Decoupage Paint Box with Itsy Bitsy

Hello everyone, I'm here with my most recent creation for the Itsy Bitsy design team. This month we have been looking at the stunning Itsy Bitsy decoupage papers. 

Have a toot on the Itsy Bitsy blog to see the other team members creations.

Here is my finished creation.

There is a fabulous range of excellent quality decoupage papers on the Itsy Bitsy website, a whole collection of beautiful colours, patterns, themes, vintage,  vibrant... to suit everyone's taste.
For my project I chose to work with the A4 Butterfly Chronicle decoupage sheets.



Here is the step by step process of how I created my project.

I started with a MDF wooden box a bit smaller than A4 in size which I painted with Itsy Bitsy 2 in 1 white gesso & modelling paste.

I painted the inside and the edges of the box with Wild Wasabi chalk paint.

I chose the decoupage paper I wanted to use on the lid of the box and adhered it using watered down craft glue.

I prefer to rub the paper with the flat of my hand to get all the bubbles from under the paper. I find this works better than using a paintbrush as a brush can sometimes be too harsh and can rip the paper. 

I added the decoupage around the sides of the box and left to dry. 
When the decoupage paper was fully dry, I cut off the excess with scissors then sanded the edges with sandpaper to get a nice neat edge to the sides and the lid of the box.

I added some brown ink to the edges of the box and the inside to give it a more antiqued, distressed look. 

I then added some of the Wild Wasabi chalk paint to the lid of the box.

Then I added splashes of Charcoal Colour Splash and Gold Nugget Alcohol Splash.



Now for the decoration. I intend this box to be a storage area for my excessive paintbrush collection. Yes, I admit I have more paintbrushes than a normal person needs yet it seems I can never find one when I need one! So hopefully this will be a safe place for my wondering paintbrushes. 

I took a large paintbrush and gave it a few coats of the white 2 in 1 gesso & modelling paste and let it dry.  I wanted to add lots of texture to the paintbrush and because the Itsy Bitsy gesso is a 2 in 1, the modelling paste allows some super texture to be added to a project.

I added a light touch of the Wild Wasabi chalk paint to the paintbrush.

Then added some Gold Nugget Alcohol Splash and some splashes of the Charcoal colour splash and left to dry.

Next, I took a small amount of the Texture Sand Stones and the Mixed Media Stones and put them on to a piece of old packaging. I added drips of the Gold Nugget Alcohol Splash to colour the sand and stones and left to dry. 

I added some of the Assorted Twisted Jute and wrapped it around the paintbrush using Soft Gel Medium to adhere it in areas. 

I chose the Little Birdie Flowers Asst 8pc to add to the box lid.

I arranged the flowers and added the Texture Sand and Mixed media stones to the paintbrush, some of the flower petals and to the box lid.


And here is the finished box with some close-ups.

Thank you so much for popping along to my blog today to see my creation. I hope you like it, leave me a comment to let me know what you think.

Toodles for now, 

Lisa xxx

Here are all the Itsy Bitsy products I used which are all available on the Itsy Bitsy Website.