Kiwi Lane Blog Hop - photo box

Thanks for joining in on the Kiwi Lane Designs Blog Hop, if you didn't come here from Melissa's page, head back to the start.

I was excited when Kristy asked me to join the February Blog Hop. I've been a closet follower for a while - but I mostly have accessories so it's not always crystal clear when I've used them.

Needless to say, when she asked me I jumped at the chance to play with some 12 in borders - Clara Lane. I just love the soft curves of this template set! But I have to admit, that after only using the accessories for so long, it was a bit of a learning curve for me. (Read, there's a couple of "failed" projects around my house right now.)

I started my projects by redecorating a white photo box. After I'd framed one side of the box, and cut out the papers for it I realized that it's pristine white was a poor match for my Authentique papers. So I inked up the box, much of the ink rubbed right back off but enough stayed on it to make me happy.

I used 1A, 2A, 3A, and 3B.

Then, I started piecing together the base layer. My typical adhesive (ATG) wasn't going to hold up on this project - there's a shiny coating that I had to gently sand in order for even the Quick-dry Liquid Adhesive to stick.

See how this one section had to be pieced? Yep, I'm pretty proud of that part.

And the finished product! A cute little box to hold my ever-growing stamp collection.

The next thing I did with my Clara Lane templates (2A, 2B, 3A, 3B) was draw lines onto a corkboard and start painting it in bright colors that match my craft space. I also used my Scallops mini 1A. After all the horizontal layers had dried I used my 1/2 in Strips minis to mask off spaces to paint vertical lines. When all of it was dry I edged all the lines and added some pen work and stamping for interest.

I made the board to hang some cards that other crafters have sent AND to hold my templates. Sadly, I'd already made all the holes when I realized I have to many templates for this baby. It'll work this way until I buy more ("more" is pretty inevitable).

As a random but potentially useful aside, I got paint on my templates.  I was bummed that the acryllics had dried to fast thus leaving the templates stained. Quite accidentally, I spilled some non-acetone nail polish remover on one. Voila! So much cleaner. There's still a faint hint of pinks and purples on some, but they are much more transparent now. 

Now, don't forget that a random winner from ONE of the 13 blogs (including Kiwi Lane), will be given a $25 gift certificate to the Kiwi Lane Shop, just for leaving a comment by Sunday, February 3 at 11:59 MST. Winners will be posted on the Kiwi Lane blog the following Wednesday.
So go soak up some inspiration! Next up is Charissa.

7. Charissa Miller http://www.akihasmommascraps.com

8. Sherri Thompson http://www.sherrithompson.blogspot.com

9. Kristy MacKeen http://www.mamasanity.blogspot.com

10. Sherri Funk http://faithandscraphappiness.blogspot.ca

11. Roselyn Riley http://prettylittlepackages.blogspot.com/

12. Lisa Anderson http://scrappingobsession.blogspot.com

13. Leslie Prinkki http://www.scrapsofmine.blogspot.com