Come and see us at Christmas...

Hi everyone...

Hope you all had a great weekend and as always at the start of a brand new week, it means that we have a brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and today, our theme is called ~ Make Your Own Background.

The DT are also showcasing Carabelle Studio products within their projects which is something you don't have to do to play along with us but we can't wait to see how you do interpret the challenge and hope you'll join in!

For my project, I created an Etcetera Tag that has lots of layers, plenty of dimension and is all about my favourite time of year and dear Santa, who we all hope is going to come and visit us.

So, it's time for the new challenge to begin and here's how I created this piece...

 

To start I took the medium Etcetera Tag and applied a coat of gesso over the top to prime the surface ready for the mediums that I would be using. Once dry, I then added my paint layers ~ I wanted to create the feel of a frosty Christmas morning and decided to use Iced Spruce Distress Paint combined with Frayed Burlap and Bundled Sage. I applied the first layer of Iced Spruce to give a good coverage and then once it was thoroughly dry, I dry brushed the remaining colours over the top to create more depth. For the final layer, I took a clean paint brush and once again, using the dry brushing technique where you have a minimal amount of paint on the brush, I applied this over the top.

When the paint is dry, I then added my stencilled background, placing the stencil over the top of the painted tag and applying Grit Paste through the stencil. I allowed the paste to dry and because I wanted a snowy effect to this background, I didn't do anything else except add some shading around the outside of the tag, using Gathered Twigs Distress Crayon.

Setting the tag to one side, I moved onto my stamped layer and for this I used the Inventor 6 Stamp set and stamped the image with Jet Black Archival Ink onto a panel of Heavystock card. I water coloured the image using Distress Marker Pens, inked the edges with Frayed Burlap Oxide Ink and splattered the remaining ink across the panel.

After machine stitching a border around the outside...

...I mounted it onto a piece of burlap before attaching it to my tag, using foam pads to create a little dimension and layering it over the top of some Christmas Ephemera pieces and some wood slices.

You can see how the wood slice is just tucked underneath Santa and the panel, in the photo below.

To add even more of an icy feel to this piece, I took one of the fantastic new idea-ology icicles from Tim Holtz. These icicles come clear and are ready for you to create some magic with and for mine, I chose to paint it with a layer of Picket Fence Distress Paint and once dry, I added some Matte Collage medium over the top before sprinkling with Rock Candy Dry Distress Glitter. Once the glitter was set, I then pounced some more of the Picket Fence paint over the top. What's cool about this, was the glitter still sparkled through the paint but it created more texture to the surface, which I loved. I attached the frosty icicle directly beneath the stamped panel, adhering the two sides to the wood slices that I placed underneath and just balancing it, so that it appears to be hanging down and suspended. At this stage, I also attached a Christmas Story Stick, which I lightly painted with a White Pearl Metallique paint for a hint of shimmer and also accentuated the wording by applying the Picket Fence Distress Crayon over the top and wiping away the excess. To complete the stick, I added a small Hex Fastener.

Moving onto the next stage, I created some foliage and for this I used the Mini Holiday Greens Die Set and die cut Classic Kraft Card creating various pieces of foliage. I then lightly brushed each piece of the greenery with Picket Fence Distress Paint before then using my finger to apply a small amount of Collage Medium onto the tips. I then dipped the foliage into Rock Candy Dry Distress Glitter to create some sparkle. Allow this to dry thoroughly before placing a few sprigs at the top of the stamped panel and keeping some back for the next stage...

...which is adding Santa! This piece was taken from the Christmas Ephemera set and I just added a strip of card to the back to make him a bit more substantial and attached him to the right of the panel using foam pads to add a little more dimension and placing him over the remaining frosted greenery.

Now for all those little finishing touches, starting with a 'dear santa' quote chip that I placed in the top left corner after sanding the edges and brushing with a smear of Picket Fence Distress Paint. You'll also notice that I added some crinkle ribbon through the hole reinforcer at the top of the tag. This ribbon was dyed with Bundled Sage and Antique Linen Distress Spray Stains for a more vintage feel and then just scrunched up in my hand whilst it was wet and allowed to dry,

I also placed a couple of Melange Pebbles into the arrangement at the bottom of the tag, painting them with Metallique Teal and White Pearl Alchemy Acrylic Paint for a shimmery finish and attaching them with Matte Collage Medium. 

Finally, I added a Christmas Clippings sticker, 'Come and see us at Christmas' in the bottom right hand corner and added some Tonic Nuvo Crystal Drops in Autumn Red to create the look of berries on the Holiday Greens.

 I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial and how I created this vintage style Christmas project. As always, it's been so much fun to share my ideas with you and to take you through the process of how this was created.

Don't forget, you can find more inspiration from my talented teamies over on the challenge blog and 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....

See you very soon, love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Carabelle Studio: Constellation Stencil
Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Stamps: Inventor 6

Tim Holtz/Sizzix Dies: Mini Holiday Greens
Distress Marker Pens
Distress Paint: Iced Spruce, Bundled Sage, Frayed Burlap, Picket Fence

Idea-ology: Christmas Quote Chips, Hex Fasteners, Christmas Ephemera Pack, Icicles, Christmas Clippings, Christmas Story Stick, Wood Slices

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Rock Candy Dry Glitter, Grit Paste, Nuvo Autumn Red Crystal Drops

Surfaces: Textured Surfaces, Classic Kraft Stash, Mixed Media Heavystock Card, Etcetera Tag
Melange Pebbles painted with Metallique Teal Mermaid and White Pearl Acrylic Paint
Dina Wakley Brushes

Tim Holtz Media Glass Mat

Tim Holtz Guillotine

Heat Gun