Couture Collection Altered Box

After creating my "Bohemian Bazaar" project for The Scrapbook Cottage here in Winnipeg, they gave me various 12 x 12 sheets of Graphic 45's new paper, "Couture Collection" and asked if I could use it to alter something from the thrift store.

My local Goodwill had this:

What is it? Honestly, I don't know! I did Google the shape, and it looks like it might be a home-made bagel cutter... a bagel is dropped in from the top then cut in two using the slots to guide the knife. But I am guessing here; it looked unused with no cut marks on it at all... so I could very well be wrong.

Regardless, I picked it up because I liked the lines of the carving... reminding me of Art Nouveau, which is also the style of the Graphic 45 Couture Collection paper I was given. Now I just had to figure out what the heck I was going to create with it!

I decided to make it into a stand one could place on a desk to hold a shopping list, pen, coupons and money before heading out to purchase the latest fashionable item (since the paper is all about fashion and style). I began by painting the box with black glossy Tremclad paint (chosen to ensure it coated the varnished finish) then decorated it with peacock-patterned paper on each side. I also added a chipboard pocket to the front and accented it with images from the collection. Since the peacock feathers were so lovely, I found real peacock feathers at Michael's to make a quill pen too.

I cut and scored chipboard for the covers of the shopping list book and punched four holes at the top with my Cropadile. I also painted the edges of my book with black acrylic paint before adhering the cover papers and wrapping with turquoise ribbon to bind.

I printed 50 pages on regular copy paper on my printer and cut them to size. I just got this neat Tonic perforation tool - another suggestion from dear Anne at Anne's Paper Creations - and used it to perforate each page so it can be torn off neatly.

I also added two envelopes to the kit: a small coin-sized one holding three bookmarks, and a larger envelope to store money or coupons.

The quill pen was a challenge. I spent a lot of time trying to come up with the best method on how to affix a pen to a real peacock feather. I eventually found that by slicing open the shaft and cleaning out the styrofoam-like interior, I was able to glue the cartridge of a stick pen inside it. I wrapped some Graphic 45 paper around and added two Bead's Landing jewelry findings to finish off the top. I cut down the pen's barrel and adhered it to the box stand with E6000 glue to store the quill.

I've made another short video to show this project (I do hope you aren't getting tired of them!). Oh, and you'll notice I have been teaching myself how to use more features in iMovie - I've been having fun with that too!