Christmas House Ornament for Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. This month sees the release of two brand new Sizzix Scoreboards Dies from Eileen Hull Designs! The first is called 'House Ornament' and the second is 'Gift Card Folder & Label #2' and both are so much fun to play with. Make sure to check out the fabulous posts coming this month from the Eileen Hull Inspiration Team on Eileen's website HERE as they share their ideas for using them.

With lots of people already gearing up for Christmas I made this ornament that can be hung from your festive tree and can also hold a special treat or two inside. There's even coordinating labels as part of the die set so you can make several to hold personalised gifts for all the family - that way they can open them and keep the 'packaging' for their own trees!

Although it may look a little in depth to make lots of this ornament comes down to die cutting and adding colour, and I've put together a tutorial for you below.

Start by cutting two of the house ornament pieces using Eileen's 'House Ornament' Die and add embossing paste through a brick stencil to the 'walls' sections.

Chop off the bottom of one piece (as you only need one bottom!) before applying Eileen Hull Designs Clearsnap Colorbox Blends inks - I used the Blends 2 Reinkers and a mini blending tool to add the colour 'Stop' to the walls and 'Ebony' to the roof, though you could also use the original Blends ink application tools with the same colours.

Next up put the stencil back in place and added 'Coconut' Blends ink over the bricks. Again, this could be done with the original ink application tool. One of the fantastic things about Eileen's Colorbox Blends inks is that they are so opaque that white will happily layer over red when that initial layer is totally dry.

Another of the cool things about Eileen's Colorbox Blends inks is that they stay wet for a long while so you have time to apply Eileen's 'Winter White' Molten Dimensions Embossing Powder over the top. Once heat set it really has a great texture and the look of snow/ice when frozen.

At this point it's time to assemble the House Ornament - as the die puts the scorelines in place this is so easy to do either using wet glue or red liner tape. You'll see from the photo below that I used a hairband to hold the sides in place as they were drying.

To give some interest to the roof cut leaves from black card using Eileen's 'Journaling Cards, Flowers & Leaves' die set and stick them in place as shown below after adding a little shaping with an embossing tool.

Stroke the 'Coconut' Colorbox Blends Ink applicator or mini blending tool loaded with the ink over the roof, allowing it to catch on the tips of the leaves. Sprinkle over the 'White Wonder' Embossing Powder and heat set.

With the main house finished it's time to decorate - I used Tim Holtz 'Funky Festive' Thinlits Die Set to cut leaves to form seasonal clusters, colouring them with 'Frog', 'Leaf'' and 'Nutmeg' Colorbox Blends Inks. The berries were created using Liquid Pearls though you could colour self-adhesive pearls to get the same effect. The little house label is also cut from the 'House Ornament' Die Set (there's a blank one and one with a window) and on this version is coloured with the 'Stop' Colorbox Blends Ink. I also added festive charms from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and a ribbon closure that will also enable the Christmas House Ornament to be hung from the tree.

Here are some more photos showing the Christmas House Ornament from different angles;

That's it for this month's Eileen Hull project. For lots more from the Inspiration Team make sure to check out Eileen's website this month HERE. And the 'House Ornament' and 'Gift Card Folder & Label #2' will be available at your retailers now so you can make start making your own gifts for family and friends ahead of the Christmas season.

Thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

Eileen Hull Designs Clearsnap Colorbox Blends Inks are now available in the UK from Country View Crafts HERE.
Eileen Hull Designs Molten Dimensions Embossing Powders from Emerald Creek Craft Supplies are now available in the UK from Country View Crafts HERE.