Mother May I? for Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone and welcome. Over at the Frilly and Funkie Challenge blog it's Suzz' turn to host, calling her challenge 'Mother May I?' Suzz says "May in the U.S. is when we celebrate Mother's Day and honor our mothers. I am challenging you to create something that is vintage or shabby chic which is inspired by your Mother or any mother figure in your life. It can be a favorite memory, something based on her style, something she said/says to you, or anything that reminds you of your mother figure. Make sure to share with us how your mother inspired your art!"

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 Frilly and Funkie 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 this theme we're challenged to be inspired by our mothers; mine loves to read (she can polish off a good biography in a couple of days!) really enjoys her garden and is always appreciative of cut flowers. So a new floral notebook seemed appropriate for the occasion.

Mum made lots of clothes for us as kids so I began this book by applying sewing pattern pieces to the mountboard cover before dry brushing with white gesso over the spine section. A thin coat of Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint in 'Heather' was used on the front and back covers as a subtle contrast (LOVE this new colour!) Keeping the base decoration simple some Tim Holtz Thinlits 'Crochet' die cut strips were cut from card painted with 'Sterling' Acrylic Paint.

To top the front cover it had to be a bouquet of flowers. The Impresslits 'Leaf' shapes were painted with 'Evergreen' Acrylic Paint before being highlighted with a mix of 'Sublime' Alcohol Pearl ink and 'Pearl' Mixative. The flower heads were cut using Tim Holtz 'Wildflower Stems #1' die set and painted with 'Lapis' and 'Eggplant' Acrylic Paints before having 'Intrique' and 'Alchemy' Alcohol Pearl inks and 'Pearl' Mixative applied over the top.

It felt appropriate to finish some of the flowers with shirt button centres (covered with 'Alchemy' Alcohol Pearl ink) to compliment the sewing pattern background. A Tim Holtz Ideaology Adornments Butterfly was brushed gently with the 'Sterling' Acrylic Paint before being added to one of the flower heads and the Big Chat sticker was mounted on some thick card. Inside the book is hand bound with tea stained paper pages for a vintage feel.

So that's my take on the theme 'Mother May I?' for the current Frilly and Funkie challenge. My talented team mates have created more 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 to be in with a chance of winning one of the fabulous prizes.

All the products used are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are linked below.

Thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

Eileen Hull Designs Sizzix Scoreboards L Die - Notebook
Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Thinlits Die Set - Wildflower Stems #1
Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Impresslits Embossing Folder - Leaf
Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Thinlits Die Set - Crochet

Tim Holtz Alcohol Pearls - Alchemy/Sublime/Intrique

Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paints - Heather

Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Eggplant	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - White Gesso, 1oz Bottle	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Sterling, 1 oz Bottle	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Evergren, 1oz Bottle	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Lapis, 1oz Bottle	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium Matte 1 oz Bottle	Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink - Pearl Mixative TIM22114
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Adornments Butterflies	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Big Chat Stickers TH93192

Oriental Style Molten Dimensions Notebook for Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. May is another special month for Eileen Hull as she launches some exciting new products in partnership with Thermoweb and Emerald Creek Craft Supplies. The Eileen Hull Inspiration Team have been getting to use them and have lots of ideas and techniques to share with you so make sure you check out all the samples over on Eileen's website.

My project for this month includes Eileen's Molten Dimensions Embossing Powders and her Colorbox Blends inks, both of which are now available in the UK at Country View Crafts!!!

Here's how this book came together. I started by die cutting the new Notebook from mountboard, slicing the spine away from the covers and attaching them with sticky back canvas as shown below.

After cutting thin strips of mountboard and gluing them to the front and back covers the whole Notebook was covered in cotton calico fabric.

At this point I got lost in the process and forgot to take photos so - ignore the colour below! - I brushed the 'Stop' Colorbox Blends ink slightly diluted with water over the fabric and dried it with a heat tool in the same way as a previous project. If you give the surface a light sanding at this point it makes the fabric soft again and adds a worn look. By lightly brushing a little 'Nutmeg' Colorbox Blends ink over some parts of the cover this also adds to the ageing.

The two strips on each cover were painted with 'Gold' Colorbox Blends 2 Metallics ink, the space between them with 'Bay' Colorbox Blends ink and the spine with a mix of 'Nutmeg' and 'Ebony' Colorbox Blends inks. After applying embossing ink to the gold raised strips I sprinkled some of Eileen's new 'Golden Rod' Molten Dimensions embossing powder over them and heat set. This powder is not a 'flat' single colour so if you re-heat it and allow it to cool a few more times the colours begin to 'split' and reveal some of the ink colours from underneath.

A little of the Aqua Splash Molten Dimensions embossing powder was sprinkled into the gap between the two golden strips (already painted with the 'Bay' Colorbox Blends ink). I removed some of the granules before heat setting to create a bumped texture revealing the ink below.

Finally I used one of Seth Apter's rubber stamps from his PaperArtsy ESA02 set to stamp the rectangle pattern on the front cover using the 'Gold' Colorbox Blends 2 ink - as this ink is very thick in consistency it works well if you apply it to your stamp with a brush. To finish a little die cut flower was covered with the 'Aqua Splash' Molten Dimensions embossing powder and glued to the front cover. Here are some close ups showing the inks and embossing in more detail;

Inside I bound in lots of different pages including scrapbook papers, wrapping paper, vellum, postcards, graph paper, ruled paper, watercolour paper and copier paper (all tea stained). To secure them in place I chose something special for the end papers - the aqua/gold marbled paper comes from Venice and was handmade by La Ricerca.

That's it for this month's Eileen Hull project. For lots more from the Inspiration Team make sure to check out Eileen's website HERE.

Thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

I love it because... for Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone and welcome. Over at the Frilly and Funkie Challenge blog we are embracing the Spring season and all it brings. It's my turn to host and I've called the challenge 'I love it because... '. How often do you create something just for you that makes your heart sing? Doesn't it feel great when you do! My challenge to you is to make a vintage or shabby chic piece of art, be it a journal page, a tag, a card, a home decor project etc, that fills you with happiness and makes you smile - don't forget to tell us why you love it so much.

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 Frilly and Funkie 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.

The passion for creating small bound books continues here and I love that this one combined stitching and using up scraps as well as a junk journal text block.

In the tutorial shared over on the Frilly and Funkie Challenge blog HERE I showed how to use Eileen Hull's 'Notebook' die as the basis of a bound book, covering the whole book with sticky back canvas. For this version I cut a strip of the canvas 2 3/4 inches wide by 10 1/4 inches long and stuck it to each inside cover edge 3/4 inch in from the edges as shown below. I didn't measure the gap between the covers and the spine piece, just centred it knowing that the size of the strip would ensure a 1/4 inch either side.

With the basic cover assembled a piece of plain calico larger than the finished book was cut. I would recommend leaving a minimum 1 inch border for this.

Here's where the scraps came from; I used pieces of the gel plate printed paper created HERE, some of the embossed packaging paper, pieces from the edge of the calico fabric, torn book page from THIS project, and even some of the gel plate printed card used on THIS box. Having stuck them onto the calico a simple zigzag stitch secured the strips and also made the piece more flexible.

Having stuck it firmly onto the outside of the book cover, bending the edges over and securing them onto the inside with strong tape, I added even more detail with Venise lace and Design Tape (some from the 'Journey' set as it coordinated with the colours on the printed pieces really well).

With the outside of the book covered I bound the inside with a text block (made from various tea stained papers and cards) using the method shown in the Frilly and Funkie tutorial HERE. More of the gel plate printed paper was used to decorate the inside of the book cover and the outer pages on the text block.

To complete the front cover a Lace Baseboard Frame was coloured with a mix of 'Pearl' Mixative Alcohol Ink and Dina Wakley Media 'Gilt' Acrylic Paint. The 'Large Stems' were cut from mountboard and painted with Dina Wakley Media 'White' and 'Evergreen' Acrylic Paint before 'Sublime' Alcohol Pearl Ink and more 'Pearl' Mixative were applied over the top to add a beautiful shimmer to the flowers. A Big Chat Sticker was mounted on more card and added to the frame, whilst Transparent Wings were fixed onto the flowers with Glossy Accents and then anchored more securely with 'Brass' Liquid Pearls bodies.

For now that's my take on the theme 'I love it because... ' for the current Frilly and Funkie challenge. My talented team mates have created lots more 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 to be in with a chance of winning one of the fabulous prizes.

All the products used to create this notebook are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed/linked below.

Thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

Eileen Hull Designs Sizzix ScoreBoards L Die - Notebook

Tim Holtz Ideaology Baseboard Frames - Lace
Tim Holtz Ideaology Transparent Wings
Tim Holtz Sizzix Bigz L Die Large Stems
Tim Holtz Alcohol Pearls

Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Eggplant	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - White, 1oz Bottle	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Guilt, 1oz Bottle	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Fuchsia, 1oz Bottle	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Ancient, 1oz Bottle	Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Evergren, 1oz Bottle	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Journey Design Tape
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Big Chat Stickers TH93192	Venise Lace Trim - 1/2 inch wide	RANGER LIQUID PEARLS 1/2 OZ BRASS	Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents GAC17042	Ranger Gel Plate 9 x 11 inches	Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink - Pearl Mixative TIM22114