Glitter Town: More Putz Houses From the Creative Mind of Steven Leeds

While we are waiting for Steven to design the promised last 4 buildings in his North Pole series, I have started converting the other patterns he has sent me. Steven Leeds designs traditional Putz buildings using CAD and cuts them out of chipboard. He was posting his patterns in PDF form in a Facebook group we both belong to, and people began to ask for his files in SVG format. I volunteered to convert them so they would work in Cricut Design Space, and since Facebook wouldn’t allow me to share SVGs, host the files on my site. I started with the North Pole series as they were the newest, and Steven was very open to feedback on how to design with CAD so that the patterns were easily converted to SVGs. The other set of files Steven sent me (17 in total!) he designed more than two years ago and they are proving to be a bit more challenging. Steven didn’t name this set, so I have called them Glitter Town.

In some cases Steven designed the building but not the roofs, or he didn’t add a notch in the roof for a chimney, or he designed the building but never made it so there is no picture. Luckily for me other people in our Facebook group are working through the PDF patterns and are posting their suggested changes. I have included their suggestions in my files, and have tested each of these patterns. If anyone runs into any other problems with any of them, please let me know. If I ever make changes to any of my SVGs, I number the changes. Hence in my library if you see a pattern labeled 1.1, you will know I have made a change to the original pattern.

Like the North Pole series, these are traditional Putz houses. Thus they are very basic, without windows on the back, or often on the sides. All have the hole for a light in the back. Many Putz designers use purchased or printed windows and doors, and glitter the entire house, so there isn’t as much emphasis in designing a “finished” house. They do not have window frames or doors.

Once again, these buildings are smaller than the Tim Holtz Village Die size I use for the patterns I design. While the SVGs can be resized to a larger size, many of the buildings Steven design are in one piece, so some of them are already approaching the 11 1/2″ maximum cutting area that most people can handle. I have not yet changed the patterns to break them into fronts, backs, sides, etc., that could more easily be resized, but Steven has given me his permission to change his patterns to resize, add window frames & doors, etc. I will begin to do so as I find the time, starting with Glitterhouse #3 (in the featured picture above) as I think it would make an absolutely fabulous café. I will of course resize it to fit with the Tim Holtz Village houses and will write a tutorial blog post.

Update 2/15/2021

Adding Glitterhouse 4 , 5 & 6

Update 3/2/2021

Adding Glitterhouse 7, 8 & 9

Update 4/17/2021

Adding Glitterhouse 10, 11 & 12

Update 6/30/2021

Adding Glitterhouse 13

Update 7/8/2021

Adding Glitterhouse 14, 15, and the Diner (these are the last of the patterns.)

I have to admit that even though I still have so many of Steven’s files yet to convert, I check the Facebook group several times a day to see what he is working on next!

Several people have asked what material Steven uses to cut out his buildings. It is 30 pt. chipboard, which is a medium weight brown Kraft cardboard. The link above is to the exact brand that Steven posted that he buys. Please note that chipboard is made out of recycled materials, and hence should be covered with gesso before painting as it is highly absorbent. I have been able to cut the 30 pt. chipboard with a regular fine point blade, but I often have to cut it two or three times..

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MAKER’S GALLERY FOR STEVEN LEEDS’ GLITTER TOWN

FREE PATTERNS & CUT FILES FOR STEVEN LEEDS’ GLITTER TOWN

Download the Glitter Town Buildings

Get the password for the library with the free Glitter Town Building patterns and SVG/DXF/PDF files here by filling out this form:

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