Tuesday 27 April 2010

Colourful Cube

Judith: well this will probably come as a bit of a surprise to my fellow blog sisters, Lesley, Jo and Elaine, but here I am posting my project for April! We are approaching the end of what has been an incredibly busy month for all of us, and unfortunately not all of us will make the deadline this month. However, our blog is for our enjoyment, and crafting should be fun, not a chore, so no pressure girls.
I chose a cube shaped piece of wood for my project based on Helen Chilton's article in the April edition of Craft Stamper. When we went to Ally Pally, I bought a set of beautiful Tim Holtz box feet, and knew that I just had to use these on my cube. I knew exactly what I wanted for the top of my cube, and after chatting to my very helpful Husband, I had the bare bones for the finished article.











I had already decided to use Lavinia stamps for my images, building them up to make scenes for each side, using Adirondack ink pads as a colour base.I also used Inktense pencils to colour elements of the scenes, like the bridge, the tree trunk, the steps etc, and then blended them with a water brush. This meant that my sides would be very colourful and quite busy. I did not want to add any extra embellishments to detract from the images or the gorgeous box feet, so I left the sides quite plain. 




















I made some shrink plastic dragonflies for the top of my cube, colouring them with Inktense pencils and blending the colours with a water brush before shrinking them. I placed them around the centre of the top of my cube. On the top of my cube is the piece of hardware that Terry made for me, isn't it lovely? He drilled holes into a hexagonal rod, and then coiled aluminium wire through the holes. I bent them to look like tree branches, and by a happy accident, found that some large silver plated beads I have fitted on the ends, echoing my feet. I didn't like how shiny they were, so I painted them with precious metal paint.I'm really happy with the end result. I will use it as a display for jewellery which I make and sell, so I may take it to Craft Fairs with me. I have coated the sides and top with Golden Gel Matte to help the durability of the piece. This is quite a 'pretty' piece for me, but I've enjoyed working on it, I hope you like it too. Judith x

11 comments:

veronica said...

really like this Judith- apart from loving the colour scheme and the images, it is really nice to have an altered piece that is actually useful!

craftimamma said...

Oh Wow Judith! I'm stunned! You said this was pretty but it's more than than. It's just beautiful. The colours are gorgeous and you already know I love those Lavinia stamps from the amount I bought at Ally Pally.

I had a very similar arrangement in mind for the top of my cube too but knew it was impossible for me as I had no way of making one and unfortunately, my Hubby is no good at all with tools. The nearest I could get was a mug tree, Lol!

Your cube really is wonderful and will be a perfect display piece for your pretty jewellery. Be careful, you may end up with lots or orders for similar cubes too.

Hugs
Lesley Xx

Elaine said...

Judith, this is gorgeous. Those Lavinia stamps have worked a treat and I love those shaded dye inks - you know that is one of my favourite techniques. I also have lots of shaded colours planned for my project which I haven't even started yet - whoops!! I do think mine will be quite different though.

Those feet look so good on your cube and the tree Terry has made for you works brilliantly. How nice to be able to use your project to display your jewellery creations.

A perfect start to this month's project postings.

Elaine xx

chris f said...

This is gorgeous Judith - you girls are going great guns with this -fabulous! But as you say, don't put pressure on yourselves, I can see you had fun with this and what a clever boy he is to help with the finishing touch!!
Chris x

Aquarius said...

This is wonderful - can't wait to see the others now. I left you a comment.

Helen said...

This is so beautiful - you must be so proud! Love the idea of the feet - hadn't thought of that one. I also love those stamps - saw them in an article in CS not long ago and fell in love with the trees. Haven't tried Inktense pencils on shrink - do you have to seal it?
Thanks for sharing this.
Helen

Janet said...

You have made a great job and I do like the images you have chosen. The branches will display your jewellery perfectly.

Janet xx

Val said...

Wow! Wow! This is absolutely stunning. Love everything about it. Stamping is brilliant, as is the colouring. Ans what a super idea - useful as well as decorative. If you were mass producing these I would have one - but then it would not be special to you. Amazing piece of work.
Hugs
Valxx

Jo said...

Judith, your cube is stunning. Your colouring is to die for and it's so nice to see all those lovely Lavinia stamps together in one place. The feet (and hands!)make it into a piece of mini furniture and I'm thinking you have created a great heirloom. Well done!

Heavens2Betsy said...

Absolutely amazing creations. I LOVE what you do here!

Caz said...

This is a beautiful piece Judith. I'm late in checking out all the projects and looking at yours last - they're all very clever and inventive pieces - four very talented ladies!!

Caz
xx