Abandoned Storage Box For A Vintage Journey

Welcome! This is actually my second post for today. You can see my shaker Christmas card here. But for now, it's time for a new monthly challenge at A Vintage Journey. This time our hostess is the lovely Julia, who chosen theme is Box It Up! Here's what she says:

This month our theme is boxes! Perhaps you will make a trunk or suitcase, some kind of package to hold a gift, or maybe make a card or journal page showing presents. Just remember to ensure that you create in one of our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk.

I actually had numerous ideas for this challenge, but was running out of time to narrow those choices down. This morning, I visited a thrift store that was using this 10 x 7 x 4.5 inch box to hold greeting cards, and it was the perfect size for holding my Tim Holtz stamp sets. I talked them into letting it go.  The original box is pictured below, and you can see it was a work in progress already.

My organizing style is a 'flipper', meaning I like keeping things I use most frequently in upright in files that are open, so I can flip through to easily find what I need. My stamp boxes were getting so stuffed, I couldn't flip through them, and hence, I haven't been doing much stamping.

I removed and sanded the peeling butterfly paper off each of the long sides and sanded the shabby paint on each end. I cracked open my Tim Holtz Abandoned paper stash for the first time and chose a couple of patterns that would work together. Even though I have two of these 8 x8 paper packs, I couldn't use all one paper design due to the box dimensions. As it was, I had to piece the papers together as best as I could on the long sides. I could have chosen a 12 x 12 paper from my stash, but these lovely mixed media sheets were calling to me. Pictured below are the other three sides.

After adhering, then sanding the edges of the paper, I blended the edges with Ground Espresso ink and smeared it randomly with Crackle Texture Paste. When the paste was thoroughly dry, I sanded again.

I used a Tim Holtz Numbered stencil, grit paste and Bone embossing powder to emboss a few numbers on the opposite side. I sealed all the sides with Distress Collage Medium, and when just dry to touch sprayed (long sides) and splattered (short sides) with Distress Oxide spray. Although the yellow turned out as planned, sadly, the splattering on the short ends wasn't the look I was going for. Note to self: when you want a splatter look, do not seal with Collage medium first. 

I kept the embellishments to a minimum and flat on purpose for functionality. I added a few old Remnant Rubs to two of the sides and to the Stencil Chips. I used a mop up scrap to back the chips and added a couple of swipes of Chipped Sapphire paint to the chips themselves. 

Here are some close up photos to show the detail.

And here it is put to use in the Closet. Maybe you'll see more stamping going on here in the future.

That's all for me, but if you hop over to the blog, you'll find loads more 'boxed up' inspiration from the other talented Creative Guides. I hope you'll find some time to play along with us at A Vintage Journey! I can't wait to see what you'll make! Hugs and Blessings! Sara Emily