Stitched Flowers Envelope with Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. This month Eileen's teams are sharing the love of stencils - meaning her new Sizzix stencil set of course!

Following on from last month's watercolour flower experiments I wondered if I could use the stencil set with watercolour pencils on a mixed media background (ie. fabric, washi tape, tissue, paper and more). The answer is - YES!!! This means that you can create individual envelope pages to go inside notebooks and journals using up lots of leftover scraps. It will also work on previously completed pages that need a focal point - like a stitched watercolour flower!

Start with your envelope sealed shut and then cut open at the top and bottom to allow for better access - you will glue the top and bottom back together again when the stitching is complete. Stick a few coordinating strips of fabric, paper, tissue, washi tape etc across the centre of your envelope and blend brown ink around the edges if you want to.

Use the flower, leaf and flower centre stencils from the Watercolour Flowers & Lattice Stencil Set to map out the placement of your finished blooms - you can add the smaller flowers as well as the larger ones. At this point I drew in some simple stems by hand to complete the layout.

Absorbent Ground is an acrylic liquid surfacing medium that dries to a porous, paper-like surface that allows you to work with watercolours in the same way you would on watercolour paper. I applied a couple of layers of Absorbent Ground through the stencils with a small brush and found it worked really well even over fabric.

With your flower stems covered you can begin to add some colour with watercolour pencils. I found it easier to use a wet brush over the dry pigment to get it to blend together - more water, more blending.

The same method can then be used to colour the leaves and stems. Remember to clean your brush between each element to prevent a transfer of colour from one to another.

Once completely dry you can begin to embroider your flowers and leaves, keeping it simple with straight-line stitching using three strands of embroidery thread (floss) in coordinating colours. This is where you'll find having access to the design from the top and bottom of the envelope really helpful if you plan to keep the back of the envelope free of stitching.

To finish add some touches of 'bling' with self-adhesive gems and buttons sewn into place. Then re-seal your envelope at the top and bottom, fold in the middle (if you haven't already) and your page is ready to be added to a notebook or journal.

Here are some close ups of the finished flowers;

I hope you've enjoyed seeing this tutorial for using Eileen's new stencils for some mixed media watercolour fun. Make sure to check out all the fantastic projects and ideas from the rest of the teams - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog.

For now thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx

Watercolour Flower Notebook with Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. This month Eileen's design teams are continuing to celebrate the Sizzix release of three classic Eileen Hull Design dies - the Notebook Die, the Stacking Drawer Box Die and the Treasure Box Die - alongside the launch of the new Watercolor Florals & Lattice Stencil Set and Painterly Blooms & Background Thinlits Die Set.

If you were watching the Live launch party last month you'll have caught a glimpse of my Watercolour Flower Notebook and I'm back this month to share it in more detail. There's a tutorial too for the front cover and pages which use the Watercolour Florals & Lattice Stencil Set (a four stencil set) alongside the Notebook Die.

You can see the flowers and leaves on the front cover, and inside the pages featuring the lattice design.

Start by cutting your Notebook cover from Matboard or another sturdy surface of your choice. Use the lattice design stencil to apply texture paste and let it dry. You can then paint/ink over the whole surface before using your stencil to add contrasting colour to the raised lattice areas.

Cut your pages from coordinating plain paper/card (mine was gesso'd and stained to match) by folding the paper in half, lining up the folded edge with the first spine score line on the Notebook die and running it through to cut a simple signature. Use the lattice design stencil to blend ink/paint onto each side of all the pages, in effect creating your own patterned paper!

Now to move on to the floral panel which is created on a small piece of watercolour paper. Tear a piece about the same size as the front cover - that way you give yourself room to tear away any excess at the end. Use a watercolour pencil and the large floral stencil to draw the outline of three of the flower shapes.

With a small brush apply water to the inside of each drawn petal. Then use the wet brush to take some colour from the pencil and drop onto each petal - you'll see it move and spread across the water.

As the water on the petals starts to dry use your wet brush to pick up a little colour from a contrasting watercolour pencil, dropping it onto the outer part of each petal. Let the colour start to blend and the water continue to dry.

At this point I decided to make the edges of the petals look softer, larger and more painterly. To achieve this use your brush to apply a little more water around the petal edges and add more colour, taking the colour from the pencil with your wet brush and dropping it onto the petals in exactly the same way as before. Note you will effectively be 'reactivating' the paint already applied so it will blend in the same way as before.

Now to add the leaves and flower centres with a slightly different method. This time I used my watercolour pencils through the stencil, adding a couple of colours to the leaves.

Blend out the colour by using a wet brush, extending the edges beyond those drawn as before. Again, you can always go back in with more water and colour until you are happy with the finished results. In the centre of the flowers I also used the wet brush to pull some of the colour onto the dried petals.

When the paper was dry I used a fineliner pen to draw stamens and lines onto the flowers and leaves before adding Glossy Accents over the top. You can then tear the panel around the edges to fit, blend with a little ink and layer onto scraps of coordinating paper. I also chose to stitch a small piece of stained seam binding onto one side.

To finish I added a couple of buttons, dots of dark enamel and a stamped phrase before gluing the panel onto the front of the Notebook. The fabric you can see around the edges is stuck to the inside of the cover which helps to strengthen it.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing more of this Watercolour Flower Notebook and how it came together. Make sure to check out all the fantastic projects and ideas from the rest of the teams - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog.

For now thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx

Eileen Hull Designs June 2024 Release Party

Hi everyone and welcome. Thanks for joining Eileen Hull's June 2024 Release Party where Eileen and the team will be sharing creative ways to use Sizzix Scoreboard Dies (officially released in June) and the beautiful new floral Thinlits Dies and Stencil Sets - we can’t wait to share them with you! Make sure to watch the live show on the Eileen Hull Designs Facebook Live/YouTube/Instagram Livestream on Tuesday, 4th June at noon Eastern Time (5pm UK Time). There will be prizes!!!

Eileen's teams have already been sharing projects due to the special early release in the UK in May and they have so much more to inspire you. For my latest project I revisited one of Eileen's online classes and created this floral 'Treasure Box'.

It looks like the regular 'Treasure Box', covered in floral papers 'knocked back' with white gesso. On top are coordinating flowers cut using the new 'Painterly Blooms & Background' Sizzix Thinlits Die Set and painted using the new 'Watercolour Flowers & Lattice' Sizzix Layered Stencil Set.

You may already have spotted the elastic on the side - in her online class Eileen taught this method of creating an elastic closure for the box.

As for those flowers - I'm a huge fan of having anything that will make cutting out easier so the fact that you can stencil your flowers and leaves, then use the dies to cut them out has to be a winner!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing today's project using Eileen's latest Classic die releases. Make sure to tune in to the Eileen Hull Designs Facebook Live/YouTube/Instagram Livestream on Tuesday, 4th June at noon Eastern Time (5pm UK Time) and also head on over to see the rest of the project peeks in the blog hop.

Blog Hop Stops;

Eileen Hull Designs

Pam Bray
Sarah Lizzie
Lisa Hoel
Jenny Marples - you are here
Maggi Harding
Tonya Trantham
Sue Eldred
Susie Bentz
Madeline Arendt
Jennie Atkinson
Elizabeth Robinson

Sizzix Classics Dies Release from Eileen Hull Designs - Engineering Drawers

Hi everyone and welcome. With Eileen having completed her latest UK Roadshow at the beginning of this month her teams are celebrating the May Sizzix release of three classic Eileen Hull Design dies. Fan favourites, the Notebook Die, the Stacking Drawer Box Die and the Treasure Box Die all work seamlessly together so you can mix and match them for all sorts of project combinations.

Earlier this month I shared my first project using this release - the Pansy Notebook - and now here's the second project, a set of engineering drawers.

This is a combination of the Treasure Box and Stacking Drawers, with the lid of the Treasure Box pushed inside to ensure the Stacking Drawers stand slightly proud at the front. Full disclosure, this was decorated by my hubby with a little help on getting it to look like it was made from ageing metal.

He took the time to create all the dials, switches and gauges on the front - isn't it effective! And the metal finish is easy to achieve with some Silver Sizzix Luster Wax and touches of red-brown ink on the edges where they've been worn away with sandpaper. This would make a perfect gift for all those budding engineers out there, especially if you fill the drawers with lots of treats.

That's it for this month from me (and hubby). Make sure to check out all the fantastic projects and ideas from the rest of the teams - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog.

For now thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx

Sizzix Classic Dies Release from Eileen Hull Designs - Pansy Notebook

Hi everyone and welcome. With Eileen having completed her latest UK Roadshow at the beginning of this month her teams are celebrating the May Sizzix release of three classic Eileen Hull Design dies. Fan favourites, the Notebook Die, the Stacking Drawer Box Die and the Treasure Box Die all work seamlessly together so you can mix and match them for all sorts of project combinations.

And as if that weren't enough, Sizzix have also taken a piece of Eileen's original watercolour artwork to create a 4pc Watercolour Flowers & Lattice Layered Stencil Set and coordinating Painterly Blooms & Background 10pc Thinlits Die Set. It is truly exquisite and everyone who attended Eileen's UK workshops really enjoyed getting to see them in action.

The first of the projects I'm sharing this month combines these new dies and stencils with the Notebook die; it's a hand-bound Pansy Notebook with decorated pages inside.

The flowers on top have all been created with the Painterly Blooms & Background Die Set - I chose to play with my PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paints and turn them into a host of pansies. Here are some close ups so you can see the detail and dimension more clearly;

From the last two photos you'll have seen glimpses of the textured stencilling beneath the pansies. This comes from one of the Watercolour Flowers & Lattice stencils and is highlighted with Ivory Pearl Sizzix Luster Wax.

And now to open the notebook and turn the pages. I decided to add some matching design to the collage pages so they can still be written or drawn on but are not those dreaded 'blank pages'. The layered stencils were used here again and made the whole process much quicker to complete.

It would make a great place to journal about your garden, record plant wish lists or include memories about trips to visit botanical places and shows (the Chelsea Flower Show will be open very soon!)

I hope you've enjoyed seeing the first of my Eileen Hull Designs Sizzix Classic Dies release projects. I'll be back later this month to show you another idea that was created in my house but not by me...! For now make sure to check out all the fantastic projects and ideas from the rest of the teams - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog.

For now thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx

Paris in Spring Mini Book for Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. Spring colours are on full display outside as well as on the desks of Eileen Hull's designers! We are creating inspiring projects for the season drawing from all of Eileen’s Sizzix dies and products. It should come as no surprise that I've made another Mini Book, this time using Paris in Spring as my theme.

Based on Eileen's Mini Book Scoreboards Die and using her Lace 3D Embossing Folder to create a vintage look for the covers, the pages inside are a mix of hand drawn, stamped, die cut and printed images (some of which come from The Graphics Fairy).

Eileen's Tiled Alphanumeric Die was used to cut the lettering on the inside cover and you'll see a series of stamp shapes from the Faux Postage Die Set which have had PaperArtsy stamped images water coloured on them.

More stamped PaperArtsy images have been coloured, cut out and included on several collage pages. The hearts have also been water coloured and they, along with the vellum envelope and folder come from Eileen's Envelope, Folder & Flowers Die Set.

I also used the flowers in that set to die cut the cherry blossoms which have been scattered on hand drawn branches. All the doodling on the flowers and hearts were inspired by some I'd seen done by Mitsyana Wright a couple of years ago. To complete the pages I drew and painted representations of the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, the Musee D'Orsay and of course the Eiffel Tower.

I've made a short video flip through to better show the scale of the book;

I hope you've enjoyed seeing inside this Paris Mini Book. Make sure to check out all the fantastic Spring projects from the rest of the team - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog.

For now thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx