LifeBook Week02: Celebration Jar

In one of my previous posts, I gave you a preview of my Celebration Jar for 2015. I have now completed this project and would like to share it with the world! Technically, this is not a jar, but one of those sturdy cardboard drums/barrels for crackers and peanuts. I have loads of those left over from the holiday season and this is a great way of upcycling them. They are suitable for storing art supplies and all sorts of other things as well.

This particular project was inspired by a LifeBook lesson, but other than the concept of a "Celebration Jar" I've pretty much created my own version, so I can share the technique with you! Here's how I did it:

1. I started out by covering the container with pieces of book pages adhering them with gel medium.
2. When this layer was dry, I added some colour with watersoluble crayons (you can use paints or gelatos if you prefer).
3. I brayered some white acrylics on top of this to mute the colours (you can also use gesso).
4. I cut motifs out of some napkins (birds, birdcages, butterfly, elephant) and carefully stuck these down with gel medium.
5. I deliberately left an area empty so I can add "awesome 2015" with letter stamps.
6. I then stamped all over the surface with script and number stamps using dark grey archival ink.
7. As a finishing touch, I shaded around the napkin elements with a black Pitt marker pen to bring them out of the background.
8. The lid was gessoed first, then coloured, stamped and decoupaged the same way.

I plan to fill my container to to the brim with lots of positive experiences in 2015. I've already got a few! I wrote them on pieces of gelli prints. Make your own celebration jar to appreciate all the positive things that you experience this year! 

 Click on the first photo to see all of them in Gallery view.