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Monday, March 25, 2013

Grateful for You

Good Morning Friends
Donna-Marie posting today.
I have a rather long post today due to the many parts to my new project so grab your favorite morning beverage and take a tour...


I wanted to make  a gratitude box for a special friend and here it is...the outside anyway.
I painted the outside of the box with Black Gesso and sanded some of the edges away for a shabby look.


The inside gets a lot more interesting but first take a peek at how this box started out...
 
 ...As an old phone box.  I just recently bought a new cell phone and kept the box.
 
I loved all the compartments and that good size pocket (as seen above) was a nice spot for a mini book.  I like how all the pieces stack back up neatly inside.
The color was a bit odd but when I received my G45 French Country Paper Pad it all clicked!!
 
A gratitude box starts with this saying:

In Gratitude for who you are
I wanted to give you a gift of
Love
Joy
Wisdom
Laughter
A light in the dark
A lucky rock
Peace
The key to happiness
A star with a secret
A feather from an angel’s wing
A wish
A dream
And a kiss
So here they are...
 
I printed the saying and placed it in the section above and
 Each of the wishes are represented in the box

 
 Here they are all placed out
The 14 wishes are represented with these little trinkets.  Some of them are Tim Holtz items, some are common items you may already have.
 
Love = Wendi Vecchi Door with love and a metal heart
(this piece has been glued to a mini pocket which holds some paper items listed below)
Joy = Paper Heart that says joy tucked in behind the door
Laughter = a mini comic strip tucked in behind the door
A light in the dark = candle
A lucky rock = rock
Peace = is the peaceful scene with a Tim Holtz tab attached to the top that says "found"
The key to happiness = Tim Holtz Key
A star with a secret = Tim Holtz Star and a rolled up secret tied with a string
A feather from an angel's wing = white feather
A wish = Tim Holtz bottle with glitter
A dream = is the metal tag next to the door that says "dream as if you'll live forever"
A kiss = candy kiss
 
The only one I left out showing was wisdom. 
For this portion I created a small fold out book full of Donna Downey Empowered Words.
I made a small fold out card stock paper backing and glued my section onto it.
Each section was matted with G45 paper and a kraft corrugated piece.  On top of the corrugated pieces I adhered with Matt Medium more stamped images, Donna Downey Wayward Blooms, Poppies, and Wendy Vecchi Daisy Stamp.  These images were stamped on white tissue paper and adhered down...I love how the corrugated texture comes through.  I used Ranger Archival Black Ink for the stamped images and inked with Dylusions Post Box Red Spray.
 
This center portion got some black gesso added with black beads.  (not sure I like it but it's there)
 
 This mini book fits perfectly into the portion of the box that once held the instruction book.

Everything here folds up neatly and stacks into the box...for a box of gratitude!!

I topped of the box with a paper text rose that I made.  The rose also got inked with Dylusions Post Box Red Sray ink and Lemon Zest.  I added tags from G45 French Country and more G45 French Country Paper.  I inked my edges with Black Soot Distress Ink.
I hope you enjoyed today's project and I truly hope you get to make a gratitude box for someone special!! :-)









 



13 comments:

toni said...

Wow this is gorgeous!! I've never heard of a gratitude box but what a lovely idea. Your friend will be very happy to recive this beautiful piece of art x

Bonnie Irvine said...

Donna-Marie, not only is the gift beautiful but the thoughts and wishes behind it are, also. Each element is wonderful and suits the meaning behind it to a tee. Love the mini in it's own little box. Gorgeous use of those papers and stamps, as well as your imagination. Very cool.

Redanne said...

This is such a beautiful box - your friend will feel very special on receipt of this beauty!

Kathy/NorthCarolina said...

amazing project....I love how you pulled it all together...and the transformation is fabulous.

Kim said...

OK, you're giving this to me, right? **wink** My goodness, another amazing project Donna-Marie! What a tremendous transformation and a beautiful gift. Love!!

Tracy said...

Stunning project Donna-Marie and such a beautiful thing to put together . . .one very lucky friend you have!!
Big hugs
Tracy
xoxo

Claudine said...

It's is stunning, what a perfect gift for your friend.

SandeeNC said...

wow, I really have to start looking at boxes in a different ways! Awesome project!

Rea' said...

OMG, what a WONDERFUL gift ( great project) !! Love the flower, the mini, EVERYTHING... LOVE THE IDEA !!!

Words and Pictures said...

Really gorgeous... what a fabulous transformation, and a beautiful idea - a gratitude box - we all could do with one of those!
Alison x

Unknown said...

Beautiful... Great gift & awesome to re-purpose your phone box!

Rita said...

What a Wonderful gift. Hugs Rita xx

Annette Green said...

So clever you are repurposing that box in such a lovely way. I love all the elements. Such thought and time went into this. You must have a very special friend. She's a lucky girl.