Surface: I used one of the large oval boxes I bought from Doxie, that is already painted blue with cream tops.

On the top portion only, of the lid, basecoat with Stoneware Blue. While still wet,sponge Adriatic Blue, starting at the top and gradually adding Light Stoneware Blue towards the bottom of box. You want the sky darker at the top than at the bottom. Blend these two colors together where they meet. Also sponge Light Stoneware around the outside lip of the edge of the box top. I then covered the light part of the sky (bottom) with paper, and spattered the dark part with warm white. Make some of the spatters larger than others. Not too many spatters. Take your liner brush and pull out from the centers of some of the larger spatters, and make star points, making some longer than others. Put an uneven number of them in the sky.

Transfer the Pattern, using white graphite underneath. Paint the large star with Pure Gold, the string with Soldier Blue, highlighted with a hit and miss of Warm White .

The baby's head is painted with Raw Sienna, with streaks of Burnt Umber and Straw with liner brush. You can soften the streaks with a mop brush if needed. The hands, ears, back of neck are painted with Medium Flesh, shade the hands at sleeper cuffs with Dark Flesh and Highlight the fingers with Santa's Flesh. Outline the hands and ears with Burnt Sienna.

Sleepers: Basecoat Pigskin. Shade with Autumn Brown, HL. Butter Yellow. Outline the knit cuffs with Autumn brown and with liner brush, put in stripes of butter yellow. These colors are for boy baby. For girl baby you could use Pinks with appropriate shading and highlighting. For girl baby the snaps go to the left of center line, boy to the right of center line. Snaps are painted warm white with dot of autumn brown in centers. (for girl, use shades of pink)

For the boy baby, Shade along the right side of body, between the left arm and body, up to under the arm. under the knitted neck piece, and the sleeves, down the left side of the center of body, all the way down onto the left leg. The High lighting is on top of right arm, top of Left arm, and down left side of body. Highlight on right side of center line , all the way down the right leg. The Sleepers have dots of Autumn Brown on the sole of the feet. ( for girl use appropriate shading)The shading for the girl baby would be down the right side of center line to top of buttock, then shade down left side of buttock and down right side of left leg and foot. Highlights are opposite the shading.

Blanket: Basecoat Wedgewood Green. Start with the folds from left to right and number them #1,2,3,4. Shade on the left of #2 fold, left on #3 fold, left on #4 fold with Forest Green. HL. Wedgewood Gr.+warm white 1:1 on tops of folds and outside edges. You can outline all around the blanket with Dark Forest Green if you like. Bottom edge is Forest Gr. For Girl, paint appropriate colors with shading and highlighting. Put fringes on bottom for girl.

I shaded underneath the baby with Soldier Blue, lightly and put "motion" marks around it with the Soldier blue. The saying,:* Upward My Love*, is also in Soldier Blue, highlighted with Warm White. Don't forget to sign your name. I left the outside of the box,* AS IS,* with the hearts stencil on it. I decoupage the printout from Tolenet inside the lid, with 3 coats of varnish. After the design is painted, I varnished with 5-7 coats of varnish over the painted design part. Varnish inside the box and outside with at least 3-5 coats. I then put J.W.etc. Painter's Wax on outside and inside the lip of lid, so it won't stick.

I hope beginners will find this easy to follow. Any questions please e-mail me. This is my first effort at designing , but I thought of this idea while painting a Memory Box and thought it would make a cute design, my oldest son carried his "blankie" around with him. It should be easy to paint for a beginner. My daughter used these instructions and painted a box, and she said if she could do it, anyone, could!

Doris Dolin
adolin@eastky.net

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