I just can’t get enough of Merry Moose (663103) part of the Tim Holtz Sizzix 2018 seasonal release. He just has so much spunk and pep in his fancy prance! After having fun with this Etcetera Tag (more pictures on my Instagram account @wendy_baysa)

I knew he would be up to some more shenanigans ….

This isn’t a complete step by step but highlighting some of the different areas and how I did it.

Jolee’s Boutique does make a embellishment of a 3-D string of lights but I found that I didn’t like how far apart the lights were on the string or the scale of them against the antlers of Merry Moose. So, what to do? Make my own of course, lol. I found that the flicker of light from the candlestick with Tattered Christmas 662437 was perfect! I inked scraps of watercolor card stock with Distress Inks in Squeezed Lemonade, Mowed Lawn, Carved Pumpkin, Candied Apple and Mermaid Lagoon, then die cut using my Sidekick.

 

Then with Glossy Accents and the fine liner tip, I applied a dab and strung metallic Gutermann thread. This was a little fiddly, just have a craft pick handy to move around the lights. I made sure that when I colored Merry Moose that I also added a bit of white heavy body acrylic paint so I could ink up his spine, antlers and top of nose to ink with colors to lit him up as well 🙂

 

For the box of lights inside of the scene, obviously the original Christmas Vignette box top was too large, so I cut out the reference photo that was on the back 🙂 Perfect!

I then cut out a top and base from scrap metallic cardstock using the backside for the craft color 🙂 I show how I do this at about 21 minutes of my video ‘Halloween Morning‘ Be sure to ‘crush’ the box some so then that way it appears as though he had to fight a bit with his hooves to get to the lights, lol.

For the inside background I used the text print from Idea-Ology Christmas paper stash. Concentrating in the area I was going to be placing Merry Moose, I used a blending tool and lightly added all the light colors to appears as if the sky is lit up by the lights on his antlers. Once I was happy with the layer, I then splattered with a splatter brush all the colors. I also stamped the tree line using TH Michael’s Clear Stamps (so sorry, I don’t know the name of this exclusive set) and the tall trees from Stamptember 2017 set.

For a little added interest and sparkle I used Distress Embossing ink, Flurry and Pine CMS312 and Kaleidoscope embossing powder, then used heat tool to melt. The tree is done by using Woodlands 660978 die cutting KraftCore cardstock in the dark green but keeping all the ‘insides’ intact then gluing. Also cut out of watercolor card stock and cutting the inside trunk. I then embossed this using the same powder as the sky. I inked up only the one side of the tree to appear as if it was lit up.

 

Die cut greenery using Kraft-Core card stock and dies. The front 2 are from Funky Festive 663101 and branches Ravens 662376. The holy is the Christmas Collage paper that I had previously done by coating using a sponge brush front and back with Easy Cast Resin. This made the paper clear in non-printed areas and added shine along with strength.

A couple more close ups ….

Well, he is definitely Merry and Bright 🙂 Thank you for viewing, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask and have a blessed day! xo xo