Don't you just hate it when you misplace something? Is it lost for good or can you just not find it at the moment?
I misplaced November.
I vaguely remember having it shortly before Thanksgiving, but that's the last I saw of it. Now it is mid December, and I'm thinking maybe November 2016 is lost for good.
Not only that, but I have contracted a cold. Not the 'common cold' variety, but something much more nefarious. Far be it from me to do the 'common' thing. This cold should have a name - something ten syllables long and unpronounceable.
In case you missed it, everything you've read so far is a disclaimer for the rambling words to follow. Here's one more - in an effort to clear my head, I am in a Salsa and Vicks VapoRub stupor. Ah, yes. Vicks VapoRub. Awesome stuff which, according to the label, contains nutmeg and turpentine oil - much like my Grandma's fruitcake... How could this not drive out the cold banshee?
Speaking of nutmeg (were we? yes, we were) let's talk about Christmas (nutmeg, eggnog...you get the connection right?)
I was formulating some ideas for a Christmas canvas when I noticed a page by the fabulous More Than Words website. Their monthly challenge for December was Tradition and Handmade. I love traditions and nostalgia and always incorporate a handmade embellishment into my mixed media, so I couldn't resist participating in this challenge.
Remembering traditions of my childhood, my canvas celebrates several annual yuletide memories: traveling into the mountains of Montana to pick out our Christmas tree, caroling (hence the sheet music) with a group of children from our church and making snow angels! My handmade embellishment is a play-on-words - a snow angel herself, a guardian of snowflakes!
This canvas, Catching Snowflakes, is about tradition and the magic of a woodland Christmas. I wanted to create a sense of stillness and peace in a winter forrest. A place where a 'snow angel' catches snowflakes.
After applying white gesso to a blank canvas, I added a page of Christmas sheet music followed by a coat of clear gesso. To this layer, I adhered ribbon flowers. Texture was next. I used a snowflake stencil with Frabrika Decor marble paste, Finnabair's Art Stones and White Crackle Medium and my recipe for faux snow. I used this mix also in a plastic baggie to 'pipe' on the icicles. I used Decort's antiquing cream in Raw Umber to accent the fissures in the crackle. (Crackle paste and antiquing cream were also used on the wood star in the upper left corner.)
1) Canvas background includes Christmas sheet music, ribbon, texture paste and white crackle medium 2) Plastic baggie filled with 'snow' for piping icicles 3) Clamps hold my 'snowy slope' (foam board) in place while gluing 4) Antiquing cream applied to accent crackle medium
Wintery colors were applied next followed by various add-ons like pinecones, dried flowers and hemp cord.
I love making my own embellishments for my art pieces. My snow angel began with polymer clay, bake and painted. I fashioned her blonde wavy hair from yarn and thread and her gown from muslin, modeling paste, paint and glitter.
1) Modeling paste applied to a square of muslin 2) Gown shaped and allowed to dry before painting 3) Yarn and thread used to make angel's hair 4) Almost done...
Supplies
Prima: Art Extravagance Texture Paste - White Crackle; Art Alchemy Acrylic Paint in Opal Magic Green Gold, Yellow Blue and Ancient Coin; Color Bloom Spray Mist in Frost; Art Ingredient Art Stones & Mini Art Stones; Art Basics Modeling Paste and 3D Transparent Gloss Gel
DecoArt: Antiquing Cream in Raw Umber; Satin Varnish; Acrylic Paint in Snow White and Light Buttermilk
Fabrika Decor: White Texture Paste with Marble Particles; Metallic Paint Olive
Shimmerz: Vibez Spray in Don't Rain on My Parade
Pearl Ex: Powder Pigment in Sunset Gold
White Gesso, Clear Gesso, Snowflake Stencil, Muslin fabric, polymer clay, yarn, white and gold glitter, sheet music, ribbon, hemp cord, star wood piece, buttons, dried flowers and pinecones
