Funky Findz On Line: Funky Christmas suitcase Learn how it is created

Funky pin up girl suitcase-

I had previously bloged about my process in making a Halloween suitcase and have decided now to try to blog most of my creations. For one my sales on etsy.com are going up, I sold two suitcases last week , one which is a custom order. I have found that when I am posting to etsy.com I can only have a total of five pictures which is really not enough to show all the facets of the suitcase, I thought that if I bloged each cases process I could then direct those looking at my suitcases to the link of the post and they can see for themselves how it was created and view more pictures.

STEP 1 : choose your vintage suitcase, it can be dirty, scratched up, the inside does not need to be in good shape, however this case has a great inside. I choose red because I wanted to use the red elements of the case in my design. Later I will show how you can choose and recycle any color suitcase.

STEP 2: select your papers and think out your over all design. I was inspired by two vintage cardboard cutouts that I found at a thrift store for ten cents each. I wanted to make a funk Christmas and for me, nothing says funk better than good ol zebra print , so I have some zebra issue paper, I love to use tissue , as it has a transparent element when mod poded on.

In addtion I found some vintage Christmas cards and was inspried from an artist book that has vintage women with funny sayings .

STEP 3: layout your design . Get a feel for what look you are going for. View this like a base coat as other elements will be applied later. Once you are satisfied, remember the placement and begin to apply with Mod Podge. The heavy cardboard peices required another artist glue to secure.


I applied the tissue paper first

never forget any side of your suitcase

STEP 4: after the one side has been completed, while it is drying I address the top of the suitcase, bringing in design elements from the front to insure that the overall look is cohesive.

Here is the other side of my suitcase ater I have applied all the tissue paper, candy-cane vintage cardboard decoration, , images of women in nightgowns/ slips from the WARD catalog, and other cutouts I found. I added the Santa hat to the man.

dont forget the sides bring your design around the edges


Both sides of the top have the base of papers applied

STEP 5 : choose your color platter of acrylic paints,I recommend acrylics especially when doing a vinyl case. Oils work nicely on leather and cardboard, but nothing beats acrylics on the hard shell suitcase. I prefer to use GOLDEN, They are the most vibrant color you can find. Remember when choosing your colors you want both highlights and low lights to bring the paper images into a seamless state.

crimson , lime green ,cobalt blue, yellow and opaque gold

I used a fair amount of Crimson red to brighten the entire red suitcase, I painted out scratches and other imperfections. The cobalt blue was used for shadows, green and yellows for highlights, on edges for example and the gold iridescence (fine) gave the suitcase a lovely shimmer.

Paint the edges of the papers you have applied

I believe that the application of paints is one of the most important steps to a beautiful finished recycled work of art. I blend or scruff in all the edges of the papers. As you can see in this close up I matched the edge of the image with the paint and brought it around the evergreen leaf with is placed in a frame like fashion. I love this step it is relaxing and one can really utilized their painting skills here if they would like. You can extend the image, paint new pictures if you like, be creative! have fun .