Embroidered Felt Pocket Notebook for Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. As the end of the year draws nearer Eileen Hull's Inspiration Team are taking the opportunity to review their 2019 projects and share some holiday makes. I decided the best way to round off the year was to finish a project! Not just any project though...

The highlight of the year for so many of us Eileen's fans was her UK Paper Trail trip back in September. For me it was extra special as I had the huge privilege to spend this very special time in Eileen's company and learn so much from her. She's such an incredibly generous person in so many ways and I feel totally blessed to call her a friend.

Eileen in action on the UK Paper Trail, September 2019.

Eileen taught several classes based on her Pocket Notebook XL Scoreboards Die throughout the tour, and amongst the most popular was an embroidered felt one. Of all the classes Eileen taught this was one of the most relaxing; despite many misgivings from attendees who worried about their stitching skills, she gave them the tools, techniques and know how to create the most beautiful covers.

Having admired them so much all the way through the tour I finally got around to starting one of my own on the last weekend, but as is so often the way it sat unfinished for the last few months as other deadlines took priority. Now, finally, I've completed it! Combining felt flowers and leaves (cut using the 'Stitchy Flowers' and 'Journaling Cards, Flowers & Leaves' die sets) and a number of stitches from Eileen's class I kept it simple inside by adding four aqua memo books through elastic ties. Here are some close ups of the front cover;

Here's a photo of the front and back covers together;

And here are some close ups of the back cover;

I think that's one of my favourite projects of the year, and what a year it's been! Eileen's imagination continues to inspire and amaze us with her fantastic designs - the Treasure Box, the Stacking Drawers, the House Ornament, the Gift Card Folder and of course her wonderful notebooks/journals have all formed the basis of lots of incredible makes shared by so many talented people in her Facebook Fan Club. Here are some of mine;

So with 2019 almost done what does 2020 hold... well all I can say right now is that you are in for so many treats next year! For now make sure to keep tuning in to Eileen's FB Lives and check out the round up posts from the Eileen Hull Inspiration Team over on her blog.

Thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

Saturday Showcase - Patchwork Christmas Tags for The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog

Hi everyone and welcome. Today for the last Saturday Showcase post of the year over at The Funkie Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog everyone in the Design Team has joined together to share festive tags, each one with a tutorial - so you're getting even more 'bang for your buck' today!!!! Make sure to check out what my amazing team mates have created by hopping on over to The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog.

I've created a set of gift tags by using a patchwork of papers for the background, painting, stencilling and stitching over them before adding stamping and embossing. With stamped seam binding ribbons and brass Christmas themed charms these are now ready to adorn parcels under the tree this year.

Here's how they came together; I started by adding a patchwork of paper, ephemera and wallpaper scraps to an A4 piece of kraft card, overlapping edges and cutting bits in half to make a Christmas quilt. Though not necessary, I stitched with white thread over these with a sewing machine to add extra detail.

To 'unify' this background and ensure it didn't detract from the stamping to come I painted over first a coat of Clear Gesso, then a layer of diluted Buff Acrylic Paint. The gesso helps to ensure that the paint layer reacts the same no matter the paper used below.

Before cutting six large and two small tags from this patchwork of paper I stencilled stars onto it with White Acrylic Paint. And once cut more stitching was applied around the edges of each tag this time using contrasting red thread.

There are so many beautiful foliage images in the Tim Holtz 'Yultide Gatherings' stamp set; I used a couple of different ones on the tags, stamping with permanent black ink before adding a little colour to each.

I embossed a seasonal greeting into the corner of each of the larger tags with gold embossing powder using a sentiment from Tim Holtz 'Glorious Gatherings' stamp set. It's well worth using an anti-static bag over the area to be embossed to ensure you get a crisp finish over all the layers of media underneath.

Finally I stamped another of the little foliage images from the Yuletide Gatherings set on to white seam binding before spritzing it with water and crinkling it up. After tying pieces of this ribbon through the top of each tag Christmas themed charms were added using coordinating jump rings.

Here are the finished tags ready to be attached to parcels - with so much detail on them I can afford to stick to simple brown wrapping paper to cover the presents themselves, which has the added bonus that it can be re-used for other purposes after Christmas is done.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing today's tutorial - make sure to hop on over to The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog to see what my amazing team mates have in store for you.

Thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

Products used to create this Holiday themed Pocket Notebook are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed/linked below.
Tim Holtz Cling Stamps - Yuletide Gatherings
Tim Holtz Cling Stamps - Glorious Gatherings
Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Falling Stars
Tim Holtz Distress Archival Mini Ink Pad Kit #2
Tim Holtz Distress Archival Mini Ink Pad Kit #3
Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Worn Wallpaper, Christmas
Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Ephemera Pack, Christmas
Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paints and Gessos
Ranger Embossing Powder Gold - Super Fine Detail
Antiqued Bronze Bell Bow Knot Charms - Set of 5
Antiqued Bronze Snowflake Charms - Set of 5
Antiqued Bronze Snowflake Charm - Set of 5
Antique Bronze Christmas Tree Charm - Set of 5
Bronze Jump Ring Set
Rayon Seam Binding

It's The Holidays! at The Funkie Junkie Boutique

Hi everyone and welcome. It's the start of our final challenge for 2019 over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog. Maggi is our host and this time the challenge is called 'It's The Holidays!' "This is such a busy time of the year that it's hard to find anytime to pursue our paper passion! With that in mind, I designed a challenge that will hopefully give you some needed crafting time, while making something useful for the holiday season that is upon us! For this challenge, create a vintage or shabby chic card, tag, gift box, bag, anything holiday related, that you can use over the holidays."

As ever, the Design Team will choose their top four picks, with the winner being invited to join us in a Guest DT spot at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog and the next three will receive Top 3 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.

For my DT project I wanted to create a Pocket Notebook to hold all those important holiday lists and menus. There's so much to keep track of at this time of year and with lots of pages inside it's going to be able to be used for several years to come.

This one is relatively plain and simple in comparison to previous notebooks - time is short after all at this time of year! Die cut Pocket Notebook covers were bound at the spine with tape (as I've shown in previous blog posts) and covered in book page (on the spine) and cream coloured muslin. On tea stained copier paper I stamped the largest of the images from the Tim Holtz Yuletide Gatherings set using Hickory Smoke Distress Archival Ink from the #3 Kit. A couple of the smaller sprigs from the same set were added to extend the pattern over the page. You may spot on the spine a thinner strip that was stamped in the same way with the images from Tim's Stitches set, and all the paper sections were inked at the edges with the Vintage Photo Archival Ink from the set mentioned above.

With the paper stamped it was glued in place over the muslin and book page sections. Matte Distress Collage Medium is perfect for this job, and I like to apply a layer of Dina Wakley Media Clear Gesso over the top to protect the surface of the paper. At the bottom of the front page you'll see I've added stamped words; another option is to use one of the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Christmas Quote Chips here as it would coordinate perfectly with the jute string tied to the spine. Also included with the jute string are a bunch of gorgeous silver tone holiday themed charms, attached using jump rings and all available from Linda's store (links below).

After binding the book with tea stained pages I set about adding the robin to the front; using the Tim Holtz 'Patchwork Bird' Die set it's easy to cut the different sections required from oddments of fabric, though as a suggestion it's easier if you add paper or card to the reverse to get a clean cut with thinner fabrics. The edges of each piece were inked with the Vintage Photo Distress Archival Ink and I hand-stitched through some sections with metallic embroidery thread (floss) before sticking it onto the front cover.

That's my take on the theme 'It's The Holidays!' for the current The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog challenge. My fantastic team mates have created the most amazing festive projects for this challenge so make sure you hop on over and check them out HERE. And remember to link up your own Holiday shabby chic or vintage projects to be in with a chance of winning one of the fabulous prizes that's up for grabs.

Thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

Products used to create this Holiday themed Pocket Notebook are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed/linked below.

Eileen Hull Designs Sizzix Scoreboards XL Die - Pocket Notebook
Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Bigz Die - Patchwork Bird
Tim Holtz Cling Stamps - Yuletide Gatherings
Tim Holtz Cling Stamps - Stitches
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Jute String - Christmas
Tim Holtz Distress Archival Mini Ink Pad Kit #3
Antique Silver Pine Cone 3D Charms - Set of 3
Antique Silver Snowflake Charms - Set of 6
Antique Silver Tone Let It Snow Charms - Set of 5
Tiny Silver Plated Jingle Bells - Set of 15
Silver Tone Jump Ring Set

Lovely Leaves at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog

Hi everyone and welcome. It's the start of a new challenge theme over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog. It's my turn to host and this time the challenge is called 'Lovely Leaves'. "At this time of year leaves take over from flowers as the stars of Nature's display - the deciduous ones take on beautiful Autumnal hues before falling to the ground, whilst the evergreen ones keep our gardens from looking bare as we wait for new flowers to appear in the Spring. For this challenge make sure to add leaves (or even Pine Needles if you like) to your vintage or shabby chic projects."

As ever, the Design Team will choose their top four picks, with the winner being invited to join us in a Guest DT spot at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog and the next three will receive Top 3 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.

This DT project features layers of Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint in the background and leaves from Tim Holtz 'Nature's Wonder' stamp set in the foreground, and has an Autumnal colour palette (which seems to have come and gone very quickly this year here!)

I've put together a tutorial for recreating the cover of this Pocket Notebook below.

Tutorial

Having cut the two covers using Eileen Hull's Pocket Notebook die the spine has been cut away and rejoined with a quarter inch space either side using Architape. I've shown this step several times on my blog including here. After covering the covers and spine with a coat of White Gesso follow up with a layer of Dina Wakley Media 'Gilt' Acrylic Paint. Then scrape over random patches of White Gesso on the top.

From here it looks a little scary with some brighter colours in play but fear not, you've seen that it turns out alright in the end. Use a brayer to apply a coat of Dina Wakley Media 'Blushing' Acrylic Paint; you can see below that I left some of the previous layers visible underneath.

Repeat the process, this time with Dina Wakley Media 'Cheddar' Acrylic Paint. As each layer is applied so I use less and less paint.

Again, repeat the process with Dina Wakley Media 'Carnation' Acrylic Paint.

To tone down the bright colours dry brush over it all with White Gesso, taking care to go lightly at this stage - you don't want to lose all the colour that's been lovingly applied so far!

While the covers and spine are still flat trim the spine with ribbon or lace; Linda stocks beautiful ribbon in her store including this Gold Crocheted Metallic Ribbon from May Arts.

To compliment the gold ribbon and protect the edges of the notebook add Gold Tone Corners, altered with first Black Gesso then a little Mushroom and Latte Alcohol Inks. You'll see from the photo below that I used the same paint/inks to alter some of the gold beads on a yarn tassel, attached to the inside of the spine before the text block is added.

As this challenge theme is all about leaves it's time to include some of those; stamp out oak leaves from the 'Nature's Wonder' stamp set on coloured paper/card. Mine was left over from a Gel Press printing session and has many of Dina Wakley's colours on it including Ruby, Cheddar, Sedona and Buff. Cut them out ready for adding to the front cover.

Apply some of the 'Aviary' Collage Paper to a piece of card using Matte Distress Collage Medium and cut/tear to trim the section you want.

To finish I added some torn strips of painted paper (more of the stuff used for the leaves plus some coloured with Dina Wakley Media 'Olive' Acrylic Paint) stitched together with lace trim. With the bird in place I attached a key from my stash (Linda also has keys in her store) wound with burlap string and wire and arranged the stamped leaves around it. For a final detail I added a Drusy Cabochon and small gilt bead before attaching the tea stained paper text block inside.

Here are some close ups to show you the finished notebook in more detail;

Inside are the bound tea stained copy paper pages that can be held open by the beaded tassel;

For now that's my take on the theme 'Lovely Leaves' for the current The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog challenge. My fantastic team mates have created the most amazing projects for this challenge so make sure you hop on over and check them out HERE. And remember to link up your own shabby chic or vintage projects featuring leaves to be in with a chance of winning one of the fabulous prizes.

Thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

Products used to create this Pocket Notebook are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed/linked below.

Eileen Hull Designs Sizzix Scoreboards XL Die - Pocket Notebook
Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paints and Gesso
Tim Holtz Stamp Set 'Nature's Wonder'
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Collage Paper 'Aviary'
Ranger Alcohol InksMay Arts Gold Crocheted Ribbon
Drusy Resin Dome Seals Cabochon Round Fuschia - Set of 5
Venise Lace Trim - 2 inches
Burlap String - 12 colours
Metal Keys for Scrapbooking

Christmas Collage Junk Journal Style Pocket Notebook for Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. Over the next couple of months people will be celebrating a number of holidays so Eileen Hull's Inspiration Team have been creating projects with those in mind using her fantastic dies. You can find details all their informative and inspirational posts on Eileen's website.

It's been a while since I've made a junk journal so this new holiday notebook gave me the perfect opportunity - scraps of paper and card are ideal for recording all those holiday memories and lists on. I also wanted to play with some collage ideas on the cover using Kay Carley's beautiful Christmas stamps from PaperArtsy. The style of collage is heavily influenced by the work of the incredible Roxanne Evans Stout - find out more about Roxanne and her art on her website here.

I've put together a step by step tutorial to show you how it came together sharing a few tips and techniques along the way.

Tutorial

Cut two covers from mount board using Eileen Hull's 'Pocket Notebook' XL Scoreboards Die from Sizzix. You can choose how wide to make the spine depending on where you glue together the scored portion on the end. I went for a slim style notebook, overlapping just two of the strips as shown below.

I went on to add a die cut piece of mount board to the centre of the front cover (using an old Tim Holtz Movers & Shapers Die). You could add any shape you like for this part or even leave it flat. Scrape patches of PaperArtsy Grunge Paste over the front of the cover using a spatula and allow to air dry. Add a coat of gesso to the inside and outside of the cover before applying a layer of PaperArtsy's 'Cloud 9' Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint. Stamp the large holly branch image (from Kay Carley's Eclectica stamp Set EKC32 by PaperArtsy) onto tissue using permanent black ink. Tear it away from the sheet around the edges and adhere it to the front cover using Matte Distress Collage Medium.

Apply 'White Fire' Fresco Finish Metallic Acrylic Paint from PaperArtsy mixed with water (about half and half) to the front cover and allow it to settle into the uneven surface, heat setting when you are happy with the look. You can repeat this process if you want a stronger look - for this project I just wanted to highlight the surface rather than make it a focal point.

Mount board (or Matboard) can start to split along scorelines if subjected to a lot of wet media so I like to reinforce the spine in a couple of ways. Firstly you can run a thin bead of Matte Distress Collage Medium along the scorelines when bent into their eventual shape; it dries clear, matte and shrinks back so creates a seal against wet media. Secondly glue a layer of fabric or muslin to the inside of the cover, ensuring it is eased into the folds along the spine. Once dry you can trim the edges or leave them ragged as I did in this case. If the fabric is thicker you can also re-punch the holes in the spine. To finish I painted the same diluted mix of 'White Fire' Metallic Acrylic Paint over the fabric when the glue was dry.

I didn't want to cover the stamped holly branch up but needed some colour applying and so opted to add transparent/translucent layers over it. The tiniest amount of PaperArtsy Infusions 'Golden Sands' was diluted with water and painted onto single layers of torn tissue. It was heat set to allow it to wrinkle in places. It could then be added to the cover using a generous amount of Matte Distress Collage Medium.

After adding a piece of torn dress pattern over the top it was obvious that the Collage Medium had removed the sheen left by the paint over the rest of the cover - of course, that's it's job! To make the area blend in with the painted cover I added a thin layer of PaperArtsy's Pearl Glaze.

The art of collage is about seeing what each layer looks like and deciding whether you need to add more. In this case I felt it needed more colour, so diluted a tiny amount of 'Blood Orange' Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint to another piece of torn tissue. This was then applied with the Matte Collage Medium and a little more of the Pearl Glaze was brushed over the top.

As a final focal point I melted several layers of Eileen Hull's 'Polished Silver' Molten Dimensions Embossing Powder from Emerald Creek Craft Supplies onto a piece of torn card. Whilst still hot I covered the smaller snowflake from Kay Carley's stamp set with black permanent ink and pressed the image into it. Once cool the stamp could be peeled away from the embossed card to reveal the crisp image, one of the many benefits of using good quality red rubber stamps.

To finish the notebook and add even more colour I filled in the holly branch leaves and berries with Sakura Glaze Pens and added a small piece of torn lace under the embossed snowflake. A length of thin white elastic was painted with more of the 'White Fire' Acrylic Paint before being looped through the holes in the spine to create space for two signatures.

Here are some close up photos of the finished cover;

In keeping with the Junk Journal style I created two signatures with lots of different scraps of paper and card; below you can see just two of the pages made from tea stained graph paper and an offcut of wallpaper. I also added pages cut from tea stained copy paper, old Christmas scrapbook paper, vellum. tea stained ruled paper and brown packaging paper. Most of these papers have no pattern on them, ideal if you want to write or draw on them. Since Eileen's die cuts pages easily from pretty much anything folded in half this is an easy job, and you can do several at a time depending on their thickness. They can be of varying widths too as in this case where I added a total of 18 sheets to each signature (creating 72 pages in all).

That's it for this month's Eileen Hull project. For lots more from the Inspiration Team don't forget to check out Eileen's website.

Thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

A list of PaperArtsy stockists can be found on their blog here.