I started this Charles Dickens themed noel project with a foam wreath form from the Dollar Tree, which I covered with vintage music paper using matte Mod Podge. I will warn you that nothing sticks well to the foam wreath form (unless you kind of melt it with hot glue), but paper to paper adhesion is great with Mod Podge.

I found online and printed an image of Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim from Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” that I thought would be fun to Copic color and not too difficult to fussy cut (LOL). I also printed a quote from the story that I thought was particularly inspirational: “I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year.”  I gently inked the quote image with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Antique Linen to give it a vintage look and to better coordinate with the music paper’s cream color.  I inked all the edges of both images with a Faber Castell PITT Pen with an SB (brush) tip to conceal all the white edges of the paper where it was cut (I think this finishing detail makes all the difference in the final results).

I colored up the Cratchit image using the following Copic colors (keeping everything in green hues to create a cohesive look with the die cut papers and ribbons I used):
Tiny Tim’s hat and coat: BG70, G40 and YG61
Bob Cratchit’s skin: E53
Bob Cratchit’s coat: YG61, 63 and 67
Bob Cratchit’s pants, and hat: N3 and 4

Then I used a variety of dies from Diemond Dies to create embellishments and focal point clusters for the wreath.  I used the beautifully intricate Pine Branch Die with green card stock to create some softness.  I used the Skeleton Leaf Die with vellum to create some subtle visual interest.  I die cut lots of leaves from script patterned paper scraps with the Holly Leaves Die Set and inked the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Pine Needles. Lastly I die cut the gorgeous delicate snowflakes from shimmery pearlescent paper (because of the thinness of the paper I layered each snowflake for added strength and stability) using the Winter Snowflake Die Set.

My readers can get 10% off and free worldwide shipping on any orders of $35 or more at Diemond Dies by using the coupon code: “thankskristina” at checkout.

The following is a process video sharing the start to finish wreath:

This wreath is being entered into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday N Challenge – Noel
MarkerPOP Any Shape But a Rectangle Challenge
Fab ‘n’ Funky Die Cut Challenge
Virginia’s View All About Texture Challenge

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are having a wonderful crafty day! WOOF