Brrrr!

For the first time in about four years, California is seeing some 

record rainfall with more rain on the way. 

Hola El Nino!

Rainy weather is my favorite time to create. There is just something so

perfect about being all snuggled up in sweats, with a hot cup of tea,

and my little space heater keeping my slippered feets all warm and toasty.
My hands are usually like ice, but that just means a warm heart, right?
Insert sinister grin here.

With 'Ice and Snow' being the new theme at the

Aurora Wings challenge blog, it seems like the right thing to do

is to create something magical, sparkly, wintry and gorgeous.

Mission accomplished!

I began my creative process by choosing my image.

I chose to work with the beautiful Elven Fairy from Aurora Wings.

I used BV and BG Copics to give her an icy look.

And lots of glitteriness courtesy of Stickles. 

I wanted to make something a little different, so I used some 

corrugated cardboard as my base/substrate. I peeled some of the top

layer of paper off of the cardboard by wetting it a bit, and peeling gently

until I achieved the look I was going for.

I used DecoArt Media modeling paste to give the appearance of snow drifts

in the corners, and along the edges. It was easy to work with and allowed me some

nice control to create my drifts. Once dried, I added shaved ice for 

some bling and iridescence. I loves me some sparkle and iridescence.

I wanted to give the idea of icy cold without the obvious traditional snowflakes.

This was harder to do than I had thought, but I have a bunch of metal accent pieces 

I have been collecting for some Finnabair inspired art that are still waiting to be used.

I found some great snowflake-type pieces and painted one with some DecoArt gesso.

I have used quite a few different gessoes, and I love DecoArt media line gesso!

Provides great coverage and nice tooth for multimedia work. I decided I needed

a bit more bling, so I added some mica medium and some hoarded iridescent gems.

A unique snowflake is born!!

I have a bunch of inexpensive paper doilies from the Dollar Store
and sprayed some using DecoArt shimmer mist in turquoise.
It took some dabbling to get a soft look, and eventually I added a
Media Mist in shimmer white over the top and that was
the secret sauce right there. Perfect shimmery, icy, and soft.
Lastly, I stamped the word, "sparkle" onto some vellum that I then tore
for yet another icy look.  I hate trying to inconspicuously glue down vellum.
But I managed to use two tiny foam circles to give height, and then used two of
my most precious (said like 'Gollum' from LoR) Prima crystals to hide the offensive
adhesives. Perfection! And all in the same gorgeous color family! Score!

I did have the forethought to cut my base at 4" x 6" so it will fit into a 

standard frame. I usually just wing it, and then suffer for my laziness later 

when trying to finish off the piece. I still haven't decided on a frame, 

but I actually have some to choose from for a change. 

That's going to do it for me today. Be sure to check out the other 'Ice and Snow'

inspired works from the incredibly talented DT at the Aurora Wings challenge blog.

Oh! Did you know that there is a DT call going on at Aurora Wings, too? 

There is a completely new team being chosen for the 

new "Stella" monthly challenge. Follow the link for all the details.  

I will say that being on the Aurora Wings DT has been nothing

but a wonderful experience. Mitzi is the absolute best to design for.

Now is your chance to join the Aurora Wings family. You wont' regret it. 

I'd like to enter this piece in the following challenges:

DecoArt Media - Winter Wonderland challenge  

Anything But Cute Mixed Media - Ring out the old, bring in the new

My new products are the DecoArt Media line of modeling paste, shimmer mists,

and gesso. I'm hooked!