Autumn Snow Globe

Is it right to call it a snow globe if there’s no snow? Well, I’m just going to go with it… I mentioned recently receiving this fabulous set from Pink and Main, and decided I had to make something with it. The challenges that went into this card were, fittingly, Pink and Main‘s Autumn (Fall) themed challenge, Simon Says Stamp Monday‘s Autumn challenge, and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday‘s anything goes challenge.

I started by stamping the outline of the snow globe, from the Snow Globe set, onto a snippet of paper. I then lined up the little cabin from the same set and stamped it into the snow globe shape.

Next I got started on the colouring. I decided to keep it simple and didn’t really worry too much about the light source, though I went with the idea of it roughly coming from the top left which is my usual direction. I coloured the wooden slats of the house first, using two shades of brown. I used the same browns to colour the tree trunks before moving onto the leaves of the trees for which I used yellow, orange, and orange-red. The larger tree also had a dark true red, though I don’t think it shows very clearly.

As the brown areas so far were all very similar I decided to go redder for the roof of the little cabin. I still used the browns I’d used on my cabin, but added in some of the orange-red as well to help differentiate it.

I really wasn’t sure what to do for the background so I decided to keep it very simple. I used two shades of green to make grass. The sky actually uses a few more colours. I mostly used a mid-tone blue, with a few areas having a touch of deep purple for some variation and interest. When I realised that it was becoming a bit too dark and overpowering I went over with a white pencil as well as a lighter blue.

Next I went back in to finish off the little cabin. I added yellow to the windows, darker towards the centre and lighter out to the edges. For the door and shutters I almost went with blue, to help tie in the background. However, as I wanted the focus to be on the stamped image rather than the background (which is not so good…) I decided to swap to red instead, which I feel was a good decision.

Once my colouring was done I cut the snow globe out with the coordinating die. I think I must have misshaped the stamp slightly when I put it on my block, because I could not get it to line up with the die quite properly. User error – no doubt practice will make perfect.

I move on to the base of my snow globe. I used brown pigment ink and stamped onto some kraft paper. I used my MISTI for this as the stamp is a solid one and I knew I would have to stamp it several times to get proper coverage, especially as it is a brand new stamp.

The last thing I needed to do was add my sentiment. Initially I was thinking I would stamp directly onto the base of the snow globe, but then I really wanted to use the banner that comes with the stamp set! I think the banner is really cute, though a bit small. I’ll have to play with extending it so I can use it with more sentiments. Anyway, I stamped the banner onto a snippet of grey card stock, then stamped the sentiment, which comes from a little Hot Off The Press set. I also went in with a grey pencil to add some shading to the banner. It is very subtle but I feel it does make a difference.

Finally I just needed to assemble the card. I used Tombow Multi Mono Liquid Glue to attach the dome and base of the snow globe. I then used foam squares to pop up the banner.

I have actually bought Glossy Accents with the specific idea of using it with this stamp set to make my snow globes look glassy. I did not have the courage to try it yet though… I’m worried about messing it up and ruining my image!

I’m pretty pleased with how this turned out. I think my colouring could still use a bit of work, and I really could have done a better job of the background. I really love how the trees turned out though.

Love,

Lady Joyful