The Plain Box Society (a tutorial)

 

So I've joined a bunch of creatives led by the awesome Tina Walker to decorate a plain box with StencilGirl stencils.:)

Now, all we had to do was use a StencilGirl stencil to decorate a plain kraft box...seems simple enough but to tell you the truth, I struggled with this project. And the amount of time we were given to complete this project made it worse. As in we were given months to do it....and my ideas would change from day-to-day and as people shared their awesome projects on a private FB group, the project got a little more daunting.

I did wait till two weeks before the project deadline to start work on my project because a looming deadline always gets my adrenaline pumping...*LOL*

In the end, I decided on "making" my box practical so that I could fill it with something and give it away. :)

The plain box was very lightweight so I went in with a layer of scrunched up wrapping tissue and gesso to add a little bit of texture as well as "strengthen" the box in preparation for the addition of mediums.

Let the surfaces dry naturally. (I know lots of artists use a heat gun to speed up the process but do it in small bursts if you need to and don't get the surface too heated up because you might inhale the chemical fumes.)

Once the gesso has dried, I went in with the StencilGirl Medallion Stencil and Golden Fiber Paste. The Golden Fiber Paste has the look of handmade paper and offers a rough, flexible surface that readily takes in wet media.

Then it's free play with the acrylic paints!

Once the acrylic paints were dry, I went in with some gesso to really bring out the raised textures on the box.

I finished with black ribbon border on each side of the box.

I love that it folds flat and I can store it in my gift box drawer, all ready for the next "I need a gift box" emergency. :)

Check out the other projects!