Winter Holly Candle Holder

Hello and Happy Sunday!!  I've brought a little bit of Christmastime back with this glass votive candle holder that I've altered with one of the new single stamps from the January Release-Holly and the Ivy. 

We've still got a month of Winter to get through, so I figured since it is still Winter, it's OK to share this little Christmas décor piece with you. 

I started with tinting the outside of my clear glass square with alcohol inks, and stamping the Holly image onto tissue paper with Jet Black Archival ink.  I gently 'fussy-ripped' each image and attached to the outside of the candle holder with gloss multi-medium.  I actually gave the entire outside of the glass a layer of gloss multi-medium in preparation of the next layer.  

When the tissue paper layer was dry, I added a layer of Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint to the entire outside surface and let dry overnight.  When dry, I rubbed the crackle with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and my ink blending tool and heat dried.  I stamped a couple of more Holly images onto mixed-media paper and water colored with my Distress Markers and my water brush.  I fussy cut out and attached to opposite sides of the square. 

With this young lady all bundled in her furry cloak and matching hand-muff, I wanted to evoke a feeling of her being outside in the snow, stargazing perhaps?  I embellished her with Wendy Vecchi's white embossing paste and a few heat embossed holly leaves and glass bead berries that I tucked into place while the embossing paste was still wet.  I gave the paste a sprinkle of Clear Rock Candy Distress Glitter while it was still wet, too.   

I gave these laser cut wood stars & snowflake embellies a coat of Brushed Pewter Distress Paint, air dried, then brushed a coat of gloss multi-medium over the surfaces then sprinkled with Clear Rock Candy Distress Glitter and let air dry.  When dry, I adhered to the candle holder with gloss multi-medium. 

This is what the candle holder looks like at night, with the nearest interior lighting turned off, too.  The reddish/burgundy glow that this creates is really pretty and oh so festive! 

I'm having a lot of fun finding unused items around the house to alter!  I'm looking at plain boxes, blah frames, clear glass everything so much differently now!!  Who knows what Holly and the Ivy is going to turn up on next? 

Thanks so much for joining me here at the Artistic Outpost blog today!!  Have a Great rest of your weekend!! 

Have you altered anything with your Artistic Outpost stamps lately?  This month's Show Us Your AO Art Challenge is still open!!  You've got until Saturday, February 28th (11:55pm CST) to show us what you've created using your Artistic Outpost images!  Let's see your AO Art!!


Designer: Shari Trumbull
Ain't That Artsy Fartsy