Altered Mint Tin

Again inspired by a class on UK Stampers Forum I used one of Marks & Spencers 'Curiously Strong Mint Tins' as a base for this creation. I rubbed the tin down well with fine sandpaper and then coated with white gesso and allowed to dry. I then used colonial green acrylic paint (DecoArt) and applied with a natural sponge and allowed to dry. I then stippled with Adirondack dye inks in bottle and oregano and dried thoroughly with a heat gun. In the meantime I stamped some leaves from the See D's leaf set in black Stazon on white tissue paper and then hand coloured with Lyra Aquacolor crayons and a water brush (drying with a blast from the heat gun). These were then cut out and adhered to the surface and sides of the tin with Golden gloss gel medium and a soft brush ensuring that they were covered on both sides. Once dry I coated the entire surface of the tin with more Golden gel medium watered down slightly, missing the edges of the tin in order to ensure the tin would close afterwards. I finished off the outside with two rows of iridescent clear bugle beads (Gutermann) which were adhered with Glossy accents.

The inside was completed by sponging green alcohol ink all over, working quickly and building up the colour to suit. I then ran a bead of glossy accents around the bottom inside of the base and applied metallic green decobeads. Once dry I then applied a piece of fused glitterati fibres with glossy accents in the inside lid and then applied a piece of my hand made Faux dichroic glass in green and gold. The tin is pictured with some unfinished Inchies within.

I was very pleased with the overall finish, the main drawback of coating any tin with layers of gel is that the outside gets slightly bigger and then the lid will not close. It's important to take this into consideration when decorating the tin. I was pleased also with the alcohol ink coating inside because it let the shiny finish of the inside of the tin show through the colour in a very brilliant way. Hope you like it.

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