Grungy Gift Box for Scrapy Land Guest Designer- Masculine

Hello friends and visitors! Today is my final Guest Designer post for Scrapy Land--a sad day for me! So, I wanted to make something special for their Masculine PLUS use any brand die that Scrapy Land sells challenge. Here is a gift card box I made for my husband for Father's Day. I think I went all out grungy for this one!

This tiny box (measuring approximately 3 x 4 inches) started out as a bookplate box with a gold foil cover. I removed the bookplates and the one on the top and got to work with white gesso on the top and black on the bottom.

A vintage book page, some Distress Vintage and Crazing Mediums and Distress crayons and DecoArt Quinacodrine gold paint and even a little stencil and texture paste later, this is what it looked like. This is my only process shot. The stencil is just an experiment; I knew it would be covered. I did use this DecoArt Short Circuit stencil with black texture paste on one of the sides, but didn't get a photo of it.

Here are the dies I  used--all of these are brands that Scrapy Land sells:

Cheery Lynn Gears

Sizzix Weathered Clock

Sizzix Hardware Findings

Sizzix Gadget Gears

Sizzix Movers and Shapers Keyholes

The large gears (Tim Holtz Gadget Gears) were cut from Grungeboard, and I used both the negative space and the gears themselves. I used DecoArt Texture Sand paste and Golden Bead Gel medium on the gears, and Golden Crackle paste on the negative to give them lots of texture. I also used a Tim Holtz Crackle stencil pressed into the crackle paste on the negative background piece--a trick my talented friend, Niki of Pawsitively Creative used on her awesome book here. I also added some random areas of  DecoArt Crackle Medium over my crackle texture once it was dry for even more crackle, just like Niki did. It's very hard to see in my photos, because most of it is covered up with the gears.

More Crackle paste on the clock hands (Tim Holtz Weathered Clock) and the nails.

The two smaller gears (Cheery Lynn) were a gift from Niki, too, and I grunged them up with DecoArt paints, Crackle Glaze, and antiquing creams and Bead gel medium.

The key (Tim Holtz Hardware Findings) is colored with Rusty Hinge Distress spray and Perfect Pearls powder and crackled subtly with Distress Crazing medium. I offset it just a tiny bit with a second black key to make it stand out, as well as added Burnt Copper Leaves embossing powder from my friend Kim's shop--Emerald Creek.  If you don't have this powder in your arsenal, I suggest you pick up some right away! I can think of a zillion uses for it, and it heats up beautifully either as a smooth finish or in the chunky bits like you see here. I added a Tim Holtz Remnant Rub in words that are very meaningful for me, but used here they are to remind my husband to look inside for his gift card!

I thought the finished lid looked a little harsh, so I added dyed cheese cloth and metallic threads in copper and bronze to soften the edges a bit.

This shot is blurry, but it really showed off the cracks from the Crackle stencil in the crackle paste, covered with Crackle Glaze. Now that's a lot of cracks!

The crackle glaze peeks out from under the key below, but is blurry.  Another bear of a project to photograph because of all the metallics and glazes competing for attention. I added texture to the sides of the lid with paste and Tim Holtz Speckles stencil on the sides and also added texture to one side  with Tile Backer tape. As I mentioned earlier, I stenciled pipes on one side of the lid with DecoArt's Short Circuit stencil, but failed to photograph it.

And of course, there's the bottom of the box to decorate! I used DecoArt paints, Crackle Glaze, antiquing creams, Perfect Pearls and Glimmer Mist sprays, more stenciling with Speckles, Alchemy paint, Burnt Copper Leaves, and more Tile Backer tape for the background. Two die cuts (Tim Holtz Keyhole and Cheery Lynn Gear) grunged up finish it off. Not pretty, but oh, so masculine!

One final look at the box top and bottom. I hope I've inspired you to get out those masculine or maybe not so masculine dies and join the Masculine challenge at Scrapy Land. After all, a generous gift certificate is up for grabs for one lucky winner!

Thank you to Anne and the entire Design Team at Scrapy Land for allowing me to be Guest Designer with them for these past few months--it has been a very positive experience, and all the girls are so warm and welcoming! Anne, a special thank you for all your help and patience!

I'm also joining these inspiring challenges:

A Vintage Journey Texture or Embossing Paste

Emerald Creek Dares Dearest Daddio

Country View June Challenge-Crackle

Our Creative Corner A Beautiful Mess

Creative Artiste Challenge #15 Anything Goes

Die Cute Divas June Anything Goes With Kaisercraft

Dream in Darkness Time to Tango With Rubber Dance Anything Goes  UPDATE: Honorable Mention!

Sandee and amelie's Steampunk Challenge -June 2016-Anything Goes Steampunk/Industrial

Southern Ridge Trading Company Anything Masculine

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Father's Day/ For a Guy

Thank you for stopping by today, and for all your wonderful comments! I read and appreciate each and every one of them!

Hugs and Blessings!

Sara Emily