Celebrate with Shiny Brights

I was thrilled to be asked to be a guest Creative Guide over at A Vintage Journey this fortnight, with the challenge "Let's Celebrate".  The idea at A Vintage Journey is to create  projects with a heavy Tim Holtz influence which the Creative Guides have polished to perfection.

(Warning:   this is a long, photo heavy post, and there are many white lines and other ghosties in my photos from the reflection off the "glass" in the frame--they are not on my project!.)

  I've been a huge fan of Mr. Holtz for a couple of years, and have been admiring the many Configurations projects on his blog. I've hoarded a few boxes, but just never got up the courage to put one together (commitment phobe).  This challenge has given me the creative push I needed.  When I think of Christmas and Tim, I always think of Shiny Bright ornaments. I share a love of these fragile, colorful glass ornaments with him, and have collected quite a few over the years.. I chose to make my project for my guest spot using a few of my ornaments and one of Tim's Configurations boxes.

I wanted to make a wall hanging which I could display year round, so I chose to give the exterior of my box  a wood grain look. My thought is to be able to remove the cover and use it to display other Configurations collections with an quick change.  To achieve the  framed look, I die cut thick chipboard using Tim's On the Edge die and attached one top and bottom. I gave everything a coat of gesso--both large and small pieces.  For the faux wood finish, I used  Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain and Weathered Wood Distress Paint, followed by Rock Candy Crackle Paint and another wiped on coat of the same paints. In person, this has the look of old barn siding.  Just the look I was going for in the area of my home where it will be displayed.

I added the Idea-ology word plate and key hole after applying Antique Linen Distress paint, allowing it to set up, then wiping off the majority of the paint for a nice antiqued finish.

Now for the interior.  What fun!  This is much more tedious than I ever imagined it would be, but I am a perfectionist and there was a LOT of measuring twice, cutting once.  I chose to use just 3 of the 9 little boxes (I LOVE boxes!) for this project.  Each of the boxes is lined with paper from Tim's Seasonal 8 x 8 paper stash, which is the perfect size for these little "rooms".  I chose the Shiny Bright ornament (of course!)  and the catalog pages and aged them slightly with Distress ink. Most of it is covered by the ornaments, but I tried to get a "before" photo of the boxes in the following photos.  I just love the graphics on this paper!  I painted the edges of the boxes using the same paints mentioned above.

There's my bell!  You can hear it if you BELIEVE!

I attached an Idea-ology ring fastener to the bottom of one box to hang a vintage bell, and once my background paper was in place and the exterior of the boxes papered, I glued the three boxes in place.

For my background paper, I chose to use photocopies of some vintage Post Cereal Promotional pop out and assemble Christmas ornaments.  I picked up these great little folders at an estate sale this summer.  One side is printed with the sweetest Santa, angel, tree and other ornaments you pop out and assemble into  3D paper ornaments, and the other is this graphics you see here (You can see the lines of the perforations if you look closely).  I gave the photocopies just a little distressing with Distress inks to tone down the brightness. I think the paper is just a perfect compliment to my ornaments. I also papered the sides and top surfaces of my little boxes with this paper taking extra care to cut the papers so the images would appear continuous as they would on the original paper.  I didn't get it right every time--not such a perfectionist, after all!  The ceiling of the large box and the little boxes and undersides of the little boxes were inked with Vintage Photo.

I glued on some Idea-ology Mirrored Stars which I colored using alcohol inks.  One star was placed so that it would appear to be the star on top of my vintage tree. (I did not want to actually attach anything to any of the ornaments.)

These are vintage deer; they just don't build them like they used to!

I made several embellishments using Tim's dies, which I will list at the end of this post.  For the poinsettia, I embossed  with Tim's Poinsettia Texture Fade, inked with Distress Inks and glittered with Diamond Dust  The center is Platinum Stickles. This is my favorite Christmas die.

 The pine cone and foliage glistening with Rock Candy Distress Glitter.

Same with the holly leaves and berries from my stash. I think the glue was still wet when I snapped this photo.

 Snowflakes cut from acetate waste packaging and glittered as above.  Adhered  to acetate window with removable glue dots.

I filled an Idea-ology vial with mercury glass beads, tied up with string given as part of my little gift with my most recent Funkie Junkie order. (Thank you, Linda; it was just what I needed!) An Idea-ology metal word tag altered with a little Antique Linen Distress paint.

One last embellishment is an Idea-ology game piece aged  with a little Distress ink.

All that's left to do is to decide which ornaments I want to put in and decorate! (which is what I have to do in my home now, too!)  I installed all the ornaments with removable glue dots, so I could remove and replace them with other favorites.  I can also remove and store my precious vintage ornaments and store them in their original Shiny bright boxes for safe keeping.

A piece of my vintage jewelry found it's way in!

I hope you've enjoyed my little ornament display box as much as I've enjoyed making it.  You'll notice it is sitting on a shelf.  I still have not found an ideal hanging system for this.  If you have any suggestions, please let me know.  The folks over at the frame department in Hobby Lobby could offer no advice.

Dies used:  Tattered Pinecone and Poinsettia dies, Festive Greenery Decorative Strip, Snowflake Movers and Shapers and Brackets On the Edge dies.
Texture Fade: Tattered Poinsettia

Thank you for visiting my blog today and for your lovely, heart warming comments you leave!

I would like to enter this into the following inspiring Christmas Challenges:

Country View Challenges December's Festive Challenge "Nostalgic Christmas"

Inspiration Journal "Sing, Sing It Loud!" (My bell!  Can you hear it???  Only if you believe!)

The Mirror Cracked #4 Recycle/Upcycle or a Christmas Gift (I've recycled waste plastic packaging for my snowflakes, an old earring (only had one of a pair) for my Santa ornament, chipboard from the back of a paper pad to make the top and bottom "frame", and berries from an old wreath for my holly berries)

Crafting For All Seasons #92 "Anything Christmas BUT a Card"

Tinsel Twine Ornaments

When I was unwrapping last year's ornaments and came across these ornaments I made for my kids last Christmas , I was inspired to make a few more ornaments with some tart tins I found junking this summer. I'm a sucker for these shiny and sometime not-so-shiny chef supplies. For crafting only, mind you, NOT cooking!

Since the challenge over at Studio L3 Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge #17 is to use Tim's Woodlands or Tinsel Twine, I thought I would find a way to incorporate the Tinsel Twine into my ornaments.  The idea of the challenges over at Studio L3 is to try Tim Holtz' techniques from his inspiring book A Compendium of Curiosities Vol. 3 on your own creation.  It's lots of fun, so if you don't have your own book to work from yet, it's not too late to join in.  Pick up your autographed copy here, and turn to page 60 for Tim's introduction to these wonderful products.

Be sure to visit each of the Curiosity Crew's blogs to be eligible to win an awesome assortment of Tim's goodies compliments of Tim and Mario. And if that's not enough, they are also rewarding one lucky entrant a $50 SHOPPING SPREE to Inspiration Emporium where you can find all kinds of great crafting products.

I am influenced by Tim's ability to take anything and make it into something that looks like it's been around for decades. I hope I've captured the look of ornaments of by- gone days by using an everyday item, along with some "new" items.

Silver beads with Latte and gold mixative alcohol ink.

Gold beads with white snow cap alcohol ink. Stamped and die cut image popped up with piece of foam that comes in Texture Fades cut to desired thickness and painted gold with Distress paint. rounded off the edges with my fingers to give it a more realistic look.

Silver beads with meadow and snow cap alcohol inks--much prettier in person!

I've used plastic stringed beads in gold and silver which I've colorized or altered using alcohol inks to get a mercury glass look. The red beads were used just as they are. I've colorized Tinsel Twine according to Tim's instructions, and adhered both the twine and the beads using Matte Multi -Medium to the tart tins.  The vintage-looking Santas were die cut using Tim'e Bottle Cap Movers and Shapers from this lovely paper I purchased from 32 Degrees North last year--I don't have a manufacturer's name, unfortunately. The ornament was stamped and die cut using Sizzix Retro Christmas set, inked with Distress Ink and highlighted with Stickles. I punched a hole in the tops of the tins and added jump rings for ease in hanging from a tree. Here they are on my tree for a quick photo before wrapping them up for my kiddos.

These were a bit fiddly to make because the Tinsel Twine didn't want to stay put, but otherwise quite simple--big bang for the crafting buck!

  These will make wonderful little gifts for my kids--each year they receive an ornament of their own along with a pair of pj's on Christmas Eve.

 I'm meeting my twin Mom friends for dinner on Sunday, and I think I will make each of them one, too!  Praise the Lord, my friend's (twin Mom) pathology report came back negative, so cancer has not spread!  Thank you all for your prayers for her!

I hope you are having a delightful Christmas season!  Thank you for taking time from your busy days to spend some time here and for your sweet comments!  I read and appreciate them all!

UPDATE:  I was so excited to get these linked up to Studio L3 CCV3 challenge I forgot and used my blog name.  I hope that doesn't disqualify me!

I would also like to enter these into the following Christmas Challenges:

A Vintage Journey # 21 "Let's Celebrate"

Country View Challenges December's Festive Challenge "Nostalgic Christmas"

The Mirror Cracked #4 Upcycle/Recycle or a Christmas Gift (I've upcycled tart pans and made a Christmas gift!)

The Artistic Stamper Creative Team December's Creative Challenge "Anything Goes" (I stamped the ornament--Tim's Retro Christmas stamp and die set)

Artist Trading Post Exchange "Let's Celebrate!" The ornament was stamped using Tim's Retro Christmas stamp and die set.

Through the Window Ornaments

I'm late getting my project linked up with (L3)Studio L3 Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge #17 Woodlands and Tinsel Twine which asks us to use either of these or both on our project.  It can be Christmas-y or not--let your imagination run wild!

The CC3 Challenge is based on the latest book by Tim Holtz.  Check out page 60 in your copy of A Compendium of Curiosities Vol. 3 for Tim's introduction to Woodlands and Tinsel Twine and then get playing!  If you don't have your copy yet, you'll want to pick up your autographed copy here.

You'll want to play along as one lucky winner will get a fifty dollar shopping spree to Inspiration Emporium!!!  How cool is that?  Another winner, the Curiosity Crew's Choice, will receive an awesome assortment of Tim's products courtesy of Tim and his super nice Logistic Director Mario Rossi.

I've used both the Tinsel Twine and the Woodlands smaller tree on my project which is actually 2 separate Christmas ornaments.  I've used a couple of other techniques from Tim's CCV3 as well. To make these, I started with Tim's Configurations boxes, painted entirely with Gesso, and stenciled all five of  the exterior sides with Tim's Gothic Layering Stencil and Crackle texture paste.  When dry, I wiped on Distress stains, let dry, inked with Distress inks and spritzed with Perfect Pearl gold spray mist (brown colored ornament only) for a gorgeous shimmer that you will just have to picture in your mind, because I cannot get it to photograph!  I glued on a modified (I clipped the prongs short) Idea-ology Ring Fastener to the top, so it can be hung from a tree.  These also may be table top decorations--because of the design they sit at just the perfect angle to peek into.

For the brownish ornament I cut a recycled Christmas card and scored it, so it fit perfectly inside. I stamped a scrap with a wood image from All Night Media using Archival and Distress inks and cut this to use as a hardwood floor. The sleeping kitty is cut from a book "Parlor Cats".  I cut the back side off the tree so it would fit flat against the "wall". I colored this smaller Woodlands tree according to Tim's instructions on page 60 of his book,  painted some "pearls" from a necklace (I hope they weren't real!) with Distress stain and alcohol inks and glued them into the tree.  I colored one of Tim's mirrored stars with alcohol inks and glued that to the tree top.  I made a ribbon "tree skirt". I painted the rocking horse from my stash.

I took a photo before adding the window frame so I could get a clearer photo of the "room" with my camera.

The window was die cut using Tim's Window and Window Box die (first time I've used that!), painted with Distress paints to resemble old wood, and treated to Tim's Colored Crackle technique. I cut a second window from card stock and sandwiched some scrap fabric between the two windows to resemble drapes.I gave the back side of the window the same stencil treatment as the exterior of the box. The drapes help to cover the gap that occurs because the window opening is larger than the box opening.

See how nicely this becomes a table decoration that you can peek into because of the design?

I had to do a little "construction" with additional card stock to close the gap between the box and the window frame. It can be seen by the slight line near the joint here.  This is why I used the Tinsel Twine to finish it off.

Once assembled, I glued tinsel twine around the joint between the box and the window to give it a finished look.  The Tinsel Twine was colored per Tim's instructions to give the look of vintage mercury glass .

I could not get a shot of the front and the back at the same time!

For my second ornament, I stenciled the exterior and the back of the window as I did with the first ornament. I also attached an Idea-ology Ring Fastener as before.   For the interior, I inked a tree stamp (Hero Arts), with Distress inks, spritzed the inked stamp with water and stamped my image on dampened watercolor paper.  Once dry, this was scored and glued into the box as with the first ornament.  I chose some trees from my tremendous hoard of tiny trees since they were already perfectly snowy for my scene and small enough for the box (I only have the 2 Woodlands trees--one is too big for the box). I had to trim the backs off so they would sit flat on the "wall".I glued a Mirrored star to the background.  The sweet little deer was die cut (Tim's Movers and Shapers) from watercolor paper glued to chipboard and stamped using Tim's Holiday Collections stamp in Archival ink.  I colored using Distress inks and a water brush and highlighted with Picket Fence Distress paint.  I made a mix of Rock Candy Distress glitter and Glossy Accents for the snow.

The snow I made is at the feet of my deer and around the bases of the trees.  

See the stamped image of trees in background. This went around all three "walls" of the interior.

I used the Colored Crackle technique for the front of the window frame, made some home made curtains with Tim's Eclectic Elements fabric I won on Tim's blog this summer, and hung them from a homemade curtain rod (skewer and wooden beads from stash).  I used gel medium on the fabric to stiffen it up to hold the pleats. I used a piece of waste thin, floppy plastic packaging for the window "glass" and treated it with Glossy Accents and to a sprinkling of Distress Rock Candy glitter to look like frosted window panes. I  assembled and glued the box to the window and glued Tinsel Twine which I colored to coordinate with the box around the joint as before.

It's difficult to see the frosted panes and the Colored Crackle, but it's there!

These will be special gifts to two special friends. I hope they like them!  Thank you for taking time from your busy days to stop in for a visit and for leaving one of your heartfelt comments!  I read them all, and they really encourage me to continue to grow in a crafty way!

UPDATE:  I was so excited to get these linked to Studio L3 CCV3 that I forgot to use just my name in the link, not my blog name!  I hope this doesn't disqualify me!

Additionally, I would like to enter these ornaments into the following challenges:

A Vintage Journey #21 "Let's Celebrate" I am heavily influenced by Tim in making my boxes not only by the use of SO many of his products, but by use of his techniques and by his ability to take anything and make it look so perfectly vintage!

Country View Challenges December's Festive Challenge "Nostalgic Christmas"

The Mirror Cracked #4 Upcycle/Recycle or a Christmas Gift (I've done both--a recycled Christmas card was used for my "room", a skewer and beads for the curtain rod, the waste plastic wrapper used as window panes, and the drapes were a throw away fabric scrap, and I've made Christmas gifts.)

Inspiration Journal "Sing, Sing It Loud!" (The scene in my brownish ornament depicts a woman playing the piano. I bet she is singing Christmas carols!)

The Artistic Stamper Creative Team December's Creative Challenge "Anything Goes"  Stamps: Tim's Holiday Collection, Hero Arts, All Night Media

Artist Trading Post Exchange "Let's Celebrate!" My stamped images are the floor of the Christmas scene and the trees in the background of the Woodlands scene and stamping on the deer.  See stamps used above. We are celebrating Christmas indoors and out!

Do Not Miss This Vintage Journey

Thank you for dropping in...I would like to thank each and every one of you that have visited my blog this year and left all your heartwarming and inspirational comments!  It has been a blast! I especially want to thank all the Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey as they have provided me with so much inspiration and generous support since I've started blogging mid-year.

If you have never visited A Vintage Journey, I highly recommend you take this opportunity now...they have some wonderful gifts to share with you.  And when you are done visiting each and everyone of the Creative Guides blogs to see the awesome gifts they have spent countless days making for each other you can link up to have a chance to win an awesome gift of your own! The more entries they receive the more they are giving!  How generous is that?

 Just visiting the blogs of these remarkable women is gift enough!  These are some very talented ladies that will guide you step by step through their lovely creations. When I visited, I felt as if I was sitting in their living room holding the gift they made and then the gift they had received from their Secret Santa.  They are gracious hostesses on top of being talented!  Please take some time for yourself to visit A Vintage Journey's Secret Santa Bonus Post and Christmas Giveaway.  You will be delighted you did!

Wonderful gift package!

                                                         
Merry Christmas...but be sure to stop back in a few more days!  I have a few more projects to share with you!

Vintage Match Box Ornaments

I have been working on these little match box ornaments a little at a time while I was working on a few other projects. Just to clarify, these are made with real matchboxes--I have many match sticks left over, if anyone needs some!

To start I opened up the cover of each matchbox and unfolded into one flat rectangle.  I used Tim Holtz' Movers and Shapers dies to cut the postage stamp and bottle cap openings.  I used a Stampin' Up punch for the oval.  

Next I gave both the covers and the drawers of the match boxes a coat of gesso. Once dry I painted the oval cover entirely with Brushed Pewter Distress Paint and just the front of the postage stamp cover with Tarnished Brass DP.  Allowed both to dry.  

The bottle cap cover front only was inked with Vintage Photo.  I gave the front a coat of Multi Medium and a dusting of sparkly glitter and Rock Candy Distress Glitter medly.

I applied Platinum Stickles to the front  of postage stamp cover and set that aside to dry.

  I heat embossed the entire cover of the oval with Rangers Embossing Tinsel.  

I photocopied vintage music that seemed to be sized just right for these tiny ornaments, distressed it with Distress ink and glued this onto the 3 sides of the 2 remaining box covers and both ends of each drawer.

I chose 3 bird themed Christmas images from my stash of ephemera.  The Santa with bluebird and the 3 birds with a holiday bell came from a collage sheet I purchased at 32 Degrees North a few years ago, but I don't know who the maker is.  The four finches with holly came from an ATC Collection paper pad from Memories in the Making.  I cut a copy of each and glued it into the drawer bottom. From additional copies, I fussy cut the birds, sentiments, and holly for the oval and bottle cap boxes and layered them in with layers of dimensional foam adhesive.  The Santa with bluebird was a single image which I brought to the front of the drawer with a couple of layers of foam adhesive.  

I punched holes in the tops and bottoms of each drawer and in two of the tops I used an Idea-ology thingy to hold an ornament hook. and in the third I used a piece of twine to hang my hook on. (I just thought it was more fitting for this one:))  I glued on little color coordinated jingle bells on each drawer bottom inserting the raised loop at the top of the bell into the hole for extra hold. I covered the prongs of the brads with tissue tape on the inside of the drawer to give it a more finished look.

To finish, I added the fussy cut holly and Christmas Greeting to the front of two of my boxes.

These will be sweet little additions to my Christmas tree and will look extra sparkly with lights around them...that is, if I ever get the lights on the tree!  I was influenced by Tim Holtz' vintage colors, text, images, glitters and Configuration boxes in the making of these treasures, although very few Tim Holtz products were used.  

I hope you enjoyed sharing my little birdie match boxes with me!  Thank you for all your sweet comments--they mean so much to me, and inspire me to try different things to keep you coming back to see what's new!

I would like to enter my ornaments into the following challenges:

Frilly and Funkie "A Vintage Holiday"

Country View Challenges December's Festive Challenge "Nostalgic Holidays"

A Vintage Journey #20 "Birds of a Feather"

Craft Hoarders Anonymous #21 "Celebrate the Season"

Inspiration Journal "Sing, Sing It Loud!" This time you won't have to listen to the birds singing to know my project fits into the theme, you can see the sheet music and the jingle bells!

Just Us Girls #270 Word Week "Sparkle" I think I've got some sparkle going on here!  This is my first time entering this fun challenge.

The Mirror Cracked #4 Recycle/Upcycle or a Christmas Gift

Chickadee

Hello everyone!  A dear friend of mine just found out she has a malignancy and is scheduled for surgery this Thursday.  I usually do not like to ask for favors, but I am asking a HUGE one of all Christian bloggers that may read this to add my friend to your prayers this week. I am a true believer that God hears each and everyone of our prayers and thoughts, and desires us to pray together.  Thank you!

I've made this card for my friend to remind her that God is with her every step of the way and hopefully bring her some quiet Christmas cheer.  I was inspired to paint a chickadee as the focal point when I saw a pair of them sitting on my feeder just singing their little hearts out. I love their sweet little voices!  These are one of my favorite birds and I could watch them for hours.  They are not shy, and often hang around when I'm working in the garden. This is a year round bird in this area, but seem to increase in numbers in the winter season.

My background is painted with Distress paints which I  swiped on my craft mat, spritzed with water, and then I dragged a high quality smooth paper through the puddle.  Dried and re-swiped several times until I got the look I was happy with. Once completely dry, I spritzed with Perfect Pearl spray mist.  I embossed with a Sizzix folder , sanded the raised areas and swiped on Distress ink.

I cut a piece of  plain white card stock using Nestibilites  Labels Twenty-Two die, embossed with Sizzix folder, swiped some gesso over random raised areas with a credit card and dried.  Once completely dried I inked with Distress ink and wiped with a damp paper towel.  This provides such an beautiful array of shades using just one ink color.  This is one of my favorite techniques.  I wiped on some Distress stain on the raised areas and around the edge with my finger.

The rectangular strip was a done in the same manner, but instead of the stain I heat embossed areas with Ranger embossing tinsel.  I also spritzed with Tattered Angels glimmer mist before the embossing. The embossing folder for this layer is a Tim Holtz Texture Fade.

I cut the frame with Nestibilities Opulent Ovals die, left the die in place to use as a mask, and inked with Distress ink. I embossed with the die, dabbed with Ranger's embossing dabber, and embossed with the Embossing Tinsel used above.

I cut the oval from watercolor paper with Nestibilities  Classic Ovals Large die, left the die in place, stamped with a unidentified chickadee stamp from 100 years ago, and watercolored with Distress inks and markers, using a water brush.  Who needs watercolors anymore?  When dry, I removed the die. A close resemblance to the birds I see out my window.

My foliage was cut from Kraft Core cardstock using Tim Holtz'  Festive Greenery strip die and sanded.  I added some Stickles Rock Candy and Distress Rock Candy Glitter for a little frosting effect.  The berries were rescued from an old wreath and hoarded to use in my crafts. They were given a little Distress glitter treatment.

I chose this sentiment, as it is what we were talking about the other day, and my friend asked me to remind her daily that God is indeed walking with her through this uncertain journey. I put the sentiment inside to keep the card face uncluttered.

I hope my card will give her a little Christmas cheer that she will so terribly need in the upcoming weeks. Sadly, her Mom passed away from cancer 2 Christmas' ago. Thank you for visiting my blog, for your prayers if you wish and also for the very heart warming comments you leave.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:

Frilly and Funkie "A Vintage Holiday"

Country View Challenges Festive December Challenge "Nostalgic Christmas"

A Vintage Journey #20 "Birds of a Feather"

Craft Hoarders Anonymous "Celebrate the Season"

Inspiration Journal "Sing, Sing It Loud!" The birds outside my window which inspired this card were singing their little hearts out!

The Artistic Stamper Creative Team "Anything Goes"

Fashionable Stamping Challenges #87 Winter Wonderland

Just Us Girls #270 Word Week "Sparkle" It's hard not to have a little sparkle this time of the year!  What a fun challenge blog!

Wish

Hello everybody!  I'm still working away on my Christmas decorations in my Closet, and this time I've made a little Christmas canvas, using Tim's Burlap Frame.

I've used Tim's Layering Stencil: Embossing technique found on page 50 in his book, A Compendium of Curiosities Vol. 3.  Linda Ledbetter at Studio L3 is having a challenge this fortnight Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge 16 that I would like to enter this in.  I can't tell you how to do the technique--you'll have to get your own copy of Tim's book A Compendium of Curiosities Vol. 3 to work from.  Tim and Mario have generously provided a batch of goodies for one talented winner chosen by the Curiosity Crew, and The Funkie Junkie Boutique is generously providing a $25 shopping spree for a second  lucky winner! So make sure to check out all the Crew's awesome talent and link up to have a chance of winning some great prizes (and learn a new technique while you're at it)! I've also used an old favorite technique of his-- stamping his Reflections stamp on the Floral Frame Texture Fade before embossing. I swiped on some Barn Door DI on the flowers to resemble poinsettias and Peeled Paint to the remainder of the raised areas before glittering.

Thankfully, I just received my order from the Funkie Junkie a couple of days ago, so I had Tim's great little reindeer Movers and Shapers to put on my canvas.  Perfect for my snowy, wintry scene!

I intentionally left any mention of Christmas off this piece as I wanted to be able to enjoy it long after the holiday decorations were taken down, as well as for Christmas.  After making this, I've thought of several things I would have done differently.  First, I would lock my kitties in another room while I am stenciling and second, I would put the lid back on the Distress Glitter before flinging the jar across my worktable! I'm sure I could think of a few other things as well!

Hopefully you can see all the foliage and berries got a dusting of Distress glitter to look like a fresh snow.

I would also like to link this up to the following inspirational, festive, wonderful challenges:

Frilly and Funkie "A Vintage Holiday" where another lucky entry will win another generous $25 shopping spree to The Funkie Junkie Boutique!

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge #21 "Celebrate the Season"

Crafting By Designs Anything Goes With a Twist- All Things Christmas

The Artistic Stamper "Anything Goes"

Artist Trading Post Exchange "Recycle for Christmas" My frosted berries fell off my wreath last year, and I've been saving them for a project--I've frosted them for this project.  Also used  tossed out sheet music to cover my grungeboard reindeer.

Country View Crafts December's Festive Challenge-- "Nostalgic Christmas"  I love this theme!

Divas By Design Challenge "Feeling Festive"