Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Christmas in July

It is fun to be creating Christmas art in July when we have sweltering heat with humidity levels at 90% and long sun filled days.  The current challenge with the Frilly and Funkie design team "Christmas in July" has us cooling down.

The talented Cec has asked us to get a head start on your Christmas projects.   In her words:  "You might be experiencing summer heat but let's think cool by getting a head start on Christmas preparations.  Your vintage or shabby chic creation could be a card, something to present a gift in or a decor item for the house or tree."

I was inspired to pull out the dwellings die to create a Christmas cottage. 


I have this die because I love vintage paper houses and especially the churches.  I started by cutting all the pieces for the church and ended up with a rustic holiday cottage.



I cut all the pieces out and started by stamping text along the bottom half of the house.  I left it halfway to draw the eye upward.  I then sponged the bottom half a little darker and drew again up to the top with a lighter effect.

I decided to accent my house with a mix of reds and browns on the windows, door and chimney.  I stamped the door and chimney with a mix of stamps.


I continued with the same theme all around the house with my little holly and berries on the windows.
The roof and porch were just dragged brown die ink across the surface to give a grainy effect.
The wreath was a little inspiration from a previous project. I had cut a few of the wildflowers and had them leftover on my desk. I thought how fun it would be to use a paper punch and punch a hole in the center of the flower, cut the stem off and shift them a bit to create a small wreath to hang on my porch.

I cut up the leaves and created swags of holly with a few pearls colored red to coordinate.  I sprinkled it with mica flakes and a snowy little cottage on Christmas Eve.

At the end of the challenge the team will choose their top four picks. Our first place winner will be invited to join us for a Guest Designer spot here at Frilly and Funkie. Three additional talented participants will receive badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and adheres to the challenge guidelines will be entered into a drawing to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique!


Please cool off with us and share some Christmas design with us at Frilly and Funkie this week!

Suzz

8 comments:

  1. Oh Suzanne! I adore this little house - the festive greenery is so delicate and perfect but I think the bit that I love the most is your subtle stamping and blending which take it to a whole new level xx

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  2. May I please please please spend my Christmas holidays in this charming cottage? I love the way you decorated this darling dwelling with other dies and stamps. It's so inviting and really feels like Christmas. It's gorgeous!

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  3. Wow, Suzzane! I'm in love with your little cottage! (I didn't realize how little until you mentioned using the flower die cuts for the wreath-genius move!) I adore the stamping and the bits of holly at the windows! A perfect home for the holidays! I'm afraid if I owned this die I might not EVER come out of the Closet! Hugs!

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  4. Oh Suzz, I just love the way you incorporated stamping on this wonderful little house. The colors are amazing and the small details like the ice on the roof and beautiful greenery really make a power statement! Fantastic use of this church due - love!!! Hugs,
    Autumn

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  5. Any time I see a little house, it makes me happy. This one in particular makes me happy because it's Christmas in July. The colors and the greenery really appeal to me. Thank you for sharing your (little) house with us.

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  6. Such a fun project. Love all the sweet little details you have shared with us. The wreath is really unique. Thank for the inspiration, I need to fire up Mr. MoJo.

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  7. Absolutely adorable! I love the script on the house itself, and the simple, rustic colour scheme is really gorgeous. Lovely garland!
    Alison x

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  8. This is what I love about your work. You manage to elevate simple design into artwork. That wee house...so precious and inviting. There's a story waiting to be told here. I can't wait to see the rest!

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