Memories Junk Journal

Hi everyone and welcome! Following the success of my last junk journal I'm back with a new one, this time a feminine shabby chic version that would be perfect for storing memories from weddings, christenings or proms. Once again it features the newly released Sizzix die from Eileen Hull Designs new HeARTfelt collection called 'Journal' - this die is designed to create covers which will hold regular Travelers Notebook sized inserts as well as those custom junk journal versions that are proving to be exceptionally popular online.

As before there is a video walk through below to take you through the details of the cover construction and inserts;



I mentioned Eileen Hull had created a fabulous video tutorial demonstrating how to create tassels using her Twist & Style Tool and here's the link;
https://www.facebook.com/eileenhulldesigns/videos/1640955769265524/

And here are some close up photos of the completed journal with it's 'junk' inserts, all vintage in style and with a botanical theme to echo the cover:

I love the touch of understated glamour added to the centres of the flowers by the Moissanite gemstones from Emerald Creek Craft Supplies - as you move the journal around in the light they pick up rainbow glints in various shades of purple, blue and green.

Want to have fun and make your own junk journal to store those precious memories?
First up you'll need the Eileen Hull Designs Journal die from her HeARTfelt collection by Sizzix, available to pre-order from:

US stockist; The Funkie Junkie Boutique
UK stockist; Sir Stampalot
UK stockist; Country View Crafts

And then, the beauty of junk journals is that you can make the signatures out of any junk you like! Here are some links to favourite YouTubers who make fabulous junk journals and inserts to inspire you even more; Beth Wallen, Liz thepaperproject, Tiffy Butter, Amity Bloom, Nik the Booksmith, Michelle Mooney (The Paper Addiction) and Denise (Practice Makes Pretty)

And if you'd prefer to make a Journal but in a totally different style then Eileen Hull has a whole heap of ideas appearing on her FB page Eileen Hull Designs from her incredible Design Team and a host of other guest designers.

I think that's covered everything for this one but if you do have any questions at all please leave a comment below and I'll do my best to help.
For now get creative, have fun and take care of yourselves. Jenny xxx

April Showers at Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone and welcome! It's Suzanne Czosek's turn to host the latest challenge over at Frilly and Funkie and she's called it 'April Showers'. Here's what she has to say about the theme; the weather by me is very unpredictable with plenty of wind and rain. The weather had me thinking about showers. For this challenge create a shabby chic or vintage project inspired by the word showers. Think rain, storms, umbrellas, baby showers, wedding showers whatever comes to mind and start creating.

The team will choose their top four picks with the winner being invited to join us in a Guest DT spot at Frilly and Funkie and the next three will receive badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and follows the rules will be entered into the draw to have the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique, so there are plenty of reasons for joining in the fun.

I created another of my little handmade notebooks to match the theme, though I think the showers turned into full blown rain with this (as is so often the way here in the UK, and by the sounds of it where Suzanne lives too!!!)

When this theme came up I immediately thought of the Seth Apter 'Spot Lights' stamp set with it's rows of uneven dots and splats reminiscent of showers. The intention was to combine them all in some way but things took a different turn. Cutting two pieces of chunky card to 4"x 6" I spread a layer of Ranger Opaque Crackle Texture Paste on the outsides then covered it all with white gesso when dry. Having then given it all a layer of Faded Jeans Distress Paint I waited until it was almost dry before wiping over with a cloth to reveal small patches of the white layer underneath. Then it was time for the stamping. Thankfully I'd treated a spare piece of card in the same way to test out stamping options and discovered that the original plan looked too messy over the distinct crackle texture, so I went with using Seth Apter's French Text stamp with Hickory Smoke Distress Paint. Over the top I added lines of the largest Spot Light strips using offset stamping with Picket Fence and Chipped Sapphire Distress Paints. Finally for the background I used drips of Rust Alcohol Ink over water to make the whole thing more aged and bring out those cracks even more.

To top a busy background I needed to keep it simple, so a double layer die cut Umbrella Man was covered with black gesso before Brushed Pewter Distress Paint was added. I got a great worn effect by adding water and more Rust Alcohol Ink as it reacted when I blasted it with a heat gun - little bubbles appeared and some of the black showed through! I finished him with some gears and found the perfect words in the Idea-ology Clippings sticker set (which were covered with Glossy Accents). To finish I cut the signatures and bound them together with the covers using coptic stitching.

I hope you like how this little notebook turned out. That's it from me for the current Frilly and Funkie challenge "April Showers" Do make sure you hop on over to see how my talented team mates from both the Frilly and Funkie sides of the Design Team have incorporated numbers into their creations. And remember to link your own numerical, shabby chic or vintage projects to be in with a chance of winning one of the fabulous prizes.

Behind the scenes I'm so busy with journals and writing, and will have a new video released for you to see very soon. Meantime, whatever you're up to for the rest of the week, take care of yourselves and have fun! Jenny xxx

Celebrating 'The Magic of Three' at A Vintage Journey

Hi everyone and welcome! Today marks the start of the latest challenge over at A Vintage Journey and this time the theme is 'The Magic of Three'; using three of something adds more interest and power whether it is a conversation, art or numbers. Let us see you use three of something in your challenge project (numbers, techniques, stamps, colours, words, products - the list is endless!)

Our sponsor this month is Emerald Creek  who are offering a gift certificate to our Random Org winner. You can check out their online store HERE.

Last Friday I shared three tags created for our AVJ Tag Friday post and mentioned that they were going to be part of a bigger project - I'm thrilled to be able to share that project in full with you today as part of this challenge. Containing lots of things in triplicate throughout, here's the completed junk journal (where you'll spot the first two set of threes - three Paper Dolls and three charms).

As you can imagine sharing all 60 pages simply isn't feasible in photo form so I've made a video for you;

As promised on the video here are a selection of photos showing the front cover and some of the pages in more detail;

And here are the links to pre-order the Journal die as mentioned on my video;

Sizzix 'Journal' die by Eileen Hull Designs available to pre-order;

in the US from The Funkie Junkie Boutique

and in the UK from Sir Stampalot and Country View Crafts

So that's where this month's fabulous theme took me. Now please do hop on over to A Vintage Journey to see what my fellow Creative Guides have come up with - it's well worth the visit! Then it's over to you - the challenge will remain open for a month so there's plenty of time to get those creative juices flowing and link up your entries to be in with a chance to win.

As you would imagine I have a number of other journals already on the go to share with you soon. In the meantime have a fabulous weekend get creative and take care of yourselves. Jenny xxx

Count Me In at Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone and welcome! It's my turn to host the latest challenge over at Frilly and Funkie and I've called it 'Count Me In!' Numbers are a huge part of our everyday lives so it is no surprise they are also often included in our creative ones too. For this challenge you need to use your choice of numbers to add that special 'sum-thing' to your vintage or shabby chic project. Make them count as part of the design, not just a last minute addition!

The team will choose their top four picks with the winner being invited to join us in a Guest DT spot at Frilly and Funkie and the next three will receive badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and follows the rules will be entered into the draw to have the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique, so there are plenty of reasons for joining in the fun.

I made another little notebook (see the first one here) from scratch as it gave me chance to play and experiment with new schtuff (big grin appears on face!) The cover started life as two pieces of artboard cut to 4"x 6" which were covered with some of the paper from the Dapper collection. My suggestion at this point is to make life MUCH easier for yourselves by using the new Tim Holtz Baseboards as they are already cut to size and covered! Walnut Stain Distress Paint was used on the edges of the boards and a thin layer over the paper to give it an aged look.

Having determined where the binding holes would be I started adding layers of numbers with Distress Paints: Black Soot Distress Paint through the 'Countdown' Layering Stencil; numbers from the new Block Lower Cling Foam Stamp set (LOVE these!) stamped using Evergreen Bough Distress Paint; and the letters from the Documented Stamp set stamped using Mowed Lawn Distress Paint. A little calendar stamp from the same set was used with Red Geranium Archival Ink as a translucent layer. I then set to work with some of the new 'Passport' and 'Vintage' Tim Holtz Design Tapes (again, can't say enough about how gorgeous these are!)

That was it for the back cover but I went on to add trims to the front cover of the notebook. Industrious Stickers trimmed the edges of one of the new Ruler Pieces - as a wooden element it stained perfectly with Fired Brick Distress Oxide. Using a trick from the previous notebook I attached a Hinge Clip with a Dapper Fastener and some waxed thread to the ruler so it would hold a small wooden pencil coloured with Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide. Finally a Nail Head and Pen Nib balanced the design and words from the new Clippings Stickers set were secured with a layer of Vintage Distress Collage Medium. The covers were hand bound to five signatures using waxed thread and coptic stitching.

Here are some close ups of the notebook (click on each image to expand it);

That's it from me for the current Frilly and Funkie challenge "Count Me In!" Do make sure you hop on over to see how my talented team mates from both the Frilly and Funkie sides of the Design Team have incorporated numbers into their creations. And remember to link your own numerical, shabby chic or vintage projects to be in with a chance of winning one of the fabulous prizes.

I'm off to create a video for my next project (all will be revealed on Friday).
Whatever you're up to for the rest of the week take care of yourselves and have fun! Jenny xxx