Altered box with Altenew stamps

Back in February a group of my crafting friends and I decided to have a secret gift swap for Valentines day. We were each assigned a recipient to make something for, to show them that they were loved and appreciated. We christened it our "Palentines" swap!  We have only just done the reveal, so I'm now able to show you the little altered box that I made. 

Here is the finished box, which I filled with a bag of heart shaped chocolates. Yes, I know that I should have taken them out of the bag, but this way it stopped me from eating them all before I posted it off to my friend!

 

 I started out with a small wooden box (about 8cm square) and some pretty co-ordinating papers from the Dress Shoppe NitWit collection from Lili of the Valley. I carefully removed all the hardware and the thin acetate covering the inside of the lid, to make it easier to cover.

 Next I applied some Victorian Velvet Distress Stain to all of the edges. I also used the matching Distress marker pen to colour the joins inside the box, so that there would be no bare wood showing when I covered it with paper.

 I used the ditsy floral print paper to cover all the outsides of the box and the dress paper for the insides. Just before I covered the inside of the lid I replaced the acetate with some that was a bit thicker (taken from some die packaging), then added the paper to cover it so that the edges of the acetate didn't show. I added a couple of die cut stitched heart borders (from Wplus9 design studio) to the bottom edges of the box, then I replaced the hinges and clasp. My, those tiny screws were fiddly and I dropped them on the floor several times before I succeeded in fastening everything back on!

 Now came the fun part - decorating the lid with some pretty stamped flowers. I used the gorgeous "Beautiful Day" stamp set by Altenew and Antique Linen distress ink, so that I could do the no line watercolour technique. I chose colours that matched the paper I'd used and scribbled ink from the Distress markers onto an acrylic block, before picking up the colour with a wet paintbrush and painting the flowers, berries and leaves. After they had dried I went back in with the markers and added extra detail, then I fussy cut everything out (fiddly but so worth it)!

 I used clear foam tape and glue dots to adhere the flowers, leaves and berries around the heart shaped aperture on the lid, which gave them more dimension.

 Below you can see the finished box (without the chocolates).

I really enjoyed making this and have since bought another box, so that I can do it all again!

Thanks for looking!