I am honored to have the opportunity to be a Words 2 Craft By
Guest I-Teamer.
This month's inspiration quote is from Charles Dickens:
I will
honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.
As I thought about this quote, it hit me how much better this world would be if we held the ideas of "Peace on earth and good will toward men" throughout the entire year. To represent this idea, I thought about creating an iconic Christmas image using some vintage monthly calendar pages that I printed from the internet. And that is how my vintage calendar Christmas tree came to be.
The calendar pages were distressed with Tim Holtz's Paper Distresser. I layered them using foam squares to add dimensionality to my Christmas tree.
My vintage calendar Christmas tree ended up on a wooden plaque for my living room. The face of the plaque was painted with a light coats of Bundled Sage, Hickory Smoke and Weathered Wood Distress Paint. I did a light wash of Vintage Photo Stain over this painted wood (rubbing off the excess stain with a paper towel). I added some Black Soot Distress around the edges to accent some of the wood grain (and add some trademark grunginess to my piece). The edges of the plaque got a generous amount of Vintage Photo Distress Stain. I added a wash of Distress Paint over around the edges on top of the stain.
Tim Holtz's new Christmas Alphabet foam stamps (I *love* these stamps!!!) were used to stamp "christmas" at the bottom of the plaque. I used black archival ink and did the first stamping of the word on scrap paper and then did a second stamping on the plaque to give the word a more faded, timeworn feel. The "Merry" is a die cut from Tim's Home for the Holidays die set. I cut it from red card stock and then used Tim's Paper Mosaic Glaze.
I used a sheet of Tim's gorgeous vintage Ideaology Christmas paper for my Christmas tree's background. Reflections washi tape was used frame the paper on my plaque.
Some red alcohol ink, an Ideaology faceted star, and a few "pearls" created some simple ornaments for my Christmas tree.
Here is a closer photo of the completed version.
8 comments:
What a wonderful calendar tree - of course we should be keeping peace in our hearts and goodwill to all men all year round, and your tree is a brilliant reminder of that. I love the distressed calendar pages, and the fabulous paint and ink treatment of the wood panel - giving it such a lovely weathered feel. Like you, I've fallen for those foam stamp letters - what a great font! Lovely lovely piece with a lovely thought behind it. Do hope the final exams go smoothly and that you're all done and dusted in time to relax a bit over Christmas.
Alison x
Mary Elizabeth, congratulations on your Guest Designer spot! You've done them proud, girl! I love your Christmas calendar plaque! So filled with those details that say "Mary Elizabeth made this!"--the perfectly aged elements, the rich colors, and of course a great design. I love the detail of the design tape that goes with those foam stamped letters (I didn't get those, but the other ornament ones, and I haven't used them once! Thank you for the inspiration, sweet girl!) And the baubles are a PERFECT finishing touch! Well done from top to bottom! Love this and your beautiful artwork! Merry Christmas and big hugs!
PS I forgot, wishing your all the best with those exams! Why do they do that?
Oh my gosh!!! I totally love this idea and your wonderful thoughts behind it. A year filled with the joy of Christmas would indeed be an amazing thing. This is so amazing and impressive. I just love it to bits! Hugs, Autumn PS. Feel to share with us at Frilly & Funkie for our Most Memorable Gift challenge. <3
Oh how fun and what a great idea... Love it!
Your calendar tree is beautiful and I do love the sentiments behind your creation of it too. I really hope your exams go well and that you have a wonderful holiday season. Anne xx
Hi Mary Elizabeth! We are so happy that you joined us as a Guest I-Teamer this challenge. Thank you for accepting our invitation, and thank you for sharing this gorgeous work of art with us. It is such a creative interpretation of our Words 2 Craft By theme. WOW!!!! You are one talented lady. :)
Just a nudge to check your email... though if this goes to the same email address, it won't help!!
Alison xx
Post a Comment