Friday, October 23, 2015

Vintage Christmas Church Tutorial

Hi everyone! Today I'm back with another project for the Tim Holtz Holiday Inspiration Series.  If you haven't been following along, make sure you drop by Tim's blog for the links to some great ideas using his new holiday releases.  His team of designers have really come up with some amazing projects.

For my project today, I have used Tim's new Sizzix Bigz XL die, Village Dwelling, along with the Bigz die Village Bell Tower.  The Village Dwelling is the foundation die and the Bell Tower is the add- on that turns the house into a church.  I've always loved those small frosty, glittered house ornaments, so I could hardly wait to make my own.


I love the vintage look so I decided to use a neutral colour for my house, giving it an old stone look.


I love these glass domes, and this one was waiting for something special to create inside.



Here's how I created my Vintage Church:


Diecut the house pieces in chipboard.  There are crease lines in this die, so it is recommended to use a Sizzix XL Crease Pad instead of one cutting pad.  When using this crease pad, the crease lines do not cut out(which can happen sometimes), and you get a nice crease.  The chipboard I have used isn't very thick, it's on the lighter side.  I thought that because the pieces are small, a thicker board would be hard to bend.


I gave my chipboard pieces a coat of Ranger's white gesso.  Gesso primes your surface for painting or applying different mediums.  Without this, the paint would soak into the chipboard and it also gives a nice white base for your colours.


I painted my pieces with a base coat of Walnut Distress Paint.  Let this dry.  Assemble the two house pieces.  On the Sizzix site, there are printable pdf instructions for your 3-d dies.  Just look up your die, and you will see the link underneath the description. These are usually a little more detailed than the ones on the back of your die photo.


To get the aged look, I apply a lighter colour with a dry brush technique.  I used Picket Fence Distress paint and put a small amount on a paint brush then swiping most of it off on a paper towel.  There's still enough on your brush, that when brushing on top of the brown pieces, it will leave lightly leave some colour.  If it's still not light enough, then repeat.



Assemble your house as per the instructions.  I forgot to put on my front posts on, but inserted them later.


Next I die-cut the Bell Tower pieces, also from chipboard.  These were also primed with Gesso.


These pieces were painted the same way, but for the windows and door, instead of Picket Fence paint on top, I used Peeled Paint (Green).  Assemble the tower and adhere to the house.  Adhere the door and windows also.


Once I had my house, tower, and base all assembled, I applied Ranger's Glossy Accents to the areas I wanted my Distress Rock Candy Glitter.  Some areas I applied the Glossy Accents quite thick, so it looked like snow.  Once the glitter was applied and the glossy accents have dried, lightly touch random areas that are glittered with Picket Fence distress paint.  I usually do with this with a bit of paint on my finger.


I wanted a circular base to glue everything to instead of my dome wood base, so I traced a piece of chipboard the same size.  I cut out a piece of patterned paper from Tim's Yuletide Paper Stash and adhered this on top.  Ink the edges.  


Next I die-cut quite a few Tim Holtz Holiday Greens, as I use them under the church and on top of the glass dome.  This is one of my favourite holiday dies, love these greens!  They were cut out from Metallic Silver Core-dinations kraft paper, Yuletide patterned paper, and Core-dinations Distressed Kraft paper.  These were also given the Glossy Accents and Distress Rock Candy Glitter treatment, but just randomly.

Set some aside for the glass top and the rest were adhered around the edge of my chipboard circle.  I have cut some apart for smaller pieces.  My house was adhered on top with a hot glue gun.  I should mention that after I had this piece all assembled, I was thinking that maybe I should have left it unattached in case I wanted a light inside.  Oh well, I will try that next time.  I really like that little square base on the bottom of the house, so if I was to put a tea light inside, I would probably cut a round hole (the size of a tea light) in the square base before adhering it to the house.  That way you could just place the light in the hole.  I would probably cover the windows from the inside with vellum or alcohol inked plastic if I was using a light.


For my Woodlands Trees (TH93049) I coloured them in a ziplock bag.  I just spray these three colours of Distress Spray Stain into the bag, and drop my tree in, close the opening, and smoosh it around.  Once the tree is dry, apply glossy accents to the ends and Rock Candy Distress glitter.  I've also wrapped Yuletide Tissue Tape(TH93242) around the wood tree base.  Once these had dried, I adhered them to my base.


I added a little snowflake from Frozen Alpha Parts (TH93246) that also had glossy accents and glitter added.  My wood base had a small rim, that I also covered it with the narrow Yuletide Tissue Tape.
On to the glass top!

With the rest of my glittered Holiday Greens, I adhered them to a piece of thin clear acrylic.  I find it easier to adhere these parts to a small base and then adhere that base to the piece.  I used acrylic so it wasn't visible on the  glass.  I also die-cut two pinecones from Tim's Sizzix Bigz Tattered Pinecone die and brown Distress Core-dinations Kraft paper.  I lightly sand the die-cut before removing it from the paper. Assemble the pinecone and apply Rocky Candy glitter with Glossy Accents.  Adhere with a hot glue gun to the greens.  


Before adhering this piece to my dome, I finished it off with a few Frozen Alpha Part snowflakes (glittered of course!) a Christmas Typed Token (TH93243) attached with a Looped Pin (TH93200) and a bow made from Metallic Trimmings (TH93251).  This was adhered to the top of my dome with glue dots.  

A few Frozen Alpa Parts Snowflakes were added randomly to the sides of the glass dome also.  I tried taking a photo of this,  it was really hard with the glass, but I also added some hanging snowflakes inside of the dome.  I used one of the larger Frozen Alpha Parts Snowflakes and tied three small snowflakes to it with invisible thread.  I left about fours inches of thread to let them hang down.  I then used large glue dots to adhere the large snowflake to the top inside of the glass.  You can't really see it because of the greens on top.

And there you have my Vintage Church under the Dome!  I'm already thinking of doing another house, this time it will be turquoise and white.  My mom is crazy for turquoise lately, so I think I will give it to her.  I'm going to try it on top of a box this time.  I was thinking even a vase turned upside down would work. With the greens on top, you wouldn't be able to tell that was the bottom.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you have enjoyed all the holiday inspiration.  Thank you for all the kind comments throughout this, they are very much appreciated!
A big thank-you also, to Tim Holtz for asking me to be a part of this! 

Until next time,

Jan

47 comments:

  1. So adorable and so clever. I always look forward to your posts and appreciate your generous sharing of your creativity.

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  2. Jan this church is unbelievably beautiful under the dome! I think I will use this as inspiration for my Aunt's Christmas present this year!!!

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  3. AAAAAMMAAZZING!!!! So creative and lovely! Thank you for sharing your art with us. I am so inspired.

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  4. What a quaint village church! The presentation is simply stunning!

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  5. Gorgeous, I love all your details and the greenery at the base. Lovely delicacy too it . Lovely decorative piece which looks lovely in your glass dome. Tracy x

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  6. I love this little house die. You did a masterful job with your house. It is lovely. I look forward to making Christmas houses soon.

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  7. This is beautiful Jan! The church looks amazing, love the aged look. TFS!

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  8. WOW WOW WOW!! This is one amazing work of art!!

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  9. So nice...just love the total package ! Thanks for the great step by step. Such great blend of colors. Enjoy a lovely weekend

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  10. Delightful project, perfect in every detail, love it!

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  11. Stunning, like something from my childhood.

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  12. Beautiful Jan! Great idea to put it under the dome. The greenery is the perfect addition.

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  13. Gorgeous, Jan! Thanks for sharing

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  14. Love your tutorial and your project is just BEAUTIFUL!!

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  15. Wow !! Wow !! Wow !! Jan, this is absolutely stunning !! I love, love, love, everything you have done here, this would be a stunning gift for someone, I know that I would be 'over the moon' to receive this. I love it !!
    Lots of love from Patricia xx

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  16. Oh Jan! I poured over every word and every photo. It's absolutely stunning! Something I would rush to buy and am definitely going to make. Thanks for such a wonderful tutorial and fantastic inspiration. I'm in awe!

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  17. Absolutely gorgeous! I love all the added bits you used to create the scene.

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  18. This is most elegant and gorgeous! Thinking about shopping for a dome now for my holiday table decor! I love it.

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  19. A fantastic piece for Christmas. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  20. Beautiful! You have great ideas, like using the acrylic and glue dots for the greens on top of the dome, and also the hanging snowflakes inside. Thank you for the step by step. Very helpful. A gorgeous decor piece .

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  21. Beautiful! You have great ideas, like using the acrylic and glue dots for the greens on top of the dome, and also the hanging snowflakes inside. Thank you for the step by step. Very helpful. A gorgeous decor piece .

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  22. What a beautiful job you did on this. And with your directions, easy to replicate in other colors. Thanks for sharing.

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  23. Looks so pretty but can't see me buying the die since I can't/ won't be making more than a few of the churches. I look for dies that can be used in a variety of ways😁

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  24. I'm totally blown away by this!!! The new Village Dies are my favorite, and what you've done here is beyond fabulous!!! PINNED and drooled over here!!!! Thank you so much for the inspiration as well!

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  25. So nicely done and the dome was perfect for it. Where did you buy the dome? Our craft stores should carry them. Lol

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  26. Thank you for the wonderful tutorial!

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  27. Thank you Jan for sharing such a truly amazing & inspiring tutorial.
    Feeling very inspired to create, love the elegant vintage look.
    Your instructions make it seem so easy & fun to create, but the way you combine all the elements has your distinctive artistic signature. Love it so much.

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  28. Another gorgeous creation, Jan. You're always an inspiration!

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  29. That is gorgeous. I think putting it in the dome makes it extra special

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  30. Beautiful Jan, a perfect winter scene inside of that gorgeous cloche! Love every detail from the colour palette to your perfectly chosen embellishments. Thanks so much for sharing it! Deb xo

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  31. Thanks for the tutorial. You make it seem possible to make one. Also, I appreciate how you colored the trees. Thanks again.

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  32. This is awesome. I bet it was so fun to make... When you were outlining your process, I was willing your pieces to dry so you could go to the next step! I hope you share if you make a turquoise accented building... Fab

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  33. this by far is one of my all time favourite pieces ever. it is one that can be made and treasured for years to come. simply beautiful

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  34. I want this die sooooo much!:)

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  35. Im having trouble finding chipboard long enough for this house. It's a smidge longer than 13". What do you use?

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    1. Agreed, I can't find anything to fit the die and the mount board I have used is too thick! I think its a case of having to cut them out twice and finding the pieces that make up one house

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    2. I die-cut in sections for this die as papers or chipboard aren't long enough. I also use a thin chipboard made by Silhouette. It is thin but dense, also has a nice smooth finish and can be used with the thinner dies.

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  36. Adorable! Don't you just love these dwellings! Love it in the Dome too. Great idea with the ziploc... I will be trying that ;)

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  37. I don't have a Sizzix. Is there a template I can use to cut out the house and greens?

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    1. Sorry Lynn, there isn't. These are steel rule dies and thinlits dies made by Sizzix to use in a die-cutting machine, such as the Big Shot.

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  38. Really awesome job and loved the steps you detailed to get this look, that is very helpful. Thanks so much

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Thank you so much for your comments, I appreciate all of them! I hope you will visit me again!
Jan