Winter Wonderland Challenge at DecoArt Media

Servus and welcome to my little creative spot! I'm happy that you have taken some time to stop by and take a look around!

Today it is my pleasure to share with you a project done for DecoArt Media's lovely Winter Wonderland Challenge!

Don't miss it - there's a prize pack to be won that contains DecoArt Media products worth over $120! The challenge is open until 29th January!!! So there's still enough time to create and play along to get eligible!

"Winter Wonderland"

- that theme evoked in me images of snow glistening in sunlight, soft hills covered with traces of merry sleigh riders and tracks of winter animals in the forest....so I decided to create a shadowbox capturing all of it.

 

To create all the typical glittering and glimmering on snow I used some of DecoArt's lovely Glamour Dust in "Turquoise Sparkle" and "Ice Crystal" - which are hard to photograph but add wonderfully subtle glitter to your paintings!

The "Turquoise Sparkle" was easier to capture than the "Ice Crystal" on the birch trees, but you can see a bit of it on the above photograph I hope. The effect works really well when you move the shadow box a bit though!

It's the same with DecoArt Media's Interference paints - you will see that I added some "Violet" to the hills to make it look a bit like sundown in winter...you know...when the snow reflects all the colours of the sundown - from pale blue to dark pink.

But let's begin at the start! First I die cut the lovely Sizzix Birch Trees and used only part of the die cut. I sealed the white card with matte Decou-Page first, then I applied a thin coat of white Crackle Paint and let it dry naturally.

For my box I used an emptied chocolate box (again!) and trimmed off one side to make the frame fit with the die cut birch trees.

As you can see I simply cut off the original side of the box and folded a new side from what was originally part of the back. Don't forget to leave side flaps to glue the new side onto! And no worries - everything will get covered up with old book pages anyway. ;)

As soon as my crackle paint had dried I applied a coat of "Raw Umber" Antiquing Cream and let it cure for some minutes. 

Then I wiped off the excess with a soft, damp cloth. That made all the lovely cracks pop! I just love this effect and never tire of using it!

 The background of my box was then covered with the old dictionary pages and afterwards I stamped on some snowflakes using white Gesso which I applied to my stamp with a brayer (using my non stick craft sheet as a palette to spread the paint on).

After the paint had dried I applied a thin wash of "Cerulean Blue". The Gesso worked as a resist - so my snowflakes became visible.

Then I applied a thin coat of the "Turquoise Sparkle" Glamour Dust.

I decided to add some white heat embossed snowflakes for more contrast.

I created my hills from white cut into shape cardboard which I glued onto some old book pages to make them sturdier.

To tone down the yellowed old book page I added a layer of  "Translucent White" - it makes such a difference but still leaves the print visible!

After the Translucent White had dried I applied a coat of Violet Interference Paint. You can see the effect where the light reflects on the bend of the hill I am holding:

To create a lot of texture on my hills (=the tracks of the sleigh riders and animals) I used more white Gesso and some of DecoArt's lovely stencils! (detailed info on stencils and products used see product list at the bottom of this post)

 Once the texture on my hills had dried they were toned down using a wash of "Raw Umber" Antiquing Cream, which I only wiped back a little this time.

I let some snow fall on my birch trees, applying some Snow Tex with a small flat brush.

You can also see the folded back flaps that will later be used to glue the birch trees to the box.

I die cut a little fox and painted it with  a mix of "Charcoal Grey" and "Georgia Clay". Once the paint was dry I added some clear crackle glaze and let it air dry.

The face and ears were painted afterwards, using white Gesso and a black permanent marker for the finer details.


I love this special sentiment and wrote it onto some left over scraps from the old book pages I had used for the background and hills. Then I cut it into single word tiles and glued those to my box. The shading around the words was done with a "Ground Espresso" Distress ink marker that I smudged around with my fingertip while it was still wet.

The hanging was made from black wire which I bent in shape and just curled at the ends.

The finished hills (that were also given hints of "Brilliant Turquoise" and "Lavish Green" Metallic Lustre here and there) and fox were glued to the background using stacked sticky foam pads.

Once all was in place I added some more Snow Tex to the hills' tops and to the bottom of the shadow box.
For a finish the birch trees were glued in place.

Voilá!

I hope you like my Winter Wonderland shadow box and that it has inspired you to create something for our challenge too!

Products used:

- DecoArt matte Decou-Page
- DecoArt Glamour Dust: Turquoise Sparkle, Ice Crystal
- DecoArt Snow Tex
- DecoArt Americana Stencils: Scribble, Doily, Pixelated
- DecoArt Metallic Lustres: Brilliant Turquoise, Lavish Green
- DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paints: Charcoal Grey, Georgia Clay
- DecoArt Media white Crackle Paint
- DecoArt Media clear Crackle Glaze
- DecoArt Media white Gesso
- DecoArt Media fluid acrylics: Translucent White, Cerulean Blue
- DecoArt Media Antiquing Cream: Raw Umber
- DecoArt Media Interference fluid acrylic: Violet

Other:
- chocolate box
- palette knife
- brushes
- snowflake stamps
- brayer
- old book pages
- non stick craft sheet
- heat tool
- wire and pliers
- black permanent marker
- tree die (Sizzix Tim Holtz "Birch Trees")
- soft cloth
- white embossing powder

I can't wait to see your wintery mixed media projects!

Hugs and happy crafting,

Claudia 

xxx