It seemed like a good idea...

...at the time.

Not the fact that I was booked onto one of Andy's classes (Pinnacle Crafts) or that I was meeting up with Hilary for breakfast - no, they were great ideas. The problem arose from my choice of embossing folder - but let me start at the beginning.

The class on Saturday was to experiment with 'faux finishes' and one of the pieces was to create a look of metal. Andy had posted a couple of finished pieces on the Pinnacle blog but decided we would go with another box - totally logical as it happened to be Easter weekend and the finished item could be used to house an Easter gift (pretty good size for loads of chocolate LOL).

Andy's sample box was created using the Spellbinders Labels 34 (? I think) embossing folder...

...and he gave it a pewter/gunmetal type finish - isn't it pretty.

Now it is easy to want to stick to what the sample project has been made with but me being me, I went for something different...

 ...I went with the Celtic knot embossing folder and that is where the problems started. I know that you should never assume that all folders/dies etc. will work with the same 'sandwich' in your cutting machine but to be honest, I didn't even give it a thought. Even the fact that the hinge was broken on the Celtic knot folder didn't put me off.

Because we had a lot of embossing to do, Andy had set up the electronic Big Shot. Good job there were only 3 of us in the class because when it came to my turn to emboss a panel - the machine jammed. Out came the Grand Calibre and the other ladies continued whilst Andy & I tried to get the folder out of the Big Shot. Success! Which meant the other ladies could return to the electronic machine and I tried the GC...that didn't want to 'play' either but I eventually got the required number of embossed panels - see, I can be stubborn when it comes to things like this LOL

Having started with silver miri card, the next thing was to decide on colours...

 ...I went with Coffee Archival Ink and Eden Green StazOn. Hilary decided to use reds and Sue went with purples whilst Andy went with golden colours.
The coffee colour was sponged onto the panels giving it a golden tone rather than brown...

...and then the green was swiped over the high points of the design.
I don't think it was my day as far as the box was concerned because it didn't want to stick together...

...Andy to the rescue - he stuck the main part of the box whilst I constructed the lid...

 ...ink pads come in handy for weighing things down to help the sticking process.
We had silver butterflies cut to use as decorations...

...and they were coloured to match the box along with some flourishes - I still can't decide whether to actually put them on or leave the box plain.
The ink certainly makes the design quite bold on this...

...and the 'knot' is a focal point...

...which makes me feel that it doesn't really need the butterflies.
This was the finished box...

...which is 5" wide and 6" high. By embossing pieces of miri cut to 5x7 and centring the design it was possible to create the edges of the lid so that they would match up with the body of the box. Not all embossing folders have a design that will allow this without spoiling the main part of the pattern but there are plenty that do.

So I have my 'faux' metal box and had a fun day crafting - I'll show you the 'faux' leather in another post.

Thank you for a great day Andy - and thank you even more for putting up with all the problems I created (sorry!).............................................................