Photo Frame and Family History for Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome! Throughout November Eileen Hull's Inspiration Team have been sharing ideas and tutorials for using Eileen's new 'Book Club' collection Scoreboards Dies from Sizzix; you can find the range HERE. Back in September I showed you three ideas for using some of the dies and today I'm back to give you the lowdown on making new twist on one of them.

The Stamp & Photo Storage Die essentially cuts a pre-scored 4" x 6" x 1/2" box; that may not sound exciting but as ever it's the possibilities that this affords which gets those creative juices flowing. It's the perfect fit to go inside the Journal (so now you can make those storage pockets for Art Wallets with ease - make sure you check out Anne Redfern's tutorial!) Add handles and it becomes a fun little box bag. My twist is to add an easel and cut a hole in the front to create an interchangeable photo frame that can also be used for decorative storage purposes.

The first step is to cut two storage box sides and one easel piece (using the Small Easel Die). I used an oval Movers & Shapers die to cut a hole in one of the side pieces. You'll be pleased to hear one of these comes as part of the Trinket Box Die; it's a little smaller but that's still going to work perfectly for this project. Cover them all in Hickory Smoke Distress Paint then give them a coat of Brushed Pewter Distress Paint.

You'll notice from the picture below that I removed the end of one of the storage box sides as I wanted the top of the box to remain open. To give them an aged appearance use a sanding block to rub back a little of the paint, particularly along the edges. Blend Walnut Stain Distress Oxide Ink into the exposed areas using a mini blending tool then take a slightly damp piece of tissue and rub away any ink sitting on the painted areas.

Cut two 4" x 6" pieces of patterned paper (I've used some from Tim Holtz 'Memoranda' Paper Stash) two pieces at 3/8" x 6" and one piece at 3/8" x 4" adding a little of the paints and ink to the edges. Stitching can also be added to the edges of the of the 4" x 6" pieces for extra interest.

Glue the paper pieces to their matching sides. In a change from my original version you'll see in the photo below that I've added an extra frame detail to the front. This is cut from paper covered card using the Trinket Box Die and the Oval Movers & Shapers Die, and is then mounted over the top of the matching oval hole to emphasise the aperture.

Use strong glue to stick the sides and bottom of the frame together (I use Matte Distress Collage Medium).

Stick the easel piece to the centre back of the frame, lining it up with the bottom of the frame.

Now you can add those decorative finishing touches like Beaded Berries coloured with Red Pepper Alcohol Ink, Bouquet Findings coloured with Lemonade and Shell Pink Alcohol Ink, Classic Kraft Core die cut foliage, Quote Chips, Remnant Rubs and other Idea-ology Findings.

Your frame is now ready for those all important photos - leave them loose inside the frame box so that you can change them at will or fix one in place if you want to display a specific image (as I have for the finished sample). If you are interested in tracing your ancestry I thought it would be an idea place to add records and information relating to the people in the featured photo. Here are some close ups;

That's it for my inspiration post today. Make sure you check out the projects from the rest of Eileen's team on her website www.eileenhull.com.
You can also find all of Eileen's latest die collection releases over on the Sizzix website.

For now, whatever you're up to this week, take care of yourselves and get creative! Jenny xxx