Country Village with "Village Collection"

 Hello friends,

I am here today sharing the small village I created with the NEW Village Collection from Tim Holtz/Sizzix.  So you can create your own unique village scenes!  This 87 piece set has everything you could need to bring your village to life!  They are a bit smaller than the original Village.  And if you watch Tim Live re-play he shows the difference, all the pieces, and how to put the basic house together.  The second half of the live features samples made by the makers, including a gothic manor built by the master himself, Tim.

Let me show you what I made!

To create the base, I used a vintage cheese box. I cut a heavy piece of chipboard to match the top of the box. Once I decided on the placement of the houses, I punched three holes for the lights. I had to use a screw punch (made for book binding) since the holes are in the center of the board.

Adhere Tiny Lights with thin foam squares.  Run the lights under the chipboard and up and down the holes.  Use Collage Medium to glue the Chipboard in place once you have the lights set.  Hot glue the wires so they stay in place once the houses are added.

This is what it looks like from the front with the three lights.

Use scissors to cut holes in the cotton batting for the lights. 

Brush Collage Medium over the Chipboard and pull the lights through each hole.  If you use two layers of cotton batting, you MUST glue the two layers together before adding to the chipboard.  The batting HAS to be securely glued to the surface before the houses are glued down.

Cut strips of more cotton batting.

Pull both sides the strip to create a band that will wrap around the box.

Use Collage Medium to add the fluffy band around the cheese box.

PLEASE NOTE: I did this next step at the beginning of the process.  If I was to do it again, I would NOT add this to the edge till the end.  I kept touching it when I was building the village so it was not nearly as perfect as in the beginning.  Anyway, just a piece of advice!  

Church - watercolor cardstock + Clear Rock Candy Glitter

Roof - watercolor cardstock with 3D folder Cobblestone then painted with Black Soot and Hickory Smoke Distress Paint.

Door - transparency with Alcohol Ink Alloy Gilded

Trees - Sprayed Iced Spruce then the top half was dipped in water to create the ombre look.  Mica Flakes added once tree was dry.

Deer - idea-ology + Clear Rock Candy

Windows - transparency with multiple colors of Alcohol ink (to appear as stained glass when lit).

Snow on roof top - white warm and natural + Distress Mica Flakes

The small house is from the original Paper Houses that came out last year.  I decide to use it to create a kind of "forced perspective", like the little house is really in the distance.  

The original Paper Houses do not come with window frames, so I used two different window frames from the new set to create the frames.  Cut the windows, then trim down till you have one small window. Please Note: I added a transparency (that I colored with Alcohol Ink) inside the house.  The transparency helps the tiny window stay in place. 

The cobblestone pathway was created using the same folder as the church roof.  I ran the 3D folder through my Vagabond using watercolor paper, then cut a path from the card following the edges of the "stones".  I colored it with ink and crayon and then added Clear Rock Candy Glitter to the top.

For the little cottage:

roof - woodgrain cardstock colored with Iced Spruce Distress Ink

House - watercolor cardstock painted Candied Apple Distress Paint + Clear Rock Candy

Smoke - batting

Snow of shingles - Distress Grit-paste Snowfall (seasonal release)

Snow on roof top - white warm and natural + Distress Mica Flakes

Wreath - green metallic pipe cleaner but very close the the wire + added Idea-ology Mirrored Star

It's easiest to see the star from the back.  I glittered a star (front and back) with the new Distress Glitter Garland (Holiday Sparkle Set - seasonal release). Then I bent a heavy wire into an arc and painted it gold with Dina's Media Paint Gilt, that I love so much.  I hot glued the star to the gold wire and let that dry completely.  How did I make it stand up?  a small upside down cork.  Just push the end of the wire into the cork and hot glue it to the base.  I covered the cork with the new idea-ology wood slices.  

I added Distress Grit-paste Snowfall (Holiday Texture set - seasonal release) to the tops of the wood slices like fallen snow.

The last thing I did was wrap the cheese box with ribbon.  This cotton twill is from May Arts.

Lets talk about storage.  

I know Zoe (igirlzoe.com) will have a post on her blog if you use Magnet sheets and envelopes - so please check that out.  

I didn't have any magnet sheets at the house so I just decided that it was easier for me to keep the dies in small bags and then in the envelopes provided.  Totally up to you which method works best.

Hope you liked my village! I know I do!  It did take a bit to organize all the dies at the beginning, but once that is done, it was just a matter of choice..."what window should I use?", "what door is right?"...that kind of stuff.

I would love to make more houses for my village display for Christmas. So let's see if that happens!

Now carry on,
paula