Abandoned Matchboxes

[Leslieshappyheart]

Shortly after making and abandoning these altered matchboxes, I saw a chance to angel in the Abandoned Art swap, and I jumped at it!  I altered more matchboxes, but this time I went with a star theme.  Each box contains a polymer clay star.  I stamped the words into the clay before baking it.



Each matchbox is covered with paper cut from book pages.



The fabric collage on top of each box is machine sewn, then glued to the box.



Since I was sending to microjivvy, and I know she isn't a super-bright-colors kind of girl, I made one matchbox in darker tones for her to keep.



I made a few extras to abandon myself; I left this one in the post office when I was mailing the angel package.

[jexxican]

I could tell this was yours just from the thumbnail. You're so awesome.

[microjivvy]

And they're even prettier in person!

[pinokeeo]

What a cool project!  I love the idea of abandoning for others to share.

[Leslieshappyheart]

Thanks, everyone!  These are a little addictive to make, so I will probably make more.  They would make good gift boxes for cash...a $20 bill folded up inside would be a nice surprise!

[LimeRiot]

I could tell this was yours just from the thumbnail.

Me too!! I really love the clay star. Did you use a cookie cutter or something for that? Clever idea to stamp the words in too!

[Leslieshappyheart]

Yes, I used a cookie cutter of a wonky star shape, but even then I had to squish the stars a bit to make them fit in the box!

[susanab]

i love these for so many reasons--so pretty and so random for the lucky person who comes upon any of them. what wonderful little treasures, leslie!
did you coat the stars with something to get that shine?
then--what did you rub into the letters to darken them?

for every post, there is a question,
sue

[Leslieshappyheart]

Actually, I just stamped the letters the regular way:  I inked them on a stamp pad then pressed them into the clay.  Gentle pressure is all that's needed.  The shine on the stars comes from "Sculpey Gloss Glaze" that you can usually find where you buy Sculpey clay; I got mine at JoAnn's, it was on the same shelf as the clay.

[rackycoo]

These are beautiful! I know whoever finds them will have an all-day smile.