Patchwork Money Box { with Eclectica³ Darcy Stamps by Designer Darcy Wilkinson}

Good evening everyone, Darcy here.  This month I wanted to do a relatively laid back project, so I turned to my box of 'things to alter/decorate' and pulled out an MDF money box. A girl always needs somewhere pretty to save up the pennies for the next craft show right?

My first job was to seal the whole thing with 2 coats of watered down PVA glue, I always do this with MDF items so that the loose fibres are sealed in. Next I gave it a coat of black gesso. Not much of this will show in the end, but some will , and it is easier to paint it now than later. 

Next I cut some heavy weight smoothy that would fit the 4 sides and the 2 halves of the roof. I then cut each panel into random sized sections. 

Each piece was coated with Chocolate Pudding, this is to give a little consistency over the whole project. 

Now the fun bit, paint each piece a different colour, but not just one coat. Add at least 4 coats of paint on each piece, using a range of shades within that colour. So one piece has 4 coats of different pinks, one has 4 coats of different blues, one has 4 coats of different greens etc. 

As each piece dries, pop it under a stencil with a small pattern, and then rub away through the stencil to reveal the layers of colour. if your paint is too well dried then dip your brush into rubbing alcohol, that will help strip back the layers of paint quickly. 

I used a different stencil on each colour, and ended up with lots of colourful patchwork pieces with subtle patterning. 

I then dry brushed on a little Chalk, this knocks them back very slightly. I inked the edges with a brown ink pad and glued them to the money box using matte gel. 

To complete the patchwork effect I doodled on some different stitches around the squares, using a waterproof black pen. 

You could leave it like this, but I felt it needed a little something to focus the eye on the front. 

I stamped the heart flowers and leaves  from EDY10 onto thin metal. 

I cut them all out and worked into the back of them using a paper stump and a teflon stylus. Once they were all puffed up I  painted them. The flowers are a mix of Pea Coat and Eggplant and the leaves are Hyde Park and Sage. The paint is partly wiped back off to reveal the silver. 

These can now be attached to the box. To prevent them collapsing they are filled with either grunge paste or matte gel.  I also rubbed on a little White fire Treasure gold. 

As a finishing touch I filled up this mould with matte gel , then left them to dry overnight. 

They are not fully opaque but not fully transparent either, if you hold them up to the light you can see light through them. I first coated the large one with Eggplant, and then Metallic glaze.  I love it. 

It just finished the money box off nicely.. 

Here is the finished box, flowers just on the front and going around the left side. 

Now, what should I save up for?

Hope this has inspired you, until next time.. 

Darcy x

We would love you to join in with our monthly challenge. If you are inspired by any of this month's guests who have blogged between Sept 1st 2014 and Sept 30th 2014 then join in and link up your creativity HERE. You will go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. You need to add your link by 19:00 (London time) Sept 30th 2014