WOYWW Week 214

It's that time of that week... the one where we all link up on Julia's blog and then have a darn good nosey at what is going on at all the other desks all over the world!  If you have never joined in before, then now is the time, you can always be assured of loads of interesting bits of information and inspiration.

This is my desk this morning, looking pretty neat and tidy with a range of garish brooches all laid out ofr inspection to find just the right one for the little box I have made... yes, that one, on the desk!  A cup of tea, my ATG and stand, my new glue gun and some paintbrushes I just cleaned.  Now, if you had seen the desk yesterday, it was a mess!  But, I am one of those folk that has to clean up between projects, especially if they involve paint.

This is the box... it all began with that bit of transparency... I saw a box done by a friend, Carole, and had to figure out how to use that idea because I liked it so much.  I ran the tranparency through my bug and embossed it, then added the pearls and backed it with Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante papers.

This is the front of the box, with the folded down transparency piece.

One side, with a pocket watch and Tim Holtz wings.

The opposite side, with chipboard cogs that I have painted to make them appear like brass.

More cogs...

Cogs that I papered with music and printed word.

and with the lid removed... yes, I revisited an old idea... the exploding box.  Only the outside walls and lid are chipboard on this version because I wanted it to have some weight and be sturdy.  The cardstock exploding boxes I made years ago have not travelled well... LOL

The chipboard outer layer is decorated with cogs and wheels and a brass butterfly.  

The inner cardstock layer is decorated with paper images and butterflies.

The outside walls without the lid...

other outside wall

third outside wall

and final outside wall.

The centre of the inside I have decorated with cogs, pearl sticks, flowers, beads, a little light bulb and gems.

some wire springs and a bottle of glitter... think that is enough bling, don't you? LOL

I should mention that this is a birthday gift for my step-daughter-in-law-to-be... and her birthday is day after tomorrow... and she is in the UK.... oops!  Guess it will be a bit late?  Think she will believe that it is 'in the post'? LOL

Playing with paint....

In the corner of the family room at the end of my kitchen is this corner TV unit which we picked up secondhand from expats leaving to go back to the States.  I don't like it... all the furniture in the house is the dark wood of the desk that is next to it... it looks weird and is badly scratched and must have been sat in the sun because the top has a faded area where their television used to sit.

See?  Urgh.... so after Chris left for work this morning I thought I would see if I could do anything with it.

It's not looking very promising is it?  In fact, at this stage I even said out loud to the cats that Chris was going to kill me.... LOL  but what's a girl to do when she has gone that far?  

OK... a couple more coats and it isn't looking too bad!!

and a quick trip down to the scraproom and some paper on the front of the drawer... and sand the edges back a bit and red ink the bare wood to give it some depth...

Pop everything back on and in it....

Do you think he will notice when he gets in from work in an hour or so? ;)

UPDATE:   Chris had been home 3 hours and hadn't noticed... and the door to the right of the tv unit is the door to his study... so its not like he didn't have to walk right past it! LOL  Then he called downstairs to me in the scraproom and said ' it looks very nice'   LOL... he had checked my blog for updates and realised what he had missed.... so though he lost points for not noticing, he gained points for taking the time, after a busy day at work, to check my blog!! :)