Floral Vintage Box Inspiration by GDT Khushboo Gandhi

Heyloo guys! I'm so excited to be here! This is my first ever post for Rainbow Craftykari Blog and I'm extremely thankful to Maninder for this amazing opportunity.

For my Inspiration post this time around, I have a plain chipboard box that I altered and transformed into a completely elegant and floral keepsake box. We can find tons of posts on 'how to construct boxes and albums' all over the web, but it's equally important to focus on 'how to embellish' something. And so, for my post, I'll be highlighting certain features of 'how to decorate a box with a cohesive theme' + certain distress ink techniques to get a vintagey and bright look (for both the outside and the inside of the box). 

I had so much fun embellishing this box. It's so amazing that crafting is such a versatile art - we can create whatever we want, and decorate it the way we want to.

Brief Steps for 'How To Embellish A Box/Project':

1. First of all, decide what theme you'd like to go with - floral, vintage, fun, eccentric, classy, monochrome, etc. It could be any one, or a mix of a couple of themes together. For this box, I've chosen a Floral theme with a Vintage backdrop.

 

2. The trick (to be able to work well during your embellishing stage) is to gather all your supplies that resonate with your theme - floral/vintage pattern papers, flowers, box corners, metal embellishments, pearls, inks, fillers, etc.

 

3. Decide what pattern papers go well with each other, try and determine which design would go better for the top and the sides, the inside of the box and the outside. Contrasting your design papers and colour combinations is one of the strongest points in embellishing your project.

 

4. I went with an intricately designed paper for the top (since it's the first thing anyone notices) and I used simple designed pattern papers for everything else. 

 

5. I cut all the papers 1/4th inch less than the size of my box and went ahead and stuck everything in it's right place (leaving 1/8th space all over). The effect that you get when the background cardstock peeps through that 1/8th inch is absolutely enchanting!

 

6. I then added my metal box corners to the lid, some pearl trims, and loads of flowers on one end of the lid. I also added a clock embellie with some stickers, especially the one that said 'Traditions'.

 

7. For the front of the box, I added a 3d sticker on which you can write your name or a message. I also added some resin corners.

 

8. For the inside of the box, I contrasted it and kept it really simple (since the outside is so full of life and heavily decorated). 

Some Distress Ink Techniques to get you going on that beautiful Vintage look:

1. If you notice, all of my pattern papers on the outside of the box have an aged, brownish, vintagey look. To achieve that, I simply used an ink applicator with Tim Holtz' Distress Ink (Tea Dye) on my papers, moving it in different directions (circular, random, straight).

2. Since papers age/become yellowy/brownish in random places over the years, the idea is to replicate that look with random strokes of inks - so that our paper looks as naturally 'vintaged' as possible.

3. For the inside of the box, I used Picked Raspberry for the bottom and Peacock Feathers for the sides (keeping the contrasting colours in mind). I tried to create a vignette using these colours that I applied on all 4 corners of the paper in a circular motion.

Supplies used:

Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Kirby Teesdale Studio Paper Pack

Pearl Trims

Resin embellishments

Flowers

Metal box corners

Papericious clock sticker

3d stickers

Glue

You can find all the above mentioned supplies at the Rainbow Craftykari Store or you can pre-order them by sending an email at rainbowcraftykari@live.com

I hope I was able to inspire and motivate you enough to go try your hands on embellishing a project today. Don't forget to share your pictures!

Warm Regards
Khushboo Gandhi

Experiments with Gel Press by DT Aditi Mahajan

Hello Everyone,

Aditi here, Today we're here at the Rainbow Craftykari blog with an interesting post for you. Its an information packed post, with a lot of play and examples. 

We've heard a lot about Gel press, and seen videos, but our very first interaction was during Creativation 2017. We took up a class, saw demos and were fascinated with the power of this one tool.

Gel Press® is the original, superior monoprinting plate - permanent and reusable! Make stunning prints for use in your artwork: Mixed Media, Scrapbooks, Cards, Art Journaling, Home Décor and more! - https://gelpress.com/

As they suggested, gel press aids in making stunning prints to be used in any kind of project. Many of you might say, its the same, paint your background, stencil, stamp, etc. Well yes, but using this plate, life is so simple, you get faster prints, it's addictive so you keep going on and on. You can create intricate prints, with multiple patterns.

Here is a journal page we made using gel press prints.

This plate is a silicon transparent jelly like plate.

These come in varied sizes and shapes:

12"x12", 12"x14", 8"x10", 5"x7", 6"x6", 3"x5", 8" round, 6" round, Petites Set- Oval, hexagon, rectangle, triangle, square and circle (small).

The latest products are the Impressables. These come with certain patterns in the plate, so your first print has a self pattern.

This is the basic information. Now lets play with them and show you some results.

Firstly, always keep the plate on a craft mat or acrylic mat. Since it has baby oil any other surface will absorb it. The smaller ones can be used by removing only one acrylic sheet and leaving the other mounted. In between, if you want to clean your plate, use a baby wipe. You can work with acrylic paints, most brands work. And if  the paint dries up quickly you could use a retarder or acrylic glaze medium on your paint. We have tried working with inks and we got great results with distress inks and oxides. 

1. Add some paint on the plate, spread it with the brayer. Use bubble wrap and press onto the paint and lift it. Keep a sheet of paper and rub on the back to lift the print on the side touching the plate. 

2. Add a different colour on the plate and spread with the brayer. Using any texture comb, create a design and lift on your paper. On the left base, create some circles with a bottle cap and a contrasting colour and lift the print.

3. On a cleat plate, place the stencil and through the stencil add two colours and spread with the brayer. Lift the stencil and take a print on the paper from the plate. You could also take a print from the paint on the stencil by rubbing it on the sheet.

                       

4. Add two colour onto the plate and spread with the brayer. Place a stencil on the plate. Press a paper and lift the print. This will give you the print only through the stencil. Next take a print from the stencil. And third, press the paper onto the plate again once the stencil is lifted- this will give you a ghost print.                  

                 

5. We kept a plain sheet of paper next to us, and every time we used the brayer, we moved it on this sheet to clean the brayer before moving onto another colour. This gave us a great background, which we used for our journal page above. We had some prints to it with the small oval plate and stencil for more interest.  We cuts pieces from sheets show in technique 1 and 2 for our layers. 

6. Some play with oxides. We used the mini rectangle and hexagon plate. Added one colour of the oxide onto the plate directly from the ink pad. Next, we rubbed a darker colour onto the uprooted side of and embossing folder and pressed it on the plate. We then took a print onto our paper. We stamped from the folder directly on the paper, to take a print from the remaining ink as well.  In the last hexagon, after taking a print, we stamped another shaded using acrylic stamps and printed it over the first hexagon print for more interest. In the same way, you could add colour and stamp on the plate and take a print for a different background.

As you see above, stencils, stamps and found object work really well. Anything to create texture and patterns as with the plate all you're doing is lifting prints and getting some fabulous paper ready for your projects. Not just paper, your could print on fabric and other surfaces as well. We've only introduced this tool and there are many more techniques to explore.

We hope we've inspired you to play and explore :)

Regards,
Aditi
Dots To Lines

Patina Charm Canvas by GDT Rashmi Tater

Hello Dear Crafters,

Today, our GDT Rashmi is gong to inspire you with patina effect painting. It will surely going to boost your creativity and makes you to try it once.

Over to you Rashmi

Hello Everyone,

I feel honored to be a part of this wonderful RC team and thankful to them for making me a part, special thanks to Maninder!!

 

So today I have an inspiration post to share with you guys, the patina effect is so much in trend and I completely love its outcome. So here is what I've created

Prima has a wide range of products, perfect for the mix media in which the black gesso I'm highly recommending it as its perfect for all your steampunk and vintage effect projects you plan and IOD moulds from prima are my favorite, have used both in my project.

Steps:

1. I've used a canvas for the base.
2. I've used clay embellishments and created background using die cuts and wooden frame pieces.
3. Then I have applied the black gesso and let it dry
4. Later, i gave effects using Inka Gold and Patina Effect Paste.

Hope u liked what I've create. Would be really pleased to see your creations.

All materials are available in the Rainbow Craftykari Store and also you can get them on pre-orde.

Materials List:

Prima black gesso

Viva Decor Inka Gold - Gold

Patina effect paste

Liquitex bead medium

Metallic beads

IOD moulds

Charms

Gesso

Prima Multi medium gel

Tia

Love Rashmi
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