Part 2 Decorating A Daisybox Cardboard Casket

Photo credit: Julie Carlton

On Sunday, 9th August, I finished painting this Daisybox Cardboard Casket at the Dying To Know Expo. 

What a great experience my first time painting live was, I received lots of positive feedback by so many of the lovely attendees.

Photo credit - bottom left - Shire of Mundaring

Hubby packed the caskets into the back go his ute and we got everything set up in my area of the community centre.

Here is a link to Part 1.

The next layers were:

1. Making a variety of marks in black and white over the colourful layers. I used bubble wrap, cardboard tubes, lids, cork etc.

2. When the paint was dry I used a white pastel to make out the areas of flowers, trees, land and water.

3. Then I blocked out the flower background in white and painted in the water, land and sky of the treescape.

4. Then I used translucent paint on the flowers and trees.

5. Added the black lines of the trees and then the confetti dots.

If I had more time I would have neatened it up a bit but I had to keep telling myself that it's either going to be burnt or buried and it's not going up on the wall.

When the paint is dry they will be sprayed with Mr Sheen - a wood polish, this is something you may want to double check that it is ok in your area as each state in Australia has their own laws regarding cremation and burial of cardboard caskets.

I hope these blogs were helpful. Have fun!

 

Decorating a Daisybox Cardboard Casket Part 1

I have been asked, okay, fine, I have offered, though let me say that I should have clarified all the details first, to paint a Daisy Box cardboard casket - live!

Do you know how big those things are? Approximately 50cm x 2m and there are lots of sides and the lid.

What was I thinking? I've painted anything that big before! I thought I was going to paint it at home and it would go on display at the Dying To Know Expo.

I was limited to the number of layers on the cardboard and looked to my Confetti trees for inspiration.

And then a second box became available so I thought I'd decorate that one with my gel prints!

In case you need some help or inspiration with decorating your casket - I'm providing my process as I found very limited information available:

Materials - Daisy box will provide a list of things which can be used and what cannot be used.

See the photos above.

1. I applied a layer of gesso to provide a white background and to prime the cardboard.

2. I applied children's poster paints, which are water based and do require extra time to dry. Chromacryl student paints are a good alternative too on both boxes.

3. Then I applied my gel prints with Selley's Aquadhere Interior glue - which was recommended by Daisybox to one box.

4. To the painted, second box, I will the following layers live on Sunday and will try to remember to take photos and blog about it in Part 2. The layers will include a mark making layer, blocking out with opaque paint, translucent layer and dotty bling.

Below are my inspirational artworks.

Reflections on 2025

 Wow, another year has passed.  I've been busy crocheting and travelling and watching the grandchildren grow.

We travelled from Perth to Bundaberg, Queensland, returning via the wool shops in Rylestone and Nundle, New South Wales, Bendigo Woollen Mills in Victoria and we also visited Kangaroo Island off South Australia.

We went wildflower hunting in Coalseam Conservation Park and saw a meteor and in Woolleen Station and Kalara Conservation Park.

We celebrated our 38th Wedding Anniversary at Margaret River.

Here are some more of my crochet creations..

Health Update - my Multiple Myeloma still amazingly remains dormant.

It's been a great year celebrating my 10 years as a Myeloma Warrior, visiting friends over East and watching the grandchildren develop such cute (well, most of the time) personalities.

Wishing you all the best for 2026, take care, stay safe and stay strong.

Reflections on 2024

 The best thing that happened this year was that our granddaughter Maisie was born in August.

In June we traveled to Queensland to pick up a caravan, then to Darwin and west to Broome and south towards home. We had a great time and made it home in time for our granddaughter's birth.

I had a busy year crocheting.... The blanket in the centre is my own design and the first half of my Bush to Beach Blanket. The blanket at top right I crocheted for my granddaughter with dragonflies, butterflies and love hearts.

Health Update - my Multiple Myeloma remains dormant but I've had 5 colds since August which I must speak to my doctor about.

I plan to celebrate my 10 years as a Myeloma warrior and we'll go traveling. Wishing you all the best for 2025. Take care, stay strong and stay safe. 

Reflections on 2023

 In 2023 we went on two long road trips - to the Northern Territory and the Barossa Valley and the east coast. My Multiple Myeloma remains in dormancy and I've been crocheting legacy gifts for friends and family.

In April - May we traveled north east along the Great Central Road to Yulara and counted over 250 abandoned vehicles along the way. We then went to Alice Springs and the Macdonnell Ranges, into Queensland and Birdsville. In Alice Springs I woke up with a pinched nerve in my neck and pain in my neck, shoulder and arm which lasted weeks. By Ceduna I had a cold and tummy troubles. Well, the cold turned out to be Covid and the tummy troubles were lactose intolerance.

In September we traveled to South Australia, then through Victoria onto Nowra on the east coast of New South Wales. Then south along the coast into Victoria then we headed home. Kevin planned the trip so we went past silo and water tank art. Kevin had fun competing in the Observed Trials motorcycle riding events and I caught up with friends. I also enjoyed the sunrises over the water and the sunsets too.

Kevin and I celebrated our 36th Wedding Anniversary this month too. Here are some selfies from our trips.

Here are some of the items I crocheted this year....

All the best for 2024, stay safe, strong, healthy and happy.

Crochet Temperature Blanket 2022

 At the beginning of 2022 I decided to crochet a temperature blanket. I love it as I can look at this blanket and read the squares - this is the week it was hot or when we were interstate and the temperature was -3 celsius,  and births and deaths too....

The temperature decides which colour yarn you use.

 I chose granny squares - one row per day, one week in each square plus a border colour of cream or multi coloured for when we traveled. I used the daily maximum temperature for Perth, Western Australia and added 4 ply grey wool on days that it rained. I decided on 8 rows of 7 squares and had to include 4 extra squares - 8 x7 = 56, so the first square I started on 25th December, 2021 as we had 4 very hot days.... the other extra squares are those with circle centres.  I used 4 Seasons Marvel 8 ply acrylic yarn from Spotlight stores as this had a wide range of colours to choose from. The blanket isn't too heavy and fits nicely on a queen size bed.

I also made one for my grandson based on his first year of life, basically 2021. 

There are many different ways to crochet a temperature blanket, very individual with colour choices and many people add extra colours or rows for special events.

Tips if you are planning to make one:

- Do lots of research using google, Pinterest or Facebook groups

- use a yarn in a range with lots of colours and is readily available

- you may want to do a sample row or square to work out how large it is going to be. 

I crocheted a border of half double/treble crochet using the colours in temperature order so it has an in-built colour gauge.

Well, I'm off to choose my colours for 2023 and have found a flower square which I may use as a weekly square or I may do a monthly square using linen stitch. I still haven't made a firm decision 11 days in to the year.....