covering cardboard?

Cook!eMonster

I have a huge box that has to be made into a really big card, but im not sure what to use to actually cover the cardboard before i can start decorating it? Theres writing on the box so i dunno if white paint will do it! Any suggestions?

Quiet_thought

Use some white primer, that should do the trick!

Cook!eMonster

where would i get that?

Quiet_thought

You should be able to get it in an art shop

Cook!eMonster

thanks a mill

annieoburns

or cover with some plain material even felt. Then put plain paper over with your greetings etc leaving some of the the material as a decorative border. An art shop sells felt I think also large sheets of plain paper/light cardboard and in colours. Felt might be pricey tho so maybe some gingham and fasten at the back... or just get nice piece of paper to cover the cardboard fully and give nice base to work on? Might work out cheaper than paint and quicker.

Cook!eMonster

No i dont want the felt on it, maybe the paper but its gonna look awful messy then when we give it to him. Maybe if i got some thin card and put it over the cardboard?

looksee

What kind of card is it? If it is corrugated, fairly heavy stuff (not cereal box cartons or crisp cartons, they are very light) if you paint both side you should be ok. I would paste a little strip of paper over the edge so you can't see the corrugations, it would also make it less likely to separate. Use white emulsion and do a couple of coats. If you only paint one side of the card it will buckle.

'Solid' card or the light corrugated card is likely to buckle regardless of how you paint it. Sticking card to only one side of any kind of card will cause it to bend or buckle - better to paint it.

Sounds like a great idea btw. Something like a big tv box would make a great card!

artieanna

Quiet_thought wrote: »

Use some white primer, that should do the trick!

Quiet_thought wrote: »

You should be able to get it in an art shop

White emulsion (ceiling, wall paint) is fine for whiting the whole box, I have used this with no problems. Get it in a hardware shop, art shop will be way more expensive for small amounts. You will need at least two coats.

Just be aware that when its dry it is white and is easy to get mucky with finger marks etc.

You could paste white paper all over also works well..

judas1369

Alternatively, you could bite the bullet and just buy some mounting board of the colour you want. It comes in a couple of fairly large sizes-

http://www.daler-rowney.com/en/content/mountboards

and can be bought in most decent art supply shops.
At least this way you can get the look you want quickly without all the pfaffing around!

looksee

judas1369 wrote: »

Alternatively, you could bite the bullet and just buy some mounting board of the colour you want. It comes in a couple of fairly large sizes-

http://www.daler-rowney.com/en/content/mountboards

and can be bought in most decent art supply shops.
At least this way you can get the look you want quickly without all the pfaffing around!

Aah that would be no fun!

judas1369

looksee wrote: »

Aah that would be no fun!

Perhaps, but in my opinion the fun would be in the creation of the card in terms of concept and execution! I was only suggesting a way to take the tedium out of the task, but hey its all good.