Turning Leaves Cigar Box Purse!

Turning Leaves Cigar Box Purse Sharon Chinn 726 Meadowview Drive, Villa Hills, KY 41017 859-341-3533 sharon@sweetpatoodies.com

Turning Leaves Cigar Box Purse Supplies Unfinished Cigar Box Purse with Bamboo Handle #358037-9 x 7.25 x 2.5 (available from Michaels Arts & Crafts) 3/8 Check Stencil 1-1/4 Swirl Stencil (Optional) Sand Paper Fine Wax Palette Brush Basin Stylus Graphite Paper Tracing Paper Blue Painter s Tape DecoArt Wood Sealer DecoArt Americana Acrylics Avocado Avocado Dip Bahama Blue Bleached Sand Cocoa Ebony Black Mustard Seed Orange Twist Tuscan Red DecoArt Dazzling Metallics Rich Espresso Festive Red Festive Green Royal & Langnickel Brushes Soft Grip Gold Taklon Shader Series 150 - #6 (for stripes on sides of purse lid, can use to paint checks instead of stencil) Soft Grip Gold Taklon Angular Series 160 1/4 (for basecoating smaller areas and floating color)

Turning Leaves Cigar Box Purse Soft Grip Gold Taklon Glaze/Wash Series 700 1/2, 3/4 (for floating color or basecoating & varnishing large areas) Aqualon Gold Taklon Script Liner Series 2585 #20/0 (for fine line work) Royal Sable Round Series 5000 or 5005 - #14 (for stenciling, drybrushing, and basing wet-on-wet background) PREPARATION Remove hardware with a small screw driver and set aside. I place all the hardware pieces in a small ziplock bag, so I don t lose any. Sand box with fine sand paper to smooth the grain. I like to sand along the edges and corners to round them over just slightly so they aren t so sharp. This wood is very porous, so I d recommend applying a generous coat of DecoArt Wood Sealer inside and out. Let dry, then re-sand lightly. Use a ruler to draw a 1-1/4 border around the purse lid. PAINTING Background Paint the outside border around the purse lid and all of the rest of the sides, back, and inside lip of the purse with BLACK using a 1/2 or 3/4 glaze /wash brush. When dry, tape off the black border on the lid with blue painter s tape, so that only the inner area is showing. Be sure to rub the inside edge of the tape firmly so paint can t seep under it. Turn the purse lid upside down so the hinged side is at the top and the latch/handle side is at the bottom Using a #14 Royal Round Sable, paint this inner area, working with wet on wet paint, diagnonally from upper left to lower right start with COCOA at the top left and along left edge filling in an inch or two, then with the dirty brush pick up Bahama Blue and continue basing, softening where the two colors meet with a slip-slap / pitty-pat motion. Keep going in this manner, adding more BAHAMA BLUE at middle, then picking up Bleached Sand toward the lower right. You can go back and add color as you feel you need it, but don t overwork it. You want a gradual transition from Cocoa to Bahama Blue to Bleached Sand going from upper left to lower right. This doesn t need to be perfectly blended some splotches and roughness in the transition just adds interest to the background. While paint is still slightly wet, carefully remove the painter s tape. When it s dry, if any paint has seeped under the tape onto the black border, touch it up with Black paint.

Turning Leaves Cigar Box Purse Using a #14 Royal Sable Round, stencil 3/8 checks on the black border with DARK ESPRESSO. Don t put on too much paint at once, or it may seep under the edges of the stencil. When dry, clean up any boo boos with BLACK. Transfer leaf design with gray graphite paper. Basing Leaves Using a 1/4 angular brush, paint in leaves, blending the colors wet on wet as follows: Top Left Leaf start basing with AVOCADO DIP at base of leaf (top left) and work to MUSTARD SEED and ORANGE TWIST as you come toward tip at lower right. This leaf should be mostly orange/yellow with a little green at top left. Bottom Left Leaf start basing with AVOCADO DIP at top and right and add some MUSTARD SEED at bottom and left. This leaf should be mostly green with a touch of yellow. Middle Right Leaf start basing with ORANGE TWIST at top left and work to TUSCAN RED at lower right. This leaf should be mostly red with an orange tint at upper left. Shading/Highlighting Leaves Using a 1/4 angular or 1/2 glaze/wash brush, float shading and highlighting as follows: Top Left Leaf Float along veins with ORANGE TWIST + a touch of TUSCAN RED. Float shade some of the edges along the top of the leaf with AVOCADO DIP + COCOA. Float highlight some of the bottom edges with BLEACHED SAND. Bottom Left Leaf Float veins with AVOCADO DIP + a touch of COCOA. Float shade some of the edges along the top of the leaf with AVOCADO. Float highlight some of the bottom edges with BLEACHED SAND. Middle Right Leaf Float veins with TUSCAN RED + a touch of BLACK. Float shade some of the leaf edges with TUSCAN RED + a touch of BLACK. Float highlight some of the edges with ORANGE TWIST. Stems/Veins Stems are AVOCADO. With the script liner brush, stroke in veins on leaves with AVOCADO + a touch of BLACK. Accents I like to repeat colors in unexpected spots throughout the design to pull it all together. The accents should be softly floated or drybrushed so they don t overpower the colors beneath. For floating use the 1/2 glaze/wash, for drybrushing use the #14 Royal Sable Round, as follows: Top Left Leaf Float accents of FESTIVE GREEN METALLIC at the top edge of the leaf on either side of the stem. Float some FESTIVE RED METALLIC on some of the edges. Float a little RICH ESPRESSO METALLIC on the top edge of the second finger of the leaf.

Turning Leaves Cigar Box Purse Bottom Left Leaf Float some FESTIVE GREEN METALLIC on the top edges of the leaf. Float a little FESTIVE RED METALLIC on the right edge of the bottom center point. Float a little RICH ESPRESSO METALLIC on 2 or 3 edges. Middle Right Leaf Float FESTIVE RED METALLIC on some edges. Float a little RICH ESPRESSO METALLIC on some of the shaded edges. All Leaves Float a little BAHAMA BLUE here and there on all the leaves to bring in the background color, on a few edges and along the veins (keep to the lighter side). With the script liner brush, finely outline the leaves with mix of AVOCADO GREEN + a touch of BLACK. Stems Brush a little FESTIVE GREEN METALLIC along the stems using the script liner brush. Background Drybrush a little more BAHAMA BLUE on the background between the leaves to brighten the background. Drybrush a little TUSCAN RED and RICH ESPRESSO METALLIC in the right corners. If needed, you can soften these colors by floating over with COCOA. Swirl Pattern I used a swirl stencil and based the swirls with BAHAMA BLUE + a touch of COCOA (to tone down the color). You could also just paint the scrolls in with a small flat brush if you don t have a stencil. When they are dry, float along the outer edge with COCOA using a 1/4 angular. Sides of Lid With a #6 shader, paint RICH ESPRESSO METALLIC stripes down sides of purse lid, lining them up with the checks. In between the stripes, paint pinstripes with the script liner BAHAMA BLUE stripe at center between every Rich Espresso stripe, then alternate these colors on either side of the Bahama Blue stripe around the box ORANGE TWIST + TUSCAN RED, AVOCADO DIP, MUSTARD SEED, i.e., Red/Blue/Red, Green/Blue/Green, Yellow/Blue/Yellow, then repeat. Inside of Purse Paint the sides of the lid with BLACK. Paint the center of the lid, and sides and center of the bottom with BAHAMA BLUE. If desired, you can reverse the pattern, and paint BLACK swirls on the inside of the purse. Handle Brush a light coat of RICH ESPRESSO over the handle to tone it down.

Turning Leaves Cigar Box Purse FINISHING Varnish with 3-4 coats of DecoArt DuraClear Matte Varnish. Let dry to touch between coats, and let thoroughly dry after final coat. Re-attach hardware. To ensure the screws set tightly, you can add a drop of glue to the threads before inserting them.

Turning Leaves Cigar Box Purse