In this tutorial, I’ll be sharing a beautiful project I’ve made over course of the last few months – and the near-fail included! It was painted in alcohol inks on a treated cigar box.

Supplies for this project are linked at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links may be used at no cost to you.

I’m not one who does much mixed media or non-paper projects! So this is indeed a rarity. But it took me a long time–months—from the start of prep of the box, to trying to think of what to paint on it, to actually doing it! See how in the video; more tips are below.

View on YouTube.

I purchased the cigar box literally YEARS ago. Crazy! It kept gathering dust and I decided I’d start – by applying Daniel Smith watercolor grounds in several layers. But…I didn’t know what to paint on it! So it sat there with grounds on it for months.

Then came my revived alcohol ink addiction, and I saw someone recommend Killz2 sealant – and decided to try it! I did need to sand the thing down since it got so lumpy inside and out from all the grounds. (I applied my layers with the applicator tool.)

I had a BLAST with the alcohol ink on this; I struggled in getting the sides to “meet up” with designs on the top and abandoned the idea. Once finished it was just slightly tacky, even after overnight, in areas where the edgets of the flowers were thick. I decided to get some spray varnish to finish it off. Fortunately I didn’t put on a super HEAVY coat because I accidentally bought white not clear!!? Gah! But – it made the alcohol inks look a bit pastel, which was totally the coolest surprise ever!

When all that was finished I added these “feet” from Tim Holtz to it – I bought them so many years ago I couldn’t find them again, but he likely has more by now!

I haven’t decided what to store inside it…any suggestions?

SUPPLIES

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• Daniel Smith Watercolor Grounds
• Killz2 sealant
• Fine Grit Sandpaper
• Inks:
  • Ranger Inks, 18 colors
  • Pinata inks, 17 colors
  • Noddway inks, 18 colors
• Powders:
  • Powder Tool Adhesive Deactivator, EK Success
  • Johnsons Baby Powder, Trial size
• Storage:
  • Ranger tin, holds 30 bottles
  • Zipper case, holds 60 bottles
  • Zipper case, holds 30 bottles
• Pipettes, 200 https://amzn.to/37AKa7Y
• Alcohol solutions to create flow:
  • Ranger Alcohol Blending Solution
  • 99% Isopropyl Alcohol
  • 91% Isopropyl Alcohol is also just fine!
• Papers:
  • Epson photo paper, 8-10 cents per card front size sheet
• Freezer paper for table, slick side up!
• Blowy tools YES:
  • Gocheer Handheld Airbrush (no compressor needed)
  • Airbrush
    • ABS3: • EH • AMZ • Blick
    • Air Compressor – ($69 without the kit in-store)
    • Cord, if it doesn’t come with the compressor
• Blowy tools meh:
  • Bipple or bendy straws – limited usefulness
  • Canned air – limited usefulness
  • Ranger Blower Tool – limited usefulness