Christmas Carol House with Guest Designer Kathy Clement

Hello, Friends! Well, Thanksgiving is behind us, and now it's time to dig in and create for Christmas! I'm excited about the month ahead for many reasons, not least of which is the fact that I have been invited to create four projects using scrumptious laser cut chipboard from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts! This chipboard is sooooo yummy, as you will see in today's project. I made a Christmas Carol House using loads of Gypsy Soul Lasercuts, Graphic 45 "A Christmas Carol" papers and lots of sparklies and pretties!! 

  

This is one of those projects that I wish you could see in person, because it is so much cooler than the pictures show. I've never made anything quite like this before, and boy oh boy, was it fun!

 

I began by painting the 3 Story House with a coat of white gesso followed by a swish of Iced Spruce Distress Paint. Next, I sponged all the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. After that, I cut my Graphic 45 "A Christmas Carol" papers to fit each floor and the inside and outside of the pieces. I felt it was easier to decorate the house before building it. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to put the house together using just a touch of Art Institute Dries Clear Glue. The pieces are dovetailed, so they fit together seamlessly.  

 

Here's what the house looked like in process, so you can see how I combined my papers. Nothing is glued down here yet. The next step was to choose and prepare my chipboard pieces. Here's a list with links to the chipboard I selected:

• Snowflake Border
• Snowflake Shape Set
• Stars and Flourishes Border and Corner Set
• Winter Shape Set
• Victorian Silhouette Frames
• 3 Story House

I wanted my stars and snowflakes to glitter and shine, so instead of painting them, I treated them with Shabby Frantage Embossing Powder in shades of white and blue. This opaque powder contains little flecks of gold, color and glitter and adds a wonderful vintage finish to chipboard. Here's what that 

process looked like.

  

I tapped my chipboard pieces with Versamark Ink. Really lay it on nice and thick!

  

Use a funnel tray or piece of clean paper and pour a thick layer of the embossing powder over the prepared chipboard. Press it down lightly with your fingertips, then tap off the excess and put it back in the bottle. Then, heat emboss. Easy peasy...and you don't have to wait for paint to dry!

 

For the roof, I used DecoArt Crackle Texture Paste and let it cure overnight. I painted it with a thin layer of Clear Rock Candy Distress Paint and while that was still wet, I sprinkled it with Stampendous Shaved Ice Flakes. I love how it glistens just like a snow topped roof!

  

Each floor of the house features a wintry holiday scene. And just look how those embossed snowflakes glisten! 

  

The "ground floor" uses a tree from the Winter Shape set along with a trio of altered bottle brush trees, a snowflake that I cut in half, and cutie pie snow angel. The floor is covered with paper, Spanish Moss, Shaved Ice, and some Prima Winter Berries. I let the embossed chipboard stars and snowflakes form a frame around this pretty winter scene. The bottle brush trees are mounted on altered thread spools to achieve varying heights. 

 

I used the star border as a base for my arrangement of flowers, pine cones, jingle bells and berries. It adds such a festive feeling!

 

This image from the 8x8 Christmas Carol pad fit perfectly inside this Victorian Man and Woman frame! I simply painted the frame black, then dry brushed it here and there with a little Iced Spruce Distress paint.

  

The "attic" is lit with Tim Holtz' mini lantern, and yes, it really lights up! Here's a tip: Drill the hole for your wiring BEFORE you assemble the house. Some of us have to learn that the hard way! LOL  

A side view, so you can see the fun metal feet and the decorated sides. 

  

 And another side view. Isn't it fun?

  

 And one more peek at that snow topped roof!

  

I'd like to thank Gina at Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts for giving me the opportunity to be a guest designer. I hope you enjoyed your tour of this Christmas Carol House. I'll be back next Wednesday with more ideas. In the meantime, you should check out the online store. It's amazing! Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

Kathy