Winter Woodland

On one of our walks we discovered a woodland of silver birch, these trees look so striking at winter time and we were surprised by how many that we saw. It was such an amazing sight that I created a page to remember them (grin!).

I started by painting a wash of Salty Ocean Distress Ink by applying the ink pad to an acrylic block, adding lots of water and applying it with a large paintbrush. While the page was still wet I added some more Salty Ocean ink using the paintbrush to build up layers of colour and then I also added some Pine Needles and Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink to the bottom of the page for the foreground. Then I added some drops and splatters by pressing the Salty Ocean ink that was on the acrylic block onto the page. Next I cut out some tree trunks from a design paper from Docrafts Papermania and the two deer are fussy cut from an old calendar. I varied the height and widths of the trees and placed one of the deer behind the front row of trees to give perspective, they are all stuck down using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. Once the gel medium was dry, I added layers of Pébéo white gesso and black DecoArt acrylic paint to the tree trunks using an old gift card; I dried each layer of paint with a heat gun before I added the next. I then stuck the other deer into place using the Liquitex matte gel medium and splattered the whole page with white DecoArt acrylic paint and also diluted grey Faber-Castell Big Brush marker using a paintbrush. While the paint dried, I die cut some berry branches using my Big Shot and Sizzix thinlets by Tim Holtz. They are stuck in place using a Zig Memory System glue pen and I added silver Ranger Stickles to each berry. Next I used a black Derwent Graphik marker and white Pentel gel pen to add more detail to the trees and deer. To emphasis the snow fall I added some pretty blue and lavender coloured dots which are stickers and added more white splatters using the white DecoArt acrylic paint. I also painted some snow around the base of the trees and then to finish, I stamped “Winter Woodland” on the left hand side of the page using an alphabet stamp set by Dovecraft and black Archival Ink.

Here are the silver birch trees, don’t they look stunning! We saw them on the same walk at a nature reserve, which I featured in a previous post, when we visiting family in the South of England.

If you are interested here are some fun silver birch tree facts from the UK:

• Traditionally, the tree was used to make maypoles and to start the fires to celebrate Beltane, the festival of new beginnings where they danced around the maypole to ensure healthy and abundant crops.
• The silver birch was also a highly protective influence, especially on Midsummer’s Eve when its boughs were hung over doors to guard off evil and bring good luck.
• In olden days its leaves were brewed into a tea and used to treat infection and stimulate a healthy vitality.
• Early man stitched the bark together to make food vessels and canoes for hunting.
• The silver birch is treasured for its silver-white bark and is seen in many gardens where it is especially loved by the bees and birds.

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 Rike from rike’s art, who is hosting the Animals A-Z challenge over at Art Journal Journey, as I used artistic licence and added some deer to my page (grin!).

I’m joining Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Anything Goes challenge with my Winter Woodland art journal page.

I’m also pleased to join the fun over at Country View Challenges and their Anything But Cute challenge, as the deer image looks more realistic than cute to me.

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:

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Salty Ocean, Pine Needles, Brushed Corduroy)
• Pébéo White Gesso
• DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic (Black, White)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Cold Grey IV 233)
• Derwent Graphik Line Marker (Black 0.3mm)
• Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip pen (White)
• Dovecraft Essentials Alphabet Stamp Set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• Sizzix Thinlets by Tim Holtz (Garden Greens 661206)
• Docrafts Papermania A4 Ultimate Die Cut & Paper Pack (Festive Fauna PMA160949)
• Old Calendar
• The Works 12×12 Paperstack (Vintage Experience)
• Stickers – Unknown (124017)
• Ranger Stickles (Silver)
• Zig Memory System 2 Way Glue (Dual Action Glue Pen)
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium