Flutters of Excitement in the Magpie's Nest!

There was a great flurry of wings and feathers everywhere this morning! To my delight, Kristin Hubick had posted my exploding boxes on the @Retro Cafe Art Facebook fan page! There were some really nice comments so thank you, Kristin and those people who 'liked' and commented. It was fascinating to take a look at all the beautiful shrines and art dolls other people had created too - so much inspiration! I am creating a massive list of all the treasures I now need! I have my eye on a mini-house shrine. Thank you to Kristin too for having a look at this blog. I still feel rather strange writing it, as if I'm sending messages into Space and only the occasional earthling is receiving them!
 An old friend's birthday is fast approaching (22nd April) so here is the box I made for him, using some of Retro Cafe's lovely collage sheets; when I go on the site I always see so many that look just right for the next project I don't know which to choose! My one problem with this friend's gift is, what do I put in the box? Any ideas?

This box has a Venetian masquerade theme with some cut-out butterflies - I believe a symbol of 'good luck' to Venetians - and some tiny postage stamps of masked figures punched out of collage sheets. Anyone who has visited the Magpie's Nest will know that the walls are covered in masks of all shapes and sizes and that I am a a lover of Venetian Carnival! I have now finished off the box with some golden Dresden trim.

Well, I think I'm becoming dangerously addicted to these exploding boxes! I'm off to ice a Red Velvet Cake before my family report me missing from the kitchen, to photograph some Art Journal pages and to have a go at creating a 'Faces' collage project - so I'll try to post something on the blog about these or maybe that triangular exploding box next time???