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Thursday 5 November 2015

It's Ornamental - Anything But Cute Mixed Media Challenge #7

Hello Everyone

I would like to say a huge thank you for all the amazing good wishes I received here, on the Anything But Cute blog and on social media, I was completely blow away - thank you!

This is my first post for Anything But Cute Mixed Media Challenge where the lovely Cec (CW Card Creations) is our hostess for this month.  Cec has chosen 'It's Ornamental' as her challenge theme.  Here is what Cec has to say:

'Since the holiday will be coming up pretty quickly, we want you to create a mixed media
ornament for your Christmas tree or a Christmas decor item for your home or table'


I love to make home decor pieces for Christmas so this challenge theme was just perfect for me!  I recently purchased one of the Tim Holtz Bigz XL 'house' dies (Village Dwelling), along with the additional die that allows the house to be made into a church or chapel and so, with Cec's wonderful theme, I felt inspired to create this piece of Christmas home decor:


As well as the Tim Holtz house and accessory dies, I also used Tim's beautiful sleigh and reindeer dies and some of his Idea-ology trees.

I started by die cutting the pieces from mount board/mat board, but you could also use chipboard.  I laid them out and taped over the windows and door so that there would be room for the window frames and door, once I covered the building with modelling paste.  I cut another door and all the window frames from black card to give a contrast.
I chose to use a coarse modelling paste that I purchased from Indigo Blu, it is a fantastic paste that is really gritty and it dries beautifully white.  When I had covered the first part, I decided to glue the whole piece together before finishing off - as you will see in the next photo.
For the bell tower part, I assembled the tower before coating it with the modelling paste (I learned from my previous mistake on the house...), leaving a little gap around the top for the roof to fit on.  I was inspired by a programme about Patagonia that featured a tiny chapel that had rough white walls.
To create the roof, I hand cut some grey card into tiny little tiles and I glued each of the tiles in place.  I wanted it to look slightly worn so I placed the tiles in a slightly random way as you can see here.
Once finished, I added a 'ridge' tile to finish off the top.  I added an Idea-ology knob to the top of the bell tower.  (Since making this chapel I have made more houses and I used a stripes embossing folder to create a pattern on the roof - it looks good and takes much less time!).
To create the trees I used three trees from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology range.  I wanted three different sizes so I used one large, one small and then I cut down another large tree.  It is so easy, just pull the tree gently out of the base, use wire cutters to create the height you want, trim back the foliage and then push it back into the base.

To colour the trees I put them into a pizza box, on top of a white piece of copy paper, and sprayed them with Distress Stain, in two colours, to create some light and shade.
To create the sleigh and reindeer, I used Tim Holtz dies and shrink plastic.  I used translucent shrink plastic and coloured the plastic before shrinking.  In my opinion this gives a better end colour.  I used alcohol pens in red, silver and brown.  If you try this technique do be careful not to burn your fingers!  I lost count of how many times I burnt mine trying to untangle the reindeer legs and antlers....

I wanted to make the sleigh 3D so I cut and coloured two sleighs and used some light card to make a curved base for the sleigh.  I made some teeny tiny parcels and a sack to add to the sleigh.  The wreath around the reindeer's neck is a small piece of red and white twine.  The finished length of the sleigh is approximately 2" and the reindeer is just over 1", so they are very tiny!
Here is a view of the finished piece with the lights on.  I used a piece of  6" MDF board (from Indigo Blu) to mount the whole piece on.  I painted this white and then added lots of 'snow' to the base, the trees and the roof of the chapel.  I added a jingle bell because I could not find a bell small enough to fit the little bell tower.
I am adding a view of the back of the chapel, it has windows all the way round.  I can see myself building a little village now....

Thanks so much for your visit, I hope you feel inspired to join us at Anything But Cute Mixed Media Challenge, the details of which you can find HERE, along with some fabulous creations by my wonderful teamies.

Hope to see you again soon.  Hugs, Anne xx

41 comments:

  1. This year for Christmas, I would like Santa to bring me a shrinking machine so I can reduce my size to 4 inches tall and live in your magical winter wonderland with the sleigh and the reindeer! Oh good grief, and it lights up too! The work you put into the roof with the shingles really panned out, what a realistic little building with amazing texture! Anne, it is just such an honour to have you on the team with us and you hit a home run your first time at bat!! (not sure where the baseball analogy comes from, but there you have it) haha! big hugs my teamie :)

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  2. WOW what an amazing creation...each detail so perfect...love the tiling and the bricks

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  3. What a glorious winter wonderland Anne - this is a beautiful scene and Santa will definitely leave oodles of pressies! Love your white dash walls, the bell in the tower and idea-ology knob atop and that fantastic, painstaking shingle roof (stripes folder is a great idea). Not sure how you got the very miniature sleigh and deer, did you cut by hand? They are perfect height for scene. The little lights are the crowing glory. Gorgeous project! Nicola x

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  4. Anne this is amazing! The tiled roof is amazing! Your texture paste is crazy course. Congrats on your first DT project. You really set the bar high:)

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  5. Oh my gracious Anne - this is INCREDIBLE QUAINT and CHARMING. What a wonderful creation. Completely adore every inch of every item. OVER the moon FABULOUS and perfect for your DEBUT on Anything But Cute. So proud for you. SUPER FINE!!! XO j.

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  6. Wow, Anne! I couldn't wait to see the details of this amazing chapel, and what a wonderful sight to see! You really have knocked our socks off with your first team project at Anything But Cute! What an amazing inspiration you are to all of us! I digress...

    I do love that texture paste, and it is now on my incredibly long list of wishes! Your roof is just amazingly realistic, and know that this took tons of time and patience! You just may have a new career in roofing! :) Oh, those trees and the sleigh, and the reindeer! I'm just oohing an aahing, and I'm afraid I will be here all day...thank goodness, I can pin this so I can see it over and over again! I think this just may be my favorite Christmas decoration of the year! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! Big hugs and lot's of noisy applause!

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  7. You are the queen of home decor Anne every step by step detail is just perfect. Patience of a saint comes to mind, absolutely mind blowing.

    Warm crafty hugs from Shirl x x x
    ShirlsCards.

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  8. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!
    This is simply breathtaking!!!!! I love the stucco wall and how you made the roof, but then when I saw the lights in the trees and was happy that I was sitting down, because your creation simply swiped me off my feet!!!
    Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!!!
    Hugs

    Samra
    Paper Talk with Samra

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  9. Had to pop back...am stuck in all day waiting for a delivery and have TV on catching up on recordings. I'm watching BBC's Patagonia and what appears on screen only 'Your Chapel' - what incredible coincidence! You have made a perfect match! Still awaiting delivery - might start to say a little prayer! Nicola x

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  10. Bam! Welcome to Anne's deput for Anything But Cute! What a fantastical little start to a village I see here. That sleigh and reindeer had me at hello! So genius of you to add in all the little details, it looks exactly like Santas sleigh! Your bell tower is gorgeous and so much texture to the building, not to mention that gorgeous roof-you have the patience of a saint to put that together. Wowzers and awesome sauce! Such a fun scene and wonderful trees with snow! Wowzers! Hugz to you muffin!

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  11. Woooow, Anna, this is the 3d heaven! It's breathtaking and looks so realistic especially those mini lights in the trees! Oh, it's spectacular! I wish I could create something like this! You put so much love in creating this beauty and it turned out stunningly! It's a village from a Christmas fairytale and a fabulous piece of art! Bravoooo, dear Anne!
    Big hugs! Branka xxx

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  12. WOW!!! This is simply amazing. Your attention to detail never fails to surprise me Anne ..... hand cutting all those tiles .... that's dedication!! Love the texture on the building, those trees look fab with the lights and the little shrink plastic reindeer and sleigh are just adorable. What a gorgeous Christmas decoration xx

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  13. WOWZA!!!
    This is fabulous Anne - what a super piece for the festive season.
    Toni xx

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  14. Oh my word Anne! This is beyond fabulous! LOVE that you shingled the roof...time consuming, and the embossing paste texture is amazing! PINNED!!!

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  15. You give new meaning to "playing house," Annie! I want to say that I can't believe you MADE that, but I can't say it because I know there is nothing you can't create! Talk about blowing away - my head has exploded!! I'll say it again, you should open a little boutique for your creations!! Hugs, Darnell xxoo

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  16. Well goodness gracious me. I cannot add anything that hasn't already been said. Your church and tress are just amazing and the teeny-tiny sleigh and reindeer are awe-inspiring. I agree about colouring before shrinking; the colours become more vibrant, and I can just imagine the fiddle straightening the legs without burning the prints off your fingers, lol. You did a great job; as always. I hope you will share pics of your village if you do create one Anne. {{Hugs}} xox

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  17. Gorgeous Anne, I adore the slate roof, so authentic. The paste really adds wonderful texture and the bell tower is perfect. Love how you added a little bell and I love the contrast of the black Windows . Lovely idea to add the sleigh and reindeer and trees to create an overall scene. Tracy x X

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  18. Anne you have totally and utterly done your self incredibly proud with your debut make for ABC . As soon as I saw your post on Social Media there was nowhere else I was going other than catching the fast train over here to your blog to absorb all the fabulous creativeness that is 'Redanne'!
    Yes My heart is well and truly won over with this masterpiece , from the start to end of its creation and is a sheer joy to behold ! Thank you so much for sharing your incredible talent - I hope you know how much it is truly appreciated. Hugs xx

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  19. Anne, this is just so fabulous I love it! I can just imagine how hard it was to shrink those sleigh and deer parts. It always curls up all over for me!

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  20. Absolutely darling, Anne. I just love vintage Christmas creations and this is so cute. Love your detail on the house and roof. The lighted trees are so pretty as are the sled are perfect embellishments. Love this!

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  21. Oh so beautiful Anne - absolutely amazing work - i adore it - makes my attempts look very plain and amateurish! Beautiful! Big hugs rachel x

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  22. Goodness gracious you have been so busy. I really am tickled that you can now see yourself doing a whole village. And every village has to have it's very own story and of course bound in it's very own book. In every British village there has to be a little under village for all the faeries and elves to live. A tiny little place where they can cook their cookies and candies and bake their bread. Thank goodness you made a little sleigh - my hips start hurting when I walk too much and of course the cold wet snow aggravates my old hips a lot.
    It's been a long day and I am ready to go to bed and read a little before going to sleep.
    Sandy xx

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  23. What imagination, what a fantastic piece, what fabulous walls and my favourite bit the magnificent roof.
    Well done Anne and also on your photos of how you did it. Xxx

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  24. What a marvelous winter scene Anne! I just LOVE your chapel with it's stucco sides, slate tile roof (what a job THAT was!!) and the beautiful sleigh outside in the snow! I can tell this was lovingly made and I can't wait to see your whole village (yes, I can see you working on it even as we speak!!!) I have this die and it remains sitting on my work table screaming to be used!! What a wonderful first project for ABC team!! Julia xx

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  25. Absolutely fabulous!! Always love your 3D pieces - I love all the details from hand tiling the roof to making parcels for the sleigh and all that stucco. BRILLIANT. Elaine xx

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  26. Wow what a fabulous make. You have excelled yourself here.xxx

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  27. Wonderful little scene, Anne!! I so admire your talent with all things dimensional - I am still trying to figure out how to make a perpetual calendar you showed some time past, lol! Thanks for the GREAT step outs on putting the building together. I did buy the die, but given how directionally challenged I am - well, let's just say I am very grateful to have something visual to refer to :-) xxx Lynn

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  28. Beautiful Winter scene! Love all details, great work Anne! barbarayaya

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  29. Hi again, Anne. Just a quick. Ore goths like you so much for your lovely comments you left on my blog. They were so sweet and made me feel so good. I so wish I could attend Wanderlust. What a fabulous array of talented artists to learn from. Have a great time!

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  30. Saw this on FB and was in love! Love seeing the close up detail here, your talent for 3D is just astounding and can't wait to see what else you do for this incredible team xx

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  31. Again, I'm awestruck! Your attention to infinite details (even to the smallest!) is amazing. Then your skill in crafting your vision, is equally amazing. I would never have the patience to create something this intricate, even if I could think of the idea!!! I say this every time, but you outdo yourself with each project. This is going to look so splendid in your holiday decorations. The exterior looks like the stucco construction used in the houses built in our USA Southern states. Loved the jingle bell in the bell tower too. (again, so much attention to tiny details). The shrink plastic Santa set is another big AH! This is a product I've never tried, and I can imagine the tangle of the deer legs. Surely doesn't show in the finished effort though. And let me add a big TK you from Mr & myself for the wonderful surprise that arrived last week. He was beside himself, and we had to check the post once more. The entire time he's saying "Well, how did she....?" It was a big hit, is on our mantle, being shown to everybody that comes in the house, and we shared it on the Friends Card section of CC by M. THANK YOU from the bottom of our heart! Happy wk ahead, and Big WOW on this project. Hugs

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  32. Glorious, Anne! The textured walls really look fabulous - I'll certainly be investing in some of that coarse modelling paste - for Cestina and the dollshouses if nothing else! Love your tiled roof, and the shrunken reindeer and sleigh are simply enchanting.
    Alison xx

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  33. OH wow - you do 3D so beautifully and this gorgeous little scene take the cake. I love the shingles on the roof, the stucco walls of the church and the bell in the belfry - sure beats a bat. The sleigh drawn by a reindeer and the trees are perfect additions to your wintery scene.
    Hugs!
    Cec

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  34. Stunned silence! This is so utterly, utterly awesomely, Christmassy and wonderfully fabulous - WOW - see, the words did come! xxx

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  35. WOW!
    You have transported me back to gentler times and I swear I can hear sleigh bells and the crunch of freshly fallen snow!
    This reminds me of Putz houses/churches.
    The detailing is incredible. This is my absolute "new" favourite, adore this creation.
    Wishes
    Lynne

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  36. Well you certainly hit the new Design Team with a beauty! Again Anne, your attention to detail is superb - a lovely Christmas Project. Brilliant!
    Hugs, Neet xx

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  37. Hi Anne, remember me? I know I've kept up with you a bit on FB but thought I'd have to visit to see this brilliant step by step. This is an amazing 3D piece of art even by your standards! The painstaking roofing and the delightful sleigh are 2 of my favourite parts, truly a winter fairy tale come to life. pure JOY! Ruth xx

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  38. Well isn't this just a lovely festive playground! Anne, you have rocked this challenge on your new DT! I love the this Christmas themed project and the lights on the trees is a fabulous touch! Love this much! Hugs and Happy Weekend!

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  39. Gorgeous Anne. I keep looking at these but haven't got one yet but seeing your has really tempted me, it's amazing. Happy crafting, Angela x

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  40. Gorgeous project Anne! Love all the texture and the snow topped trees look fantastic! What a fabulous project obviously made with a whole lot of love! Thanks for the inspiration!

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  41. Love the scene, and the texture on the house and roof. I'd love to sit beside you as do your magic with these dies, Anne!

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