Postal Dogwood Shadow Box

Hello everyone! Monday, and of course time for another Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Remember that we changed name a couple of weeks ago, from Simon Says Stamp & Show, but everything else still remains the same. This week we are going postal, a really fun challenge, use postage stamps and products, postcards, and more.

I love postage products and themes and wanted to use a bunch of them, and I also wanted to make a gift with dimensional flowers that could easily be sent through the mail without them becoming flat. A sturdy wooden shadow box was the perfect answer. I layered lots of postal papers and stamps in the box to create the look of a little box full of memories and messages from loved ones. To hang the box, I used two screw eyes and a piece of twine, very easy. I took some step-by-step photos of how I made this.

I used a recycled toy box, which used to contain a little craft set. It is a great wooden box, I knew I wanted to use it (indeed, in this case, I partly bought it because I wanted the box).

I first covered the box with two layers of gesso (forgot to photograph that step). A layer of Bundled Sage was painted on top, using a paint brush.

Next, I painted a little bit of Forest Moss and even less Walnut Stain, wiping some of it off with a cloth. At this stage I had decided to cover up the centre, so I didn't paint there.

I used Susan's Garden Dogwood dies to make the dimensional flowers, love the delicate look of these flowers. I die cut the flowers from white Neenah cardstock, and the leaves and calyx from Neenah cardstock which had first been inked with Bundled Sage and Shabby Shutters Distress Ink. These are the parts you need to make one flower. You can find Susan Tierney-Cockburn's video about the Dogwood flower dies here.

I inked the flower in the center with Crushed Olive, using a Colorbox Stylus inking tool. A Barn Door marker was placed in the little nook on the petals. I also inked the edges of the leaves with Peeled Paint.

Using the Susan's Garden tool kit, I shaped, veined, pinched and bent the petals and leaves. Check out this and this video by Susan for these techniques. I also decided to age my flowers a bit and inked the edges of the petals with Antique Linen.

I needed a branch for the flowers and die cut the Bird Branch twice from grungeboard, cutting off the bird, and using only two branches from the second die cut. It was covered with Wendy Vecchi's Embossing Paste, similar as to what I did on my Into the Woods tutorial. When the paste was dry, I painted it with Walnut Stain Distress Paint, and when that was dry, it was dry-brushed with Forest Moss and just a tiny bit of Bundled Sage.

You might see the texture better here, love this stuff.

The flowers were assembled before gluing them to the box, but I added the leaves after gluing down the flowers. A little dot of Viva Paper Pen Light Moss was placed on each the stamens.

I stamped a bunch of different papers with Darkroom Door stamps. Darkroom Door has great postage themed stamp, the ones I used here were: Love Letters Vol. 1, Postage Stamps Background, and Butterfly Post Collage. I used both watercolour paper and 7 Gypsies Postale Ledger papers. The Butterfly Post Collage stamp was stamped on watercolour paper and watercoloured with Distress Inks. I die cut it with the Mini Stamp die. The stamping was done with Archival Jet Black, Vermillion and Coffee.

 

The papers were layered in the shadow box, adding other bits and pieces, such as cheese cloth and pearls. There is a border die cut with the Postage Stamp Frame on both sides of the box, you can see it here. I used multi-medium to glue the papers down.

Everywhere you look there are postage stamps and elements, and here is a Prima metallic embellishment too. I distressed the edges of most of the papers.

A pen nib also fits with the postal theme, it was rubbed with Bundled Sage paint. The box has a great weathered look.

The branches were glued with hot glue and the flowers and leaves glued on top. There is a Prima jeans button to the left.

The box is just the right height to protect the flowers during shipping.

Join us this week and you could be the lucky one to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp, and go shopping.

Thank you for stopping by!!

Anna-Karin

 

Supplies:
Surfaces: 7Gypsies Postale Ledger 8 x 8, Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock; Tim Holtz Idea-ology grungeboard; watercolour paper
Dies: Sizzix: Dogwood Flower Thinlits, Bird Branch, Mini Bottle cap & Stamp, Postage Stamp Frame
Stamps: Darkroom Door: Love Letters Vol. 1, Postage Stamps Background, Butterfly Post Collage
Ink: Distress Ink: Barn Door, Antique Linen, Gathered Twigs, Peeled Paint, Bundled Sage, Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive; Archival Ink: Jet Black, Vermillion, Coffee
Marker: Distress Ink: Barn Door
Paint: Distress Paint: Antique Linen, Bundled Sage, Walnut Stain, Forest Moss; Viva Decor: Paper Pen Light Moss
Medium: Wendy Vecchi Stampers Anonymous White Embossing Paste
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Pen Nibs, Screw Eyes, Chit Chat stickers, Tidings Tissue Tape; Prima: Jeans Buttons, Sunrise Sunset Roses; pearls
Tools: Sizzix: Susan's Garden Tool Kit, Big Shot; Colorbox Stylus Tool