Butterflies & Hydrangeas Jewelry Box

I'm finding it a bit harder to blog about new artwork lately, with all the gardening I'm doing and new blooms I'm taking photos of, it seems there is always something new appearing outside these days. This is a piece I finished a couple of weeks back, my Butterflies & Hydrangeas Jewelry Box.

This box is actually heavily distressed and antiqued. I really wanted it to have a feeling of being a time worn piece.

I did the antiquing one night after all the painting was done, I was in my kitchen, it was midnight and I was working on this box over the sink. Chris was actually playing a concert so this is when I can sometimes get the most work done in the evenings, the nights that he is working.

I've been on a real butterfly kick these days so I had to add two to this box.

There always has to be a surprise when the box opens so this time, I put a full Hydrangea bloom on the inside upper corner.

Spring Bluebird & Hydrangea Jewelry Box

I recently finished a custom order for a Spring Bluebird & Hydrangea jewelry box. The background for this pieces is a shade of lavender purple.

I painted the purple and blue Hydrangeas on the top of the box.

A leaf and some blooms spilling over the front and sides in a couple of places.

Of course a Bluebird box wouldn't be complete without the bird himself, perched on top of some Hydrangeas. This box was created for someone that loves Bluebirds!!

A little surprise on the inside lid!

Shabby Chic Pink Roses Jewelry/Trinket box

I finished a brand new jewelry box the other day, I'm having a lot of fun painting these boxes. This one has a soft, large pink open rose and two buds just waiting to open up.

I've put some very washy pinks and greens on top of this light green background, just to give the hint of flowers and leaves in the distance.

The leaves and thorny stem carry around to the side and front of the box.

I'm putting a little surprise on the inside lid of every box I paint.....this one has some leaves.

This piece is available at my etsy shop: www.artfulcreations.etsy.com and will also be listed on my website soon.

Pink Rose Shabby Chic Jewelry/Trinket Box

I've been bitten by the bug to paint some jewelry boxes as of late and for my first one I wanted to paint a soft, pink rose.

I started with a wooden box that measures 7 1/4" square and 2 1/2" in depth. I painted the box a very light green, with some touches of white and lavender added here and there for good measure.

I distressed the box very lightly and once it was all cleaned up and ready to go, I planned the layout of my large, pink rose.

When I finished adding shadow leaves and some vague flower shapes and colors in the background, all around the box, I was ready to paint the rose iteself , along with the surrounding leaves and vines.

I didn't want to ignore the inside so I painted a little surprise when you open the lid. Chris then sprayed it with a protective coating so the design will last and stay beautiful. I really enjoyed this one and I actually just finished another.....a butterfly and hydrangea jewelry box. I think I feel a collection of painted boxes coming on. This piece is available at my ETSY shop: www.artfulcreations.etsy.com .

Sweet Spring Bluebirds Emu Egg Jewelry Box

My first of the 2 jewelry boxes with the curved vertical cut is finished. Emu eggs are big and sturdy and measure about 5 1/2" tall (7" with the stand) and 10 1/2" at the fattest circumference.

So as you might know by now if you've been reading my blog, I start with the egg with its original color, which is a dark and may I say luscious green/black. The surface of the egg itself is very textured and can be fun, if not challenging to work on. I basecoated the egg a pale blue and white and then sketched on my design.

I like to create the design on these particular pieces so that it flows well around all the sides of the egg. I like to have visual interest that is well proportioned and try to carry the design to both halves of the egg. I decided to paint some sweet spring bluebirds, a mother and a baby actually, perched on winding vines.

This is a close-up of the smaller, baby bird. The vines are full of little purple flowers and crystals in different sizes and different colors for lots of sparkle.

This is a view of the back of the egg and as you can see, I've carried the design all the way around and also, when I basecoated the egg, I painted the hinges the same color as the background.

The top is open here, with the inside lining showing.

Last but not least, don't forget where it all stated, the two eggs that I received in the mail are below. This is what the egg originally looked like before I started working. I've got some ideas for the second one, we'll see what I end up doing with it. The bluebird egg is available at my ETSY shop: http://www.eleganteggart.etsy.com/ .

Special Delivery

I was thrilled when I went to the front door to get the mail today, to find the new Emu eggs that I had ordered. I fell in love with the vertical curved cut and just had to have them. They will be jewelry boxes when I'm finished, lined with fabric and fully painted. I'm not sure yet what I'll paint on them but I will think of something good. These are the before photos and in the next weeks, I'll hopefully have finished one of them and will be listing an after photo.

Pink Rose Emu Egg Jewelry Box

I just finished my rose jewelry box over the weekend. It was sprayed with a protective coating and now, will be ready to ship out this week.

I painted my design with a full, open rose. The reference photo that I used was one from my own garden. I'll show that photo when I post some pictures of the start of my rose watercolor as I used the same photo for both. My garden photo was of a creme colored rose and I wanted to use pink for this particular project so I changed the colors around to suit my purposes.

I painted the background in soft shades of acrylic paint, Mint Julip, Rose Petal Pink, & White. Because I truly love the black/green color of the egg itself, I left the lower half its natural color.

I painted the leaves so they span both halves of the egg, making for a nice smooth transition. I also wanted to add crystals to the egg so, I painted some branches coming from 3 different areas so I could attach pink crystals to give the box some sparkle.

This box is a special gift for someone and will be shipping out later this week. I hope the recipient will really enjoy her gift.

Emu Egg Bride's Box

My Emu egg bride's box is now finished and ready to ship out. I'll try to take you through the process of how I decided on the box design. Kathryn and I had originally discussed doing a silhouette of a bride in a garden. When I actually received the blank egg in the mail, I thought about it for a good 24 hours, mulling over differnt approaches to the design I wanted to do.

I originally decided to go with a profile image of the bride, holding flowers in her hand. I visualized the background as you see it now, that never changed but when I went to draw on a profile view of the bride, it just didn't work. The egg is so heavily textured that it was making getting any kind of profile detail very difficult. I decided at that point to switch gears and do a view from the back, of the dress, veil and one shoulder peeking out. I also decided against the silhouette idea and gave her a nice traditional white , shimmering gown. I used many different shades of paint in the gown to give it dimension.

I painted the sky and ground on first and then when that was dry, I started to draw the bride directly onto the box. It took me a few tries to get her gown just the way I wanted it to look. I also really love the black/green , rich and textured color of the egg itself so I didn't want the whole egg to be painted. I wanted the bottom half of the egg to retain its natural color and I think in doing that, it makes the design more dramatic and shows the beauty and precision of the cut in the egg.

I decided to adorn her dress with Hydrangeas cascading down from the veil and lower section of the back of the gown. Once I decided on those flowers, I decided to put them in the foreground as well, as if she were standing amoung them, ready to walk into the scene.

Here you can see some of the detail on the gown. I also added some Swarovski crystals on the lower back of the dress, just above the Hydrangeas. I wanted it to look as if that area was gathered up and the flowers were coming down from that.

I did something similar with her veil, I added 5 crystals going around the back, then added the flowers and greenery from there.

This view shows the box sitting on its very pretty wooden stand. I also liked having the flowers cascading onto the lower part of the egg itself, rather then just keeping them to the painted area.

This is a view of the inside of the box which has been lined with fabric. Because fabric and I don't really get along, Chris created the fabric lining for me. He did a great job with it too. From this angle you can see how large the Emu egg is and how much it would hold. I've put my wedding ring inside to give you an idea of the actual size. I had so much fun painting this one that I am adding a jewelry box section to my ETSY site. I've already started painting another one, this time with a floral and butterfly theme very similar to the pendants I painted a couple of weeks ago. Hope you enjoyed learning more about the process.

Special Delivery

Look what the mail man brought me on Friday, the Emu egg for the bride's box. I ordered two actually, both with horizontal cuts. One however has a curved horizontal cut and I feel is more visually attractive for the project I'll be working on, so that is the one I decided to go with. The other I'll paint and put in my ETSY shop. I'm so excited about painting this box that I want to have a whole new jewelry box section in my ETSY shop. Emu eggs are very large and also very sturdy and an abolute pleasure to work with. They measure a good
5 1/2" tall and about 10 1/2" around the fattest part of the egg, making it perfect for a jewelry box.

The egg itself has a lovely, deep, almost black green color to the outside of the shell. The surface of these eggs are quite textured which in this case has made my task a bit harder and I've had to alter my plans a bit. I'll tell you how and why I did that in my next post when I show the finished box. As you can see, the inside has been blown out and you can see the hinge in this photo, that holds the two sides together. I'll be lining the box with fabric on the inside so it will not look quite like the above when it is done.

Pendants For Kathryn

I have finished the miniatures for kathryn's order. These were so much fun, I really had a blast painting them.

My favorites by far, are the butterflies. I took so many great photos of butterflies this summer, I really wanted to put them to good use and paint some on a few pendants.

It has kind of inspired me to do a whole series of butterfly miniatures now.

Kathryn's favorite themes were Hydrangeas and Roses so I did a lot whith those 2 kinds of flowers. I also tried to vary designs a bit to keep them interesting for both her and me.

I'm really looking forward to starting on the Emu Egg brides' box and should be getting that going later on in the week. I will post pictures of the naked egg before I start painting it so you can see what I'll be working with. I'm so into the idea of painting jewelry boxes now that I think I will get some more of these going and add a new section on my ETSY site, just for jewelry boxes.