My Christmas Configurations

As my loyal readers may have expected, I have had a Christmas assemblage in the works.  I still can't quite figure out why I love to put these together, but I really, really do.  This piece has been getting put together in my mind for quite some time.  I started out by just gathering small items I knew would fit inside the boxes and putting them in little bowls on my craft table.  I also joined a Christmas ornament charm swap, with the intentions of using them to embellish my project.  This makes it extra special, as I have little pieces of others art tucked inside. 



I am so grateful for Simon Says Stamp and Show, as it was their challenge this week of show some depth, that pushed me to actualize this piece.  I used several strategies to ensure that there is a lot of dimension and depth to this piece.  To that end, lots of texture was created with several different applications.  I used distress stain, acrylic paint, molding paste, fiber paste, rock candy crackle paint, vintage mica snow and stickels.  I was also sure to add several elements in each area and stage them at different dimensions.  Decorations were added to the sides and the tops of some boxes too, these details provide a lot of depth and interest.  My last secret to showing the depth here was in how I photographed the piece.

I love this little charm I made with the wings and the holiday muse token.  It reminds me of the spirit of Christmas because of the symbolism of the wings. I colored these metal pieces with picket fence distress stain and then sealed with matte medium.  Stickels were added for more depth and glimmer.



I used the white stain and acrylic paint on many of my items inside this assemblage.  This helped to create a wintry feel and keep the palette muted.  I love the shabby look of the feet from this distress technique.



I really love how I used the various art pastes to create little snow drifts.  I wish you could see the crackle a bit better, the texture on the edges is really delicious. 



I altered the bottle brush tree quite a bit.  I used gesso, acrylic paint and stickels to make it look snow covered.  In this little area a dangling charm was added. I always like to have an element of movement in my pieces, if I can make it work.



The vintage block above was also altered.  I washed it with acrylic paint and then simply added stickels.  I think these would make charming Christmas ornaments.   This project took some patience overall, as there were many stages due to the drying times.  This picture above does show a bit of the glimmer from the vintage mica snow.  I imagine I will be finding flecks of this in my work area for some time.



In this photo you can see that the base of the collage on the boxes is tissue tape. I love how the stain adds a whitewash look.  This toy compartment has lots of charms from my art charm group.  Thanks so much ladies, hope you like what I have done!!!



I always like to finish the backs of these boxes.  I chose my favorite piece of kraft paper from Tim's seasonal kraft stack and whitewashed it for consistency.

 



I hope you enjoyed peeking inside my little holiday assemblage.  I sure had fun creating it and sharing it with you.

Update:  Just after posting this project I found out that I won this giveaway from Red Lead.  Can you believe it!  How lucky am I!  Both thier store and their blog are full of inspiration, so stop on over and check out all the vintage and crafty goodness.  Thank you so much Red Lead, as you can see from above I will put the items to good use!

Merry Christmas to all,

Rhea