Vintage Travel Trunk with Eileen Hull Designs

Gosh, another year passed! These days I share tutorials over on Facebook, Instagram and my YouTube channel but this is something of a throwback one so I'm going 'old school'. First shown back in 2019 this is my take on a tiny vintage travel trunk using a couple of Eileen Hull Designs Scoreboards Dies.

This vintage style travel trunk opens to reveal sectioned drawers and pockets all ready to hold everything the seasoned traveller could require on a long trip abroad.

So let's get started with making one.

The set of three drawers are cut using matboard and Eileen's Stacking Drawers Die. The outer 'sleeve' wraps around easily as all the pieces are pre-scored by the die. When assembling the drawers I found it worked best to put the bottom pieces on the inside for a better fit.

The outer trunk is cut using matboard and Eileen Hull's Treasure Box Die. The pieces are also pre-scored and easy to assemble and you'll see this time I put the bottom pieces on the outside.

You'll see from the photo above how the assembled bare matboard drawers fit together inside the box with room to spare for the inclusion of handles or pulls if required.

Paint each of the drawer pieces in a colour that will contrast with the outside of the trunk, then blend a little permanent brown ink along each of the edges.

To prevent the painted surfaces sticking to each other and make the drawers easier to slide in and out I suggest rubbing a plain wax candle over the edges.

Cover the box in a faux leather fabric or cardstock - having done this after cutting my pieces I can highly recommend applying your choice of finish, be it fabric or patterned paper, to both sides of your matboard before cutting the pieces with the die.

Above you can see how the drawers sleeves fit snuggly in place inside the decorated box. I chose to use glue on the edges of the sleeves to ensure they were firmly secured in place.

Add more fabric or cardstock to the outside of the drawers. Again I would suggest you add your choice of fabric or patterned paper to the matboard before cutting these pieces to make assembly much easier and quicker.

Cover the edges in strips of metallic tape or cardstock, embossed with an industrial finish if you prefer. A touch of brown permanent ink will help dull down the shine for that vintage look.

To finish the travel trunk cut hinges using the Treasure Box Die and use a cut-down belt to hold the box closed. Add a pocket to the inside of the box lid to hold travel documentation - Eileen has designed options for this as part of her Thinlits Dies range.

I decorated the top of the box with a filigree metal piece and some stone fragments as a way of ensuring the belt remained in place. You could skip this or add your own choice of decoration - for example a piece of costume jewellery?

Here are a couple of close ups to show you those details.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing how this tiny vintage travel trunk came together. The dies are all still available over in Eileen's Etsy Store HERE.

Thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx

Creating the Cover of my Architecture Collage Concertina Album for Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. Well it's been a minute! Due in part to a general dwindling interaction with blog posts these days most of what I have been creating has been shared on my Facebook page and YouTube channel. However for this tutorial I felt the instructions were too long to share there so here we are.

So let's start by introducing the project I made for Eileen Hull's September 2025 Sizzix release - a concertina book with wraparound fabric cover. Opening that cover reveals...

This whole book is a mix of collage pages featuring architectural images taken from Eileen's September and May Sizzix releases. For this tutorial I'm going to share with you the process taken to make the archway scene panel on the front cover. So let's get started!

The whole panel is made from layers of die cut card using the ever-decreasing arch dies from Eileen's Sizzix Thinlits Die Set #666980 'Tunnel Arches'. My card was painted but you could easily use coloured card instead.

The first panel is cut with the largest arch die, offset to one side and as close to the bottom of the card as I dared, leaving room for a 'step'. My card was cut at around 4 1/2" x 6" (11cm x 15cm) though I did take a little off the top before gluing it all together.

The next piece of card was cut with the second largest die, moved over to the right and up a little. I found the best way to line up my inner arches was to put the first layer on top of the second one and move the second arch die around until it looked right - the plan is to off-centre the arches rather than line them up. In this way you create that sense of perspective and journey through to the view beyond.

Third layer, third largest arch, again moved up and along from the second. I started drawing in some simple stone shapes around the arches and steps along the bottom with a pencil.

The fourth layer, and I skipped to the fifth largest die, cutting two arches side by side back over on the left side of the card. The eagle-eyed might spot that I cut out a section to the side of the stairs but then decided to leave it in place.

Now for the drawing part. This might seem a bit daunting but remember, ancient arches are not supposed to be perfect! Start with a pencil and only draw over with a pen when you are happy. Make the closer stones/steps larger than those behind to add to the sense of perspective.

Keeping going to the third and fourth layers you'll see how the stones are smaller and the horizontal part of the steps gets thinner as they go up, until they disappear completely. Keep putting the four layers together to get that overall look working.

Adding shading to the horizontal steps and inner arches makes the card start to come to life. I used PaperArtsy Mattints 'Shadow' for this purpose but you may prefer watercolour, pencils etc.

Now you are ready for the background. Draw a line across the back panel of card just below level with the top of the steps.

Make marks where the right arch meets the horizontal line and draw a pathway from there, making it smaller towards the top where your tiny villa will sit in the distance. Start cutting out fields using the dies from Eileen's Sizzix Thinlits Die Set #666978 'Home Sweet Home' using various pieces of green card.

I cut a piece of blue paper to create the sky background, feathering some white paint across to give the impression of whisps of cloud. Colour in the pathway and cut your villa, again using the dies from the 'Home Sweet Home' die set.

Build your scene with the field die cuts and more strips of green card. I decided to use a bit of texture paste to fill in parts where the path curved back on itself and cut some teardrop shapes to represent the cypress trees so familiar in Italian landscapes.

To further enhance that sense of perspective cut a large urn and flowers using Eileen's Sizzix Thinlits Die Set #666979 'Windowsill Flowers & Vase'. I find if you add paler colour on the centre of the vase and darker colour on the edges you can make it look more 3D.

Assemble your arches and stick onto the background. Slip the urn of flowers onto the bottom step, partially disguising the plain area of wall next to the inner steps. The panel is now ready to add to the front of your book (in this case Eileen's 'Handbound Journal' from the May release). Embellish if you want or leave it plain and let all your creative work shine through!

I hope this has helped those of you wanting to know more about how the cover panel came together and hope to see your own takes on it over in the Eileen Hull Fan Club on Facebook. There's a video flip through of the finished album over on my YouTube channel here. And make sure you check out what the rest of the team have made by hopping over to Eileen's website here.

Thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx

Decorative Stacking Drawer with Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. This month Eileen Hull Designs team is focusing on some top drawer project inspiration with a focus on Eileen Hull's Stacking Drawer Sizzix Scoreboards Die. Make sure to hop on over to Eileen's blog to see what the rest of the team have made with this die.

I wanted to make a quick, decorative little gift box and Eileen's die is perfect for this purpose.

Here's the tutorial, starting by cutting the mountboard (matboard) with the Stacking Drawer Die and then embossing it with Eileen's Sizzix 3D Lace Embossing Folder - note that I only embossed the drawer front. Assemble using strong glue and allow the drawer and sleeve to set.

Paint the drawer and sleeve with matte black paint on the inside and outside.

Gently brush Sizzix Gold Luster Wax over the raised areas to reveal the beautiful Lace pattern.

Cut flowers and leaves using Eileen's Sizzix Thinlits Painterly Blooms & Background Die Set. Arrange and stick to the top of the drawer sleeve.

You'll see that I choose to paint my flowers and leaves to replicate pansies but you can cut them from Sizzix Cardstock if you'll prefer.

And that's it! Add tissue if needed and of course your gift - whoever receives your Stacking Drawer gift box will be able to keep/re-use it after opening.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing this month's Stacking Drawer project. Make sure to check out all the ideas from the rest of the team - as a reminder, links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog.

For now thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx

Collage Treasure Box with Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. This month's theme for Eileen Hull Designs team is “What’s in the Box?”. We’ll be taking a closer look at the Sizzix Scoreboards Treasure Box Die and sharing projects made with it! Unsurprisingly, this Scoreboards Die is extremely versatile and you’ll be inspired to get creating. Make sure to hop on over to Eileen's blog to see what the rest of the team have made with this die.

This month I have taken inspiration from the pages of the books inside the box to decorate a Treasure Box in a collage style.

You'll see I've used Eileen's Sizzix Watercolour Flowers & Lattice Stencil Set, and flower dies from the Sizzix Thinlits Painterly Blooms & Background Die Set, Sizzix Thinlits Envelope, Folder & Flowers Die Set and Sizzix Thinlits Shadow Box Frames #1 Die Set to add detail and pops of colour.

The colour palette is inspired by the Sizzix Surfacez 'Muted Colours' Cardstock collection with each sheet matched to a corresponding PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint. In this way I've been able to build on the die cut cardstock colour pieces to add detail and definition without the need to worry about leaving white card visible beneath. Note: I changed the choice of pinks to 'Rose' and 'Sorbet' after making this original swatch card.

You'll have seen that strips of the cardstock were also embossed using Eileen's gorgeous Sizzix 3D Embossing Folder 'Lace'. Pieces of these were included in the collage background for extra colour and texture. On top of the box you can see more clearly how the paints and cardstock worked together to enhance the die cut flowers around the box handle.

As mentioned earlier, inside the box are three books filled with collage pages from which the inspiration for the outer decoration was taken. As there is a lot to see I will be sharing these individually from this post so stay tuned!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing this month's Treasure Box project. Make sure to check out all the boxes and ideas from the rest of the team - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog.

For now thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx

Stitched Flowers Envelope with Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. This month Eileen's teams are sharing the love of stencils - meaning her new Sizzix stencil set of course!

Following on from last month's watercolour flower experiments I wondered if I could use the stencil set with watercolour pencils on a mixed media background (ie. fabric, washi tape, tissue, paper and more). The answer is - YES!!! This means that you can create individual envelope pages to go inside notebooks and journals using up lots of leftover scraps. It will also work on previously completed pages that need a focal point - like a stitched watercolour flower!

Start with your envelope sealed shut and then cut open at the top and bottom to allow for better access - you will glue the top and bottom back together again when the stitching is complete. Stick a few coordinating strips of fabric, paper, tissue, washi tape etc across the centre of your envelope and blend brown ink around the edges if you want to.

Use the flower, leaf and flower centre stencils from the Watercolour Flowers & Lattice Stencil Set to map out the placement of your finished blooms - you can add the smaller flowers as well as the larger ones. At this point I drew in some simple stems by hand to complete the layout.

Absorbent Ground is an acrylic liquid surfacing medium that dries to a porous, paper-like surface that allows you to work with watercolours in the same way you would on watercolour paper. I applied a couple of layers of Absorbent Ground through the stencils with a small brush and found it worked really well even over fabric.

With your flower stems covered you can begin to add some colour with watercolour pencils. I found it easier to use a wet brush over the dry pigment to get it to blend together - more water, more blending.

The same method can then be used to colour the leaves and stems. Remember to clean your brush between each element to prevent a transfer of colour from one to another.

Once completely dry you can begin to embroider your flowers and leaves, keeping it simple with straight-line stitching using three strands of embroidery thread (floss) in coordinating colours. This is where you'll find having access to the design from the top and bottom of the envelope really helpful if you plan to keep the back of the envelope free of stitching.

To finish add some touches of 'bling' with self-adhesive gems and buttons sewn into place. Then re-seal your envelope at the top and bottom, fold in the middle (if you haven't already) and your page is ready to be added to a notebook or journal.

Here are some close ups of the finished flowers;

I hope you've enjoyed seeing this tutorial for using Eileen's new stencils for some mixed media watercolour fun. Make sure to check out all the fantastic projects and ideas from the rest of the teams - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog.

For now thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx