18th Birthday

April 3rd is a big day in our household.  This year it marks two big events, for hubby it's the 35th Anniversary of the Defense of South Georgia at the start of the Falklands Conflict*.   Hubby has just arrived back from the Reunion and Mess Dinner for the HMS Endurance & NP8901 Royal Marines which was held at the home of 42 Cdo, RM Bickleigh, Near Plymouth. 

* http://en.mercopress.com/2009/04/14/too-few-too-far-a-vivid-account-of-the-battle-of-south-georgia


Today also marks the day our son, Liam, turns 18.  He is just celebrating it quietly by having a small get together with some of his friends.

I had been saying to Liam I would like to get him something that he could say "I got that from Mum for my 18th" but he couldn't come up with anything he wanted that kind of fit the bill memento wise. In the end I decided to just make something for him or to be more accurate I found a wooden box that I could decorate for him as a Memory Box.

I used a lot of Tim Holtz dies to cut out elements in thick-ish cardboard (Amazon packaging to be precise!) and decoupaged them to the box along with assorted embellishments.  I has taken me what seems like a month of Sundays to do, probably due to the layers of varnish and gilding wax that have been built up on it to get an antiqued patina on it. 

It didn't quite come out how I envisaged it, not as many embellishments as I had intended to use but which didn't seem to look right when I tried them out.  Anyway, regardless of not looking as I intended, he loves it & that's the important thing.

I Used

Wooden box from stash

Decopatch - Black Crackle

Sizzix - Tim Holtz Mixed Media #2
Sizzix - Tim Holtz Cogs

Sizzix -  Just a Note Alphabet

Couture Creations - Sea Breeze Embossing Folder

Ranger - Tim Holtz Key Embellishments

The Works - Wooden Embellishments

The Works - Charm Embellishments

Cosmic Shimmer Gilding Wax

Cosmic Shimmer Polishing Wax

I kept Liam's card quite simple as I had been busy working on his memory box so used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches

I had a set of three washi tapes bought from our local Poundland store so used them to create the banded effect.  I also stuck some to a piece of scrap card and used them to cut out the sentiment.