altered matchbox

i was hoping to find the small matchboxes, but, in my small town....none were to be found; so i settled for a large matchbox. i of course checked out pinterest (the link will show you a few of my favorite matchboxes) for inspiration, before settling down and getting to work on my own box.

i started by covering my outside box with vintage book paper. i also covered the inside of my inner box as well because i knew that my idea would show the inner box and i wanted it to all work together.

i did use Dina Wakley's gel medium to glue all my paper onto each box; but, any glue would would work. (although, i have found that Dina's is my favorite for mixed media work.) the darker edge seen above dried just fine and is not discolored on my final version.

i pulled the inside and outside box together with that polka dot paper seen on the far left above. i cut "edges" to add to the inside box and a strip to add to the outside box.

i am making this for a swap, and part of our instructions was to also have words of wisdom into the inside box. i was not totally sure what words i was going to use, but, when searching my vintage book stash, i found the perfect quote....

this is an early on shot of my girl. i love pink hair (i mean- who doesn't?! right....) and i found the perfect girl in a vintage sears catalog; now the dress....i had to work for that a bit. i actually used several "dresses" from a children's book- 2 for the sleeves that were small and one for her main dress. she also had to have some fabulous strappy shoes! hello?....any girl with "victorious mischief" will have tall strappy shoes on.....

i added some hair details with a wash-n-sketch pencil and painted her dress to pull that all together putting white details on the top. and i love her light pink hair ribbon i stitched on.

here is a pic of my final matchbox that i mailed out. i added some extra little details to pull everything together.

happy monday!