Decorated MDF Gift Boxes

I had a few small MDF gift boxes sitting in my craft box for a long time, waiting to be decorated, so I thought it was time to use them.

For the front of the boxes, I used the dragon images from The Dragon Breathing Courage & Creativity digital download collection by Opulence by Design Crafts.  

 

I use a Canon Mega Tank inkjet printer to print these images onto rice paper, and I also used it on the base of my boxes with the dragon skin design from the same collection. It's one of my fav papers as I love the faux texture for my boxes.

My decorated dragon box can be found here from a previous blog post.

Lidl offer a cracking selection of art products from time to time. I bought a set of metallic paints by CreaBox a year ago, and unfortunately, I have used the last of the metallic green from this set, which you can see on the book box trays. It has obviously been a favourite colour of mine.

These little boxes came as a set of 3 from The Works, but I had to throw the smallest one away as it was so badly split on closer examination; it just wasn't worth decorating. As suggested to me, I will look out for boxes in charity shops or just look for better quality ones.

For some added texture around the edges of the book boxes, I used a touch of Pretty Gets Gritty's mousse in Sea Glass.

Apparently, these drawers are just the right size for a collection of mini figures. 

I just added some glossy accents to the top of the boxes to finish them off.

For my second project, I found a nice little MDF Treasure chest in Hobbycraft that would work well with the fairy image that I had intended to use.

I chose the Fairy Wishes & Pixie Kisses 8 x5 inch PDF Petra print from Opulence by Design Crafts for the lid of the chest. It's a beautiful digital download that is also available as a one sheet wonder greeting card. The treasure chest has also been given a light coat of white gesso to help highlight the rice paper image.

On the sides, I have used A Spectrum of colour Script paper pack. This is such a versatile digital download kit to have in your crafty stash.

I painted the inside of the chest and base with a blue Metallic pearl acrylic paint.

This little girl loves fairies, so I thought a little treasure chest would be ideal.

I've edged the lid of the box with gold wax

I also had these shapes in my MDF box and thought that a hanging fairy plaque would make a nice addition.

I've added braid to the edge of the hanging plaque, and the hanging mdf fairy has been heat embossed with ice blue embossing powder.

These were fun little projects to make and have already gone off to their new home.

Thanks for stopping by today to view my little crafty space.

Opulence by Design Crafts has a fantastic variety of digital download kits for your crafty needs, along with a mini blog for inspiration. They also have a variety of crafting booklets for those who can not print their crafty designs.

Have a great week, whatever you have planned for yourself.

Happy Crafting

Challenges

Neglected Stuff- AG - MDF boxes & MDF pieces

Mix It Up - AG

Love Crafting -handmade gift

Love to Craft - AG

DLART -AG

Allys Angels -AG

Creative Crafting Uncles - AG

Avenue 613 - AG

Hollywood Glamour Birthday Card

I made these birthday cards a few months ago, ahead of time, as I knew I wouldn't be crafting for a while.

For my card base, I used a 7 x 7" card base to create this shaped card and layered these beautiful papers onto gold mirri card.

From Opulence by Design Crafts Hollywood Glamour Collection, I used the Lights, Camera Action cardmaking digital download kit along with Amanda's Fussy Cut Perfect Petal Pink Flower digital download sheet.

These fantasy flowers are beautiful and ideal for foiling too; there are samples of them online. I used my Sakura Twilight Gelly Roll pen around the edges of my blooms ( I use this pen all the time) and added gems in the centres. These flowers have their own faux gem centres that can be blinged up with a little glitter glue.

The Topper was printed onto glossy cardstock.  I used just one piece of my chosen backing paper for the card (careful trimming a little off the card base and maximising the paper left for the panels meant I used all the paper and didn't need to print more off). 

The backing paper was printed on 140 gsm Pure Print Paper from Craft Master.

I bought a pack when it was on offer from Highlight Crafts, and wanted to see whether it was as good as everyone told me it was. I must admit, I was impressed with the quality and choosing a detailed design paper was a good way to test that.

I have also used an iridescent glitter pen to add some shimmer to areas of my paper (this was a Crafters Companion one that still works) and added some foliage - a few rose leaves and fern leaves.  This is my favourite of both cards and designs.

For my second Birthday card, I used the Midnight Muse Cardmaking digital download mini kit from the Hollywood Glamour Collection along with Amanda's Fussy Cut Perfect Petal Blue Flower digital download sheet.

The topper was printed on glossy cardstock, and this time I used a sheet of Pink Frogs white Pearlescent paper to print the backing paper for my card.  This paper is really sturdy and is fantastic quality. It leaves a gentle shimmer on your paper and was a bargain at £4 when I bought it!

Experimenting with different mediums to print on can really extend how you use your digital downloads; sometimes it's trial and error to see what works for you, and I have found packs of unopened printable glossy card in charity shops, which are always handy to have in your stash.

I added gems and a little shimmer to my flowers along with the fussy cut single rose leaves. Again, I've edged these blooms with a Sakura Twilight gelly roll pen. 

There are quite a few of these beautiful flowers in this range now to complement your projects; the tiny flowers were die cut from pearlescent card.

I made a dimensional envelope for both cards, and as they were hand delivered, there was no worry about them getting squished in the post.

Thanks for stopping by today to view my little crafty space. 

Opulence by Design Crafts has a fantastic variety of digital download kits for your crafty needs, including a mini blog for inspiration. They also have a variety of crafting booklets for those who can not print their crafty designs. I use a lot of their designs because I really enjoy crafting with them.

Have a great weekend, whatever you have planned for yourself.

Happy Crafting

Challenges
Creative Creases - fun folds
Creative Fingers - AG

CD Sunday Plus - AG

TicTacToe - birthday/funfold/fowers

PaperFunDay - fun folds

AAABirthdays -flowers

Allys Angels - AG

Creative Aunts -AG

A Perfect time to craft - AG

Crafts Galore Encore - AG

Do All Creative -AG

Creative Inspirations -AG

Let's Craft and Create -AG

Decorated Mdf Storage Box

One of the things I really enjoy doing is decorating boxes, especially as they are really handy for keeping all your crafting accessories in afterwards and if you have any favourite rice or scrapbook papers that you have been sitting on because it pains you to use them, this is a good way to use and enjoy them afterwards too.

I gave my box a light coat of white gesso; it helps highlight the rice paper.  I usually buy my large boxes from The Works, as they are the ideal size for me, especially since I like to stack them. However, the quality of these boxes has been getting worse, and it is showing up in all their designs.

I chose these rice papers from Stamperia's Magic Forest collection, which I have had in my craft box for a while.  I particularly love this beautiful image, and I've also used the Earth Queen mould from this collection to make a shadow box frame, which I posted in an earlier blog post.

For the inside base of my box, I painted it with Finnabair Art Alchemy sparks paint in night shadow. 

I chose another rice paper from a different collection as a contrast for the inside lid of my box, and painted the edge of the lid in Miss Moneypenny from IndigoBlu.

In my box of clay and resin moulds, I found these, which I thought I could stick inside the lid after covering in wax.  I  already know what I will use my box for, so the moulds inside the lid will not compromise the contents, and as I like stacking my boxes, I try to keep outside decoration to a minimum.

I used Cadence Magic Satin Bond and seal not just to adhere the rice paper but as a top coat to seal my box.  It leaves a lovely, slightly satin finish to your projects.

My box has also been edged with gold wax

I don't keep many of the things I make, as I usually craft them for a specific occasion or occasionally on request. 

Boxes always come in handy, as you always tend to find or need something to store in them, and why not decorate them to personalise them to your choice. I just need to buy better quality boxes to decorate in the future.

Until I can get back to crafting again, I have the wildlife that come into my small wildlife friendly garden to make me smile. It's looking more on the 'wild side' this year as I haven't been able to do any maintenance in it.

When the neighbour's cat is shading itself behind the pond and waiting for all the small birds to appear, they don't all play nicely in the garden together

Thanks for stopping by today to view my little crafty space.

Have a great weekend, whatever you have planned for yourself.

Happy Crafting

Challenges

Try it on Tuesday - Make it Colourful

A Perfect time to craft - ATG

Mix it up -AG

The Outlaws -anything but a card

Crafts Galore - AG

Moving Along With the Times -Feminine

Creative Fingers -AG

Ally's Angels -AG

Rebel Girl Birthday Card

 I'm sharing a birthday card that I made a few months ago using a mix of these fantastic digi images by Polkadoodles.

Polkadoodles has a fantastic selection of stamps and digi stamps, and their MDF collection is also very inspiring for your crafty projects. 

One really useful tool I purchased from them was a magnetic die wand for picking up your fine metal dies; it certainly saves splitting your nails.

It's worth checking out their YouTube tutorials, which are always really handy when you are looking for crafty tips and inspiration.

I do love this collection of cute girls called Rebel Girls, which can be downloaded individually, and there is also a 'rebel messages with attitude pack'  that is brilliant to add to your cards and projects. They also have some great quirky quips, just perfect for teenage cards and are easy to resize too. 

For my card, I have just gone with the birthday quote. 

As you know, my colouring skills have never been that great, so I try to get away with the minimum. I've added glossy accents to her boots and sunglasses.

I have also used the Funky Flower Friend stamp along with the matching Colour & Create Stencil.  This is a brilliant little set. Not only do I love this duo flower design (there are a few of these online), but the neat little stencil fits perfectly over the flowers for you to ink through with your chosen inks, and in my case, I used distress oxides. There is even a small background stencil included.

I stamped and cut out the tiny daisy like flowers, which are so cute and make great fillers in your card projects. They have just had some glossy accent added to the centres to add some texture.

I created a background for my card using distress oxide inks and one of Durty Gurty's stencils.

I added a little shimmer to the flowers with a glimmer pen and glossy accents to the centre of the large flower to accentuate the pollen.

Just a few crystal gems to finish my card off.  In my craft journal, I've added a few of these Rebel Girls to the dividers too.

I've been quite organised so far this year, getting some cards made ahead of time and finishing a few projects, as I won't be able to craft for some time, and that goes for gardening too!

Although with this heatwave, I can't see much of that going on anyway. So much devastation has been caused globally with the rising temperatures as it is.

Thanks for stopping by today to view my little crafty space.

Have a great rest of your weekend, whatever you have planned for yourself.

Happy Crafting

Challenges

Polkadoodles -ATG   Top 2 favourites

CD Sunday Plus - ATG

Crafty Calendar - Happy Birthday

Colormyheartcolordare - Challenge 714 Colors

Festive Friday - 3 things - Pastel Colours, Flowers, Butterflies

Seize the Birthday - Square card - non-white base

Classic Designs AG

Kindness Postcards

I love a postcard; they come in all shapes and forms, from a reminder of where you have been to a hello friend, but unfortunately, they are on the decline, like many things, due to the ever increasing postal charges.

So I thought that I would send out 8 postcards randomly from my craft journal, using some of the addresses where I have done craft swaps in the past, too.  One of these cards is slightly different and will be going to a particular friend of mine.

These wonderful images are from Shabby Art Boutique. If you like shabby chic, then take a look at their digital collections; they are beautiful. It would be worth your while to sign up for their newsletter and free printables; they also have tutorials on YouTube.

I have used a selection of their 'Kindness postcards' which are available to download in A4 or letter size.

To make the postcards more durable to go through the post, I gave them a few light coats of Cadence Satin Bond & Seal, just to protect the artwork.

I had been looking at these little postcards for a while, thinking that they were so pretty and really needed to be used.

There is quite a selection of little cards in various genres that are perfect for journals, too, but work so well to send as a card if you are starting off crafting or want to add to your crafty stash.

Hopefully, they will bring a smile to the recipients' day, as it's nice to receive mail in the post that is not a bill or junk mail!

'Kindness is like tea, it soothes the soul '

Thanks for stopping by today to view my little crafty space.

Have a great week, whatever you have planned for yourself.

Happy Crafting

Challenges 

A place to start AG/ No squares

CD Sunday Plus - AG

Love to Craft - AG

Mix it Up -AG

Let's Create and Craft -AG

Paper Funday -AG

Crafts Galore AG

Art Deco Birthday cards

 Sharing some Art Deco Birthday cards that I made for some birthdays last month.

I do love a bit of Art Deco, there is something so chic about that era of design and decadence and how the ladies dressed.

For these card I have used the Match It Build a Scene Art Deco Gatsby 2 Paper Pack, along with the matching dies (that I have not shown) from Debbi Moore Designs. This is part of the beautiful Art Deco Collection, one of many.

There are regular deals on her Facebook lives and Website for her products that are worth keeping an eye on too.

The backing papers are mixed and match from one of her Art Deco download collections, and I have a very healthy collection of her designs, which I have been collecting and using for many years.

The toppers and decoupage paper pad come in a selection of colourways, but I particularly like this one and one of the brilliant things about Debbi Moore is that she gives you a forever code that enables you to download the paper pad when it runs out.

The floral paper has been printed onto Debbi Moore's pearlised paper. It is 120gsm, a very pale cream with a pearly finish. Definitely worth having in your crafty stash as it prints beautifully, giving your paper a delicate shimmer.

I normally edge my cards with Sakura twilight gelly roll pens, as they leave a fine iridescent shimmered edge on your layers and are also great for highlighting too.

This particular shaped card has already gone to one of my lovely neighbours for her birthday. It is a lot easier not having to worry about posting your handmade cards, as they rarely arrive in the condition you send them and the cost to pad them out for travel keeps going up.

I have used miri board and foam pads between the layers to add a bit of dimension and cut the border off the background topper (as it was a bit too big for this card), and used it on the box envelope that I made.

My next card was from the same Match It Build a Scene Art Deco Gatsby 2 Paper Pack, but I just chose a different colourway as this was for my sister-in-law.

I decided that I didn't want to use all of the paper on one of the papers that I printed off for my second card, so I  just kept the deep red tiered bordered base and used the border again for the top of the card.

I've used miri board and foam pads on the topper to add some dimension, and both Art Deco ladies have been decoupaged, too. I have also added some crystal gems along the border and some woven braiding instead of ribbon.

I've used some of my shimmer clear glitter pen on the Art Deco ladies, too and made a box for this card, covering the lid with matching backing papers.

There are lots of free digital downloads on Debbi Moore's website if you are looking for inspiration for a crafty project or looking at making a card or two, as well as some gorgeous cardmaking kits and digital ones too.

Thanks for stopping by today to view my little crafty space.

Have a great week, whatever you have planned for yourself.

Happy Crafting

Challenges

Try it on Tuesday - Feminine

A Place to Start - No Squares

CD Sunday Plus - ATG   Top  3

Creative Creases -Fun Folds

Love to Craft - ATG

Cards Galore  AG    DT Favourite

Alphabet Challenge - Volume

A Cut Above - AG with Die Cut

Allys Angels - AG