**Closed/Winner Announced** - Make your own digi snow globe page | Christmas In July - July 26

Discussion in 'Christmas in July 2020' started by bellbird, Jul 25, 2020.

  1. bellbird

    bellbird Pollywog

    Messages:
    16,979
    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2010
    *** Update: Congrats to @mary kate who is the lucky winner for this challenge! ***

    Hi there!
    I'm back today with a Scrap Challenge and we are going to have SNOW much fun! ( :groan :gotcha :giggle)
    It's a 'Make your own digiscrap snow globe' challenge!
    XmasInJul-snowglobe1-KA&PK-600px.jpg

    Let me start by showing you some of my snowglobe collection. If you know me, you know I'm currently in Winter, Down Under, but I'm also snow challenged and don't like the cold anyway but let's leave the psychoanalysis and the why I love snowglobes to another day and just look at them). Some of them have a single figure inside, you can have a complete scene and yes, I've bought tourist trap photo frame ones too. (And yes, for the snow globe officionado's out there, some of them are technically glitter globes but i love them regardless).
    IMG20200715-globes.jpg
    For today's challenge, you can make a snow globe with any method you like. I'll walk you through one method to create the one shown above but you don't have to use it specifically. Your snowglobe can contain whatever you want inside your snowglobe, a photo or elements from a kit; & you can have glitter, beads, sequins, snow, anything really as your shakey goodness! In fact, thinking about making a 'shaker pocket' is really the basic premise of this process so let's start with that.

    OK let's go:
    Step 1 - Snowglobes have a round shape traditionally but you can make it in whatever shape you wish. So the first step is decide on a shape and create it.
    For this example, I will just make a spherical snowglobe.
    So open a new document, 12x12 size, and I've use the Ellipse Tool to drag out a circle shape in a medium grey, holding the 'shift' key to make it a perfect circle.
    We're going to use a few copies of this layer so I changed the name of this one to 'circle back'.
    I also copied it and called it 'circle dome' for later, we don't need it yet so you can hide it for now (by clicking the eye next to the layers palette).
    snowglobe-screen1.jpg
    Step 2 - Now we need a 'base' or something to 'stand' the globe on.
    Using the Rectangle Tool, I've dragged out a rectangle on the layer above my 'circle back' layer. Then go to the Edit menu at the top and go to Transform > Perspective to get the dragging handles on the rectangle. Drag one of the top corners in towards the midline of the rectangle to create a trapezium shape (the other corner will automatically drag to the same angle). Hit Enter or click the tick/check mark on the toolbar at the top to accept the transformation. I've clipped some woodgrain paper to the shape (it's hidden at the moment) and dragged a different woodgrain for the background layer, to give my snowglobe a 'table' to sit on.
    Feel free to create a rectangle or other more intricate shape or experiment with 'Custom Shapes' and decorate the base in any way you wish. Different Styles or Actions can be fun to play with here as well if you want it to be more metallic or different.
    snowglobe-screen2.jpg
    Step 3 - This is where you decide what you want inside your snowglobe.
    I've used some of Kristin's cute little snow dudes from her Winter Wishes kit for this literal snowglobe. I just dragged and resized like when I scrap a normal page. I've kept them more central and towards the bottom of the circle. Anything that is outside your circle shape at this point will not be under the dome or will stick out and spoil the illusion. Erase anything outside your circle or hide it with a layer mask.
    I masked the House layer because I don't want the parts of the snowy ground to stick out. To hide all the parts outside the circle, I clicked on the House layer in the Layers Palette so it was active (blue); then clicked the thumbnail picture of the Circle Back (clicking on the name of the layer won't work, it needs to be the image of the circle itself) and then after the marching ants/dashed lines appear around the circle, I hit the 'Add layer mask' icon at the bottom of the Layers Palette - it's the white rectangle with the grey circle in the middle.
    I'll shadow them in a minute when I create the 'dome'. You could consider adding a photo or clipping a paper to the Circle Base layer as well.
    snowglobe-screen3.jpg

    Step 4 optional - Now we are going to use filters and create a clear-ish bubble
    like you'd have in the bath or blow with a wand in the backyard to give this a dome appearance.

    ** I'm aware these filters may not exist in every program. Applying a clear epoxy or a different shiny, glossy gel type of Style or effect, like if you were making a brad or flair (Mommyish, Just Jaimee, NBK & Elif Sahin all make style packs) can give a similar effect. I experimented with a Glossy Epoxy style from Mommyish's Just the Basics style pack on the Circle Dome layer, I changed the layer blend mode to Overlay and played with the sliders in Bevel etc. Then I reduced the Opacity on the Circle Back to 30%. Here's what that looks like to this point.
    snowglobe-screen4a.jpg
    Snowglobe4b.JPG

    ... continued in next post...
     
    Last edited: Aug 2, 2020
    Nemla, JenEm, AlyciaIN and 2 others like this.
  2. bellbird

    bellbird Pollywog

    Messages:
    16,979
    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2010
    Step 4 continued. Because I hadn't done the filter bubble thing myself before, I went looking for videos and there are several. This may look confusing at first, but I'm here to try to make it easy and encourage you to give it a go!

    First we need to copy the CircleBack into a new document so that the edges touch each side of the square canvas/background.
    lensflare1screen.jpg lensflare2-screen.jpg
    (With this step and the next one, in the pop-up window, the default zoom is 100% and all i could see in the preview square was flat black; i reduced it to 12.5% like I underlined in red to be able to see a preview of what the whole thing would look like so if you only have a black square in your pop-up preview, don't worry, it should still work, or you can change the zoom in the preview like I did)
    lensflare3-screen.jpg
    lensflare4-screen.jpg
    lensflare5-screen.jpg
    lensflare6-screen.jpg
    lensflare7-screen.jpg
    (Bonus idea: Also at this point, you can hide the Circle Back layer briefly and just save a PNG of your Highlights to use to make snowglobes a lot faster in the future!!)
    So now after all that, I drag the 'Highlights' layer and Circle Back layer into my original snowglobe document, above the CircleDome layer, and align them with the original Circle Back layer. After they are aligned, delete the Circle Back you just dragged in and reduce the original one's Blend Mode to 30% opacity.
    To give the dome some glass 'thickness', I ended up activating both Highlights layers and increasing the size of them slightly so that the Circle Dome and everything 'in' the dome looks like it doesn't rest right up to the outside edge of the 'glass'.
    lensflare8-screen.jpg

    Step 5 optional - Now, if you are going for a realistic look with your snowglobe (mine is more cute cartoony than realistic because of the elements I've used),and you made a bubble or flare, and if you have really filled the globe with elements, you have the option of adding a distortion effect.
    "Um what?! Why?!" Think of a fishbowl, the fish often looks larger than it really is. You know how looking through water as well as the glass, it distorts it's appearance, and if something is part in, and part out of the water, there's refraction and scientific things to think about. Too much?! I know right, that's why I kept mine small and central, so they aren't too distorted by the curves of the globe.

    If you want to add this effect in Photoshop, for each element inside your dome, make the layer active and then use Filter > Lens Correction; under the Custom tab, on the first slider that says 'Remove distortion', change the number to minus 40 (-40.00) because we're going to add a distortion, and mathematically, two negatives make a positive. Depending on what you have added to the globe, play around with the slider to make the distortion fit.
    lenscorrection-1.jpg This is why I kept mine small and central, so that I didn't really need to distort it - this looked too weird for me with the house all curvy. But I did decide that shrinking the house, see how the snowy base is pulled away from the edges of the circle? This gave the globe some thickness so I skipped the Lens Correction but shrunk my house and the circle mask a bit.
    snowglobe-lenscorrecthouse.jpg

    Step 6 - This is where you decide what sprinkles you want inside your snowglobe. I used some premade confetti and glitter clusters that was in the Winter Wishes kit. I put some on the layers above and the layers below my snowdudes and house for depth. To make sure it stays within the globe (and i don't have stray confetti), I control clicked my 'circle back' (the little picture of it in the Layers Palette so that the marching ants/moving dashes appear ) and put a layer mask over my confetti. I also erased a few individual confetti that covered my snow man's eyes. (See my Tips and Tricks on 22 July for steps on how to do this.)
    Using Layer Style > Drop Shadow, I shadowed these and my snow dudes at an angle of 130, so that the light hitting the top left of the dome continued through it, shadowing everything inside the same direction.

    So there you go. That's a clear dome style snowglobe, I added some icicles and a bow to the base, I also added some sparkles like in July 22 Tips and Tricks, again this is optional, and here's my finished page that included my snowglobe.
    [​IMG]

    So like I said at the start, you can make any kind of snowglobe using any method you want for today's challenge. Here's an alternate type, I made with one of SWL's templates that featured a circle and I made it a flat photo frame style, shaker pocket type of snow globe. I chose this template as it already had a cut-out layer that surrounded the circle and I added a new layer and made a basic stand at the bottom & pretty much covered it in wordart. To give it some extra magic, I added one of NBK Design's Magic Lights with a blend mode over the top (erasing the bits that obscured my daughter's face) with the snow spray from the ForeverJoy kit I used. So it's not a true enclosed dome but I think it's still recognisable as a snow/glitter globe.
    [​IMG]

    So I hope you're feeling inspired, use any technique to make a snowglobe with digi products and tag me if you have questions so I see them, and I can't wait to see what you make!

    And if you have a snowglobe collection yourself, I'd love to see some of them! Just take a photo, resize the image to between 400-600 pixels & attach it to a reply in this thread like I did with my photo.


    __________
    Reminder: Your page must contain at least 75% current Lilypad product. Your page should be posted in your Lilypad Gallery and to this thread. Use the BBcode Code next to your page in the gallery and paste it in when you 'Post Reply' to this thread.

    You have until 11:59pm EDT on July 31 to complete this Christmas in July challenge. There will be one random $3 winner!
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2020
    Nemla, JenEm, AlyciaIN and 5 others like this.
  3. bellbird

    bellbird Pollywog

    Messages:
    16,979
    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2010
    reserved for Q&A
     
  4. umyesh

    umyesh President of the Hangry Ladies Supper Club

    Messages:
    11,653
    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2012
    Creating a snow globe sounds like so much fun! I have to try this soon, hopefully tomorrow! Thanks Justine!
     
    bellbird likes this.
  5. cfile

    cfile My bags are packed for Platform 9 3/4

    Messages:
    23,850
    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2011
    This was fun.. thanks for the inspiration Justine :)

    [​IMG]
     
    umyesh, AlyciaIN, bellbird and 2 others like this.
  6. barbaraj

    barbaraj Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,578
    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2010
    Here's my daughter riding in the snow:
    [​IMG]
     
  7. garrynkim

    garrynkim I'm not messy, I'm just really creative!

    Messages:
    3,649
    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2017
    Super fun! Thanks I love Kristin Aagards littles!!:
    [​IMG]
     
  8. marijke

    marijke Weekends are for wine.

    Messages:
    5,128
    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2010
    Thank you for the tutorial Justine ... what a great job ...

    [​IMG]
     
  9. Cherylndesigns

    Cherylndesigns All glasses should be bigger than 1.5 oz

    Messages:
    8,986
    Joined:
    Dec 15, 2017
    Wonderful tutorial, Justine! I'm going to try to work on this later.
     
    bellbird likes this.
  10. bellbird

    bellbird Pollywog

    Messages:
    16,979
    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2010
    So nice to see all these this morning! Looking fa-la-la-fabulous - commented up to here
     
  11. jang

    jang Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

    Messages:
    2,205
    Joined:
    Jul 18, 2012
    Great job on the tutorial. Wasn't able to get the highlight because I use Elements and there is no channels. Tried watching a You Tube but it didn't work. I am happy with it as it is.
    [​IMG]
     
    umyesh and AlyciaIN like this.
  12. bellbird

    bellbird Pollywog

    Messages:
    16,979
    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2010
    Ugh, I didn't google that step - I looked up the Filters, especially the Render> Flare for PSE but I didn't even think about that step; glad you are happy with it but I think Christa has PSE & is a tech wizz, let's see if she has any ideas @cfile - any ideas for a workaround for channels palette (step 11) ??
     
  13. Dalis

    Dalis Jose Cuervo is NOT a good friend

    Messages:
    22,456
    Joined:
    May 6, 2011
    I can't wait to make my snowglobe, this challenge has me all giddy!
     
    bellbird likes this.
  14. heather_dw

    heather_dw Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    192
    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2015
    I might have to tap out. It's not working for me. I can't make sense of the bubble part. Mine just makes multi layers of black layers, not the pretty circles. If I use copy merged, it just copies my entire globe as that layer back. If I just "copy" and go from there, I get just totally black layers, not black cirles
    . I just got so annoyed that I gave up
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2020
  15. bellbird

    bellbird Pollywog

    Messages:
    16,979
    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2010
    lol yeah we have challenges every once in a while that make me feel the same sometimes, i have to step away and regroup and come back, so i tried to put enough detail in my screenshots but screens often look different. Can I ask what program are you in?

    So the bubble part (all the screenshots with red boxes numbered 1- 17, listed under 'Step 4 continued') happen in the same new doc you make at the start of that step.
    I did it that way so the clear bubble can be saved by itself for re-use again (mostly for myself at first lol - i could see myself making a few snowglobes)
    And you are more than welcome to make a 'bubble' any way you wish or put an epoxy kind of flair effect on it with a style, action or alternate method.
     
  16. heather_dw

    heather_dw Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    192
    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2015
    Photoshop cc '19

    **edit**

    Okay, might have found the issue here. I was making new image at 12x12 NOT the exact size of the circle back. Let me see if that fixes. (so dense.. lol )
     
    bellbird likes this.
  17. Dalis

    Dalis Jose Cuervo is NOT a good friend

    Messages:
    22,456
    Joined:
    May 6, 2011
    Here is mine, this was fun! I learned a lot!

    [​IMG]
     
    umyesh, AlyciaIN, cfile and 1 other person like this.
  18. bellbird

    bellbird Pollywog

    Messages:
    16,979
    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2010
    Yep, the new doc needs to be the diameter of your circle, so that will make a difference; sounds like your off to a good start now! I'm out for school pick up in town soon but I'll check back after. CC 2019 should have a similar look to my CS6 screens
     
  19. AlyciaIN

    AlyciaIN Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    660
    Joined:
    Oct 21, 2017
    I had fun playing with the tutorial, but ended up being happier with a snowglobe from Kathryn Estry's Silly Snowman Gang kit (non-Lilypad designer). I primarily used Kristen Aagard's Winter Wonderland kit for my layout. I also added some sparkles from Sahlin Studios Project Mouse Fantasy kit to highlight the snowglobe glass & base and the large snowflakes like in the July 22 Tips and Tricks.

    https://the-lilypad.com/forum/galleries/07_26-snowglobe-smaller.440525/

    [​IMG]
     
    umyesh and bellbird like this.
  20. heather_dw

    heather_dw Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    192
    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2015
    umyesh, cinderella, AlyciaIN and 2 others like this.

Share This Page