Eileen Hull Designs Chapter 1 Release Party and Blog Hop

Hi everyone and welcome. Thanks for joining us for the Eileen Hull Chapter 1 Release Party and Blog Hop. Just wait until you see all of the fun options the new Sizzix ScoreBoards 'Folio Journal' Die has in store for you! You will also love the 'Mandala' and 'Folio Page, Pockets & Flower' Thinlits Die Sets that coordinate with the new Folio Journal. Eileen's Inspiration and Educator Teams have already been sharing card ideas using the new Thinlits Dies. Now, and throughout February, they will be sharing their Folio Journals with you and today we start with a launch blog hop. 

Please hop through the blogs and be inspired by the work of the talented Inspiration and Educator teams (links below). Leave a comment for each designer and you'll be in with a chance to win a 'Folio Journal' Die. Join Eileen and specials guests for a Facebook Live on Wednesday, Feb 3rd at noon Eastern Time (5pm UK time). Comment on our Facebook Live and be eligible to win either the 'Mandela' Die or the 'Folio Page, Pockets & Flowers' Die Set- two winners! Winners will be announced on the Facebook Live show on February 9 at 6pm Eastern Time. We appreciate your love and support, friends! We hope that you will be inspired too and share how you use the dies in the Eileen Hull Fan Club.

In this post I'm sharing photos showing some of the pages in my Floral Folio Journal starting with the cover, which has been covered in gauze, white gesso and panels cut from a decorative paper that I made. It has layers of paints, inks, charcoal pencil, stencilling through a die cut of Eileen's 'Mandala', stitching and a little collaging. The same paper has been used to cover the inside of the Floral Folio Journal and is the base layer for some of the pages and pockets. Flowers and words by Wendy Vecchi stamp sets have been used throughout.

The photos highlight some of the ways I used the new dies throughout the Folio Journal. For example the die cut 'Mandala' can be used as a page as seen above. On the simple flip out page below the corner pocket that comes in the 'Folio Page, Pocket & Flowers' Die Set has been decorated with part of a 'Mandala' cut from painted paper.

Here you can see where I've die cut a 'Mandala' from kraft card to be used as a stencil through which to apply texture paste to various pages. It's amazing how much of the detail comes through and it became something of a 'motif' that can be seen throughout the journal.

On this page I cut the 'Mandala' from a Sizzix double sided adhesive sheet and, after sticking it down, covered it with gold metal flakes. You could get the same results by using metallic foil sheets on top of the die cut adhesive.

This 'quilted' effect page is already detailed so it needed just a little decoration. The various flower and leaf shapes from the 'Folio Page, Pocket & Flowers' Die Set were ideal with the various shapes cut from more of the card that had been used in the background.

The Folio Journal has a lovely deep section around the spine which enabled me to add a wrapped spoon (cut using Eileen's Teacup Die) alongside the neutral stencilled paper I created for the covers and pages - a big thank you to Cec Wintonyk for that idea!

On the other side from the spoon is another of the die cut pockets which holds a 'Mandala' stencilled tag. Really helpfully Eileen has included a die to cut the pocket and another to create a coordinating decorative panel in the 'Folio Page, Pocket & Flowers' Die Set.

A double gatefold page spread includes die cut 'Mandala' shapes on  the outside and more of the Folio Flowers on the inside. The various flower shapes in the die set work really well together to enable you to create a range of flowers and leaves from different materials (in this case painted paper and vellum).

I've included words on the second side of the gatefold spread and more of the flowers to make the design flow. The brighter colours stand out against the neutral stencilled paper background.

On the last full page the stencilling again takes centre stage, this time with layers of paint over the top and the words cascading down it. With such a beautifully lacy feel it coordinates with the various lace trims.

One of the real treats about using this new Folio Journal is the amount of depth and space (real estate!) available to decorate; this means you can add lots of layers to each page without fear of them making the covers 'bulge'.

Thank you for joining me here as part of this Eileen Hull Designs Blog Hop. Here's the full list of blog hop participants - remember to leave a comment for each designer and you'll be in with a chance to win a 'Folio Journal' Die;

Eileen Hull Designs
Julia Aston
Madeline Arendt

Jennie Atkinson

Karen Bearse
Susie Madden Bentz
Sarah Lizzie Dodd
Sue Eldred
Maggi Harding
Lisa Hoel

Jenny Marples
Elizabeth Robinson

Betsy Skagen
Tonya Trantham