Maker Forte Stamp Sets by Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. By partnering with Maker Forte, Eileen Hull’s new stamp release brings you a brand new product line – beautifully designed stamps for your crafting pleasure. The first three sets have already been released and now it's time for two more to arrive today!

By combining three of Eileen's sets, Snail Mail - Everyday, Snail Mail - Inspirations and Vintage Damask, with Mintay Papers by Karola I've created this mini album full of fun pockets and journaling cards.

On the front cover you'll see the first of the Snail Mail - Everyday sentiments stamped into one of the postage blocks and fussy cut to look like a stamp.

To liven up the background paper design throughout the album I used the Vintage Damask stamp with white gesso all over it.

On the journaling card tucked inside this pocket is one of the new Snail Mail - Inspiration sentiments, again stamped into one of the postage blocks and fussy cut to look like a stamp.

I've carried on throughout the album embellishing the various journaling cards with more of the postage stamp sentiments from the two Snail Mail sets.

On this page a pocket slot has been cut using dies from Eileen's Sizzix Thinlits 'Credit Card Sleeve & Tags' set.

Here's another of those pocket slots using Eileen's Sizzix Thinlits 'Credit Card Sleeve & Tags' set with an embellished journaling card inside.

The little floral pocket has been cut with dies from Eileen's Sizzix Thinlits 'Bookmark, Tag & Pocket' set and is the perfect fit for another Snail Mail sentiment.

That's it for this mini album. Make sure to tune in to Eileen's FB Live show tonight, 28th September 2021 at 11pm (or catch it on replay) to see more projects using the new stamps.

For now thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

Chalk It Up with The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog

Hi everyone and welcome. Laura is hosting the latest challenge over on The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog and she's called it 'Chalk It Up'; "September is normally when kids head back to school, it when the learning begins again....Create a project about learning, does not have to be a school themed project, learning is not just about books and school, sometimes it learning a new scrapbooking technique, or a cool fact and you must include chalk! IE - chalk paint, chalk board, actual chalk...."

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 three additional outstanding entries 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.

I've created another double page spread in my Dina Wakley Media Kraft Journal following the current challenge theme by creating a background with a chalkboard look and adding a phrase that is an important (though not always easy) lesson for everyone to learn.

Since the pages in the Kraft Journal are, well, kraft coloured I needed to start by covering the whole lot with a coat of black gesso. I've decided to trim some of the pages in the journal and trim the edges with white lace to lead people through the finished pages.

A chalkboard white paint pen was used to do some asemic writing over the whole background before I added uneven patches of white gesso with a spatuala.

To add some colour to the background I added a few strips of Dina Wakley Media Design Tape and used 'Lemon' Acrylic Paint through the Cross Hatch stencil on top. Finally I added swirls on Collage Paper from the 'Elements' pack and splatters of 'Cheddar' paint from a Scribble Stick.

Moving to the foreground I chose to use contrasting colours of Scribble Stick - 'Eggplant', 'Fuschia', 'Sedona' and 'Mineral' - scribbling them in random patches on watercolour paper before blending them with a wet brush. On top I used the 'Lemon' Scribble Stick to do some more of that asemic writing.

After stamping the faces from the 'Better Together' stamp set onto the blended background  with permanent black ink I trimmed around them and layered some together to form the design. The phrase, from the same stamp set, was heat embossed with white embossing powder on black card.

That's my take on the 'Chalk It Up' theme. For even more inspiration the rest of the Design Team have come up with their own projects for this challenge so make sure you hop on over and check them out HERE.

For now, thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx

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

Dina Wakley Media Stamps - 'Better Together'

Dina Wakley Media Stencil - 'Cross Hatch'

Dina Wakley Media Collage Paper - 'Elements'

Dina Wakley Media Scribble Sticks - Set 1

Dina Wakley Media Scribble Sticks - Set 2

Dina Wakley Media Scribble Sticks - Set 3

Dina Wakley Media White Gesso

Dina Wakley Media Black Gesso

Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Lemon, 1oz Bottle

Ranger Embossing Powder - White

Nature Folio with Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. This month Eileen Hull's Teams are taking a look at journals inspired by nature. Additionally, we have been challenged to use dies that aren’t normally considered 'journal dies'.

Let's start with an admission - having previously created journals out of most of Eileen's 'non-journal' dies I opted to go conventional for this one by using Eileen's Sizzix Scoreboards 'Pocket Notebook' Die as the base. This is because I was inspired to create a folio journal after watching videos/tutorials from Beth Wallen (Beths Journal Boutique) and Yvonne Preston. In my defence the finished folio definitely has a nature theme and a lot of Eileen's Sizzix Die Sets and new Maker Forte Stamp Sets have been used to make the elements and embellishments hidden away inside.

The paper used throughout is actually a stunning wallpaper design sample piece, edged with machine stitching and enhanced with Sashiko style hand stitching. It also has a hitch fastener closure using a piece of elastic cord.

The tassel was made using Eileen's 'Twist n Style' Tool with cotton yarn.

Opening up the folio reveals a pocket on the inside cover and the front of a removable journal.

The corner pocket comes from Eileen's 'Folio Page, Pocket & Flowers' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set.

The glassine bag in the pocket holds a tag and button card; the button card and stamped numbers come from Eileen's 'Buttons, Cards & More' Maker Forte Stamp Set. The tag is in Eileen's 'Card, Waterfall & Tags' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set, the bird is in her 'Birds & Butterflies' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set, and the tag background was stamped with Eileen's 'Vintage Damask' Maker Forte Stamp Set. Unseen in most of these photos is the fact that this background has been used on the reverse of most of the journaling inserts.

Also in the glassine bag are a library card, a journal card and a little tag. The library card was stamped from Eileen's 'Buttons, Cards & More' Maker Forte Stamp Set with a bird from Eileen's 'Wreath & Snowflake' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set (the berries are in this set too). The journal card, little tag and tiny tag come from Eileen's 'Credit Card Sleeve & Tags' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set, the words from Eileen's 'Journaling Words' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set and the leaves are from her 'Journaling Cards, Flowers & Leaves' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set.

The removable journal has a fabric backed soft cover and is filled with various tea-stained pages. The plaque on the front comes from Eileen's  'Buttons, Cards & More' Maker Forte Stamp Set.

Moving across to the second side of the folio there is a little pocket from Eileen's 'Bookmark, Tag & Pocket' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set. It has been embellished with a leaf branch from Eileen's 'Wreath & Snowflake' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set and a sentiment from her 'Snail Mail Everyday Sentiments' Maker Forte Stamp Set.

Opening up the flap reveals the tied section in the centre; I've used the waterfall section from Eileen's 'Card, Waterfall & Tags' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set to create the flaps and added card circles with brads to make the tie closure.

Little pockets have been cut into the inside of the waterfall flaps using the longest slot die in the same  'Card, Waterfall & Tags' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set. I have tucked hand cut tickets from Eileen's 'Buttons, Cards & More' Maker Forte Stamp Set into each pocket.

In the middle are two pockets, cut using the scalloped die from Eileen's 'Credit Card Sleeve & Tags' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set.

Inside the top pocket are a library card, a journaling card and a little tag. The library card was stamped from Eileen's 'Buttons, Cards & More' Maker Forte Stamp Set, the journal card, little tag and tiny tag come from Eileen's 'Credit Card Sleeve & Tags' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set and the leaves are from her 'Journaling Cards, Flowers & Leaves' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set. The tiny flower is in Eileen's 'Bookmark, Tag & Pocket' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set and the shaped plaque is from her 'Bookplate, Hinges & Label' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set.

Tucked into the bottom pocket are three tags cut using dies from Eileen's 'Card, Waterfall & Tags' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set. The word 'journal' comes from Eileen's 'Journaling Words' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set, the layered plaque is in her 'Bookplate, Hinges & Label' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set, the tiny flower is in her 'Bookmark, Tag & Pocket' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set and the stamped elements are from her 'Buttons, Cards & More' Maker Forte Stamp Set.

Moving across from the tied centre section is another flap with more hand stitching.

It opens up to reveal another corner pocket and a double layer pocket. As before on the front inside cover, the corner pocket comes from Eileen's 'Folio Page, Pocket & Flowers' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set.

Another glassine bag holds two tags, cut using Eileen's 'Card, Waterfall & Tags' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set. The decoration includes a scalloped border from the same set, a word from Eileen's 'Journaling Words' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set, a leaf stem from the 'Wreath & Snowflake' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set and a flower from the 'Folio Page, Pocket & Flowers' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set. As previously, the stamped elements are from Eileen's 'Buttons, Cards & More' Maker Forte Stamp Set.

Also included in the bag are a library card, a journaling card and a little tag. The library card was stamped from Eileen's 'Buttons, Cards & More' Maker Forte Stamp Set (which also include the other stamped images) whilst the journal card, little tag and tiny tag come from Eileen's 'Credit Card Sleeve & Tags' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set. As before the word is from Eileen's 'Journaling Words' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set, the leaf is from her 'Journaling Cards, Flowers & Leaves' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set and the bird is from the 'Wreath & Snowflake' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set.

Moving on to the layered pocket this was constructed from a tea-stained envelope, with the inside of the envelope acting as the larger pocket and an add-on piece creating the smaller pocket on the inside.

Inside the smaller pocket are two journal cards and a button card; the button card is from Eileen's 'Buttons, Cards & More' Maker Forte Stamp Set, the two layers of the larger leaf card were cut with the 'Journaling Cards, Flowers & Leaves' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set and the smaller journal card comes from Eileen's 'Credit Card Sleeve & Tags' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set. That last one has a wreath decoration from Eileen's 'Wreath & Snowflake' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set and a word from the 'Journaling Words' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set.

Below you can see how three of the largest journal cards are tucked inside the envelope pocket.

As before the leaves come from Eileen's 'Journaling Cards, Flowers & Leaves' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set, the words come from her 'Floral Arch & Words' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set, the scalloped border is from her 'Card, Waterfall & Tags' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set and the wreath is from the  'Wreath & Snowflake' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set. The tiny flower is in Eileen's 'Bookmark, Tag & Pocket' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set and the stamped elements are from her 'Buttons, Cards & More' Maker Forte Stamp Set.

Finally we reach the back of the folio journal where I've remembered to include more of that hand stitching.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing how Eileen's dies have been used to create this folio journal. Make sure to check out the other nature inspired journal projects and helpful tutorials from the other Inspiration and Educator Team members - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog throughout the month.

For now thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx