Crafty Creatives Box 9!

I got a new camera today. My last camera has been retired after 5.5 of good use- two kids, lots of zoo visits, and trips to the beach. I think it was a stray crumbled antacid (from who knows when, probably 3 years ago from kid #2's belly-days) in the bottom of my old messenger bag that finally did it in. It'll still be good for kid #1 to use, unless she wants to use specific menu functions. Yesterday my Crafty Creatives box arrived, but I decided to wait until today to take pictures in all my new-camera glory! 

(Fun with 1cm macro!)

The theme for this month was steampunk! A surprise as I was thinking there might be a spring or Easter box, but a bad one! As I mentioned in last month's CC entry, steampunk is one of those themes that I knew had to be done, and that I was looking forward to. Most of my love for steampunk comes from a kid's novel series by Philip Reeve, but I've always appreciated the art styles. There's something to be said for cogs and animatronic owls!

The art card is great- I especially like the texture on the bottom of her dress, it really came through on the print.

The kit for this month is decoupage- a trinket box, in fact. I have never actually done decoupage. Papier-mâché, sure, but that was always painted afterward. I'm excited to do this as it's something I always look at when I go in my local art shop but never pick up materials for. I'm also thinking of aging mine with watered-down acrylics, and using the crackle varnish for a fancy finish. Hopefully it won't botch the whole thing too much!

These toggle clasps are great. I buy so many toggle clasps to make stitch markers for people, and end up with bags of lonely leftover bars, but these will definitely be used for their intended purposes- or at least not separated!

 

Thank goodness for my new camera here! What steampunk box would be without some teeny-tiny watch parts? I love these, and will be using them in a polymer clay construction very soon. 

Click to enlarge!

So here's the rundown of everything in Box 9:

• art card by Britta van den Boom
• CC Kit #9: Decoupage Trinket Box
• 3m brown leather cord
• pipe spacer beads
• bottle of crackle glaze
• metallic transfer foils by Stix2
• two big pieces of leather scraps- I already have a great idea for these!
• reel of wire- I got a light copper colour! The pliers from the last box will come in handy for shaping this into pendants and things!
• bulb and clock charms
• lock and key toggle clasps
• watch parts
• brown tweed fabric with metallic twist

As I was putting my box away after taking photos, I put to the side everything I wanted to work with immediately, and ended up putting away only a few things in the end! I have lots of great ideas for this box, and really only one of them is strikingly steampunk. The rest are more modern and just generally crafty! I just hope I have time to get them all done during the crazy Easter Etsy rush!

Thanks again to Crafty Creatives for a great box. I think even someone who doesn't like steampunk will appreciate most of these materials.

What will you make? Any ideas for me?