Boxes for Calico Lavender Bags Part 1 Shells and Leaves

The first of two posts for today – too many boxes and photos for a single post!

I made quite a few lavender sachets out of calico, stamping on the fabric with archival inks – I deliberately kept most of these fairly plain because I wanted some that might be more suitable to give to men.

Seashell Boxes

The first ones were stamped with seashells, and I made these boxes for them.

I began by cutting a number of box shapes from watercolour paper, and inked them with Old Paper distress ink as the same basis for them all. This gave a softer effect than the stark white of the watercolour paper. For subtle inking I prefer an Inkylicious Ink Duster to a blending pad as you have more control, and can build up the colour gradually.

For the seashell boxes, I then added some Wild Honey distress ink.

I then stamped them with seashell stamps, stamping twice for each application of ink on the stamp, to give a dimensional effect.

I distressed the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink, using one of my home-made blending pads made from an old wood block from which I’d unmounted a small stamp, and some Cut ’n Dry foam. I did this on the inside and the outside of each piece.

On the inside of the boxes, I applied some regular matt gel medium with a foam brush and added some variegated copper gilding flakes, pressing them down well with my brayer.

The completed boxes.

 

Leaf Box

This box was stamped with all the stamps in the Designs by Ryn set, to match the bag I made using one of the stamps from the set.

I began by inking the box piece with Bundled Sage distress ink.

I added some Peeled Paint distress ink onto the outside…

and onto the inside.

I wanted a more mottled effect on the outside, and a smoother effect on the inside.

Then I added Forest Moss distress ink to the inside of the box in subtle patches in the middle, and more boldly with my blending pad to the edges of the piece.

On the outside of the box, I stamped the three leaf sizes onto the piece using Versamark, and then heat embossed using clear embossing powder.

I then worked over the surface of the piece with Forest Moss distress ink, so that the paler green underneath the embossing would be revealed, and cleaned the ink off the embossing with a piece of kitchen paper.

On the inside, I mirrored the stamping, but this time using gold embossing powder.

The completed box.

Please continue to the next post to see the rest of the boxes for calico bags.