2022 Round Up for Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. This month Eileen Hull's Design Teams are sharing their favourite projects of 2022, and what a year it's been!!! Not only has Eileen come up with so many fabulous Sizzix Dies and Embossing Folders, she has also produced more Maker Forte Stamps all of which work so well together.

The first of my favourites from this year incorporates all three: a notebook based on Eileen's Sizzix Scoreboards 'Box, Book' XL Die with covers embossed using her Sizzix 3D Embossing Folder 'Crochet Mandala' and decorated with die cuts from her Sizzix Thinlits 'Shadowbox Elements' Die Set.

And inside the pages are embellished using Eileen's Maker Forte 'Making Plans' Stamp Set. You can see the original tutorial HERE.

The next favourite is another book, this time an accordion book using Eileen's Sizzix Scoreboards 'Skinny Mini Book Box' XL Die and her Sizzix Thinlits 'Skinny Mini Elements' Die.

Inside this book opens up to reveal linen accordion pages filled with painted images, Alison Bomber sentiments and postage stamp die cuts created using Eileen's Sizzix Thinlits 'Snail Mail Die and Sizzix 3D Embossing Folder 'Woven Leather'.

The original tutorial for this book can be found HERE.

My final choice is... you guessed it... another book! This one was created with Eileen's Sizzix Scoreboards 'Card Caddy' XL Die and embossed with her Sizzix 3D Embossing Folder 'Woven Leather'. In pride of place on the front cover is a large golden flower made using Eileen's Sizzix 'Sunflower' Bigz L Die and Sizzix 3D Embossing Folder 'Crochet Mandala'.

Inside the pages have been given the same scalloped edge by using the Card Caddy Die to cut them. The original tutorial for this one can be found HERE.

I hope you've enjoyed revisiting these projects with me. Make sure to check out which favourites have been picked by the other team members - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog throughout the month.

For now thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

Sparkle and Shine with Eileen Hull Designs - Triangle Accordion Bound Book

Hi everyone and welcome. This month is a busy one for the Eileen Hull Designs teams; the 3rd Annual Comfort and Joy Event has been running in the Eileen Hull Fan Club as a big thank you to the group. With exclusive tutorials and inspiration for using Eileen's Sizzix Dies and Embossing Folders in the run up to the festive season it's not to late to join in the fun!!!

And the fun doesn't stop there; throughout November Eileen's teams are continuing to share some Sparkle & Shine project inspiration with more glam and festive makes to get your creative juices flowing!!! My tutorial for this month shows you how to create this Triangle Accordion Bound Book using Eileen's Sizzix ScoreBoards XL Die - 'Geometric Box'. It is a perfect stocking filler present that can be filled by the lucky recipient with memories, photos, ephemera and journaling.

As you follow the tutorial below you'll find all the essential measurements have been given in both Imperial and Metric sizing.

So let's get started, beginning with creating the covers which are cut from Eileen's Sizzix ScoreBoards XL Die - 'Geometric Box'. Use matboard, cardboard or other stiff board to cut two each of the large triangle box side pieces, two of the large triangle border pieces and one of the star shapes.

Now have fun decorating all of these elements on one side only with your paints, inks, stencils, stamps, decorative papers and more. For that all important touch of sparkle and shine Sizzix Luster Wax, Metallic Flakes, Metallic Foil Sheets, Glitter and Embossing Powders are all fantastic options. My triangles feature PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paints, Stencils and Stamps with a hint of Gold Luster Wax and some clear glitter on the star.

To make the book pages you are going to need to cut 14 triangle pages from a strip(s) of paper 4"/10.2cm wide - I used 100lb/220gsm heavyweight cartridge paper from an A2 size pad but since you are cutting individual triangles you could easily use smaller sheets or scrapbook paper etc. To match the covers your triangles need to be 3"/7.6cm wide at the bottom, with the point on the other side in the centre (so 1 1/2" / 3.8cm in).

The accordion binding is made from a strip of card 2 1/2" /6.5cm wide by 11"/28cm long. For this I used Sizzix Cardstock in a colour to match the star on the front cover and I would recommend a coloured cardstock for this if you want to make it a feature of your book. Fold mountain and valley folds at 3/8"/1cm wide as shown below. Add glue to the underside of each mountain fold and stick these sections together.

Glue the single sided end of the accordion strip to the reverse side of the front cover on the right hand side. Then take the first page and glue it to the back side of the first of the double thickness mountain fold strips, taking care to line it up with the cover as shown below.

Continue to glue each page onto the back side of each double thickness mountain fold pieces, lining them up with the cover and existing pages as you go.

When you get to the last page you will find you are sticking it onto the back side of the last double thickness mountain folds with the single thickness part of the strip left loose. Glue that bit onto the back of that final page (so this one has binding on both sides).

Return to the front cover and glue the remaining page onto the back of the cover, hiding that single thickness strip from the binding.

To finish the pages glue the back page onto the back cover, again hiding the single thickness strip.

Stick the decorative triangle borders onto the front and back covers and finally add the star to the front page, and you're done!

And having created one it was easy to make more in different colourways;

Thank you for joining me today and make sure to check out all the fantastic projects and tutorials from the rest of Eileen's team members - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog throughout the month.

For now thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx

Sunflower Book with Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. This month has already started with a bang as Eileen launched her new Chapter 4 Sizzix Die and Embossing designs. Now Eileen's design teams are sharing tutorials for some of the samples shown during her FB Live and as part of the blog hop.

Going back to the blog hop you'll remember I decided to feature the new 'Sunflower' on the front of a hand-bound book, made using the 'Card Caddy' Die and 'Woven Leather' 3D Embossing Folder.

Let's find out how this came together, starting with that gorgeous sunflower. Cut three of each petal layer, three leaves and one centre using the Sizzix 'Sunflower' Bigz L Die from Sizzix Cardstock. I save card by cutting one of each shape from photocopier paper, then use it as a template to cut out the cardstock to size.

Next cut the central part of the Card Caddy from Sizzix Matboard using the Sizzix 'Card Caddy' Scoreboards XL Die. Cut off the spine section before embossing the two covers using the Sizzix 'Woven Leather' 3D Embossing Folder. Misting the Matboard with water before embossing it helps to get a deeper impression.

I then used PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paints to add colour to the sunflower, leaves and book covers. A tip when painting the sunflower and leaves is to dry brush the colour from the centre out to create a feathering effect. Add a vintage look by blending brown permanent ink to the edges of everything before blending a little 'Gold' Luster Wax on top.

To make this a thin book I cut away two of the scored spine pieces to leave just one, joining it in the centre of the two covers with some Architape®. Use the 'Card Caddy' Die again to cut folded paper/cardstock signatures before binding them inside the finished book cover. There are a lot of great bookbinding videos on YouTube to help with that bit.

Here are a few close ups of the finished book, including a peek inside;

Thank you for joining me today. Make sure to check out all the fantastic projects and tutorials from the rest of Eileen's team members - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog throughout the month.

For now thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx

Eileen Hull Designs Sizzix Chapter 4 2022 - New Releases and Blog Hop

Hi everyone and welcome. Thanks for joining the Eileen Hull Chapter 4 2022 Release Party and Blog Hop. Chapter 4 is finally here! Each release is so exciting and it never gets old…

Eileen will be sharing her new dies and embossing folder during a special Facebook Live/YouTube Livestream today at 12pm Eastern (5pm BST) so make sure to be watching.

Here's what Eileen has to say about her latest designs;

"The Geometric Box is a different kind of design for me. I love the ease of assembly, the unique shape and and the possibility of expanding the box into larger containers! This is a ScoreBoards Die so it may be cut from sturdy materials like matboard, chipboard, metal, leather and fabric and a fun feature of this die is that it adapts to how you shape it."

"The Sunflower is a Bigz L Die, designed to cut and score a myriad of materials. The Sunflower measures about 4" across and comes with a leaf, three sizes of petals and a flower center. Stack layers of petals to make a traditional sunflower, or change the colors and create a pink coneflower. You could even make a stem for the flower using wire and your Twist and Style Tool. The coordinating Geometric Box die works perfectly as a vase!"

"I love the whimsical patterns of vintage cutlery and that's why I created the Silverware 3D Embossing Folder. The design is so detailed you can actually see a tiny bride and groom on the handle of a cake server. This folder is perfect for creating seating charts, menus, invitations, cards and recipe books. Once you have embossed the image, rub a light coat of a metallic Luster Wax over the top of the design and you have an amazing result!"

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So now it's my turn to show you a couple of  hand-bound books created using the new dies in combination with some of Eileen's Chapter 3 releases.

The first book features the new 'Sunflower' - it's SO easy to get all that fabulous dimension using the various die cut layers of petals and I followed Eileen's tip for using the 'Crochet Mandala' 3D Embossing Folder to add extra detail to the centre. The base of the book has been made using the 'Card Caddy' Die which has been embossed with the 'Woven' 3D Embossing Folder. I will be sharing a tutorial for this one here on my blog later in the month.

The second book features the new 'Silverware' 3D Embossing Folder which has been used to emboss the covers, cut using the 'Skinny Mini Book Box'. As suggested by Eileen I've rubbed a little 'Rose Gold' Luster Wax onto the raised parts to make them really pop against the pale pink background. As well as adding a pink ribbon tie and beaded page holder to the spine there is a little plaque (from the 'Card Caddy' Die) which holds the Italian word for food - the idea is you can record your favourite menus, recipes and even shopping lists for all those special occasions.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing the first of my projects for this month using Eileen's latest die releases. Make sure to tune in to Eileen's FB Live/YouTube Livestream and also head on over to see the rest of the project peeks in the blog hop.

Eileen Hull Designs

Pam Bray
Jennie Atkinson
Sarah Lizzie
Lisa Hoel
Sharon Curtis
Tonya Trantham
Elizabeth Robinson
Jenny Marples
Maggi Harding
Sue Eldred
Karen Bearse

Card Inspiration with Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. This month for Eileen Hull's Design Teams is all about greeting card inspiration! Give them, mail them, hoard them – it is fun to create handmade works of art, and Eileen's dies and stamps are perfect for creating them.

I've created a set of slimline cards that fit inside Eileen's Card Caddy, decorating them with die cut elements from Eileen's range of Sizzix Thinlits Dies. A list of dies used is available at the end of this post. Each card has a mix of brayered paint backgrounds, a strip of trellis cut with the Skinny Mini Elements Thinlits Die and stamp shapes cut with the Snail Mail Thinlits Die and embossed with the Woven Leather 3D Embossing Folder.

The first two are floral cards which could be suitable for any occasion. Many of Eileen's Thinlits sets contain flowers;

The second two make use of the Shadowbox Elements Thinlits Die to create cards which could celebrate a new home or welcome someone home.

The final two cards feature more florals mixing an older festive release with more recent flower dies;

Since the cards fit so well inside the Card Caddy (with enough room to include envelopes too) this set would also make a great gift in itself.

Thank you for joining me today. Make sure to check out all the fantastic projects and tutorials from the rest of Eileen's team members - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog throughout the month.

For now thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx

List of dies used;

Sizzix ScoreBoards XL Die - Card Caddy #665981

Sizzix Thinlits Die - Skinny Mini Elements #665980

Sizzix 3-D Textured Impressions Embossing Folder - Woven Leather

Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 7PK - Shadow Box Frames #1

Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 12PK - Shadowbox Elements

Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 2PK - Snail Mail

Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 9PK - Wreath & Snowflake

Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 12PK - Folio Page, Pocket & Flowers

Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 5PK - Journaling Words

Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 4PK 0 Floral Arch & Words

Eileen Hull Designs Sizzix Chapter 3 Releases - Skinny Mini Accordion Book

Hi everyone and welcome. Chapter 3 Inspiration abounded during Eileen Hull’s Release Party. Did you miss it? Go to this link to watch the Party replay! For the rest of August the designers will be sharing tutorials for their amazing projects and you can find all the links on Eileen's blog.

As part of the release party I showed a special Skinny Mini Accordion Book that I'd made using some of these fabulous new dies and today I'm back to share it all in more detail.

The front cover features a heat embossed die cut trellis piece, made using the Sizzix Thinlits 'Skinny Mini Elements' Die with alcohol ink coloured self-adhesive pearls in the centre of each star shape. Glossy Accents has been added between each die cut shape to make the whole panel glisten.

Inside the cover is the first glimpse of the accordion element as well as what is effectively the first page, mounted on the inside of the cover. The lace tabs help open the deep cover and accordion pages.

This book started by die cutting the 'Skinny Mini Book Box' elements using Eileen's new Sizzix Scoreboards die from Sizzix Mat Board. Having been assembled using Eileen's instructions I also added some bookbinding tape to the inside of the spine to give it extra strength.

The accordion section was cut from a heavy linen (think tablecloth weight). I would recommend a size of roughly 6" tall by 30 3/8" long  in total (with each of the 9 pages measuring 3 3/8"). Mark each fold line (at 3 3/8") and use an iron to press the creases in (mountain, valley, mountain etc) to form the accordion.

The pages were cut to fit the accordion sections from a masterboard made using PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic paints on cartridge paper. With some of the leftover paper spare I also die cut some using Eileen's Sizzix Thinlits 'Snail Mail' Die.

Those die cuts were then embossed using Eileen's new 'Woven Leather' Sizzix 3D Embossing Folder to give them extra texture and dimension.

The pages were then each created in turn using a mix of gel printing, painting, hand-drawing, embossing, stitching and stamping using PaperArtsy stamp sets EAB12, ESA18 and ESA20. You can see throughout where the die cut shapes have been included as part of the design. When finished the pages were stitched to the fabric accordion to hold them securely in place.

Since the inside cover stands proud of the box it gives you the opportunity to build up layers of thick cardboard, lace, fabric, etc on the underside. The box cover itself was painted with the darker of the blues used for the masterboard before all these layers were added. I also tied linen tape around the spine as an extra feature. Here's more of the accordion pages inside;

And all of those nine pages fit inside this Skinny Mini Book, proving names can be deceptive!!!!

I hope this has whetted your appetite for these fabulous new dies. Make sure to check out the rest of the Sizzix Chapter 3 release inspiration posts by Eileen's team members - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog throughout the month.

For now thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx