Solstice Sledding by Betsy Skagen

Chubby-cheeked sledders in a glistening snow-covered countryside is my nod to the December 21 Winter's Solstice. Learn how to craft this miniature vintage holiday scene by following the step-by-step tutorial.

Tutorial

I was inspired to make this project after devising a new way to make miniature icicles. I know I will craft many more icicles with this technique in the future. To make your own icicles, cut some clear packaging (I used packaging from a Sizzix die) into small sheets of plastic.

Drop clear embossing ink (the kind that is used to re-ink embossing pads) near the top edge of the plastic.

Repeatedly tap the plastic onto a hard surface to encourage the ink to drip downward. You can see my progress with a couple stubborn drips in the picture below.

Cover the drips with clear embossing powder and activate with a heat gun. Don't worry if the heat causes the plastic to bend or the drips to bubble--this will add texture. After it cools, dab the icicles with an embossing stamp pad. Add a dusting of sprinkle silver embossing powder and again activate with a heat gun. Let this sit for awhile to completely harden then cut out each individual drip. Voila--icicles!!

Set aside the icicles to harden. Remove the base of a small bottle brush tree. Lightly brush Icicle Stickles over the tree and also set this aside to dry.

Next assemble the Mini House Shadowbox using a strong adhesive. I have to say I adore these mini houses--I use them all the time in a gazillion different types of mixed media and craft projects.

Leave the roof unattached for now. Cover all the pieces of the house with gesso.

Next paint the body of the house with a light blue matte acrylic and the roof with white acrylic.

Use a strong adhesive to attach the clock key and four small feet pieces (I believe the technical name is found-hardware-thingy-ma-bobs).

Cut out the image of the babies on the sled from Paper Calliope's Christmas Children #1, leaving a little extra cardstock tab on the bottom. Set aside.

Trim the bottle brush tree so that the back side is flat.

Use a small knife to spread Deco Art Snow-Tex on the base of the house. Sprinkle with Diamond Dust.

Add a strong adhesive to the bottom of the tree and the legs of the deer and insert them into the snow.

Place some blue bling on the interior back of the box.

Before the snow dries, add a strong adhesive to the bottom tab of the sledding babies and also insert them into the snow.

Adhere the roof to the house and then adhere the icicles to the roof.

Next give your metal objects--including the clock key, a metal star and feet pieces--a wash of white paint diluted with water.

Add Snow-Tex and Diamond Dust to the roof of your house. Also add the Snow-Tex and Diamond Dust to the top of the metal star. Once the snow dries, adhere the star to the top of the house.

 After the snow dries, snip the icicles so that the ends are less rounded.

Finish your miniature winter scene by adding brown ink to the edge of a 21 bingo token. Glue bits of pine pipe cleaner, the bingo token and tiny blue beads onto the bottom edge of the house. To protect your Solstice art, lightly spray it with matte enamel.  

Hope you enjoyed today's tutorial and if you live in a colder climate get outside and enjoy the fall colors before everything turns to white! -Betsy

Great Stuff

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Mini House Shadowbox 3
Paper Calliope Christmas Children #1
Clear plastic packaging
Embossing Ink
Embossing powder in clear and silver
Gesso
White and light blue acrylic paint
Blue bling
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Metal Stars
Tim Holtz Clock keys
Small metal hardware for feet (from personal stash)
Deco Art Snow-Tex
Diamond Dust
Pine stems pipe cleaner
Matte enamel
Miniature blue beads (from personal stash)
Bingo marker (from personal stash)
Tiny pinecone (from personal stash)

Winter mini canvas by Lynne

Merry Christmas! Wishing each and every one of you a wonderful, magical day! I've created a glittery, shimmer, magical scene on an 8x8 canvas using some really great chipboard pieces from the Gypsy Soul store.

I used Authentique paper from the Cozy collection for my background, tearing the edges so that it was just a smidge smaller than the canvas. I attached it with Mod Podge and podged the edges to keep then from curling or lifting. Homemade texture paste was added using a Prima stencil.

The tree and snowflakes were primed with white acrylic paint and the deer with tan.

I used texture paste on the surface of the tree to create the feel of snow layered atop branches, then when that was dry I brushed Mod Podge lightly here and there and sprinkled on some clear glass glitter. After allowing that to dry, I misted with Tattered Angels glimmer mist in Olive Vine (one of my favourite shades) The mist took on a slightly darker shade where the Mod Podge was, resulting in a nice variation in the colour.

I brushed the snowflakes with Mod Podge and sprinkled them with glass glitter as well, and brushed the reindeer with white Perfect Pearls to soften the colour and add a subtle sheen, then added a little glass glitter to their backs as well.

The snow was created with Mod Podge and cheesecloth; I just kind of mooshed the cloth into the podge and then added glass glitter....hmmm, a bit of a pattern here-Mod Podge and glass glitter n everything, everywhere!!! When it was dry, the cheesecloth was stiff and held the shape of the "snowbanks" I had created.

You may know that I love squirrels, so I decided my outdoor scene needed a couple of these little cuties-they were cut with a Memory Box die and lightly inked in dark grey.

I glued the tree and snowflakes down and popped up the deer with foam tape for dimension, and added a sentiment to the top, also popped up with foam tape.

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my winter creation!

GYPSY SOUL ITEMS USED

Deer

Pine Tree shape set

Snowflake shape set minis

OTHER ITEMS USED

Authentique paper-Flurries

Memory Box die-squirrels

clear glass glitter

Mod Podge

Tattered Angels glimmer mist-Olive Vine

Perfect Pearls powder

Prima stencil

Santa's Sleigh Home Decor

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I hope you are enjoying your holiday.  Instead of making something for Thanksgiving, I thought I would make a home decor piece for Christmas, which really is just around the corner.  For this, I am using this gorgeous Santa's Sleigh sturdy chipboard by Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts, along with the Deer set, to use as either table or home decor, a candy dish, or to give as a gift to your family and friends.  It measures 8 ¼ inches long by 5 ¼ inches tall by 3 ¾ inches wide and is made of heavy duty chipboard, so it will hold whatever you may wish to put in it, like candy or maybe a beautiful floral arrangement.

First, I recommend a dry fit of the pieces to make sure they will go together properly.  

Then you may want to number or letter them to keep them straight.  I used letters for the inside pieces.  

Fig. 1

Paint the sleigh parts with ColourArte Vivid Solar Gold Ultra Metallic using a sponge applicator.  Use a dabbing motion with the sponge for a smooth application without allowing the paint to get into the openings and holes.  Paint the edges of both sleigh pieces and one side of each of the frame (open) pieces.  These will be glued down later, so the unpainted side will not be seen.

My inspiration for the next step is this piece of paper I found in my stash.  I think I was able to come close.  What do you think?

Add the white specks of paint by picking up a very small amount of white acrylic paint with a wad of plastic wrap.  Dab most of the paint off before dabbing the chipboard sleigh frame and sides.  

While the paint is drying, you can trace around the chipboard template and cut out your side pieces, as shown.

For the bottom of the sleigh, trim papers to fit the C, D, and E pieces (Fig. 1) on both sides, leaving the tabs free for assembly.  I have chosen the green papers for the inside and the red papers for the outside.  Remember, when I did the dry fit of these pieces, I labeled the inside (green paper) as C, D, and E.  Always check yourself first before gluing your papers down.  

Checking my assembly again.

Remove the sides in the same order as the dry fit assembly, and lay your papers out to match.  Now you are ready to glue them down.  

Glue your side pieces to the sleigh now.  Before assembling the parts, cut out the holes in the sleigh pieces.  

Turn the pieces over and repeat the previous steps to cover the opposite sides, as shown.  

However, DO NOT cut out the holes for assembly.  Leave the paper intact to cover the entire outside, as shown.

Glue the frame piece to the outside, matching up the chipboard, as shown.  Let one side dry first before turning it over and gluing the opposite side to ensure the frame piece does not slip out of position.  When the glue dries, you can turn it over and glue the opposite side.

Glue inside pieces to one of the sides of  the sleigh.   

Then adhere the second side to the inside pieces.  

Cut Snowflake Border apart into pieces that will fit on the sides of the sleigh.

Paint snowflakes with white acrylic paint, and while still wet, dust with a holographic glitter.

Adhere to sides of sleigh, as shown.

Paint both sides of Deer with brown acrylic paint, and paint the hooves black.  Add snow writer paint along tips of antlers, as shown.

Now you are ready to embellish your sleigh with florals, or if you prefer, use it as a candy dish.  I chose to add floral embellishments.  Here are a few pictures from different angles.

Place deer next to the sleigh, as shown in the finished photo at the top of the post.

Supplies used:

GSL Santa's Sleigh
GSL Deer
GSL Snowflake Border
My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Christmas paper pad
ColourArte Vivid Solar Gold Ultra Metallic acrylic paint
White and brown acrylic paint
Foam blending tool or makeup sponge
Snow writer paint
Hologram glitter
Floral embellishments


I hope you have been inspired to make one of these beautiful Christmas sleighs for your holiday decorating, or to give as gifts.  

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to check out all the fabulous inspiration from the rest of the team.  

Barbara

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland by Barb

If there is anything prettier than a snowy day in the woods, I don't know what it is. With the low Winter sun catching on the snow, the whole world looks like it's dusted with glitter. I will confess, I actually crafted this piece back in August when I was still busy being crabby about the hot weather. A girl can dream, y'know?

For this piece I began with a 12 x 16" canvas panel to which I applied blue and white paint for the background. I used StazOn Cotton White ink and various snowflake stamps on the sky. I set that aside and went to work on my pieces from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts.

I started with the bare tree. I gave this a very thin coat of white gesso. I wanted some of the brown to show through so it would look more like a bare, frosty winter tree. Once it dried, I coated it with glue using my Essential Glue pad. I worked quickly, "inking" a section and sprinkling it with glitter before moving on to another section. 

I used Brilliance Pearlescent Poppy on the birds to give them just a tiny bit of shimmer.

Next came the deer, which I coated in Versamark embossing ink, dusted with glittery embossing powder, and then heat set. With those done, I went to work on the fir trees. I coated them with a liberal dose of white gesso - sponging it on so it blobbed up in areas to give the trees some texture. While the gesso was still wet, I sprinkled on white glitter, then set them aside to dry.

Once all my pieces and the background were completely dry, I glued everything in place. Using a palette knife I slathered on more white gesso to make the snow look real and drifted and trampled. I sprinkled on more glitter while those areas were still wet.

I can just about hear the cardinals calling to each other as the deer take their hushed steps through the snow.

Supply List

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts

Deer

Tree 2

Pine Tree Shape Set

Leafy Branches with Birds - coming soon

Other

Acrylic paint

Gesso

StazOn Cotton White ink

Versamark embossing ink

Brilliance Pearlescent Poppy ink

Essential Glue pad

Glittery embossing powder

Glitter

Palette knife

Glue

Snowflake stamps by RubberMoon