2015 Christmas project series Day 3 Serene Scene

Welcome to Day 3 of the 2015 Christmas project series.  I have really been into non-traditional colors for Christmas this year and I LOVE this one.  The natural imagery is simple, yet impactful and the soft colors add a bit of whimsy. The background is a piece of Distress Watercolor Cardstock, which comes cut to 4.25x5.5 inches, a standard A2 size card.  I used Distress Spray Stain in Picked Raspberry, Shaded Lilac and Cracked Pistachio, then spritzed with water to blend.  This link goes to a blog post for the technique.

The stamp set I used is Winter Wonderland by Wplus9 and the ink is Momento Tuxedo Black.  When working with watercolor paper, it's important to consider what you want to do with it.  Distress cardstock has a textured side and a smoother side.  Stamping on the textured side can be challenging, especially when using solid area images.  What was fortunate (for me) about this set is that I could color in any blank spots in the deer and bunny with a black marker and the trees are designed in such a way that missing spots aren't noticeable when stamped.  I used a Faber Castell PITT marker size B (bold; it has a brush tip).  I stamped the deer first, then made a mask from Inkadinkadoo Masking Paper.  I applied the mask, stamped the bunny, and finished with the trees.  When you remove the mask, you see that the deer is in front of the tree.

The next step is the snow, created by using the Falling Snow Stencil by Simon Says Stamp, Texture Paste by Teresa Collins, Cool Highlight superfine glitter by Glitter Ritz, and a palette knife.  I like to adhere the base to my work surface using tape runner.  Start by scooping about a teaspoon of paste onto your work surface.  Add some glitter to the paste and mix together using the palette knife.  Tape the stencil down over the watercolor piece with low-tack tape; I'm using blue painters tape from 3M.

Smooth the glittered paste evenly over the stencil.  Carefully peel off the tape and remove the stencil by carefully pulling up from the bottom.  Lift the piece off the work surface and set aside to dry.  It should take about an hour or so to dry.  Do not be tempted to use a heat tool.  It will essentially cook the paste, making it bubble up and distort the shape.  I've even seen it turn brown.  Let it air dry.

To add snow to the bottom edge, I used two products.  I did one layer of the same texture paste (without the glitter), but wasn't satisfied with it because it dried translucent in areas, rather than opaque.  I added a layer of Aleene's Glitter Snow. 

I like to leave it uneven, like you would see it outside after one of our famous Michigan blizzards.  I didn't add a sentiment because I didn't think it needed one.  And leaving it without a sentiment makes it flexible.  It's suitable for a birthday, Christmas, sympathy or thinking of you. 

To finish it off, I mounted it on a Neenah Solar White 110 lb card base, cut 4.25 by 11 inches and scored at 5.5 inches.  I added half inch Scor-tape along all four edges and the card is complete.

Thanks for hanging out with me today! I hope you enjoyed and learned something new.  Be sure to let me know what you think and if you have any questions.

Much love!