

For this make I chose to decorate an MDF lockable box kit - wooden pattern book. Like most kits this takes a little bit of working out when it comes to construction however it is not complex. I started by constucting the box and my recommendation is that you add the hinge elements to the box lit first and let them dry BEFORE you then add them to the base of the box. The hinge pieces that go thorugh the box lid itself have to go though the box lid outer and then the panel for the inside of the box so they look strange as they are shaped to do this in layers. The rest of the box goes together in a very obvious way apart from teh locking mechanism  - there is a larger piece on the front as seen above and inside the box there is a samller piece and a little triangle - it is the little trianngle that locks the 3 pieces together and allows the lock to be slid in and out.

Having consturcted the box I then painted it all with white gesso and left it to dry. Once dried I covered the front and side of the box with plantarium rice paper and thhe inside box part with a second complimentary rice paper - the manuscript, botanical or bicycle rice papers would all work or a second piece of the planatrium paper - you will need two A4 sheets so bare this in mind when ordering as there is nothing more frustrating than finding part way through you don't have enough product. I used decoupage glue and varnish to attatch my rice paper but watered down PVA will also work - it needs to be the consistency of single cream or thinner if you are using the pva method.

For added details I then used Vintage Photo Archival distress ink and applied it thorugh Christmas Stencil 153 - it is so worth buying more generic stencils as a swirly one labelled Chiristmas can be used all year round making stencils a hard working tool in your crafty stash.

To decorate the front of the box I added a little piece of lace (there are lots in the haberdashary section of the website) with chipboard botanical floral chipboards, mint gilly flowers and a sentiment from the Da Vinci papers as these toned really well with the vintage photo ink. I added a scattering of chuncky glitter and then distressed the hinges, lock mechanisum and the flowers with umbra antique paste.

The world of rice papers is so worth exploring, the texture means they blend with the surface beautifully making them ideal for covering MDF but also for backgrounds on mixd media canvas project.