Rain, Floods and Jewel Boxes

To say it’s raining in Annapolis is an understatement. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen this much rain in one morning – ever. My basement is again flooded. My husband had to take off work this morning to mop it up and move all the water sodden trash – I guess that’s one way to get rid of things. This time the water was high enough to get into the finished part of the basement.

On a much happier note, I've been having so much fun creating these little trinket and jewel boxes! I happened upon a garage sale where a former crafter sold tons of her leftovers. The prices weren't great, but they were reasonable so I loaded up my cart (figure of speech) and purchased a nice grouping of wood boxes, banks and other unfinished wood items.

I painted some with black gesso and some with white (which gives it a nice whitewashed touch). Then I just played!!

I used my handmade paper to create the one above. I made the paper ahead of time from paper scraps; glitter and gold leaf, and stashed it away just waiting for an opportunity. Once I used gesso on the box, I used Mod Podge to secure the handmade paper and then coated it with matte Mod Podge once again.  I used a vintage earring to create the little knob.

For the next box, which I call my “friendship” box, I painted it white and then stamped it and distressed it with three colors of Tim Holtz distressed inks. I then used Mod Podge once again to secure and finish this pretty scrap of paper to the lid. Two metal embellishments adorn the lid – the Japanese symbol for friendship and the word “friendship.” A pretty vintage earring piece serves as the knob.  Inside, I covered the bottom with mulberry paper and a definition of the word “friend” decorates the top. Pictures didn’t turn out too well for the inside… rain isn’t helping.