Winter Blog Banner

I think it is fun to change my blog banner with the seasons but I am a little late for fall so I jumped straight to winter.  With Christmas just around the corner I enjoy creating winter scenes on my cards with Christmas holiday colors and images but I didn't add those to scene as I wanted my banner to be winter appropriate through the cold winter months.

I thought I would give a brief description of how I created this scene.  It is a little trickier to create interest in a wide thin scene like this than working with a normal card front. This piece is 10" x 3.5" I wanted more than one center focal point of interest. I stamped trees across the scene leaving enough space, masked off ones of each side of the space for the cabin and stamped it. I didn't want the cabin to be dead center in the scene as that is just too predictable. I painted the cabin with Adirondack and Distress Inks.I sponged in the yellow setting sun/rising moon (your choice) with an ink blending tool to create light behind the trees and creating another point of attention. I sponged bordering blue around the yellow to and to fill the whole night sky. I heated the ink to dry so I could emboss and not have the powder stick where I didn't want it.  Ranger inks dry much more slowly than some of the other water based paints that I use. I painted on a fine layer of white craft ink to create the icicles and snowy roof top and then embossed with white ep. I used a small sponge dauber to create the snowy ground area and stamped on the falling snow and again embossed with white ep. I really loved the look of the scene but felt there should be light reflecting from the setting sun. Ugh! How do I get color on that white embossed snowy ground. I took a chance and used my banana craft spot and sponged color directly on the ground area with the pad. I used my finger to spread it around lightly and embossed over it with clear ep. I used a small brush painting on banana craft to create light from the cabin windows and embossed again. I was thrilled with this process outcome but then felt the ground snow was just too bright for a night scene.  I used my finger to lightly apply bordering blue craft ink around areas of the ground to create shadows in the snow, especially along the tree fronts where light would be blocked and once again embossed with clear ep. This was lots of fun to create and I am pleased with the outcome.

Stamps:  Rubbernecker Kittie Kits-The Moose is Loose, SU Itty Bitty Background

Paper:  Watercolor

Ink:  Brilliance Black, Distress Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, Adirondack Latte, Stampin" UP! Classic Banana, Bordering Blue, Craft Bordering Blue, Banana, White

Accessories:  Clear and White Embossing Powder, Inkksentials Ink Blending Tool, Brushes, Daubers