Winter Magic...

Hi everyone...

How's your week been? I hope you've all had a great one and looking forward to a brand new challenge over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. This week our theme is called Winter Blues and we can't wait to see how you'll interpret the challenge theme and, we're already looking forward to seeing your makes!

For my project, I was inspired by long walks in the woods on a cold and frosty day, bundled up warm and cosy against the icy elements and with this in mind, I created a panel using some Winter blues as my background and plenty of Tim Holtz dies to create the scene.

So, let's get started and here's how I created this project, full of layers and texture...

To begin with I cut a panel of canvas paper from my stash and started to lay down the colour for the background. I started with a layer of Tumbled Glass Distress Paint and then once this was dry, I scraped some gesso over the surface to create some depth. I then added some Pumice Stone Distress Crayon over the top of the layers and around the edges before applying Grit Paste through my favourite stencil, the Starry Layering Stencil from Tim Holtz.

Once the paste was dry, I added a dry brushing of Unicorn's Hair Alchemy Paint across the paste, just to accentuate the texture. I mounted the background onto silver metallic kraft card, followed by a layer of kraft card and then matted the layers onto a piece of chipboard, that I painted with the same colours as I used on the background panel.

Now that the background was complete, I started to build up my scene and for this, I used a variety of dies, including the Tree Line die and the Mini Holiday Greens die. To begin, I inked some card usingPeeled Paint and Iced Spruce Distress Oxide Inks and then die cut the tree line and some pieces of foliage. The remaining foliage was die cut from silver metallic kraft card and various shades of green classic kraft card.

I added my tree line die cut along the bottom section of the background and then attached all the other foliage pieces so that they sprayed out from behind the tree line. I then applied a small amount of grit paste to the tips of the tree line die and set this aside to dry.

Using an offcut strip from the background, I then attached this using foam pads along the base of the panel and applied some more grit paste to create the look of snow.

To complete the scene I added a die cut deer from the Winter Wonderland die set, which I painted with Distress Paints ~ Ground Espresso on the body and Pumice Stone on his antlers. I attached the deer into place over a bed of sisal fibres.

To complete my scene, I added the Winter Magic Quote Chips and a mirrored star at the top of the scene...

...and placed a Clippings Sticker and two Nailhead Findings along the bottom section.

I hope you've enjoyed how I put this piece together and as always, if you do need any further inspiration, then look no further than our blog to see all the wonderful creations from all the very talented Design Team members.

Don't forget that every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in and good luck....

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I'll see you very soon!

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Sizzix: Mini Holiday Greens, Winter Wonderland, Tree Line
Distress Oxide Inks: Peeled Paint, Iced Spruce
Distress Paint: Tumbled Glass
Distress Crayons: Pumice stone

Idea-ology: Christmas Clippings Stickers, Christmas Quote Chips, Mirrored Star, Nailhead Findings
Layering Stencil: Starry
Mediums: Collage Medium, Grit Paste, Gesso, Unicorn's Hair Alchemy Paint
Surfaces: Classic Kraft Card, Kraft Card, Metallic Kraft Card
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