Emporium Vignette

Hello friends,

I had a wonderful weekend and I hope you did too. I did some Christmas shopping on Saturday, had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants (Wood Ranch), then decorated my tree on Sunday after church. That is my kind of weekend!

I've been working on this project for a few days (in between other stuff) and finally get to share it today. I was inspired by the new Emporium Layers pack. I think it's super fun, with such great graphics, that I really wanted to celebrate all the imagery that is in the pack. So lets get started and I can show you how I put this together.

First off here is a look at Emporium. It has 84 pieces of vintage looking cards, strips and circles.

I used 3 Vignette Boxes for this project (I did not use the smallest one from the pack). Collage Medium was used to cover the two largest Vignette Boxes with Emporium cards and strips. This probably took the most time because there are so many cards and strips to choose from!

I used strips on the sides and just cut off the excess.

Then I sanded the edges to age the surface.

Next up, Walnut Stain Distress Crayon. I put it on heavy then wiped away the excess.

I also added Cello Tape Stickers to some of the edges to make it look like the cards were taped together. More Distress Crayon gave me the dark build up around the tape strip.

The last box (next size down from the last two) is the only one I added Christmas Backdrop paper to.

On the back is another card from the Emporium pack.

I drilled holes into all three boxes for the Tiny Lights.  The bottom box will hide the light pack. The center box will hide the thick parts of the Tiny Lights. The Tiny Light wire will come up through the corner of the small box and into the lantern. The next few photos will help to explain the steps to add the lights.

Add the lights to the largest box for easy access. I use thin foam squares to adhere the battery pack to the box.

Snip off the light string so there are only 3 lights left connected to the thick portion of the light string and battery pack. You can do it...just cut the wire and throw away the excess (and no, you cannot use it for something else).

Add Collage Medium to the medium box then quickly thread the short light string through the drilled hole.

Place the medium box on the large box with the light string on the right side.

Add more Collage Medium to the bottom of the small box and thread the light string through the hole in the bottom.

Place box on the base. You will have enough time to fidget with the placement of the box before the thick Collage Medium dries.

Use Collage Medium to add a Wood Slice into the corner, then leave the box stack to dry (at least 30 minutes, but an hour is even better).

Lets work on all the parts while the boxes are drying.

Lantern: 

Paint with Rustic Wilderness Distress Paint. Once paint is dry, sand with soft steel wool. Use a small brush to add Silver Mixative to the lantern (clean brush with Isopropyl Alcohol after use). When the Mixative is dry, scribble Walnut Stain Crayon onto Studio mat. Pick up with a damp brush and go over the painted lantern parts to age.

Alpine Trees:

Spray two Alpine trees with Bundled Sage Distress Spray. Dry with a heat tool.

Paint the bases red using Lumberjack Plaid Distress Paint. Let dry completely.

Use your fingertip to add Texture Paste Snow to the trees.

NOTE: I added a small third tree during the making phase. I just repeated the steps to make one more.

Salvaged Snowman and Toy Solider:

Next up I painted a SMALL Salvaged Snowman. You can use any colors you want for the scarf, mittens and broom, but the black top hat for me is non-negotiable! 

I added Walnut Stain Distress Crayon (using a damp brush to move it around and to get into the eyes). Once that was dry, I randomly added patches of Glossy Accents to adhere Rock Candy.

NOTE: I also painted the Toy Solider that comes in the pack to use on the back (not sure why I didn't take his photo!)

Festive Marquee:

Use Lumberjack Plaid Distress Paint to paint one of the sentiments that come in the pack. Once dry, sand with soft steel wool.

Baubles:

Baubles are colored with Alcohol Ink. To me, you could use most any color to color these. I chose not to use traditional colors, but more muted reds and greens.

I used the colors Moss, Cranberry, Pink Sherbet, and Citrus. 

Once I had the color on the Baubles, I added just a bit of Mushroom and shook the Baubles again to coat. Then I sprayed them a couple times with Isopropyl Alcohol to soften the finish.

*Set the baubles aside until the snowman has been added.

Time to start adding what you prepped!

Thread the light into the Lantern and glue the Lantern onto the Wood Slice. Only one light is up inside the lantern, the other two left on the string are in the base.

While the Lantern is drying, add the Alpine Trees and then the Snowman. I used Collage Medium for all.

I added the Christmas Decorations sign (also from the Emporium Pack) to the top of the box with Scor-Tape. There are two sizes in the pack. This is the smaller one.

NOTE: at this point I left the room to go work on the laundry. This gave the Collage Medium time to cure, which made the next step (adding the Baubles) much easer because the Salvaged Snowman and the Lantern were secure when I came back.

I used Collage Medium and a 1/2" brush to add the glue to the Baubles...just stacking them up till you could see them in the background behind the Salvaged Snowman.

Adding snow around the trees and snowman came next. I used a small palette knife to add Texture Paste Opaque in sections. I finished the front (including the extras) then added the paste to the back, so I was always working the fresh Texture paste. 

While the Texture Paste is still wet, add more Baubles to the scene.

Then sprinkle Mica Flakes over the top.

Notice that I added the third tree at this point!

I worked my way to the back adding a Toy Soldier, Candy Cane (covered in Rock Candy) and more Baubles. The Seasons Greeting circle is also from the Emporium pack.

Then the Festive Marquee was added with Collage Medium right along the front. I love that it fits perfectly!

You could obviously add any number of embellishments to this scene...more snow, more Baubles...but I like where its at. Simple and straightforward. Honestly, there is nothing hard about this make, just pure and simple whimsy.

Cheers!

Now carry on,

paula