Love Notes Keepsake Box

By Tammie Wilson from Delta Creative

Perfect for storing all the mementos of your romance from love letters to theater tickets, champagne corks to the ribbon off your favorite gift. You’ll treasure this box and its contents for years to come.

Supplies:

• Delta Ceramcoat® Acrylic Paint:
  • Moroccan Red 2552
  • Candy Bar Brown 2407
  • Poppy Orange 2554
  • OJ 2649
  • Kelly Green 2052
  • Apple Green 2065
  • Periwinkle 2478
  • Copen Blue 2051
  • Magenta 2559
  • Wild Rice 2453
  • Oyster White 2492
  • White 2505
  • Black 2506
• Gesso
• Delta Ceramcoat® Exterior/Interior Varnish- Satin 07 003 0802
• Paper Mache Keepsake Box w/divided tray x-large (Item #1001080 available through the Craf-T Pedlars at www.pedlars.com)
• Loew-Cornell La Corneille Acrylic Handles brushes:
  • ½” and ¾” Glaze/Wash Series 7550C
  • #6 Filbert Series 7500C
  • #1 Round Series 7000C
  • 10/0 Liner Series 7350C
  • American Painter 1” Oval Wash Series 4600
• Old scruffy brush for dry brushing
• Water Basin
• Tracing paper
• Transfer paper
• Sandpaper
• Paper towels
• Palette paper
• Black permanent markers- fine and ultra fine
• Pencil
• 18” Ruler
• Low-tack tape

Click here for larger images and printable instructions.

Steps:

1. Using the ¾” brush paint the box, lid and tray with Gesso. Let dry and sand to smooth any rough edges or areas.
    
2. Using the ¾” brush paint the entire box bottom, the tray, the lip on the lid and the inside of the lid only (not the top) with two smooth even coats of Moroccan Red.
    
3. Using the pencil and ruler grid off the top of the box and paint the backgrounds as follows- champagne glass- Copen Blue, lips and roses- Candy Bar Brown, Love Notes- Kelly Green, bird- Poppy Orange, champagne bottle- Moroccan Red, presents working from left to right- Kelly Green, Poppy Orange and Copen Blue.
    
4. Trace pattern and transfer main pattern lines onto box lid.
    
5. Champagne Bottle- Basecoat bottle Kelly Green, top label Candy Bar Brown and bottom label with Pink Mix - Magenta Wild Rice White (2:1:1). Let dry and trace on detail pattern lines. Scrollwork is done using the 10/0 Liner with thinned Orange Poppy on the bottom label and Pink Mix on the top label. Shade the bottle using the ¾” brush and a brush mix of Kelly Green Black down the sides and under the lip. Shade the top label with a brush mix of Candy Bar Brown Black down each side and the bottom label with a brush mix of Pink Mix Black. Using the scruffy brush dry brush the highlight on the bottle as follows- bottle- Apple Green, reinforce with Apple Green Oyster White (1:1), top label- Pink Mix, bottom label- Pink Mix Oyster White (1:1). Bubbles are a wash of Pink Mix highlighted with a float of Oyster White. Swirls are done with thinned Pink Mix using a 10/0 liner.
    
6. Champagne Glass- Basecoat champagne- Pink Mix and stem- Moroccan Red. Wash over glass and foot with thinned Oyster White. Float down each side of glass, across the rim and around the foot with Oyster White. Dry brush highlight on glass and foot with Oyster White White (1:1). Dry brush highlight on stem with the Pink Mix. Add tiny stars with thinned Pink Mix using the 10/0 liner.
    
7. Bird- Basecoat Bird- Periwinkle, letter- Oyster White and beak- OJ. Shade at base of wing and head (refer to photo) with Copen Blue, reinforce with Copen Blue Black (1:tich). Highlight wings and tail with a float of Oyster White.
    
8. Roses- Basecoat Roses- Moroccan Red, stems and leaves- Kelly Green. Shade roses with Candy Bar Brown, highlight with Orange Poppy and reinforce highlight with OJ. Shade leaves with a brush mix of Kelly Green Black, highlight with Apple Green.
    
9. Lips- Basecoat lips- Moroccan Red. Shade under upper lip with Candy Bar Brown, highlight around lips and across the lower portion of the upper lip with Orange Poppy. Reinforce highlight with OJ. Triangles are done with OJ using the 10/0 liner.
    
10. Presents- Working from left to right basecoat the presents- Pink Mix, Periwinkle and Orange Poppy.
     
11. Shade the pink box with Pink Mix Moroccan Red (1:1) and highlight with Pink Mix Oyster White (1:1). Roses are a wash of Moroccan Red with a swirl ofe Moroccan Red over the top. Leaves are done with Kelly Green and the 10/0 liner. Add a bow with Periwinkle. Shade with Copen Blue and highlight with Oyster White. Swirls are done with thinned Apple Green using a 10/0 liner.
     
12. Shade the blue box with Copen Blue and highlight with Oyster White. Add swirls with thinned Pink Mix using the 10/0 liner. Add a ribbon with Kelly green. Shade with a brush mix of Kelly Green Black and highlight with Apple Green. Add swirls with thinned OJ using a 10/0 liner.
     
13. Shade the orange box with Moroccan Red and highlight with OJ. Add stars with OJ using the 10/0 liner. The ribbon is Pink Mix, shaded with Moroccan Red and highlighted with Oyster White. Add swirls with thinned Periwinkle using the 10/0 liner.
     
14. Center Heart- Basecoat heart and rose- Moroccan Red, Scroll and top of wings- Oyster White, Leaves- Kelly Green, Arrow- Oyster White Black (2:1), Inside of wings, feathers on and point of arrow- Periwinkle. Trace on detail lines from pattern. Complete the rose and leaves as described in step 8 above.
     
15. Shade heart the heart with Candy Bar Brown where it is overlapped by the scroll, down the sides and cross the base of the arrow. Highlight with a drybrush of Orange Poppy in front of the arrow piercing, at the top left, center left between the scrolls and at the bottom tip, refer to the photo.
     
16. Wings- Shade down the side where they overlap and across the bottom of each feather with Copen Blue. Highlight the tip of each feather with Oyster White. Shade under the white portion of the wing with Copen Blue black (1:tich) Shade the lower portion of the white wing with Periwinkle. Highlight the upper part of the wing with White.
     
17. Scroll- Shade the scrolls at each end where they turn and overlap with a wide float of Copen Blue. Reinforce with Copen Blue Black (1:tich). Lettering is based in and outlined with a mix of Copen Blue Black (1:1).
     
18. Arrow- Shade the arrow, tip and feathers with Copen Blue Black (1:tich). Highlight down the center of the arrow and the tip with a drybrush of Periwinkle Oyster White (1:1). Float a shade on the ends of the feathers with the same mix, reinforce with Oyster White as desired.
     
19. Scrolls are thinned Apple Green done with a 10/0 liner.
     
20. Side Border- To create the border on the side of the box measure up 2” from the bottom and approximately 1.25” from the top. Tape off area and base with two smooth even coats of Candy Bar Brown. Complete the lips as described in Step 9 above. The Roses will also work well for this border if desired. Add random swirls of thinned Pink Mix using the 10/0 liner to the remaining red areas.
     
21. Finish with 2 to 3 smooth even coats of Exterior/Interior Varnish. Enjoy!