August Goodie Box from Artful Days!

Hi everyone! Hope you are all well and enjoying your crafting.

I'm back tonight with a sweet little canvas I made recently using the beautiful, luscious contents of this month's Mixed Media Goody box from Artful Days. See here.

I loved the contents of last month's but I have to tell you, this month's is even better! As I explained in a previous post, Julie Bell has created these monthly Goody boxes, full of wonderfully, inspiring items for mixed media, scrapbooking, card making etc. She seeks out high quality, premium products that are a joy to work with. Each month follows a particular theme. This month's theme is: By The Sea. Oh you won't be disappointed if you are tempted to buy this one! You can buy individual boxes (£21.99 incl p&p) or take out a subscription: see website. The surprise element when opening the box to see what you've been given is irresistible! A wonderful monthly treat because we deserve it! Each box is beautifully packaged - you can also make use of the packaging, as I did on my little canvas.

 

   

Everything is safely and tantalisingly placed inside the box. A perfect balance of products to make several projects. So, how did I make my canvas? I started by adding a layer of gesso to the 7" X 5" canvas even though it is already well primed. I then added a coat of PaperArtsy Fresco chalk paint in China. This is a lovely opaque paint so I only needed one layer.

I chose this as it was close enough to the colour of the beautiful tissue that comes in plentiful supply, inside and outside the box.I then tore one of the tissue sheets into four pieces, scrunched them up before laying them flat and glued three of the pieces to the painted canvas once it had dried. I squished the tissue a little as I glued it to create some ridges for added texture. I used DecoArt matte medium for this. 

As you can see from the photo, I then smeared 'Forget Me Not' Archival ink across the surface to catch on the ridges. This gave a greeny/turquoise addition to the base colour. Just to add interest. Now to create the beach huts! 

I made a template for the beach huts and roof frame so that I could choose different papers from the generous selection of Graphic 45, 6" x 6" squares supplied this month (12) to create them. At the same time, I cut a strip off one of the yellow/orange sheets to represent the sand and to 'ground' the beach huts so they weren't floating across the canvas!  I then cut a strip of the jute/burlap, also included this month, frayed the edges and adhered this on top of the yellow strip.  Now, the fun part. Lots of cutting and gluing to create three little beach huts. So cute! 

I used some of the trimmings to create the flags hanging from pieces of the turquoise string  which I unraveled as it was rather too thick for bunting! Now I was almost done. It only needed embellishing with just a few of the gorgeous charms, shells, sequins, gems and other ephemera that comes with each Goody box and it was finished. 

And I still have a huge amount left over for my next few projects. Watch this space! If you love the look of these products hop over here to find out how you can order your very own. 

Thanks for popping by and keep an eye out for more blog posts from Julie and the team Here.