Gone With the Wind Altered Tin

I apologize in advance for all of the images on today's entry.  My latest project is three-dimensional and has taken a tremendous amount of time making and remaking.  I have learned some considerable crafting lessons as I experimented on this piece (including some that are on my "Never do that again!" list).  Oh my ...

The inspiration for this project is near and dear to my heart.  A few weeks ago, I told you all about my all-time favorite movie -- Gone With the Wind.  My obsession with this movie actually started with my love for the book written by Margaret Mitchell.  I read it for the first time in 9th grade and I've been hooked ever since.

One of my nieces read the book for the first time this summer.  She said she picked it up and just could not put it down.  Ah ... a girl after my own heart :)  Anyway, she wanted to borrow the movie from me and watch it.  I went one step better and bought the movie for her and will give it to her on her birthday next month.  (LK -- don't you dare tell your sister what she's getting for her birthday!!)

I then wanted to do something special for the occasion, so I decided to create a keepsake gift box for the movie.  After all ... no one really has to twist my arm to do some crafting related to Gone With the Wind.  I went down to my craft room and rummaged around in my stash to find a box to alter.  Lo and behold ... I found the perfect tin.  Here is the "before" picture.

Before -- Tah Dah!!

Hopefully Mr Peanut (from this Planter's Peanuts holiday peanuts tin) will not take offense at being covered up by Gone With the Wind memorabilia.  Well ... actually I used inkjet copies of GWTW memorabilia.  I certainly would not part with any of my obsessive collection.  The majority of the papers used for my collage on this tin came from copies of the souvenir edition of the Atlanta Journal's December 15, 1939 newspaper ... the day of the Atlanta Premiere of Gone With the Wind at Loew's Grand Theater.  Don't get too excited -- my souvenir edition is just a replica of the original newspaper issue.  I also used some copies of pages from the novel.






 Now, for the big reveal!!! Here is the "After" alternation photo of my project:

 

 Even though it took a long time to finish, I really kind of like how this project turned out.  It really has a lovely 1930's vibe to it from all of the advertisement images that I used.  So I'm entering it into Crafts-Too Challenge You Decade or Era Challenge (with layers).  My collage has multiple layers and I added some layers with filmstrip ribbon and embellishments.  I intentionally kept my alterations "flat" so that the tin could be stacked on a shelf without some 3-D embellishment getting knocked off.  I also made the decision to collage all of the surfaces of the tin.  Yes ... you heard me ... *all* of the surfaces.  I should have thought that through a little more before I did it.  More on that later.  This also a definite vintage piece, so I'm entering it in the Hobby House Vintage Challenge this month. 

Here is what the tin looks like when it is open:

 The bottom half of the box contains the Gone With the Wind's title page and beginning of Chapter 1 in a prominent place on the interior.  I thought it would be the perfect resting place for the movie.  After I made copies of the pages and tore them into pieces, I aged them with Distress Ink in Old Paper, Antique Linen, Scattered Straw, Frayed Burlap and Vintage Photo .  I used a heavy duty embellishment craft glue stick to adhere the pieces to the tin.  After all of the pieces were adhered, I embellished the interior of the tin with Tim Holtz Remnant Rubs.  I also distressed the edges of the tin with alcohol ink and Vintage Photo Stickles to make it look like the tin had rusted.  I really liked doing this ... so I got a little carried away the "rustiness" in some places.

The bottom half of the tin's exterior is where I ran into a little trouble with my decision to collage *all* of the surfaces.  I managed to collage over the edge where the lid sits.  I didn't think about if the lid would go over my lovely alterations until after it was all done.  Sigh.  I did do a trial run before I altered the lid.  The lid scuffed up some of my wonderful craftiness, but I did get it on the tin with a little effort.  Here is a picture of one of the sides before it got distressed further by the lid.

 More remnant rubs adorn the exterior sides of the tin.

 Another side was stamped with Black Soot Distress Paint.  I really liked the opacity of the stamped images using the paint.   Here is a photo of that exterior side of the tin with the lid attached (love the Isaacson's advertisement for fur coats on the lid).

Before I decorated the 4th exterior side of the tin, I sealed that side with a mixture of Vintage Photo and Claudine Hellmuth's Matte Multi-Medium.  After that coat dried, I came back and mixed the Multi-Medium with some Black Soot Distress Marker ink that I had scribbled on my craft mat.  I spread that mixture out thinly on the craft mat and stamped my filmstrip stamp into the mixture.  I then stamped the filmstrip stamp directly onto the 4th side.  I immediately went and washed my stamp and let that image dry.  I came back and mixed up more Black Soot and Multi-Medium and working quickly (the multi-medium dries fast) stamped the letters GWTW into the frames of the filmstrip image.  Again, I washed the letter stamps immediately before the mixture dried on the stamps.  The end result looks pretty great.  I love the translucent effect!! 

Finally, I covered the bottom of the box with part of the Official Billing from the movie's premiere.

Just when you thought this blog entry might come to an end ... we get to the lid.  Here is where I went overboard with rust.  Also, I learned my lesson.  I did not collage the interior edges of the lid.  It's what saved me and allowed me to actually fit the lid on the tin.

Although the box has a late 1930's era vibe, I added a little color on the exterior of the lid by inserting miniature stills from the film into Tim Holt's Filmstrip ribbon.  Gone With the Wind was filmed in Technicolor and I paid homage to memorable movie moments in my ribbon segments.  You might notice from the image below that these movie clips lie on top of an article that reported 153 Atlanta Public Library copies of Gone With the Wind had be "Read To Shreds" by residents before the movie's premiere.

 

The last embellishment is one that I *wish* I had in my collection.  I printed out a copy of a GWTW Premiere ticket stub image that I found on an online auction site.  How awesome that ticket stub would be in my collection, but I didn't bid on it.   I decided that I needed to eat more than I needed another scrap of paper.   Sigh squared.   The frame was made from a chipboard embellishment.  I cut out the interior of the chipboard with a craft knife.  I painted the resulting frame with Black Soot Distress Paint and distressed it with sand paper.  I added more "rust" to it before I sealed it with multi-medium.

 

I'll leave you with this final shot of the completed lid.  I hope you weren't too bored with all of my prattle.  

Enjoy your week and here's wishes for a project you can get caught up in like I did with this one :) -- Mary Elizabeth