Monday 27 November 2017

Christ Child is on its Way! - by Claudia

Over here in Austria children believe the presents are brought by Christ Child on the evening of the 24th December. When it's time for gift giving, the children have to leave the room with the decorated Christmas tree and wait outside until the Christ Child rings its bell which is the signal for them to enter and finally find their presents under the tree.

So I was very happy to find this lovely wood shape that shows Christ Child and its little angel helpers on a sleigh packed with presents and accompanied by forest animals. It's such a charming scene and I just had to use it to create a piece of Advent decoration for our home.




Calico Craft Parts used:

- Reindeer and Sleigh Scene MDF Wood Shape - Style 5
- Notched Rectangle Birch Plywood Plaque
- Stars - Mini Greyboard Shapes
- Sheet of Mini MDF Wood Wings - Style 1
- Word Elements


The project is a really quick and easy one. I started with "priming" my plywood plaque and the sleigh scene with DecoArt Chalky Finish paint "vintage".


Once the plywood plaque had dried I brushed on a thin coat of DecoArt Weathered Wood crackle medium. 



While that was set aside to dry to the touch, I gave the star, word band and wings two coats of "lace" Chalky Finish paint.


Using dark brown stamping ink I stamped the "merry Christmas" quote onto the Word Element (I used a flipped over Word Element with a quote I wasn't going to use).



With my fingertip I rubbed on some DecoArt Gold Rush Metallic Lustre to the star, wings and edge of the stamped Word Element. 



In the meantime the Weathered Wood had dried to the touch. So I gently brushed on a slightly diluted coat of "lace" Chalky Finish paint with a very soft wide brush. I let the paint dry naturally (which means I put it on the heating...one of the benefits of the colder seasons...drying times get reduced drastically ... ;)


Once everything had dried I rubbed on more Gold Rush Metallic Lustre around the edges of the plywood plaque and sleigh scene. 



I used a brush to sprinkle diluted Gold Rush Metallic Lustre onto the plaque. And white DecoArt media Shimmer Mister was sprinkled onto the sleigh scene.



Before I glued the pieces onto the plywood plaque I gave the word band and sleigh scene each a coat of DecoArt "Ice Crystal" Glamour Dust for some Christmas bling. 



Once that had dried all I had to do is fix the elements to the background panel with matte DecoArt Decou-Page. Done!






There are many other Reindeer and Sleigh Scene Wood Shapes to find at the Calico Craft Parts Shop! I am sure you will find one (or more) that you love! 

Thanks for stopping by and
hugs and happy crafting!
Claudia
xxx












8 comments:

  1. This is such a beautiful, Advent decoration,Claudia, exquisitely altered. It's magical - and so interesting to hear about the Austrian tradition. xx

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    1. Thank you, Julie! Yes, we celebrate Christmas a bit differently. If we hear bells ringing during Advent season, we say this is Christ Kind flying by (unseen of course). No Santa Claus at all. Over here St. Nikolaus visits the homes of the good children on Dec. 6th (accompanied by Krampus, who takes care of those who didn't behave...lol). And no waiting until Dec. 25th...lol.
      Thanks for the nice comment! XXX

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  2. This is absolutely adorable Claudia - so beautifully and thoughtfully designed and decorated. The colours and the crackle and the addition of the gold are stunning. Thank you too for sharing the Austrian tradition of Advent - all so very interesting. xxx

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  3. So beautiful Claudia !!! Wonderful done !
    Knuddel
    Susi

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  4. Aw! Thank you all so much for the nice comments, Jennie, Susi and LeAnne! You made my day! Mwah! XXX

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  5. Claudia, this is such an incredible image and in your chosen colors it is the most exquisite project! Absolutely stunning! Hugs, Autumn

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    1. Thank you so so much, Autumn, for your lovely comment. Yes, this wood shape is incredible, isn't it?
      Hugs,
      Claudia xxx

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