Dear Liza,
My friend Ruthie Inman is always finding new ways to challenge our little zoom art group. This week she asked us to get a cream cheese box so we could cover it and make it pretty and useful.
The silvery coating on the box was very slippery and needed lots of gesso before it would take any paint. My first idea was to paint the whole thing bright orange and then collage over it. I didn’t take a picture, but trust me, it was awful.
I asked YOU and you said i should paint the whole thing black and figure out what to do next. So I did, and here’s what came next : really beautiful paper cut into teeny tiny bits.
I love mosaics, and black always looks good between bright colors. I got the top covered while Ruthie, Zoe and I chatted.
And to make the inside pretty, I found some gold foil (it came wrapped around pears at Christmas) and cut it to fit the bottom of the box.
This box still isn’t finished…. The black parts aren’t pretty and it needs a clasp to keep it closed.
And speaking of works in progress, I did another experiment with boxes… this time, a Yogi tea box. I was thinking of using it instead of the cream cheese box.
But as I held it, it felt too flimsy to be of any use. maybe I could reinforce it? I pulled apart the glued corners and laid it flat, laid tissue paper over the whole thing, front and back, with Mod Podge medium, then put it back together. It is stronger, but is still in its slightly-lumpy-tissue state.
But fear not. All will be well…and if it isn’t, I am only out a few cents of Mod Podge.
I am so glad I get to do artsy stuff with Ruthie!
Love,
Grandma Judy
Dear Liza 