Suitcase Present

I promised I would post these up. I thought my Christmas present for Shandel wasn't personal enough, so to make up for it, I wanted to wrap it in something more personal. She loves vintage suitcases so there I found my idea. Of course, like any good artist, I started with thumbnail plans:


Here's what it looked like still under construction. You can see how it's built (cardboard and stick glue!):


Here it is ready for paint, still cardboard (and some illustration board for the trim!):


I coated it with gesso to give me a more uniform paint surface and then got to work painting:


Here's the paint all done, you can really see how much of a mess my room is (is that the IT book?!):


Of course, the actual present inside (inside was lined with tissue paper):


Presentation is everything:


In the end Shandel said the present was personal, so I guess I didn't need to do this after all! But I'm glad I did, I had fun doing it and it was well recieved.