Altered Wooden Boxes Collection Slideshow

a slide show highlighting some of my altered art wooden boxes collection

Altered Wooden Keepsake Box

Here's another altered art using a wooden box from Michaels. I like this box because it has embossed design on top which was fun to chalk. Wooden boxes are cool to paint over. Tins are tricky - you need to apply several paint layers and wait in between drying times.

The butterfly on the right is an after thought but still fit perfectly with this motif and material. Got some laser cut wooden designs from ebay and am having fun coloring them with acrylics, pastels, chalks, etc. For this project, I put fluid chalk in two shades. The paper is from K & Co's new line. For the inside, I used acrylic and pigment inks and paper. A plain inside doesn't quite look completely made!

Altered Trio of Mini Wooden Purses

Here's a cute collection of wooden purses covered with matching patterned papers and embellished with ribbons, flowers, etc. Very easy and fast to do!

Materials: wooden boxes from Michael's; imaginese papers; doodlebug alphas

Altered Posh Pink and Orange Circle Altered Tin Can

This is one of my faves!

At first I didn't like the way the project's going, so I took a day's break and then revisited it. Afterwards, things just started to gel and this ended up being one of my faves.

Materials: I used My Mind's Eye's Tres Jolie line for the body and Heidi Grace patterned paper on the top. Inside paper - specialty paper from Paper Sources



I also used ribbons on edges to partition the lid and body.

I affixed ribbons, sayings, buttons, brads for embellishment and to hide the paper cuts caused by scrap-patching to fill-in vacant segments because i didn't have enough paper!

The inside I covered with striped pink and brown pattern paper from Paper Source. Of course, other scraps were recycled to create matching tags and cards. TFL!






Tip: I think i'll stick to squares and rectangles for altered art. The circle tin was pretty unruly to wrap at the beginning!

Altered Art: Hip Skull Girly Paint Can

The fastest altered art i've done. I had only 15 mins to do this for an on the spot altered art contest because I was late to the local NSD gig. But I was one of the 3 winners and received goodies for the contest.

Here are some tips to do this under 15 minutes:

1) To hide the imperfect alignment of paper agains the edge of the can inside, I put a sticker border on the outside! This can is a bit harder to work with because you have to put the design inside the clear platic can. It's eventually cool because your work gets protected.

2) To help with organization, have pre-sorted and matching scrapbook plain and patterned papers, embellishments planned, sayings and quotes. Sometimes the hardest part is not the technique and execution, but the design, theme, and composition.

Materials: Creative Imaginations papers, stickers, ribbons. Other ribbons from various companies.


see matching girly gift baskets on affiliate company: http://www.dreamweavergiftbaskets.com/

Altered Art: Floral and Stripes Memory Box Ensemble

This is a wooden box with handle that I altered. I originally made one for a swap hosted by a friend, but I missed that box so i made another one when when my friend and i hooked up to scrap. I got inspired some more after she left, so I made additional wooden gift bag, cards, bookmarks, and tags from scraps. I don't like throwing scraps aways. It's amazing what you can do with scraps!

Question from a fellow scraper: Did this take only 15 minutes also to make?

Answer: No, not 15 minutes! In between the chats with my friend, it took longer. If i focus, I can do the outside design in 30 minutes. the tags, i can do in 5 minutes or less. I pretty much have some standard lay-outs in my brain so i just recycle the lay-outs. The wooden purse/gift bag is so small and really easy to do in 15 - 30 minutes. don't try to cover or paint the inside - it takes too long! cards sometimes take longer, depending on how complicated Iwant the design to be. Also, there's more design surface on it. so maybe 30 minutes also. It all depends on my mood. if I'm in a rut, I redo things several times and that can take hours!

Materials: Daisy D's Purple and Floral Stripes Memory. Wooden Boxes from Michaels, Doodlebug alpha stickers

Altered Art: Yellow Floral Decor Canisters

K & Co papers (Hodges Line) were on sale so I grabbed several and made coordinating altered canisters and round boxes for future summery parties. The canisters will hold potpourri and candles. The big box can hold treats such as candy, party favors, and much more, I'm sure. For now, the set functions nicely as a home decor in my lovely craft room. The small canisters are old crafts containers. The big box was a gift box for a china.

Altered Art Passion: Cherry and Vines Lunchbox Ensemble

i've recently discovered the joy of altered art and i'm addicted to it now! i got some chipboards, paper mache's, wooden boxes, etc. to alter. i like expanding my repertoire of skills pertinent to paper crafts. here are some stuff i recently made. what do you think?

this is my cheery and sunny cherry ensemble. dh and i were grocery shopping at wholefoods one day (love this healthy store - but prices are incredibly prohibitive!) and bought tons of cherries which is one of my fave fruits. he bought me some fresh flowers also. what a nice dh, huh? i went home and made a fruit and flower arrangement. flowers, fruits, paper, art, bright colors always have a way of perking me up when i'm feeling blue which has been annoyingly quite often. i was inspired by my cherries and daisies arrangement to do an altered art using a tin lunchbox. i had extra scraps and being the frugal cropper, i then did some matching cards and tags.

i got good compliments from fellow scrappers and they also asked me some tips on how i "perfectly" cover my altered projects and what's the best adhesive to use. my answer was i approximate the length of the paper i need to cut then just start trimming edges off until i get the bext alignment. i also discovered using acrylic paints for the hard to reach places. i kept the front plain b/c i was lazy to cut around the edges of the metal clips (usually "professionals" unscrew the metal tags but that's too much work. i use pointed q-tips to help me navigate through the tricky nooks and crannies parts. the ribbon around is really a trick to mask smudges.

i'm really picky with craftsmanship so i rework areas until they look near perfect. the adhesive i like to use is glue stick., it's cheaper, lasts longer and can fill in hard to reach spaces. also, have a bone folder handy. the pointed side is good to "tuck in" the edges and the flat side helps me smooth out the air bubbles. the paper is from chatterbox's scrap walls, mistletoe vine. i also used some matching cherry stickers set from creative imaginations which go well with this line.

click here to view the video remix

Back from a Short Respite

glad to have the inspiration again to start posting on my blog. sometimes i feel stuck in a rut and the creative juices just don't flow as freely. but when i get the inspiration and spark, i feel very creative and productive. okay time to upload some new info and work samples. tfl!

Reflection: Final Farewell

Mother's Day from now on will always be bittersweet. This Mother's Day, the usual joy and festivity associated with this special day was marred by the burial of our dad.

Our dad's coffin was transported to his hometown provincial church, the Basilica of our Immaculate Conception. It was a long drive to the countryside as our motorcade of cars followed the somber music of the lead car carrying the coffin on our dad.

We arrived noon time at the historical and ornate Basilica. This was the church dad was baptized and where he received his first Holy Communion, Reconciliation, and Confirmation. It was a homecoming to the city he grew up. My children, born in America, have never been to this place. It was good to know they were getting in touch with their heritage and geographical roots.

The burial mass was officiated by the Cardinal of the Philippines, Cardinal Rosales, who was a dear childhood friend of dad. The Cardinal just arrived from Rome less than 24 hours ago when he heard the news of the demise of dad. He said that dad somehow prepared for this day by approaching him to make a final request that the reverent Cardinal officiate his burial mass. It was a promise the Cardinal could not not fulfill.

The Cardinal shared personal stories about dad when they were growing up in Batangas. Many of them I haven't really heard of. The Cardinal said that dad was very athletic and strong. After mass, he and the boys would play volleyball in the church lot. Dad was very intelligent and excelled in school. He was a good soccer player in his youth. He was devoted to his mother until the very end.

After the mass, we trekked one car at a time along a narrow dusty road to the provincial cemetery where many of our dead relatives lie in peace. A final blessing was given to dad in the small humble church where one by one, mourners viewed dad's remains for the last time. The thought thta this was the last time I will ever glance at the physical remains of my father sent despair all over me. I wanted to tell him a lot more about my life's problems and successes and my dreams, but that was no longer possible. My whole family huddled in front of him, crying altogether, saying our silent good-byes, and most of all, thanking our Heavenly Father for giving dad to us. Then the coffin was closed and transported to the family mausoleum nearby. We threw flowers on the coffin prior to it being sealed forever. I was the last one to leave. I didn't really want to go. I wanted to sit there for a long time and keep him company and talk to him. I touched his tomb for the last time and said good-bye.

The last vision I had was the "Tree of Life" bonzai plumeria plant my husband and I bought for dad. Farewell, dad. Rest in peace. Be an angel over our shoulders, keeping us safe and guided in the right direction. We love you and will never forget your goodness. Praise God almighty for the gift of you in our lives.

Thank God for the gift of faith and the support of family and friends. I have accepted dad's demise and am at peace with this now. Somehow, the thought of him keeping a watchful eye on us, especially on me, as I face life's successes and challenges, makes me feel more confident in my life's journey.

Dad, your spirit will always be in my heart. You have given me essential values for life which no one can take away. You taught me to live a life of integrity and honor and to stand up for my beliefs despite adversity because the Lord will always be there as my protector against oppressors. And now I also have you as my protector and guide. You know what's in my heart now and the key justice struggle I am undertaking. May your spirit give me continued wisdom and perseverance to see this challenge until the very end. I love you, dad.