A light from within...

Hello Crafters…

Thank you all for constantly supporting my work and also my last few projects have got their due by being” featured” in various blog. Am so happy…

Today’s project has been in my” To Do” for a long time now. I have been wanting to do this Faux patina technique on a wooden box  but have not been able to get the box that I wanted so I went ahead and did the same on this….

I had a Buddha statue in metal, one of my first purchases when I got newly married and was setting up a house! I wanted to make a proper display for it…I had this picture in mind, of a metal box, weathered and old with texture on it  and some soft lighting to highlight the texture and colors of the box. At same time, I wanted the whole thing to radiate calmness and peace …would that be possible??? Well with all this in mind, I set out experimenting, this time I was just going with my heart’s desire…the final visual was very clear and I was just working to make that REAL!

And this is the outcome!

Now for the details on the making!

2 coats of gesso and then coloring with turquoies acrylics and then texture with TCW damask stencil and home made texture paste.

I did some crackling in some areas. Then came layers of paint in gold, copper, brown, black and turquoise to get the "patina" look!

I then cut out small tiles from the body of the box. These tiles are 2.5" X 3" and got some lovely Buddha images with quotes from google and decoupaged it to the tile. The tile was then edged with copper and gold heat embossing and peacock feather DI. Also fixed gold eyelets on the top and bottom of the tile.

At this stage, I hand dyed some natural twine in peacock feather DI and also applied gold paint in spots. This twine was used to tie up the tile in the slots! How cool is that?

Since the box was bright with the copper and gold hues, I wanted the embellishments to be minimal and not take away the beauty of the technique and the textures...I made some pure white lace flowers to depict the calmness and purity associated with Buddha. For the flower centers have used dried berries from the garden!

At the base of the box, I adhered a vintage trim with mini coconut shell beads . some of them are painted in copper too! the box has turquoise bottle cap feet too!

And now comes the dramatic effect...I placed led candles behind the tiles and when switched on...it's gives the perfect warm glow for this setting. I was just not able to get the right pic for this...hope you can visualize!

And if this is not enough...there is small surprise behind the tile! yes, it can be turned around to have a different set up if you are bored with the first look! Yes a reversible shadow box!

For the back of the tiles, I photocopied some vintage quotes on friendship and stuck them inked them the same way.

Phew! that's it from me. Thank you so much for your patience to scroll till the bottom. I am super excited about this project and wanted to share everything about it!

Do let me know what you think of today’s project? Do you think I did justice to the visual I had in mind? My soul is happy with this creation and this is sitting pretty in my living room now!

Am linking this to…

The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge – Stencil and texture paste

Scrapping4 fun Challenge – use a technique

Alphabet Challenge Blog – ‘N’ for natural. (have used wooden beads made out of coconut shell on the trim on the base of the box, dried berries from the garden as flower center)

Loves To scrap! Challenge  Blog – Anything goes

Rhedd's Creative Spirit

Until then,

Happy crafting and Re cycling.

Hugs.