Seaside Gift Boxes with Eileen Hull Designs

Two blog tutorials in one year? I'll need a lie down 😁! As I mentioned in the previous post 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 an idea for creating seaside inspired gift boxes using one of Eileen Hull Designs Scoreboards Dies. It's perfect for using up some of those special little shells and pebbles you may have brought back from a trip to the beach.

This one is mainly about how to achieve that weathered wood effect on matboard using paints, though you could just as easily use patterned paper glued onto the matboard to achieve a similar effect if you find that better. Just remember to cover both sides of the board.

For the painted version start with an uneven coat of a sand colour. Any matte acrylics will do for this project.

Use a more 'well used' paintbrush to drag some pale blue paint over the top.

Now go in with even less of a pale sage colour - you'll find using less paint each time gets you more natural, blended look.

Go gently with this next stage! Add a few delicate wisps of dark brown paint to suggest an uneven grain you get with weathered wood.

Finally use a white paint/gesso sparingly as your last coat to tie all those subtle colours together and add to that aged look. And remember to paint both sides of your matboard.

Painting (or paper) done, it's on to cutting your gift boxes. Eileen has cleverly designed the Stacking Drawers Scoreboards Die to do all the heavy lifting here - it cuts the draw sides, base and box wrap all in one pass, including all the scoring!

With everything painted/covered both sides and all the cutting and scoring done it's a simple matter of sticking together the drawer/base and doing the same for the box wrap as shown below. I would suggest gluing the rectangular base on the inside of the drawer to make it easier to slide inside the finished box wrap.

Finally I added some permanent brown ink to all the edges for that vintage look but that is purely a preference thing so you may want to leave this stage out.

Decorate the top of your box wrap with shells, pebbles, metal charms, die cut leaves, bits of burlap netting and even drops of molten gold embossing powder - again this totally down to preference and also which treasures you may have to hand. Don't forget to fill your boxes too with golden toffees, clotted cream fudge or other treats to bring a smile to the recipient's face.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing how these seaside inspired gift boxes came together. The die is still available over in Eileen's Etsy Store HERE.

Thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx

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