Tando Creative: Product Focus - Box Storage

Hello lovely Tando-ites,

As Fiona has said, our theme this week is product focus and with so many to choose from I think we'll be kept busy for a while 😂. Ive chosen the large new box and drawer to decorate. We all know that Tando greyboard is fantastic but you wont believe what i've put this poor box through. It was supposed to be ready for Di to take to the Craft Store show recently, but i was decanting, from a big bottle to a little bottle, glue... yep, I forgot to put the top back on and knocked it all over this and one other piece the day I was going to send it to Di!

I really took my time making this one as I wanted to really play with layering both the elements and the colours and I really urge you to do the same, making sure all the layers are dry before going to the next layer... and move everything out of your clumsy elbows way... just in case...

My inspiration was taken from something I'd seen years ago, by Natassa Blazaki I think, and I have far more cogs than I can ever use so this was a perfect opportunity to use some of them!

I assembled both the box and the drawer and started layering the cogs, some are card stock, some are chipboard, there are Tando greyboard ones and even some metal ones. The cardboard ones I glued together to make thicker and with one of the Tando greyboard ones I sprayed water and bent them round the edge of the box, then left them on the window sill to dry to continue the layering around the sides. I find it really hard to get good paint coverage if I layer everything up and then paint, so I painted each layer as I went. I used Chalky Paint in Relic for my base colour.

Next came the ugly stage... a light blue, a medium green and a deep purple (don't ask me how I came up with those three! I'd mixed the paint in to a little Textured Sand (to hide the spilt glue that I couldn't get off!).

...do not give up at the ugly stage, heres why...

You need the lower (first) layers to give your piece depth, Whether its a card, canvas or a 3D piece. The lower layers give you a base to work on so it really doesn't matter that they are ugly. See the photo transforming from ugly - blue, purple, green to much nearer the end piece, in just one watery layer of quin gold…

I followed the quin gold wash with a paynes grey wash and finished with another quin gold wash, dabbing some undiluted to a few places. don't overthink these washes, let them do their job, it will look much more natural if you don't try and 'correct' it. if in doubt add a spritz of water to loosen any hard lines. I finished with my favourite waxes in Aged Brass and a tiny bit of Rusty Red. The central piece on top and front are resin pieces from my stash that have had a similar treatment to the box.

These storage boxes are so fabulous to work with. I used a lot of paint and water on this project and it didn't budge 💜

Have a look in your stashes...what do you have way to many off? Start layering, you can achieve a fabulous 3D project in no time 👍