SIZZIX TRIPLE PLAY BLOG HOP WEEK 1: GINGERBREAD HOUSE

Hello and welcome to Week 1 of the Sizzix Triple Play Blog Hop. This is so exciting and I have been having way too much fun playing at the studio here. This is a long post, so I'm going to get right down to it....but just remember to click "Hop Forward" (or back) on the Sizzix icon in the sidebar to see what everyone else has done with this fantastic house die, which was designed, btw, by our own talented Eileen Hull.

So, with no further adieu, away we go....

Sizzix supplies:

#656836; Sizzix Scoreboards Pro Die - House, 3D, by Eileen Hull

Sizzix 12x12 matboard, white

Sizzix Big Shot Pro die cutting machine

Other supplies:

Plaid's Folk Art Acrylic Paint, Bark Brown

Plaid's Fold Art, High Definition Visual Texture, Wicker White

Golden's Gel Medium, Regular Gel (Matte)

Foam Brushes

Paper Plates

Scissors or Xacto knife

Pencil

Ruler

Plastic Baggie (1 gallon size)

Styrofoam disc, 6" diameter

Styrofoam balls, 1.5" round

Canvas board, 9x12

Buffalo snow

Glitter

Candy: Twizzlers (pull 'n peel), M&M minis, Jolly Rancher Pops, Mike & Ikes

Shredded Coconut

After the die was cut and pulled apart, I used Plaid's Bark Brown acrylic paint to paint the board. Depending on the look you're going for will determine how many coats. I wanted a dense look, so I used 3 coats. Above shows what the paint looked like after one coat.

Once the paint dried, I made a lattice pattern on both sections of roof. I did use a ruler and pencil to mark where I wanted the lines. I then traced the lines freehand with Plaid's High Definition Visual Texture. It really works well for this effect as the bottle has a pointed applicator and it holds the dimension so you have that raised effect.

Make sure everything is dry before you start assembling the house. I used Golden's Gel Medium to glue my house together. I like the consistency of it. Plus it is really strong. Resist the temptation to touch the roof before the glue has time to set. After it is mostly dry (yes, I'm very impatient lol), I started to add the M&M Minis. They are the perfect size for this. I adhered them with the Gel Medium. I kind tilted the house on it's side, added the candy and let that set up before starting the other side. Doing this will ensure that none of the M&Ms fall off.

Just to make it a lil sweeter, I outlined the door and the underside of the roof with the Pull 'n Peel Twizzlers. I glued on the smaller roof, then, using that High Definition Visual Texture again, I made a scallop design all over the front, sides and back of the house. I also added some little details like piled snow on the fence, around the windows and around the door.

This is what it looked like...

Now just to backtrack a little bit, I don't want you to think that there is a lot of sitting around eating Snickers while waiting for glue and texture paint to dry. NO WAY! See, I was having such a good time that I went a little crazy. I decided to make this into a display piece. So here is what I was doing in between working on the house...

The base is simply a 9x12 piece of canvas board. I keep it around my studio all the time. The styrofoam disc I glued to the canvas board with Gel Medium. I sketched out a pathway so I would have an idea as to where I wanted those styrofoam balls to go. There are 6 in the picture above, but I ultimately went with 5. Those are also glued down with Gel Medium, but before gluing them down, I wanted to flatten the bottom a bit. To do that, just rub two of the balls together and they sort of just file each other down. Doing that before you glue helps make them more stable.

Next, I used a foam brush and put a light coating of Gel Medium all over the board and styrofoam. I covered the whole thing with Buffalo Snow. I pulled the snow very thin. I then glued Mike & Ikes to construct the path that leads from the house.

Set the house onto the display, so the door lines up with the path. To simulate trees, I pushed Jolly Rancher lollypops into the styrofoam balls.

Coconut!! Now, it's messy...but a cool effect. Take some shredded coconut and put it in a ziplock bag. Add glitter to it! Close the bag. (yep, I said it...cause someone will forget. I guarantee it lol) Give it a good shake. The coconut is moist, so the glitter will stick to it. Then sprinkle that mixture all over. I added a little extra glitter just for good measure.

That's all there is to it! This was an amazingly fun project. I sure hope you will try it out at home. Be sure to let me know how it turned out.

Artfully yours,

Theresa