Wednesday, December 7, 2011

My Advent Calendar.... a little tutorial.

Hello Lovely Friends,

Well, I finally did it!  I managed to get this long overdue advent calendar done this year!  At The Colour Room this month, in addition to the weekly palettes, oodles of Christmas projects are being featured also.  The Design Team are sharing all of their festive projects for December, in order to really help you get into the creative Christmas spirit!!  Just check in every couple of days for an update.

I hope you enjoy my little tutorial:



I used the fantastic little Kaisercraft advent calendar with the ‘treasure drawers’ around the outside and this awesome panel in the centre, just begging for embellishment! I decided on a non-traditional colour scheme for this project and it is one that I have trialed a couple of times now on a couple of layouts and some Christmas tags.... and I just love it!  Blue, white, kraft and gold.

Step 1 | Assemble the calendar and spray paint white. This is so much quicker and easier than painting by brush. I think this step literally took me 30 minutes... too easy.

Step 2 |  I decided to cover my little treasure boxes with pattered paper. I have used Bo Bunny Et Cetera papers and My Minds Eye Lost & Found ‘Breeze’ papers. Select your papers and cut squares to size. Punch a semi circles in the front panel squares.





Step 3 |  Glue your papers to the flattened boxes and then glue them all into shape, using a strong adhesive. When dry, ink the edges of your boxes with gold ink.




Step 4 |  Now, the really fun part. Place your boxes in their homes to get an idea of your overall colour balance. Gather all of your supplies, embellies and numbers and start decorating each of your box fronts. Paint any chipboard embellishments too with gesso. I have used an A2Z Scraplets star flourish and ‘Magic of Christmas’ title, along with some RW Lasercuts stars.




Step 5 |  Time to direct our attention to the inner panel. The possibilities are limitless, so let your creativity loose! My basic design is a tree and presents in the bottom left corner and some hanging stars in the top right corner. A real ‘white Christmas’ theme... something I long for!!  :)

Distress edges and stitch a border around a square of patterned paper. I used some of my left over Bo Bunny Et Cetera paper. Glue in place as a backdrop to our winter wonderland theme.



Step 6 |  Bling up some of the stars with some beads and Dimensional Magic or Clear accents and allow to dry.



Step 7 |  Glue the chipboard star flourish shape and title in place in the bottom left and top right hand corner.

Step 8 |  Tease out fibres of a strip of white muslin to distress it a little and arrange along the bottom of the inner panel and one third of the way up the sides. Dab on some glue in spots along the strip. Try to manipulate the muslin into undulating waves, like a snow swept landscape. Adhere a strip of white lace to the top edge of the inner panel.


Step 9 |  Cut individual butterflies from a sheet of Hambly White ‘Wings’ transparency and glue them at intervals up the branches of the Prima Rock Candy Ice Green Vine that I am using as my Christmas Tree. Stand the ‘tree’ in the left hand corner of our scene and glue in place.

Step 10 |  Make little presents for under the tree from the patterned papers, using this simple template. This could easily be adapted for rectangular parcels too. Glue them in place at the base of the tree.





Step 11 |  Arrange and glue a number of stars to lengths of cotton or fishing line. When the glue is completely dry, hang and adhere these at staggered lengths and intervals in the top right hand corner. Use a strong glue and allow the dry really well before standing upright.




Step 12 |  Arrange a selection of flowers and bling to the bottom right hand corner of the winter wonderland to complete the picture.



Now, all that’s left to do is fill it full of treats!!

Oh, and here she is set up in pride of place in the front entry, enshrouded in fairy lights and waiting for that magical advent time every night.



Hope your Christmas preparations and shopping are going smoothly.... I'll be back really soon!

Jules
x

21 comments:

janice said...

Absolutely gorgeous and magical.
Love your tutorial... thanks for sharing.
And that last photo is WOW!!! it just looks so beautiful..
WE all love Christmas time in our house. :) xx

Unknown said...

Oh....wowzers....
My mouth won't close....

Its truely stunning Jules...

Wishing you and your family a merry and safe xmas xxx

Anonymous said...

this is just gorgeous Jules, will be a treasured item for years to come :) LOVE the dreamy colours and the last photo is just magical!!

Dolly B said...

Wow that is just beautiful, thanks for sharing . Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and all things good for the New Year

Cheers
Mary x

Her Essential Hand said...

wow jules!! That is just GORGEOUS.. so much detail and so much love put into it.
just was catching up on your blog too.. loving your latest works and gee you look good too.. well done on the weight loss.
Enjoy your week x

Crystal Goulding said...

OMGOsh! This is totally yummy!! I made an advent calendar a couple of years ago using the same Kaisercraft thing and your's is far better than mine!!

Blossom inch said...

awesome work and I love it!

Leanne said...

OMGosh!! Gorgeous!! LOve it all..x

Unknown said...

Far out Jules...this leaves me at loss for words!! The colour combo and the dreaminess is soooo STUNNING!! Thank you so much for sharing and one day I hope I can get one of these made! Take care :))xx

Di Garling said...

Oh WOW this is absolutely stunning. You have done another amazing job here. The attention to detail is superb. Love love love it.
Cheers Di xx

Marelize said...

Wow! This is stunning Jules! Thanks for sharing. :)

glorygirl said...

Stunning. Simply overwhelmed by the beauty of this.

Jo said...

Such a beautiful colour scheme Julie. I made one of these last year. A bit of work involved in these but well worth it in the end. After looking at yours, I feel like doing another one :)

Linda Eggleton said...

Wow this is just amazing Jules...the colours are stunning! Thanks for sharing :)

Jenny said...

How magical Jules... your advent calendar is stunning... and such a gorgeous keepsake... love it !!

Jenny x

Cathy said...

Simply stunning Jules.. the colours are gorgeous and the details are so beautiful!! hugs :))

Jasmine S said...

One day when I grow up and I am so going to find the time and patience and do this. Maybe it will be for my Grandkids to enjoy at Christmas time when they visit....lol.
Truly beautiful and detailed.

Eila Sandberg said...

Oooooh ooooooh oooooh - I could read your post and check out your tut over and over again! this really has to be one of a kind and your pièce de résistance!! When I think I have seen the best of the best, you always come up with something that just tops your previous work a couple of notches. The universe sure is your limit! Love and hugs :))

scrappychica said...

your advent calender is incredibly beautiful, truly like no other I have seen. I know this is past christmas but I'm thinking I would love to make a special few for family. thank you for the tutorial and more than anything the stunning inspiration. I'm sure mine won't come out nearly as beautiful but I will try :-)
Now I just hope I can get my hands on some of theose kaiser craft advent calender boxes!

3Blondies said...

Your calendar is breathtaking. Truly captures the essence of Christmas. Is there a site where I can purchase it? I will never have time or the tools to make one.

Verity {belle bébés} said...

We love this tutorial over at belle bébés! We included it in our Advent calendar feature today :) http://bit.ly/TtFAgV