Winter Wonderland Mixed Media Scene
Hi friends! Happy Sunday! Thanks for stopping by our blog today! Here at Simon HQ in Columbus, Ohio we had a taste of Spring weather last week but are back to the winter cold. Sometimes amongst the dreariness of winter it’s easy to forget the beauty it brings. Special guest Anna-Karin Evaldsson really showcases that beauty in her special project! Read on for step by step instruction and enjoy!
Hi everyone! I am so happy to be here today with an easy and fun mixed media tutorial. I was planning to have done a different project, but I was inspired by the very heavy snowfall we had here over the weekend, and two beautiful walks that I took, and changed my mind and made a peaceful winter project instead.
There is something very peaceful about snow and the world becomes brighter and quieter at the same time. I’d love to stay for a little while in the cottage on this canvas. The techniques in this tutorial can be used on any type of project, and not only for winter themes. All you need is a sturdy enough background. I used a Ranger Dina Wakley Media Board, 4×6 in, but heavy watercolor paper or cardstock, such as Heavystock Mixed Media, will also work well.
After I remove my Christmas decorations, I often leave out winter themed décor pieces, such as the one here, and only remove them once spring is here. Some of them might even stay up year around.
Start by coating the board with gesso. I wasn’t planning to add more paste layers on top of the gesso at first, which is why I formed the gesso into snow heaps. You can skip this and use a thinner layer of gesso instead.
When dry, add a layer of Ranger’s Texture Paste Opaque Crackle to the sky. I love the look of a crackled sky. Cracks will appear as the paste dries and the thicker the paste, the larger the cracks.
Smear fairly thick layers of Texture paste to create the snowy ground. Use a palette knife and to form the snow into heaps. Let dry.
Paint the sky with watered down Distress Paints, starting with the pink.
It is hard to get a good stamped impression on a textured background, so instead, we are going to stamp on ordinary tissue paper. Stamp on the glossy side of white tissue paper, using Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink. Tear around the images instead of using scissors, since a torn edge disappears better.
Use gloss medium to adhere the tissue paper to the background. Start by painting a layer of gloss medium on the background, where the image will be placed. Carefully place the tissue paper image into the medium and then add another layer of gloss medium on top.
Paint the snow with white paint and the house with brown and yellow. Add thick layers of white paint to the branches of the trees using a toothpick.
When the first layer of paint is dry, add a few areas of pink and blue to the snow, to connect it to the colors of the sky. Also, add some shadows with Hickory Smoke paint.
Adhere to the branches and sentiments with the same technique as before. The reason for not adhering them earlier is that I wanted to paint most of the background first so that I wouldn’t paint over the words or branches.
Splatter white paint on the scene to create the look of snow. Avoid the text.
Here you can see a close up of the crackled sky and splattered snow. Note that the edges of the tissue paper aren’t visible. Most tissue papers work well for this technique. Some are a little opaque and might not disappear completely, so experiment on a small area first. If the edge of the tissue paper is slightly visible, you can hide it by painting over it.
I added some black marker lines here and there, to bring back lines that were hidden by paint.
You could add even more details to the scene, but I wanted to leave it fairly uncluttered and peaceful.
I hope this tutorial inspired you to try out some scenic stamping in combination with mixed media techniques.
Thank you so much for looking!
Happy crafting!
Anna-Karin
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Thanks so much for stopping by, and thanks to Anna-Karin for being our guest!
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This looks awesome! :) I love all of the texture!
Wonderful. Sort of reminds me of a vintage Christmas card. Cheers.
This is an amazing tutorial, thanks so much! Its also nice to see a mixed media project that’s not “grungy”.
I love this textured project! The crackling is so cool and wintery!
Gorgeous! I love all the texture.
Such an inspiring piece of art and your tutorial made me feel like I could do this too. thanks.
such a clever idea to stamp on the tissue.
This is just beautiful! I love all the textures. I just love the calmness when looking at this piece. Thank you for sharing.
What a lovely scene. Your mixed media work is beautifully crafted. tfs
WOWZERS! This is absolutely GORGEOUS! I love the textures and colors of the sky. Thanks for the details of how you created it!
Great project!
Beautiful scene. Love all the textures., just fabulous .
Simply stunning and such a lovely sentiment.
Very beautiful. Love the crackle effect at the top. The sky is looking glorious.
Wow! Beautiful! The texture is incredible!
Oh, this is so pretty! It just looks like a good place to hideaway from the business of life. Right now, mine isn’t busy due to sciatic issues so I am so glad to have something dreamy like this to look at & read about. Thank you so much for the explicit tutorial. Love the dog in it too.
TRUE ART! WOW! This is beautifuL!
Beautiful!! Thanks for sharing your pictorial technique.
Amazing winter scene.
thanks for sharing
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So cool! I love the paste and how it cracks. So cold and wintery.
oh my, the texture on this piece of art is gorgeous – thanks so much for the tutorial!!!
What a lovely scene.
Wow! I love all this texture and crackling in your winter scene! It gives it a terrific winter feeling! Thanks for the great visual pictorial too!
Just getting back home after 2 days without power to see your gorgeous winter scene! Looks nice but only form inside out if you have heat:):) So pretty! Love the colors and texture.
Absolutely stunning! If I had a cabin it could look like out yard today. Snow is falling. Beautiful!
Gorgeous. The texture is amazing and the scene very calming. Love it.
This is how the weather feels, even though I live in Southern California. What a great representation. It is so cute!!!!! I absolutely love it.
So very beautiful! I would leave this out all year, too. I love a pretty scene like this.
Fantastic technique! I have never tried using tissue paper.
Beautiful scene and I’m so glad you did such a fantastic tutorial. So very helpful.
Love the directions on how to create this stunning piece of art. Thank you.
I am in total awe of this – Yes, it is on my bucket list =- made a list of the supplies and I do hope to create something like this in the future – TFS – just stunning!!
This looks fabulous! I love all the texture!
What a fabulous scene!! I completely agree that snow makes everything quiet and bright.
Love the textures!
What a beautiful snowy scene.
I’m so in love with mixed media. Your project is stunningly beautiful. So much dimension and textures, it transported me into the scene. Thank you for sharing your amazing work.
this is incredible!!!!
Love this winter scene and the colors and texture.
This is stunning! I love the texture you created. Thanks for the tip about stamping on tissue paper and then tearing it so the edges blend in seamlessly. So neat!
Gorgeous piece of art!
Thanks for sharing…
This scene is fantastic!
Stunning Anna-Karin, what a great work. Love it!!
Thank you so much for the extensive and clear tutorial.
Wow!!! This is Amazing!!!! I love the texture and the spatters!!! FABULOUS!!!!!!
Such an awesome scene. I love it.
Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful winter piece. Love how you made the texture and the colors throughout the scene.
Beautiful work! I am going to try this technique!
Absolutely beautiful wintery scene!! Neat techniques!!
Awesome effect and great card!
Wow, what a fabulous work of art!!