Little House on the....

There's no ignoring it now... The fairy lights are twinkling, chocolate goodies abound, Bing is crooning and the first snow flurries have descended. Yes! The festive month has arrived and I finally gave into it and went all silvery. At Simon Says Stamp & Show we are "In the House" so to speak with our new House Rules Challenge theme.

As said, I felt a bit of the festive spirit creeping up on me, but I also wanted to try out something new with metal but not go down my normal route with the rusty tones. I love Tim's industrial metal technique and wondered how it would look as cladding for on my little Christmas house!

l got Mr. Hubby to saw off a chunk of wood for me, I sanded it down and then covered it in lots of  pieces of metal foil sheets. I tried to get all the raw edges to meet at right angles for a cleaner look. The wood block isn't perfectly square but let's mark that down as 'the rustic look'.... When it was all covered I used my Ten Seconds tools and scraper edge to create all the details.

It was then a case of rubbing a blob of black paint over the whole house and then wiping it off with kitchen paper, leaving some behind to create that 'dirty' look. Don't use too much paint. it needs to be a bit on the dry side to work well. I spent a while thinking of the right words and also knew I wanted to use my rosette die so Star seemed to be the perfect word... and then it led to me adding a few lines from "We Three Kings of Orient Are..."

 I'm definitely into my Grunge letters at the moment and a bit of gesso and Distress Ink gave me just the effect I needed.

 I then went for my peg stamps which really are a must in your stash as you can use them on SO MANY projects!!!!

 Finally my star which I created with more foil tape and paint. My Big Shot cutting boards are very worn but that actually gives me quite a nice bit of texture on my rosettes where the paint can get in! Before folding my rosettes I ran a piece of normal tape along the back as this holds them together better and prevents splitting. Just a spinner, more black paint on the Philosophy tag and two metally things I had in my stash -  and my house was built. Fa, la, la la, la... and all that.

The house theme is just perfect for December crafting! Are you looking for some great seasonal ideas for your home? Well, take a look at the totally fabulous creations from the Simon Says Stamp & Show Design Team for lots of inspiration! Then ski off to your crafty zone and join in as you could win this generous $50 prize! Just what your stash of stash needs! Right then, I'm away... Got a baby in 6th gear and she's ready to rumble (all the time). Thanks for popping by.
Sarah.

*Ranger ISF30010 METAL FOIL TAPE SHEETS Postcard 4.25 x 5.5	*Tim Holtz Sizzix Die MINI PAPER ROSETTES 657177 Sizzlits Alterations	*Ten Seconds Studio COOL TOOLS BASIC SET Metal Works	*Ranger Adirondack PAINT DABBER PITCH BLACK Acrylic
*Tim Holtz Idea-ology PHILOSOPHY TAGS Hardware Metal Charm TH92678	*Tim Holtz Idea-ology 24 METAL GAME SPINNERS with Brads	*Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD BLACK SOOT Ranger	*Hero Arts PLAYFUL FLOWER LETTERS 2011 Rubber Stamps LP203
*Ranger Inkssentials CRAFT SCRAPER Tool Remove Paint Glue Wax ICSR23890	*Tim Holtz Idea-ology GRUNGE BLOCKS TH92925	*Ranger Inkssentials GLOSSY ACCENTS Glue Dimensional Adhesive	*Claudine Hellmuth GESSO Studio Primer Paint Ranger

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