Falling Snowflakes

With the sleet and snow we had last weekend, which is rare as we live by the sea, I was inspired to create this journal page to remember the falling snowflakes that we saw!

I started by stamping a Script stamp from Kaisercraft and a Serpentine Background stamp from Art Impressions onto the page using black Archival Ink. Then I covered the page with a small amount of sea green and blue acrylic paints and also some white gesso using my finger. While the gesso was drying, I chose three decoupage papers which I folded a number of times to make them thicker so I could die cut them using my Big Shot and a trio of snowflake dies from Tonic Studios. They were quite fiddly to separate as the decoupage paper is so thin and delicate; it was well worth it though as I love the way they look layered on the page using Liquitex Matter Gel Medium to stick them down. Next I added some red border rub-on transfers from Docrafts Papermania and then I stamped the quote onto white tissue paper using the black Archival Ink. The quote is stuck onto the page using a UHU Stic and is by Aristotle, it reads:

“To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake it is necessary to stand out in the cold”.

The pretty Winter Time lady is a sticker from Graphic 45 which I thought matched the quote perfectly. For the birds, I stamped a Winter Woodland stamp onto white tissue paper twice using black Archival Ink and then I covered them with black Papermania embossing powder. As you can see I reversed one of the images, which you can do when using tissue paper as the ink goes straight through to the other side; you need to act quickly though when covering it with the embossing powder. I shook off the excess powder onto a piece of scrap paper although I wasn’t to worried about stray powder or coverage as I wanted to depict snowfall obscuring the visibility of the branch and birds by using the stray powder. I heated the stamped images with a heat gun, taking care not to direct the heat in one area for too long as the embossing powder melts very quickly on tissue paper. Next I ripped around the edges of the embossed images and stuck them down using a UHU Stic. I also sprinkled a little of the black embossing powder directly onto the page to enhance the snowfall effect. To finish, I applied some white DecoArt acrylic paint along the tree branches using a paintbrush, then to the snowflakes using my finger and finally to the whole page by using the paintbrush again to add white paint splatters.

 Although we had sleet and snow, it was too wet for it to settle. The temperatures have been colder though so I’ve taken my Prague hat out of storage to keep me warm on our walks. This is the first UK winter I have been able to wear it, as normally it’s just not cold enough (grin!).

Here’s my hat on one snowy evening in Prague a few years ago (double grin!).

Both these snowy photos were taken in winter time in The Old Town Square where you find the most amazing Christmas Markets. The imposing church in the background is called the Týn Church or Church of Our Lady before Týn, which is a gothic church dating back to 14th century, isn’t it beautiful (grin!).

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:

I’m pleased to be able to join the lovely Erika N, also known as BioArtGal, who is hosting the New Year, New Adventures challenge over at Art Journal Journey with my snowy adventure!

As I layered lots of die cut snowflakes on top of stamps and paint, then layered the quote and bird images that I stamped onto tissue paper I’m so happy to join the Layer It Up challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

I’m joining in the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything Goes challenge.

I enjoyed using all the different stamps to create my page so I’m pleased to join the Anything Goes challenge over at The Artistic Stamper.

As I used some new crafting goodies (snowflakes dies, Rub-On Transfers and Graphic 45 Stickers) and techniques (die cutting decoupage paper) to create my Falling Snowflake page, I’m also joining the Ring in the New challenge over at the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge.

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Swedish Blue, Christmas Green)
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (White)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Papermania Embossing Powder (Black PMA4021006)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Script CS752)
• Art Impressions wood mounted rubber stamp (Serpentine Background T-2773)
• Winter Woodland Stamp Set – free with Craft Beautiful Magazine (Dec 2017)
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• Tonic Studios Christmas Trio Die Set (Falling Snowflakes 1792e)
• Poundworld DécoTime (Patch Paper DS9454)
• White tissue paper
• Docrafts Papermania Rub-on Borders (First Noel PMA822103)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• UHU Stic