Altered Altoid Tin Shadowbox

Hey guys. Kelly Boler from Book and Paper Arts, one of our amazing Mixed Media Design Team Members, created amazing Altered Altoid Tin ShadowBoxes for us this month. As you know, we feature one new Mixed Media project each week created by one of our beloved tribe of artisans. Our goal is for you to be totally inspired by this series! Therefore, please make sure you check out the video tour at the bottom of the page…please scroll all the way down to see it. Are you ready to be inspired? I will step out of the way and let Kelly tell you all about her project…

Altered Altoid Tin

Oh how I do love an altered Altoid tin. I find the challenge of creating in such a small space a spur for ideas. Just as decorating a tiny house. Altered Altoid tins are the tiny houses of the mixed media craft world.

Sometimes they feel like portable “shrines,” but the ones I have made using images from the Premium Members site of The Graphics Fairy are more like floating picture frames, or the smallest shadowbox you can imagine.

I like to keep the lid simple in anticipation of the big reveal inside. However, they can be embellished with buttons, keys, or other small stuff. Here I have used burned wood glue and birds eggs from the lovely Birds & Nest Ephemera bundle.

Inside the Altered Tin

Inside the tins are several layers, so I like to go with simple on simple rather than fussy on fussy. This background starts with a French postcard from the Vintage Postcards bundle. Over that I layered a tiny face from Celestial Images Kit printed on tracing paper. When glued to the background the tracing paper turns transparent and you have instant layer and depth. (It is also a good image transfer cheat. I don’t have the best of luck with image transfers.)

If you look closely under the lady you will also see a basic background of the alphabet on sepia paper from the Ephemera Collection Images Kit. (Other bundles that offer this kind of layering potential would be: European Maps, French Ephemera, Blank Pages & Parchment, or Script Ephemera.) Over that I added some tea-dyed gauze, and then a beautiful (if stern – what is she thinking about?) – belle from the Antique Portraits 2 bundle.

On the second tin I covered the lid with layers of tea bags for texture and patina, and a dancing fairy from the My Favorite Things 2 bundle.

Inside I trimmed a premade note card from Steampunk Images #2, also printed on tracing paper and fitted over another parchment-like base. Facing it is another belle from the Antique Portraits 2 Kit.

Options

Here are a couple of spares I made to show other possibilities of layering images on tracing paper over a base image.

Video Show & Tell

There is a lot more to see, so please check out the flip-through on The Graphics Fairy YouTube channel:

If you have any questions about my Altered Altoid Tin Shadowbox, please let me know. Please visit my website: Book and Paper Arts and feel free to follow more of my book art on Instagram @bookandpaperarts or check out my YouTube channel.

Kelly