A5 Art Box - A Handbag! by Kim

This is Tando's latest, super useful, A5 Art Box. Carry all you need for sketching 'en plein air', and use the surface as a great clip board to support your work, as seen on Create and Craft TV. 

The easiest way I found to put the A5 Art Box together is to start with the internal partition. Glue this into the narrow base, then add the narrow sides with the curves at the top. Make sure both sides are facing the same direction - one edge has three tabs, the other, two.

The hinged section can be used with the spring clip either inside or outside - I chose outside as I wanted mine to be used as a portable A5 drawing board, with all your arty supplies inside. Glue this section on to the others, using the side with three tabs. The final panel will glue to the side with two tabs. 

Once I had put the A5 Art Box together I saw it as a designer handbag, I visited Google to see what the latest trends were … 

So, first a base coat of DecoArt Americana Indian Turquoise over everything except the living hinge and the spring clip. Next I marked out the diamond quilting pattern using a fine pencil line. Choose an appropriate size and make sure the design is centred (same number of diamonds both sides). By doing the diamonds first both top and bottom panels will match.

Next I divided the flaps. The top one comes to a shallow point, the next two are straight. Use an eraser to remove the pencil lines from the centre section. 

To get the ‘faux quilt’ look I first shaded with a thin wash of DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic Cobalt Turquoise Hue to the bottom of the diamonds. Do all the diamonds in one sitting.

To the top left side, point, and a little to the top right side I added highlights of Americana Whispering Turquoise with a dry brush technique.

The gold edging is Venetian Gold applied with a liner brush. When dry Americana Lamp Black stitching is added.

To separate the flaps, shadows of the Cobalt Turquoise Hue wash were added, intensified close to the edge with Media Paynes Grey.

I needed to add a strap and fastening, but without obstructing the flat drawing surface. I cut a strip of card and base coated it with Indian Turquoise, added stitching in Whispering Turquoise. I snipped the last three coils from a wire bound notebook, punched holes, and attached it to the bar on the spring clip. 

As all the big fashion houses have their initials on the buckle I added a big T (for Tando) and stuck on gaudy glitter. I cut an oval from card, painted it to match and glued it to the strap. I used half a Velcro dot as a fastener at the bottom, this left enough room for A5 paper to be used on the flat surface.

Inside the flap I painted some appropriate words, but any other decoration could go there. I found the chain on Amazon because I couldn’t find a suitable strap in my stash!

I used two Velcro dots to hold the bag closed.

Thanks for visiting, I hope you enjoyed this fun project.

Products:

Tando Creative A5 Art Box (New)

DecoArt Colours