Snow Is Glistening...

Hello friends...

It's that time of the week again and we really hope you'll join us and play along for the latest Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge! This week our theme is all about Let's Get Ready For Christmas ~ so with the theme in mind, it's time to break out that glitter, dress the Christmas trees and share all your wonderful Christmassy themed projects that we can't wait to see!

For my project, I decided to get into the Christmas spirit and create a little home decor piece. The regular visitors to my blog will know that I love making special pieces to use around the home over Christmas and I also LOVE making boxes, they are always so useful and with this in mind, I decided it would be fun to design a piece that used the beautiful Reindeer die that was a part of the Chapter 3 release from Tim Holtz and combine this with some of the idea-ology Woodland Trees to create a dimensional piece.

So, let's get started and here's how I made my winter wonderland home decor project...

To begin with I covered my Vignette Box and for this I used the largest sized box in the set and the largest sized Vignette Panel.

I covered the sides and the bottom of the box with black and white papers from the Christmas Paper Stash, adhering the holly leaf design on the sides and polka dot on the bottom using matte collage medium. If there is any paper that is overhanging the edges of the box, I usually use a sanding tool to sand away the overhang before I then add some Walnut Stain Distress Crayon to just cover the raw edge of the paper and create a seamless finish. 

I then attached the Wonderland Quote Chip across the front of the covered box, adding two Hardware Heads to either side of the chip ~ both of which I painted with Evergreen Bough, Antiqued Bronze and Picket Fence Distress Paint to create a more rusty feel to the metal.

Now, I wanted this project to have feet and for this I used four of the same sized pearls from the Bauble Adornments pack. I just thought it worked so well with this project and was a little bit different. I coloured the baubles with Mushroom and Gold Mixative Alcohol Inks and then attached them to the base of the box with Matte Collage Medium.

 Set the box aside so the feet are securely attached for when you flip the box over to become the base. 

Now to create the top of the box and for this, I used a co-ordinating design of paper from the paper stash and covered the largest size of Vignette Panel, attaching the paper with matte collage medium and also adding a coat of the medium over the top to seal the paper.

Once the medium is thoroughly dry, I then added the crackle. I used a palette knife to apply the paste along the edges of the panel and also added some to the edges of the top of the box.

Allow the paste to dry and the crackles to appear before applying some colour. I used the Walnut Stain Distress Crayon which I applied directly to the crackle and then using a water brush, I moved the crayon around the surface, allowing it to seep into the cracks and accentuate them. I always remove any excess colour with a damp cloth.

So now we have the surfaces prepped ready to decorate and I began with dressing my tree. I needed quite a large tree for this project as I wanted to place the Reindeer in front of it and have the right perspective and proportions and chose to use the Woodland Half Tree which is flat at the back.

To colour the tree, I began by adding some gesso to the tips of the branches. This creates a snowy effect to the tree and creates a resist so that when we move to the next step of adding colour, the tips will remain white.

I spritzed it all over with Peeled Paint Distress Spray Stain and then set it to one side to dry. If you're impatient, then you can use a heat tool and apply gentle heat.

Once the stain is completely dry and it does really need to be dry before moving on, I added some Matte Collage Medium to the tips and then sprinkled Mica Flakes all over, tapping away the excess and popping the precious flakes back into the container. Once again, allow the flakes to dry before moving onto the next stage of adding the little beaded berries.

When you receive these Beaded Berries, they are white but are so easily coloured by using alcohol ink and to colour my berries, I used Cranberry Alcohol Ink, laying the berries out onto a craft sheet and dropping small amounts of the ink onto each berry head. I then snipped the wire that the berries are attached to and cut it down slightly before adding a dab of collage medium to the wire ends and placing them into my tree. I also kept some of the berries white and placed these amongst the branches.

As I mentioned before this large tree is flat at the back and I wanted to disguise this so I decided to add a bow and for this I used some Mummy Cloth, dyed with Iced Spruce Distress Spray Stain and tied into a small bow, leaving the ends of the cloth to hang loose. I then attached the bow to the back of the tree, arranging the ends down the back of the tree.

The tree is now ready and so that I could attach it to the top of the box and ensure that it would stand upright, I used a Wood Slice to create a base. I bored a small hole into the centre of the slice and then screwed the wired tree into the hole ~ it worked perfectly!

I attached the tree and it's base to the lid, adding and arranging more wood slices to build up the dimension. To create the appearance of snow, I used Grit Paste and applied the paste to the wood slices and to the base before sprinkling Rock Candy Dry Glitter over the top.

Now to create my majestic looking reindeer and for this I cut the deer, three times from chipboard and layered the pieces together to create one solid image.

I then painted the deer with Distress Paints, Ground Espresso, Pumice Stone, Frayed Burlap, Picket Fence and Brushed Corduroy. I also painted the back of the die cut deer, so that it looks good from the back and the front.

To give the Reindeer some more character, I attached a scarf made from Mummy Cloth and two Tiny Bells painted with Candied Apple Distress Paint. I then placed a small pearl eye onto his adorable face.

Because I layered the chipboard to create a solid and substantial die cut, the reindeer will be able to stand on it's own when attached to the project, it won't bend or tip over, but to ensure that I had somewhere to attach my deer, I placed him against one upright wood slice and one of Tim's Metal Gates, both of which I attached to the panel with Matte Collage Medium and I hope you can see in the photos below, how the deer is supported between these two pieces. This deer isn't leaping anywhere ~ it's 100% solid and supported!!!

After adding some more Grit Paste around the Reindeer and the metal gate, I placed some twigs and moss into the arrangement and also added some Bauble Findings to look like snowballs, once again adding them around the back and the front of the project. I also placed some die cut Garden Greens foliage that I had left over from a previous project and I just tucked them into the arrangement.

I also took one of the Floral Adornments, that I painted with Candied Apple Distress Paint before adding a dusting of Rock Candy Distress Glitter over the top and for this, all you need do is apply the paint directly to the metal, allow it to dry and then smear some Collage Medium over the top before sprinkling with the glitter.

...and those are the finishing touches to this project, which I hope you love and I hope has inspired you to create some home decor pieces of your own using the ideas in this post! 

Have fun creating your projects and don't forget, if you would like to see 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....

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by today and hope to see you again soon, love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Sizzix: Reindeer, Garden Greens
Distress Paint: Candied Apple, Ground Espresso, Pumice Stone, Frayed Burlap, Picket Fence and Brushed Corduroy

Distress Spray Stain: Iced Spruce

Distress Crayons: Walnut Stain

Idea-ology:Mummy Cloth, Hardware Heads, Vignette Boxes, Vignette Panels, Woodland Half Trees, Bauble Findings, Floral Adornments, Christmas Quote Chips, Wood slices, Christmas Paperie Mini Paper Stash, Beaded Berries, Tiny Bells, Metal Gate

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Grit Paste, Crackle Texture Paste, Rock Candy Dry Glitter
Surfaces: Graphic 45 Chipboard
Alcohol Inks: Mushroom, Gold Mixative, cranberry
Tim Holtz Media Glass Mat

Heat Gun
Moss