That's Life: Santa's Winter Wonderland....

Hello everyone!

Today, I'm back with another project that I created for the Tim Holtz Holiday Inspiration Series. This vignette box home decor project was created using many of the wonderful new idea-ology products that were released for Christmas and I combined them with Sizzix dies. But the real inspiration behind this was the Salvaged Santa piece which I used as the focal point to create Santa's Cabin in the depth of a winter wonderland! I also wanted to continue the scene outside the box, so that I had a larger surface area to play with and I decided to add a piece of wood that would be joined to the bottom of the box and loved the effect it gave.

So, let's get started and here's how it all began!

Taking the largest of the vignette boxes, I began by using one of the Design Tapes, the star design, and covering the raw edges of the box. I then covered the outside of the box with some of the wood effect paper from the Christmas Paper Stash and adhering the panels onto the sides using Matte Collage Medium.

I lined the inside of the box, using the holly paper on the back and star design paper on the sides and once everything was dry, I then started to create my extended section which is attached along the bottom edge of the box. For this I used a piece of driftwood, you can use wood or chipboard if you haven't got any driftwood. I then took the driftwood, which has an irregular edge, which is what I loved about this and attached it with collage medium. I found this was the best adhesive to attach it but you might want to let it set overnight before starting to work on the surface.

Once the wood was set into place and I felt it was solid, I then started to build up my snow and for this, I applied a good amount of Grit Paste over the top of the driftwood and just inside the box itself, giving the appearance that the snow has just drifted inside the cabin.

Then, whilst the paste is still wet, I sprinkled Rock Candy Glitter over the top to give an icy look which really does sparkle when the light hits it. Let the paste dry thoroughly.

To build up the scene inside Santa's Cabin, I arranged a small amount of cheesecloth over the base of the box and the wood, this just gives the project some movement and a different texture.

At this stage, I also added an ephemera piece to the back wall of the box, which I matted onto gold metallic kraft card, leaving a border of gold showing and then attached to the back using foam pads. I also placed a silver tiny bell to hang from the roof of the box. For this I used a Vignette hardware finding and screwed it into the wood and hung the bell from it.

Next, I took four woodland trees, two of each size and spritzed them with Peeled Paint Distress Spray Stain. Allow the stain to dry, or heat dry if you prefer and once the stain is dry, then roll the trees in some Glossy Accents applied to a craft sheet and then sprinkle with Rock Candy Distress Glitter. I allowed the glitter to set before adding some crystal gems and pearls to create the baubles on the trees. The pearls are all coloured with Sunshine Yellow and Gold Mixative Alcohol Ink before I attached them onto the trees using Collage Medium. I then adhered the trees to the inside of the box, arranging them at different heights.

For the next part of the scene, I used another piece of natural wood to create the base of my logs. I attached the wood along the front of the box and smeared small amounts of Grit Paste directly onto the wood, then sprinkled with some more glitter.

I built up this section with some of the wood slices, again smeared with Grit Paste and glittered for some more sparkle before attaching the slices over the top of the wood, together with some die cut holly branches, cut from green classic kraft card using the Festive Greens dies. I added a small decorative deer into the arrangement, which I painted with Aged Mahogany and Walnut Stain Distress Paints. I allowed the paintwork to dry and then added the small white dots onto his back, using gesso and the end of the paintbrush to just randomly dot them on.

Now for the star of the show, Santa! I just loved these little Salvaged Santa pieces, they are the cutest and whether you choose to paint them with Distress Paints, like I did or use any other mediums to colour them, they just make such a great addition to any home decor project.

As I mentioned, I painted the santa with various colours of Distress Paint and then, using a cotton bud, I rubbed some Mushroom Alcohol Ink over the figure to bring out the detail. I attached Santa to the base and also added some frosted baubles, which I covered in Collage Medium and then glittered around his feet.

For the finishing touch to my box, I added some more die cut Festive Greens to the top, arranging them with some wood slices and glittering the tips of the greens and then wood slices with Rock Candy Glitter. I then added some Nuvo Crystal Drops as berries and allowed these to dry.

I then attached the 'tis the season quote chip, which I placed on top of the wood slice.

Finally, I added the final ephemera piece to the top right hand side of the box...

...and that completes this project, which has lots of depth to it and is packed full of wonderful Tim Holtz products.

As always, I hope you've enjoyed the creative process behind this piece and that you love the project as much as I loved making it. If you do miss any of the projects, then Tim will be doing a recap over on his blog, on Saturday!

Thanks for stopping by today and see you soon...love Emma x

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Sizzix: Festive Greens

Distress Paints: Candied Apple, Black Soot, Aged Mahogany, Walnut Stain