WOYWW #511: Altered mini drawers

Three weeks have flown by again without me realising! Seriously, where does the time go? I've been busy with work and life and had not much time to spend in my craft room. Then over the weekend, there was a fault in our phone line (ergo no internet) and I found myself with nothing else to do, so I attacked a mini chest of drawers that I had bought with the specific intention to alter one day.

This is what the box looked like before I transformed it beyond recognition:

It was nice and colourful to start with but I wanted something a bit more "edgy".  First off, I gessoed everything to prepare the surface. Then I used some Sizzix/Tim Holtz embossing folders to make patterns on white cardstock, which I stuck all over the box and the front of the drawers, cutting slits for the handles. Next, I covered everthing with turquoise green and blue acrylics and let it dry completely. This is important, otherwise the layers would have lifted in the next step, which was a thin layer of burnt umber that I wiped back just before it dried completely, leaving the raised areas highlighted with the underlying layers. I added some bronze gilding wax as a finishing touch and voila, my box was ready! Here it is from all sides and different angles:

I wasn't sure where to keep it - there's not much space left in my craft room. For now, I placed it in my downstairs study on top of the small bookshelf that was a birthday present from my hubs and still needs to be populated. I think it looks good there and will be handy for storing bits and pieces, but I might move it elsewhere later. 

So my big birthday came and went - it was less painful than I had expected! Best not to think about it, really. I got these two cards - a cute one from my boss and a funny one from my family. You can see a theme there, can't you? 

And here's the little poop machine, who was very annoying this morning waking me up early because his food bowl was empty. I wasn't amused to say the least! I trotted downstairs to feed him but he turned his nose up at the offering because it wasn't his favourite, so he can't have been that hungry. I booted him out at that point. I'm telling you, he's the most spoilt cat in the world and it's all my fault! He's safely deposited back in the house now - in my son's bed of all places - I can never stay angry with him for long. 

It's lovely to be back on WOYWW, Julia's weekly desk hop. I will be around visiting everyone soon! xx