Snowy Winter Cabin

I love to create winter scenes.  So many people comment that they find it hard to believe since I live in Florida that I have such a good grasp of snow. I lived in West Virginia and Maryland until I was in my late twenties so I have had lots of experience. I grew up on a three hundred acre West Virginia farm and our house sat in the middle of large fields bordered with forest.  We had large picture windows all around our house and beautiful views in every direction. I have wonderful memories of building snowmen with my sisters, and the four of us girls and our neighbor's five sons sledding down the steep hilly road by our house. My favorite memory, though is of the view looking out of our living room window when everything was covered with a gorgeous fresh blanket of snow and the icy tree branches sparkling in the morning sun. I know that at 57 years of age I have selective memory of the fun and wonderful things and have blocked out the terrible driving conditions, walking to school when there was too much snow for the bus to run (snow days were not given freely in the 1950's) or falling down the icy front porch steps.  Ouch!!!  I remember now ....that really hurt.

 

I made this card yesterday for the Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge. This snow scene was created using Liquid Applique so I thought I would take the opportunity to give a short tutorial on how easy it is to create snow with Liquid Applique.  Keep an eye out on the Rubbernecker Stamp Company Blog as I will  soon be publishing a very detailed tutorial on creating a snow scene using white craft reinker, white embossing powder and the technique of masking to create wonderful winter scenes.

 I stamp and color my image. You can use any coloring method you prefer but I love watercoloring with reinkers and a brush. For the purpose of this tutorial I quickly sponged on a dark blue sky so there would be good contrast between the sky area and the snowy ground.

 

I squeezed a fairly thick layer of Liquid Applique all along the ground line area that I wanted to cover. Notice the blobs.  If you were to heat this just like it is you would get huge blobby bubbles and not a nice consistent layer of snow.

 

I used a Q-Tip to daub all the Liquid Applique around the ground area.  I added more along the bottom to fill in totally and then daubed more with the Q-Tip. The dark ground line areas may not have been covered well enough but I won't know until I heat it.  Sometimes it is good coverage and sometimes not.  Remember....nothing is ever perfect. I then heat with my gun.

 

The ground lines can be seen slightly through the Liquid Applique so I lightly add a little more along the lines, daub it with the Q-Tip to spread and then heat again.

The light addition of Liquid Applique just gives the appearance of the lightly rounded hill side of the house.

Here is another hint for using Liquid Applique for snow.  I would have shown this as part of the tutorial but it just won't show in the picture.  Liquid Applique tends to be a little sticky after being heated and if you lay something over the card or put it in an envelope it tends to stick. When I am through heating the Liquid Applique and while it is still warm I sprinkle Iridescent Ice embossing Powder on it, lightly tap the back of the cardstock to remove excess powder and heat lightly again to set the powder.  It gives a gorgeous sparkle to the snow and also creates a coating on it and eliminates that tackiness. I used this technique on my project above but it sadly does not show in the photo.  It really does make your scene come alive.

Stamps:Rubbernecker Kittie Kits "Cause a Scene" The Moose is Loose.

Paper:  Kiwi Kiss, Watercolor, SU Designer Paper

Ink:  Brilliance Black, Brocade Blue, Kiwi Kiss, Caramel

Accessories:  Grosgrain, Liquid Applique, Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder, Brushes, Sponges

Comments

[Sharon (notimetostamp)]

Hi Kittie -- I've been following links here to your hints and tips on the use of Liquid Applique -- most helpful!!! I've used it a couple times in the last few days and boy, did I think of you as I was wondering if I was *doing it right* -- LOL!!! Well, I was doing it *kind of right* -- LOL!!! Most helpful tips, here and in another post I read -- thanks so much!!!

[laurie Hunt]

Kittie, thanks for the tutorial on liquid applique. I have used it a few times and never thought to spread it out with the Q-tip. So I would get exactly what you said, goopy blobs. Also, I never thought of the glitter add to stop the tackiness. This is a gorgeous card. I just wonder how you put the trees on after the liquid applique (L.A.)? I would have thought stamping over it would either result in trees on the L.A. or smooshed L.A. Why did you do the trees after -- just curious in your thinking not being critical!?!

[cerinda]

Kittie,
Thanks for the tips! Your card is beautiful - I like the way you build up your snow and I really appreciate you telling me how you do it!

[Linda Palmer]

I love your card and really enjoyed the lesson on making snow with LA. I'll be watching Rubbernecker for the next lesson.

[Michelle B. aka JustPaintingAround]

I love this scene! Thank you for this tutorial, Kittie, and especially for the hint about the liquid applique being sticky. I hadn't heard that before so I'm sure you've prevented a disaster!

[Conniecrafter]

Love how you have added dimension to your scene and thanks for the embossing powder tip! Lovely card!

[Gabriela]

Kittie, your artwork is to die for. I'm swooning just looking at and studying even the tiniest of details on this exquisite card. Oh, how I wish I could reproduce your masterpiece!

[Juliana]

THANK YOU!!!!
I have been a little nervous about using my LA! This is such helpful information.

Beware--LOTS of puffy cards to follow!! ;)

[nina]

great tips thank you

[Bev James]

Wonderful card and tutorial. I have never used LA so this will be very helpful when I purchase some-keep thinking I will! I will look forward to your coming tutorial. tfs

[Sara]

That is so cool. I love what you did

[Wendy Gorton]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, for this wonderful tutorial. I have been using LA for a few years now and have always had trouble with the "blobs". I'm so excited to try your technique and look forward to future Kittie tutorials. Wendy Gorton

[Bonnie aka raduse]

Gorgeous as always Kittie. I so love your snow scenes! and have a hard time waiting until the fall when you begin to make them. Never thought to use the EP with the LA so I hardly use it. Now I have a way to remove the sticky feeling. Thanks.

[Krisstee]

Thanks for the hint about the glitter. Your card is beautiful as usual. I read in a book that I bought at Chapter's to leave the LA to air dry for 3 hours and then heat it to prevent stickiness. I haven't tried it yet as I am on the road.
I am not 57......I have 2 years on ya so I know what you mean. LOL Take care and keep sharing your wonderful work. :)

[Meg/WAXYO]

This is beautiful! Thanks for the tutorial...I haven't used my LA in absolutely forever!! Thanks for the motivation!

[Erin Atkins (fishlips)]

Wow your card really makes me think of winter, wow thanks for the tutorial ,I us it all the time and always try and thin it out with the tip, wow a cotton ball, Thanks for sharing...

[Jerri Kay]

Stunning as always Kittie, a very beautiful winter scene card!