Espresso yourself.....

Hi folks... Creative Expressions Design Team time again today...
For December’s projects we have been given some new stamps to play with... This time revolving around one of my favourite subjects, food and drink!!!
I like to think that we all try and get the most out of our crafting goodies other than just using them on cards and scrapbook pages!! So, for today’s project I've decided to think outside of the box a little bit.

Well, not so much "outside" of the box, just "the box" in general... and use it as the main focus of my project....

Considering how the box started off, the change in its appearance is pretty dramatic..

It's ended up looking like slate.. Which is no mean feat seeing as I was actually going for a distressed wood effect!!! oooppps...
This distress/crackle effect is pretty easy to achieve with products you probably already have, so if you fancy giving it a go here's a step by step....

To start with, if your box has hinges,

take them off so that you have a nice clean surface to work on.

Then paint the box (inside and out) with your chosen base colour and let it dry thoroughly.

Next, take some Cosmic Shimmer Glue

decant some onto your craft sheet

and then apply a thick layer to your project. (I know, White on White is not the best photo op, but I hope you get the jist!?)

Whilst the Glue is still wet decant your second colour choice onto your craft mat

and apply over the wet glue, trying not to mix the Paint and Glue too much..

You can either leave this to air dry or if you are as impatient as me you can encourage to drying process with your heat gun, although don't get too close to the paint or it will blister as opposed to split/crackle... "The crackle effect is achieved because the drying time of the paint and the glue are different and therefore the glue splits revealing the base White colour you applied first".. Pretty cool eh!?

It's best to do the lid and sides in two separate stages as you'll get in a right old mess if you try and do everything at once...
But the effect is well worth the effort..
As I said earlier, I was actually going for a distressed wood effect, but I think the colours I have chosen certainly have given it a more slate like look!!
Once the project is completely dry you are good to go and carry on. You can tell when the glue is dry by gently touching the project with the back of your fingers, if it feels quite cold then the glue is still wet; if it is warm to the touch then it is pretty much dry.

Once the hinges were put back on the box I applied some Cosmic Shimmer Pewter Gilding Wax to enhance the Slate effect.

To stamp your chosen image, firstly dust your project with an antistatic bag, this will dry any moisture on it like fingerprints etc and help the embossing powder only go where you want it too.

Ink up your image with Perfect Medium

and stamp onto your project

Apply some Silver Embossing Powder

and set with your heat gun...

Now, I know it almost looks like slate, cos I put it next to a piece and I think we have a pretty good match?!!!
I think this would make a nice little gift for any coffee lover, maybe filled with some chocolate covered coffee beans, or in my case some chocolate covered Peanuts as the shop didn't have any coffee beans!! Ho hum...
Thanks for checking us out..
See you soon..
Andy.

Ingredients used;
Cosmic Shimmer Matt Chalk Paint - Warm White
Cosmic Shimmer Matt Chalk Pain - Midnight
Cosmic Shimmer Glue
Cosmic Shimmer Silver Shine Detail Embossing Powder
Creative Expressions Gilding Wax - Pewter
Creative Expressions Non Stick Craft Sheet
Creative Expressions Anti-Static Bag