Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Santa's North Pole Village Compound Snow Globe

I'm finally finished!!! Phew...it took awhile! Welcome to Santa's North Pole Village Compound Snowman Snow Globe Table Centerpiece thingy (I have no good name for it!)!!! Talk about having FUN with this monstrosity...in between thinking and staring...over the last few weeks. It was truly a labor of Christmas love, even though I wanted it throw it against the wall a few times.  What started out as one globe, but turned out to be too small to house all three village pieces, turned into two globes stacked on top of each other, snowman style (Thanks to my new friend Kim for the idea!). I took over my whole den, and the fam had nowhere to sit, and a few nights had to eat ramen. Oh well...it was worth it...but boy are they glad it's done. Grab sustenance, put on some Christmas tunes, and enjoy. Merry merry Christmas everyone!
I apologize for the photos. After hating the first 300, I consulted a professional photographer who helped me to better capture it, but with glass and items in the curved glass at that, I had the hardest time.
I had to fill the top bowl with Ice Resin to even it out before I put everything in. I adhered the two bowls together with Loctite Glass Glue...the best stuff!
Santa, Mrs. Claus, and all the elves built their village from the ground up, and you have to know the secret for getting in their wonderful world...BELIEVE!!!
I used Tim's watercolor cardstock from Ranger for his Sizzix Village die pieces. To make the barns, I diecut two of each of the front and backs, and pieced them together to make a wider building. Since they are angled, they needed a center piece, so I freehand cut one to fit, and traced more for the other sides.
I added the pieces I made to complete the angle on the building front and backs. I also cut out the large doors to make one huge door.
For Santa's house I layered two of the Dwelling Dies on each other, covering the roof parts of the bottom part, and trimming those off.
For the observatory tower part, I again added two of each piece to make it larger, and used the base of the tower on the Manor Die.
This is where things got rough, and my hands swelled and tightened so much I couldn't cut a thing after the second day. Ouch! First, I painted Cookie Sticks (Found in the baking aisle at the craft store.) with Vintage Photo Distress Paint. Since they are made of tightly rolled paper, I decided it was best to cut them using Tim scissors, as it just took too long to use my dremel. I cut the sticks to fit the buildings in a log cabin kind of style...layering long and short sticks. To add them on the buildings, I first put a layer of Multi Medium down on the building, and then used a palette knife to add a layer of Grit Paste to each log, before adding another, sandwiching them. My hands were callused and raw after the first day of cutting the logs, so I wore gloves the next day. There was no cutting the third and fourth day, so I could rest them...seriously not fun, but I loved the look so much.
I continued on all the sides of the three buildings, and then made windows using a few of the villages dies, layering them for more depth, and adding acetate for the glass. I used the longer porch, and made the pillars using the sticks as well. All the doors were layered for thickness, and I added panes from doors and windows for the detail work panels on the doors. I inked all the sides of everything with Vintage Photo Archival.
I make the roofs, I painted Metallic Gold Cardstock with Candied Apple Distress Paint, let it dry, and embossed them with the Tailored Texture Fades, but reversed the back of the Texture Fade to the front so that the dotted areas would be recessed rather than raised. Then I painted Black Soot Distress Paint over the red, and wiped it off, so that the paint only stayed in the recessed areas, and made a distressed look. I had to make the roofs longer and wider than the die pieces, because adding the logs made the houses 1/2 inch bigger.
On the bottom 14 inch bowl, I drilled a hole in the cake stand to house the lights. On the 10 inch bowl, the lights run through the hat.
 
The chunky candy canes were purchased in the vintage portion at The Crafty Scrapper, and I found the sequin portion at the craft store, but in reality, Santa planted the two trees from seedlings he got from the Candy Cane Forrest!!!
 
 
 
I painted Santa and the deer with Distress Paint and added White Opal Liquid Pearls to all the furry parts.
All the trees were flocked using Picket Fence Distress Paint and while wet, rolled in Dry Rock Candy Distress Glitter.
There is something to see on each side of the globes.
  
 
 
 
 
 
And with that, I'm finished with Christmas...well maybe! A big thanks to Tim Holtz for all the goods and inspiration...Where would we be without you?!! By the way Tim, I need Salvaged Snowmen and Elves!!! ;0) Merry merry Christmas everyone!

Supplies:

I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

18 comments:

  1. Oh, my, that is a fantastic creation! I'm sorry for all your pain but it was worth it. :) Have a very Merry Christmas!

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  2. What a glorious creation, Anita - amazing invention to add the second globe for your hourglass snowman. The little houses are fabulous in their wintry settings - and everywhere you look there's something new to see. A delight!
    Alison x

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  3. You are absolutely amazing! Such perfection, it was well worth the effort. Hugs

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  4. Holy moly, Anita. My jaw hit the floor. I don't even know what to say. This is chocked full of artistry and details. What an incredible project. I love everything about it, especially the log house which is totally amazing (hope your hands are okay now!). Thank you for sharing this amazing project! Merry Christmas to you and your family!

    Hugs,
    Linda

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  5. Anita this is just incredible! Too much to take in all at once - and it lights up! Thank you so much for all the step by step pictures. I hope Santa T comes through with some salvaged Elves for you! ;)

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  6. Oh my word!! I don't even have words to describe how incredible this is Anita!! I can't stop looking at it, soo many details to take in! ❤

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  7. Oh your poor hands! but the results were worth it, even to the family, I suspect!

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  8. This is absolutely amazing! I could admire all the fine details for hours and still look more! I love the sticks for logs, such a fabulous idea!! I am so sorry that it was such painful task, and yet, oh my goodness the glorious end result is stunning! This will certainly be a treasure for a very long time! I am awestruck by your creative ideas! Thank you so very much for sharing! Merry Christmas to you!

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  9. Well, I left a lovely long comment...and poof...it disappeared. So I will try again. This is just absolutely the most magnificent Christmas project I have seen this year. I studied it for a full 20 minutes and still could not take in all the details. The little door knockers, the wreath, the sleigh (!) the snowmen and the observatory...right down to the flags on top of the towers...every detail is just so thoughtfully placed and beautifully crafted. You have outdone even yourself, my dear! This is filled with whimsy and Christmas magic. The textures, the colors...wow! To imagine making something like this is impressive, and then to carry it off with such amazing skill...well, honey...I bow down! You get the Christmas crown for this one! I love it, I love you! Thank you for sharing your inspiring and beautiful soul with us through your art. Merry Christmas Beautiful Soul!

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  10. WOW! this is wonderful Anita & you masterfully tweaked the Village dies. I love the whimsy and all the fun details. Merry Christmas! =)

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  11. Wow, wow and thrice WOW Anita! I could simply call this a masterpiece, because that is what it is. I fully appreciate how much time and effort went into this delightful piece of art, but it was SO worth it!! I love it and now want to make one.... Hope you have a wonderful Christmas season! Hugs, Anne xxx

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  12. WOW, I have the village dies but have only made 1 house when they first came out. This is spectacular! How do you change the batteries on the lights?

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    1. The battery pack is tiny and houses watch type batteries, so they will last a long time. One pack is under the cake pedestal and the other under the hat.

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  13. WOW! I am super impressed with all the details! What a fun project!

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  14. Darn and double darn - I was near finished a long comment and it vanished!!
    Well firstly I would like to copy and paste all of Kathy/North Carolina's comment!! This really is superb Anita - each and every little element looks fab. I can fully understand how it took so much time. So glad that you got the photos sorted so well in the end as it would have been such a pity if they didnt do this merry chap justice. All the reflections would be mighty tricky to snap. Have you put out your amazing project from a couple of years ago - the whole village one that as I recall took up an entire room? That was incredible too. You are so talented!!
    From a parenting viewpoint however please, please, especially in this season of goodwill, do not starve your children!! lol. Make sure to give them back some space so that they can neatly wrap all those fabulous gifts they have for you for Christmas!!
    Wishing you and yours a very peaceful and joyous Christmas. (I hope that you are feeling better since yesterday too) Nicola x

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    1. A huge belly laugh to that....they need to learn to cook themselves!!! Also, the old village was pushed aside for this one...yikes...gotta find it a new home. Merry merry Christmas!!!!

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  15. An incredible project Anita! Just popping in to say Happy New Year!! I hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday! Thank you so much for all of your support and inspiration in 2017. May 2018 be a year of crafting, friendship and good health!! sending hugs :)

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  16. I don't know how I didn't find this sooner, but I am so glad I did. Your Snowman North Pole Village is absolutely spectacular. I love all the details you added, how you modified the houses and made log cabin barns and everything. Thank you so much for telling us how you did it. I hope your hands are 100% healed so you can show us another fantastic project.

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