Winter Magic with A Vintage Journey

Hi everyone and welcome! Today sees the launch of the latest challenge at A Vintage Journey called 'Winter Magic'. Our host for this challenge is the wonderful Deb Riddell. Here's what she has in mind for this theme; "For us in the northern hemisphere December brings the start of winter and for many that means freezing cold weather and Christmas. But winter is so much more than that and so we ask, how would you interpret the magic of winter? Snow, icicles, colours of blue, silver and white, the festivities of Christmas, misty winter landscapes; show us what your magical focus is for the season and in a vintage; shabby; mixed-media; art journaling; industrial or steampunk style."

This month we are sponsored by Country View Crafts who have generously offered a £20 voucher to their online store for a randomly drawn winner. And three hand picked Pinworthies will be offered the chance of a guest appearance for a later challenge, so there's plenty of reasons to join in.

(click on each image for a closer look)

And now here's my own take on 'Winter Magic' - a canvas celebrating the magic that nature itself creates at this time of the year here in the UK. For me the beauty of this season extends beyond the sparkling lights, trees and tinsel. The last traces of fallen leaves caught beneath a snow/frost laden carpet, and revelation of weather-beaten structures, unburdened by much of the usual floral and fauna, are as magical as any festive decorations.

I started with the base of this deep edged canvas, randomly adding layers of Gathered Twigs, Hickory Smoke, Ground Espresso and Walnut Stain Distress Paints direct to the surface to get a look of dark soil. Next I applied a patchy layer of Texture Paste, leaving some of the 'soil' exposed on the edges, and stamped into it with the Tim Holtz 'Leaf Prints' stamps (mist them with water to ensure they release from the paste). When dry I restamped into the leaf impressions with the same brown shades of Distress Paint to make them stand out, and finally added a thin layer of white gesso to give the impression of frost on top of fallen leaves. With that the background was complete.

The colours mentioned by Deb in her description included blue, white and silver, and as luck would have it I picked up an old blue bottle at a vintage market in Retford recently. It still has the chips and grime of ages past, and with the addition of some Remnant Rubs (from the Elements set) a few dribbles of Ranger's Pearl Alcohol Ink Mixative, some twine and wire wrapping, and Tim's Festive Idea-Ology charms, it was the perfect match. Of course it would have looked weird just sitting in the middle of the canvas so I added chunks of canvas stretcher wood, dowsed in Iced Spruce Distress Paint, dripped with gesso, Pearl Mixative and Espresso Alcohol Ink, and stamped with numbers from the 'Sideshow' set in Cornflower Blue Archival Ink. Obligatory rusty nails, Idea-Ology Nail Heads, and a sentiment from the Small Talk Occasions set adorned the 'fence' beautifully but it also needed a few more leaves. To get that crunchy texture I quadruple embossed some card with Ranger's Snowflake Embossing Tinsel and stamped into it with one of the 'Leaf Prints' using Potting Soil Archival Ink. If you stamp and fussy cut the card first you get the perfect shape too.

So that's where this month's fabulous theme took me. Now I urge you to hop on over to A Vintage Journey to see what my fellow Creative Guides have come up with - it's well worth the visit! Then it's over to you - the challenge will remain open for a month so there's plenty of time to get those creative juices flowing and link up your entries to be in with a chance to win.

I'm entering this canvas into the following challenges;
Anything But Cute challenge #19 - Rustic Glam
Fashionable Stamping Challlenges challenge #117 - Tis The Season
That's Crafty challenges - All Grungy

And how exciting! I've just discovered I won last month's top spot over at Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge #20 for my vintage lace/rusty canvas!!! Thank you so much to the team for awarding me this honour.

Off now for some Friday fun. Whatever you're up to take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx