Winter Wonderland Challenge

Today, I'm sharing the piece I created for the DecoArt Winter Wonderland challenge, which I am calling Frozen in Time. Those of you who follow me will know that I rarely create seasonal pieces but I love to work with cool colours so I decided to take up the challenge and create a wintry project, Andy style!

I've made an altered book using various supplies from DecoArt Media and my Industrial Elements kit from Tando. I have used lots of interference paint on this project and managed to capture its colour-shifting effect with the camera.

I hope you'll have a go at the challenge too! Enter your winter-themed projects to be in with a chance of winning DecoArt products worth $120. All the details are on the DecoArt Media blog and the challenge runs until 29th January 2016.

This image shows the effect of the Interference colours on the background really well.

I'm really pleased with this technique using Liquid Glass which I've stepped out for you below.

There's a whole host of techniques on this piece, so rather than step out the whole process, I'm going to take you through each technique separately. There's plenty to read so you might want to grab a cuppa!

The video below is the sneak peek I released last week. It gives you a good overview of the piece (and it's a bit of fun too).

1 BOOK COVER

• Apply one coat of Media White Gesso.
• Base coat with a mix of Cobalt Turquoise Hue, Cobalt Teal Hue and Cobalt Blue Fluid Acrylics.
• Using a palette knife, apply a coat of Media Crackle Paste. You want reasonably thick coverage to create the larger cracks you see on my piece. Allow to dry well (don't heat dry it as it won't crack properly).
• Make a wash by mixing water with Prussian Blue Hue; apply to the dried Crackle Paste.
• Apply a coat of Blue and Gold Interference paints, mixing as you go to give wonderful subtle green, blue, gold and violet tones.
• Sponge Titanium White paint around the outer edges of the book.

2 CLOCK FACE AND BOOK PLATE

• Base coat with Media Titan Buff.
• Apply three thin coats of Media Interference Gold.
• Apply one coat of Media Crackle Glaze (unlike the Crackle Paste, this is clear and can be used as a top coat).
• Once dry, apply a coat of Raw Umber Antiquing Cream.
• Allow to dry and wipe back with a damp cloth.
• Stick text to the back of the bookplate.
• Fill cavity with Liquid Glass.

3 DEEP TURQUOISE COGS

• Base coat with Prussian Blue followed by two thin coats of Turquoise Interference paint.
• Finally spatter with Translucent White.

4 LIGHT BLUE CRACKLE COG

• Base Coat with Titanium White.
• Apply a thin wash of Phthalo Turquoise.
• Apply one coat of Media Crackle Glaze.
• Once dry, apply a coat of Raw Umber Antiquing Cream. Allow to dry and wipe back with a damp cloth.
• Apply a little Texture Sand Paste to random areas.
• Once dry paint the Texture Sand Paste with Raw Umber followed by Quinacridone Gold.

5 CENTRE PIECE

• Glue three large washers from the Industrial Elements kit together. Stick eight small bolt heads to the front surface.
• Apply a coat of Media Texture Sand Paste.
• Once dry paint with Titanium White.
• Once dry apply a wash of Phthalo Turquoise.
• Print out text and stick it to one of the centre cut-outs.
• Seal the print with Media Matte Medium and glue to the bottom washer so the text can be seen when looking from the front.
• Fill the cavity with Media Liquid Glass and allow to dry naturally.
• Once dry apply Turquoise Interference paint over the Texture Sand and Liquid Glass.
• Finally paint a layer of Media Clear Crackle Glaze onto the Liquid Glass area and allow it to dry and crack naturally.

I know it's been a while and you've been asking for more tutorials, so I hope you have enjoyed this one and that there's a technique or two here you'll want to try.

I'm off to CHA this week, so keep an eye on the blog and my social media pages for reports from the show and don't forget that Tracy Weinzapfel and I will be doing a live Blab from CHA on 11th January at 6pm GMT / 10am PST.

Andy