I was playing around with making thatched roof and came up with this design. It's a grass die turned upside down, colored with ochre paint. The strips are layered and overlapped. I tried making it out of sisal, but it kind of looked like a bad wig. Need to work on that a little more.

This house was also made with that custom die I had made last year. I just cut off the front gables since this is a simple country home. The windows, doors, and bricks are from a stamp set that I bought. The windows and doors I stamped on paper and then cut out. The brickwork I stamped directly on the house and then colored it. I made the rock wall using a cobblestone stencil, texture paste (somewhat like Snowtex but not as fluffy) and then painted it with some distress paints. I'm pretty happy about how the wall turned out.

I need to add a tree. There are always more details, aren't there?

Lucy

Very nice Lucy. I love the exposed brickwork!

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I rather like this!

Nice touch with the exposed brick

Lucy...

you sure are getting a lot of "mileage" out of the custom die you had made!...i can see a little red or french blue wagon in the yard under the tree...perhaps the suggestion of a grape arbor and a wine grape press as well...

at your convenience...i would like the details on the cobblestone stencil and the texture paste you used on the fence...

thanks...howard...

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I really like the exposed brick too. I try to paint around it with sanded paint so it looks like the plaster has come off.

Howard, you asked about the cobblestone stencil, well, actually I made it from a cobblestone die. I couldn't find a stencil that was the right proportions for the little house. I posted a photo below. The plastic stencil is 6 x 6 and the stones are just a little too large, I think. So I cut out the cobblestone frame on 8.5 x 11 cardstock (65# cardstock was the heaviest it would do) and placed it on parchment paper so it wouldn't stick, then covered it repeatedly with Mod Podge. It's a little fragile but I can make a new one if I need it. I think this will work for awhile.

I used a Tim Holtz texture paste from Ranger, but there are lots of texture pastes out there that are probably much cheaper. I keep wondering if drywall compound would work. It may not be too inflexible, I'm not sure. I haven't experimented with it yet.

I can make a stencil for you if you want or I could just send you the paper cut out.

Also, I designed my custom die to be flexible because I knew it was going to be expensive, I wanted to get as much use from it as possible. I actually used it as the base for the Christmas canal houses, I just moved the plastic pieces up when I rolled it through the cutter so it wouldn't cut the bottom piece and the house would be taller. I also discovered the some of the off-cuts will make a cute little house. I posted a picture below.

Here is a question for you - how do forum members contact each other without putting their email addresses in the forum? I need to send something to OKPat, but I don't want my email "out there" in cyberland. Is there a way to leave a message for someone privately on the forum?

Lucy...

OK...that's all the info I needed on the stencil and paint...no need to send anything...I can take it from here!...I just needed the "what you did and how you did it"...very clever!...

My very best regards...Howard...

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Hi Lucy. If OKPat will add her email to her profile, you can see it by clicking on "members" top right of the forum page. Only members can see it, not the "public" (non-member lurkers, spammers, etc.) You can either add your email to your profile, or she can. I did leave my email here once on a post for Maria, but I did go back a few hours later and delete it after she said got it. Hope this helps!

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Thank you, Will. That helps. I'll add my email.

Howard, I smiled when you said "I can take it from here" because if anybody can figure it out, you can. Also if you can make flatties, you can certainly cut a stencil pretty easily.

Love the stones and the roof. I can't believe how creative this group is!