Springtime in a recipe box

My email crochet group just recently had a "mystery exchange." We signed up for the exchange, not knowing what the theme was. After signups were closed, the theme was identified. It was... recipe boxes. We could use any medium that we liked to create our recipe boxes. I chose to paint a wooden recipe box. My first step was to draw my floral design on the top and all of the sides.

There it is. The drawing on the wooden box.

I painted one side at a time, using acrylic paints. Here is the top as a work in progress.

I let the paint dry and I go back and add more definition, with both acrylic paint and India ink.

This is the underpainting for another side.

I defined the edges and added details to the center of the flowers. I chose to use mint green for the background because it felt springy to me. I felt that I (and the person who was going to get this box) needed to have something that said that winter was not going to last forever.

Here is a side view of the completed recipe box. After I painted the box, I sprayed it (inside and out) with a fixative to prevent the colors from running in case the box get wet.

This is the back of the box.

I am really happy with this box and have had a request for another box. In the future, selling these at craft shows, along with greeting cards and painted bottles, could be an option for me.

I chose to paint the inside of the box with a solid color. There was plenty of purple in the flower so I decided to continue with the purple theme.

A group of Snow Humans pose with the box. I sent one of the Valentines snow humans to my exchange partner. Also, the last part of the exchange was to include at least one recipe with the box. I sent two: applesauce and pear-applesauce.

Doing a mystery exchange is a lot of fun. I get to use my imagination and come up with something that I never anticipated doing. Also, when I was recovering from the flu and was not able to go outside (it was far too cold), I had something to keep me busy and happy. All in all, a win-win situation.

What creative projects have you been doing lately?