Magic Box - 'Something Wicked'

 

by the pricking of my thumbs

something wicked

this way comes...

This box was purely for fun.

I love Halloween and I love these lines from Macbeth.

It had to be a blustery, Autumnal day.

I wanted a broomstick - in the air,

 

an old, twisted hat

(made from velvet paper),

 

and a book of spells.

There's a 'bobbly eye' on the front cover...

 

...that bobbles when the book is opened.

 

 

I think I love Halloween more than Christmas.

Is that bad?

 



 X 

 

 

Here's what I used to make the box:

 

Stamps;

Basic Grey clear stamps set 'Eerie Collection'

(for the box and inside panels).

I used the large web. Stamped with VersaFine 'Onyx Black'

and highlighted with black holographic glitter.

 

Star Highlights on inside panels;

A star background stamp I made myself

(I have the Imagepac Daylight Stamp maker)

Stamped using IndigoBlu 'FlitterGlu' - FABULOUS glue!

and sprinkled with holographic gold glitter.

 

Spell book stamp;

Hero Arts wood mounted rubber stamp 'Small Script'.

Stamped using Tim Holtz Distress Inks 'Brushed Corduroy'.

I also aged the pages with this colour.

The page edges are highlighted with ultrafine brown glitter.

 

Punches;

Mini spider punch (monocodirect.co.uk).

Xcut botanical embossing punches;

Oak

Beech

Woodware small maple leaf.

 

Leaves inked with;

Crushed Corduroy

Rusty Hinge

Spiced Marmalade

Mustard Seed

Crushed Olive

 

Box panels inked with;

Rusty Hinge

Spiced Marmalade

Mustard Seed

Crushed Olive

 

The Bats;

I drew the bats (using a white pencil)

onto black card and cut them out.

I applied Woodware black 'Fluffy Stuff' to their bodies.

 

Broomstick;

Handle;

A straightened paperclip bound with a

glue soaked length of kitchen towel.

Inked with 'Brushed Corduroy' and 'Crushed Olive'

after it had dried.

 

Broom Head;

A length of brown paper inked with the above colours.

I cut fine slits along the full width then rolled it onto the handle,

applying small amounts of glue along the way.

I wrapped a small length of sewing cotton near the top -

to mimic a rope tie.

Finishing with highlights of clear and brown glitter.

 

Witches Hat;

I made this from black 'Velvet Paper'.

It held its shape well but was a 'Devil' to stick!

 

-o-



Magic Box - Mica Butterflies

CLICK ON IMAGES FOR A CLOSER VIEW

I'd been playing with mica and thought how well it would suit butterfly wings.

These are painted with mica pigment 'Festive Brights'.

The butterfly stamp is by Personal Impressions

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to have a name, just a code: P547 E.

The rounded shape reminded me of the butterflies depicted in traditional Japanese art..

Using mustard coloured card as the base seemed to enhance the colours of the mica pigment..

I wanted to carry the 'shimmer' effect throughout the box

but decided not to use mica pigment on the panels

it would have overpowered the butterflies.

so

Using ivory pearlescent card as the base I inked with

the green and blue from Rangers Big & Juicy 'Mountain Meadow'.

To add a final touch of luxury I stamped Hero Arts 'Leaf  Flourish'

in VersaMark and embossed with gold.
Mounting the panels onto gold mirror board framed them nicely
and added weight to the sides which always helps with 'the drop'.

I must say, I thought glitter was difficult to capture in a photograph

but mica is a nightmare!

Thankyou for visiting.

X

90th Birthday! - magic box



My friend Kathy asked me to make a box for her Mum's 90th Birthday!

The Brief:

1) The explosion - pink striped roses, these were the flowers Kathy's Mum grew in her garden.

2) NO BUGS, (I wanted the occasional butterfly or bee), Kathy assured me that they would be swatted!!!!

I'm sorry it's been a long while since my last post - this year has been a little bit manic.

X

Exploding Box - Scottish Butterflies

Sorry - where did this last month go!!***? I seem to have been very busy but not a lot to show for it.

Anyways - here's my latest box:

I was asked to make a magic box - butterflies with a Scottish 'twist'.

CLICK ON IMAGES FOR A CLOSER VIEW

I decided to incorporate the Scottish national flower - thistle.

Outside panels.Closer detail of the butterflies and thistle panels.

Will be adding more details shortly.....

Thanks for popping by and for all your lovely comments - they mean a lot!

Exploding Box - Butterflies & Ferns

Here's the box I made for Phyllis.
It's similar to my earlier box (in March) but the background is stamped with ferns.
The stamped panels are mounted onto pearlescent green card.
The third and final mount is black card edged with black, holographic, ultra-fine glitter.

I added small, green acrylic gems to the bodies of the butterflies, three per butterfly.

The butterflies were stamped using VersaFine Onyx Black, embossed in clear embossing powder and coloured with Marvey Le Plume pens.

I stamped and coloured both sides of the butterflies, but only embossed the top surface.

They're highlighted with crystal glitter which gives more impact when the box has just dropped open and the butterflies are 'dancing'.

Thanks for popping by

Exploding Box - Fairies

My News:
Create & Craft TV Thursday 30th April at 5pm UK time.
One of my boxes will be shown - it's a chance to see them 'in action'.

Here's the link to the programme info: CreateandCraft TVThe reason I haven't been blogging as much as I would have liked - the wonderful Phyllis from Diamond Card Craft asked if I could design a set of stamps to work with her EAZI SCORE Board. I'm a BIG fan of her boards and was very honoured to be asked. These have now been produced and will be featured on the show.

Am I sounding calm and composed about it all? Because I'm not - I'm so excited I could burst!!! I realy hope you can tune in - the show also goes out live on the net.

Fairies and dragonflies - I've been wanting to make this box for some time now.

CLICK ON IMAGES FOR A CLOSER LOOK

The outside panels each carry a message. You can see the details in the image below.

Here's a closer detail of one of the fairies on the inside panels.

I made the flowers in the same way as I did in the flower tutorial 'Young Love' but I cut a small 'V' in the tip of each petal. The flower centre is made from a piece of acetate cut in the shape of Neptune's fork then glittered.

FLowers:The petals were tinted with Brilliance Pearlescent Lavender and edged with VersaColor Imperial Blue (more purple than blue).
The stamen were made by cutting a small piece of acetate into the shape of Neptune's fork.
I applied a mix of yellow & crystal glitter to the 'fork' then tipped the ends with turquoise glitter.
The flowers were assembled as in the 'Young Love' flower tutorial.
Fairy Panels:I stamped the fairies & ivy, onto cream card, using VersaColor Smoke Blue.
I then ran the ink pad round the edges and chalked with turquoise and lilac.
The ivy veins were highlighted with crystal glitter and I finished by dotting turquoise glitter to give the impression of berries.
I designed the fairy stamps myself .

Thank you for taking the time to visit.

Exploding Box - Young Love & Flower Tutorial

This box demonstrates the three dimensional flowers in my tutorial below.

CLICK ON IMAGES TO GET A CLOSER VIEW

It was commissioned by Kieron who, because it was for his Valentine, played a very active role in the design and making of it.
'K' was 11 years old and over a period of weeks he would arrive at my house, after football, covered in mud.
He patiently learnt how to make 3D flowers, tint and glitter them, how to construct a box and how to stamp and emboss. He never tired or complained.
It was finally finished, just in time, on February 13th 2008 and 'K' carried it home in his 'Kit Bag'.
His Mum tells me that there were nervous mutterings as to how it would be presented the following day (without losing his 'Street Cred').

As requested, there was a hidden tag - with a secret message.
I don't know what that message was and I think there are only two people in the world who do.
Long Live Romance!

The tag was hidden in the box lid. Pull the correct ribbon and the tag pops out!

Here's how we made the flowers:

The colours are different but the construction is the same

Exploding Box - India

This box was commissioned by Mark, for his wife Kate. He was quite clear that her passion was travel and especially India.

CLICK ON IMAGES TO SEE MORE DETAIL

The arched 'doorways' were cut using the Sizzix small tag die.

The background stamps I made myself. They were based on ceremonial henna (mehndi) hand paintings

more very soon...


Thanks for stopping by.

Exploding Box - Firefly

I know they're dragonflies but I wanted the impression of fireflies in a ferny woodland.

CLICK ON IMAGES TO SEE MORE DETAIL


This is a very small box. The closed measurements are: 1.75" square by just under 3" tall.

I actually managed to resist using glitter (it was very hard for me). I used amber gemstone accents and gold holographic mounts to give the 'fiery' illusion.

The stamping technique is one of my favourites:

• I started with a light green background and stamped my first fern using VersaMark clear ink then embossed with clear powder.


• I then inked over the whole thing with VersaColor Fresh Green and gently cleaned the ink off the clear embossing.


• I stamped the fern again in VersaColor Green Tea (no embossing this time).


• After the ink had dried I stamped the fern one more time, using VersaColor Evergreen (again no embossing).


• When dry I finished by inking over the whole thing with VersaColor Bamboo and a small amount of Evergreen.

It's my favourite technique because the result is very three dimensional.

The stamps I used:

• Stampabilities - Dragonfly & Stampendous - Summer Leaves (Fern).

I have a tutorial for this size box on my Gallery site. Here's the link: http://www.magic-boxes.com/smallbutterflybox.htm

The tutorial is in metric but for those of you who work in feet and inches there is a link, to a printable ruler with both centimetres and inches, at the top of the tutorial page.

Thank you for visiting.