An Invitation to Narnia - by Julie Ann

Hello and Welcome! I can't believe we're in November! In the UK the days are growing shorter, and curling up before a roaring fire with a mug of something hot and a good book is an appealing prospect! One of my favourite memories of childhood is being indoors, sitting by the fire while snowflakes whirled outside and reading one of my two favourite winter stories - The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson or C. S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I was struck by the presence in both of a strong, icily beautiful 'baddie' who seemed as if she could have, quite happily, been transplanted from one book to the other. I understood the thrill for Little Kay in the Anderson fairy-tale flying across the snow in her  sleigh and I feared I might have been tempted by her Turkish Delight as Edmund was in Lewis' fantasy! Like the winter itself she cast a spell, and I didn't like to think she was 'all bad'! This little project is - if not an attempt to rehabilitate the Snow Queen - at least a celebration of her as a magical character!

Here she is, taking care of some burlap twine and inviting us into Narnia.

 I wanted to create a world within a world: my White Witch was to be a frame that could have been both a doorway to an old wardrobe and a portal to Narnia. I painted one side of a plain MDF small house shrine with Acrylics in pale, wintry blues. There's some rubber stamped snowflakes; some tiny snowflakes made with a cocktail stick dipped in paint and some scraps of white tissue to create the effect of snow.

Outside was to be a little darker, both to create a feeling of night falling and to contrast with the lighter interior, so that it would stand out more.

The plain house shrines have a frame. I added my own art-work of the Snow Queen's face; a Narnia lamp post embellished with blobs of Gesso and melted gold UTEE and a single jointed arm from one of the art dolls. Nothing at this point is stuck into place. I usually play for a little while, arranging and re-arranging elements. The tiny gem at the centre of the snow-flake is from broken jewellery. I added this at the very end of the project, as I like to spray with fixative and this will make shiny embellishments cloudy.

I used glass bead gel, Gesso and distress glitter to create the frosty look.

Inside the chilly world of Narnia stands Mr Tumnus' cosy cottage. I cut a tiny MDF house shape to fit within the shrine, but you could cut one from thick card or mount board. The tiny door and window from the mini doors and windows sheet look so cosy painted yellow and I crackled the house using DecoArt One Step Crackle, sprinkling on a little glitter when it was almost dry.

Here you can see the sides and back of the 'wardrobe'.

I liked the wintry feel, but the project needed something more.

When Lucy first discovers Narnia, the fur coats in the Professor's wardrobe give way to snowy trees. It was rather too much of a challenge to create a forest inside the shrine, but I did have some dried flowers that might just work as a suggestion of a snowy tree.

The tree is held in place with some bead gel and a little glitter glue. The robin's red breast is created with a touch of translucent red acrylic.

I hope that if the evenings are dark and cold where you are, you can take some time to create, to read or even to gift wrap some special books for the ones you love.

Calico Craft Parts used in this Project 
Plain House Shrine Kit (tall)
Sheet of MDF wood Lamp posts, style 3
Sheet of MDF Christmas shapes snowflakes 1
Sheet of MDF Garden Birds
Sheet of tiny doors and windows
Standard, jointed Art Doll kit style 2 (small)