Marie A. Matchboxes!

So I have been having fun this week making Marie Antoinette themed matchboxes, and here are my first offerings!

The first one is a bit more whimsical and more like a little piece of confection or candy. It's pretty mint green background and honey colored undertones suggest as much. Then add the little heart at the bottom and how yummy Marie herself is dressed and it becomes a scrummy little treasure.

For both of these projects I started out with a normal 32 count matchbox.First, I crumpled up some patterned paper for a while until it became weathered and softer to work with. After smoothing it back out I used a glue stick to cover the back of the piece of paper.

For ease and efficiency measure out the paper for the outside of your matchbox before crumpling it up. Center your matchbox on the paper at one end and apply the paper around the outside keeping the paper taunt, then tuck in the edges.

I use a paper boning tool (or any small flat edge) to help smooth the paper on the inside edges, especially around the corners so the matchbox tray can slide through easily without catching. After that, I added pieces of vintage books pages, text, and pictures of Marie.

Once I had all the paper designs in place I used the Distress Paint in Rock Candy as a clear crackle coat on the top side of the box and let dry. You can now apply any other embellishments like the rose you see on the second matchbox or brads, paper flowers, etc. For the tray I used a combination of Walnut Inks in Lilac and Willow, along with Perfect Pearl mists that I made myself, once applied I dried with a heating tool. I used a small Fleur dis Lis stamp with metallic silver ink to decorate the inside bottom the the trays.You can finish by adding more to the back of the matchbox and tray bottom which I did, with some more vintage book pages. Then fill your matchbox with all sorts of sweet little goodies that will inspire the recipient to create their own unique piece of art.

I hope that this helps out in creating your own little matchbox and until next time as always, happy swapping everyone!

Vintage Pockets of Whimsy

Another swap and my second Whimsy Pocket! This was so much fun to make too. This particular pocket is for a swap for the Tim Holtz Addicts group on Swap-bot. It is suppose to have a vintage Tim Holtz feel to it as the overall style for the pocket.

As with the last one I made in 2010, I started out with a paper towel roll that was 3 1/2 inches in length. I flatten it out, then stapled one end together to make the bottom. You can also glue or tape the end together as well. I then lined in inside with some chocolate colored felt that I glued down and slipped snugly into place.

I took a thin sheet patterned scrapbook paper(I got this design at Jo-ann's), and crumpled it up and smoothed it back out a few times to get a softer more worn look to it and glued it to the outside. Then I cut more strips of the same paper and glued it around the edges and bottom to give it texture and make it more secure.

After that I embellished it with ephemera, a Tim Holtz Ideology ornate plate and seam binding for the handle. The fun part is filling it up with rare goodies for my partner, which include vintage bits of ruler, a small compass, an old game piece, a charm I made and a vintage silk rose.

I love participating in swap like these especially with this group in particular. They are so creative and make some of the most lovely craft items I have found anywhere. It's nice to put such love and effort into something you make and know that what you receive will be just as fabulous and made with care as well. I am very fortunate to be a part of such an amazing group of artists. Blessings for a happy week and as always, happy swapping everyone!