2015 #7 Niches Cigar Box {by Ellen Vargo. PA Signature Designer}

2015 Theme 7: Niches

Hi everyone, Ellen Vargo here, joining you this evening with a post about the new theme of Niches.  It's great to be back here on the PaperArtsy blog after a few months' break.  Since I last visited, I have been on a kick of altering old cigar boxes so this theme really spoke to me.  Today we're starting with a small cigar (cigarello) box and altering it using my favorite technique - fresco paints, a brayer, and some stamping.

The cigar box is about 4 3/4 " L x 3 1/2" W x 3" H.  I have seen many people alter cigar boxes and leave the decorative tape around the edges, but today I decided to paint the whole box with a double coat of black gesso.  It gives excellent coverage and hides a multitude of flaws.

Now we need to create some gorgeous painty papers to cover our box.  I started with two sheets of Heavyweight Smoothy card, several shades of blue and green fresco paints, and my trusty brayer. I started by brayering some Chalk paint as base, and then added Limelight and Guacamole paints.

Then I moved on to the blue shades. I used Mermaid, Bora Bora, Beach Hut, South Pacific, and a touch of Inky Pool. 

Now it's time for some stamping.  I used the bold stripes from EEV03 with Chalk paint and the washer circles from EEV06 with Mermaid paint.  

Then the scratchy diamond background stamp from EEV08 with Bora Bora paint, and the painted stripes from EEV05 with Little Black Dress paint.  I tried to space out the stamped images across each page so when they were cut down to smaller sizes for our box there would be some variety on each cut section.

From here, you could choose to keep going, adding some layers of collage using stamped tissue paper, book text, dictionary paper, or any other collage material of choice.  You could also opt to add a layer of stenciling.  I chose to keep it fairly simple for this box.

After some careful measuring and a paper trimmer, I had all the shapes/sizes needed.  I used a black paint pen to outline each piece so the white edges wouldn't stand out against the black box, and some extra strong double sided tape for adhesive to cover each panel of the box, both inside and out.

And the final step was to add some "feet" to the bottom and a knob to the lid.  I used unfinished wooden drawer pulls that I got at my local craft store, painted with the same black gesso as the box, and adhered with some matte medium.  Here's our finished box.

 

I hope you enjoyed following along with my take on the "Niche" theme. I just love working with cigar boxes because the possibilities are literally endless. Some ideas for other ways to alter include:  patterned scrapbook paper to suit your own tastes or a special occasion / holiday, textured metal - I have done a LOT of these lately, collage, stenciling, stamping, adding treasure gold as an accent, dimensional embellishments, a favorite quote, etc. etc. etc. Just follow your own heart and your own style.  Most importantly - have fun!  Try something different, or use an old favorite technique. I hope you join in the Nice theme over the next two weeks.  Thanks for following along!

  

~ Ellen Vargo - ten thirty-six arts & crafts.

It is lovely to have you back Ellen with another fantastic project. The bold gesso'd edges look great against the zingy layered frescos and of course your background stamp images are just perfect.

We would love you to join in with challenge #7: Niches If you are inspired by any of our guests who blog with us over the fortnight, then please join in and link up your creativity HERE. 

All links go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Niches link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, April 26th, winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.