Market Place Christmas

Hello friends.  I've been a little obsessed this past week (I know...hard to believe me being obsessed about anything, right?!! Haha!!) about The Greetery's Market Place Dies!  It took me awhile to make the 1st one (lots and lots of die cutting!!), but I was totally head over heels in LOVE with how it turned out that I just HAD to make a 2nd one...and then a 3rd, and a 4th, and even a 5th!  Am I done? I honestly don't know! These little European Market Place buildings all decked out for the holidays are so addicting, and once you get going it's kinda hard to stop!!

 Don't they look so pretty all standing next to each other?!  Makes me wish I had a fireplace mantle to line them up on to decorate for the holidays!!  I have lots of close ups so you can see all the details better, so sit back and enjoy!

They were basically all made the same with the Market Place Die No. 1 (There's also a No. 2 and a No. 3 set of dies) and I just switched up the colors on all of them. I used the Market Place Holiday Sentiments stamp set for the names on each of the shoppes (aren't they fun?!) and used the Market Place Holiday Festoons die set for all the wreaths, bows & garlands.

On the North Pole Ice Cream Shoppe and the Kringle's on Main Shoppe I used a brick wall stencil to make it look like the shoppes were made from brick before adding all the window and door frames and decorations...I'm loving that look!  

  The ice cream shoppe was the first one I made and it took the longest as I learned what to do (and not do!) as I went along.  I love the door on this one using more of that sandable cs I've been hooked on lately...it really gives the door an old time feeling. I did place a very light yellow cs behind all the windows and doors to give that soft warm glow from inside the shoppes.

 Most of my shoppe names were embossed in white and adhered to the buildings with foam tape for dimension.

I also did lots of splattering with white acrylic paint to make the buildings look like it was snowing, and yes, I have LOTS of white splatter everywhere in my craft room, but it was worth it!!

I made each building into a shaped card by folding a piece of cs and then laying the open large frame die a little bit off the folded edge to create a card base that would stand up, and then glued the decorated shoppe front to the card base.  Just in case I decide to mail a couple of these out, the recipient can stand the card up. That's still up in the air though as I just don't know if I'll be able to give any of them up!  Of course I could make a few more...

And here they all are again so you can see them all at once!  I really think I might NEED the No. 2 and No. 3 dies now so that the buildings aren't all the same!  Yes I am addicted, but who cares?!!!!!  There are certainly a lot worse things to be addicted to, right?! 

I'm going to send these fun little shoppes over to the NBUS #79 challenge as these dies and stamps have never been used before last week, and also over to the Christmas Kickstart Challenge #103 where they are doing a "Snow Alert" challenge, and with all the snow splattering I did, I definitely think these little shoppes will fit right in!

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!