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

Lace Embossed Mini Book Covers for Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. In my last post (part of the Topflight 7th Birthday Blog Hop) I shared a small accordion book featuring PaperArtsy stamps designed by Scrapcosy. The only thing missing were some book covers, and having previously promised to show how I treated the 3D Embossed Lace used to cover Eileen's new Storage Box here, it made sense to combine the two projects.

As a reminder here's the Storage Box;

And here's the Accordion Book (with no covers);

Now here's the same Accordion Book with it's new Lace Mini Book Covers - given a vintage look with a hint of the colour used on the pages inside;

3D Lace Embossing Tutorial

Let's get started on the tutorial. Begin by painting a piece of card with white gesso and when dry, emboss with Eileen's Sizzix 3D Lace Embossing Folder.

Warning, the next bit will seem scary. Paint in some of the de-bossed details with strong colour; believe it or not the colours used below were also used on the accordion pages before they were dry brushed!! Don't worry about being too perfect with your painting - the details in the raised areas will be rejuvenated next.

More scary stuff - paint over the top of the dry surface with dark brown/black paint in small sections. Before the paint has dried wipe over with a damp cloth/baby wipe to remove most of the paint. You'll find the dark brown remains in many of the de-bossed areas. Don't try to paint the whole lot in one go if your paint is a fast drying one like the PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Paint. You'll find trying to wipe away dry paint is much more difficult and may lead to you damaging the embossed surface (I speak from experience here!!)

It's time to make this all look a lot less scary - using more white gesso start dry brushing the whole embossed surface. Make sure to use a flat brush and keep your brush as horizontal as possible to ensure the white gesso hits the raised areas without getting into the crevices. Start with a tiny bit of gesso on your brush, working it on your craft mat to make it as dry as possible before applying. You can always add more white through extra layers, but you can't remove them so take your time and allow everything to dry as you go.

Finally it's time to grab the Sizzix 'Ivory' Luster Wax to add a touch of subtle shimmer. Again go lightly with your application - a delicate touch with your finger will help you to catch the raised pattern and as previously mentioned, you can always add more to suit your taste.

You now have a 'shabby chic' look to your Lace Embossed panel with a subtle touch of colour. Use it to cover your box, book cover or whatever else you fancy! You might notice my finished book covers seem a little more vintage than shabby chic pale - that's because I applied a tiny amount of walnut stain to coordinate with the pages inside, something I didn't do to the original Storage Box.

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial. Make sure to check out all the fantastic projects from the rest of the team - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog throughout the month.

For now thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx

Topflight Stamps 7th Birthday Blog Hop

Hi everyone and welcome. It's Topflight Stamps 7th birthday and to celebrate, some great designers have teamed up to showcase celebratory projects using the unique products available at Topflight Stamps. Please hop along with us and see all the beautiful talent from this group of amazing designers! There is a master list of Hop stops on the Topflight Stamps blog!

Did we mention there will be prizes?

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Of course, it wouldn’t be a birthday celebration without prizes! Topflight Stamps is giving four lucky winners $50 Gift Certificates to the store. Two winners will be chosen from commenters on the blog hop and two will be chosen from commenters on the IG hop. For a chance to win, make sure to visit the stops on the hop and leave a comment by April 1st. Winners will be announced on the Topflight Stamps blog on Monday, April 3rd. U.S.A winners only due to shipping issues. Good Luck!

I've had fun creating a little accordion book that will last long after the cards have been taken down. The stitched flower designs that are part of the PaperArtsy Stamp Set ESC38 designed by Scrapcosy are so detailed that they can be stamped onto an intricate background to add such impact. Designer Raquel (who is also part of this blog hop!) has also included several celebratory words together with a tiny matching tag shape.

The background is made up of layers, starting with book pages, manuscript and gel printed tissue. Add a little stencilling then go to work with pale PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paints like Cloud 9 and blend over the top to bring it all together. There's also a little asemic writing included before the stamping begins.

Believe it or not the tags are stamped onto a piece of old scrapbook paper that I didn't like - use a brayer to add some paint over the top and suddenly it becomes useful and desirable!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing this fabulous stamp set being used here. Now it's time to follow the links below to see all of the amazing projects created by a hugely talented group of designers, and don't forget to comment for a chance to win a prize.

Kathi Rerek

Dina Kowal

Esther Asbury

Annette Allen

Rachel Kleinman

Connie Mercer

Lisa Hoel

Jenny Marples - you are here

Cornelia Wenokor

Ericka Strange

Melina Dahl

Autumn Clark

Natasha Vacca

Colleen Balija

Alanna Moses

Sara Naumann

Raquel Perez

Don't forget Topflight Stamps are also having a SALE in the store during the celebration. Check out the selection of stamps and other goodies sourced from all around the world!

Thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx

Lace Mini Book for Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. This month Eileen Hull's design teams are starting to share projects and ideas using the dies and embossing folder from Eileen's new March 2024 Sizzix release. In my previous post I mentioned showing you a new chunky little Mini Book, decorated with the Lace 3D Embossing Folder, features Faux Postage die cuts and images from Alison Bomber's stamp sets by PaperArtsy. 

I can't begin to describe how excited I am by this new Mini Book - the cute portrait size (being 3 3/4" x 2 1/4") is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand but large enough to pack a punch with what you can fit on the pages. Shrink down your mobile phone photos and chances are you won't even need to crop them to make them fit!

I particularly love the shape of the covers and the addition of a little 'carry handle' within the die design made in this case with a strip of leather and attached with two shirt buttons. On it's side you can see more of the raised detail on the covers that come from the Lace 3D Embossing Folder, decorated with black gesso and Sizzix 'Rose Gold' Luster Wax.

As you can see I've rather 'over stuffed' this one (lesson learned for future Mini Books) so here's a video flick through of the pages inside.

And here are collated photos of the individual pages which can be enlarged for a closer look if you click on the images. As already mentioned, you'll see I've included a lot of accents using die cut stamp shapes from the Faux Postage Die Set together with one of Eileen's little envelopes on the back page.  

I hope you've enjoyed seeing inside this Lace Mini Book. As promised I'll be back soon to show you another method for making the most of that 3D Lace Embossing Folder with layers of media. In the meantime make sure to check out all the fantastic projects from the rest of the team - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog throughout the month.

For now thanks for visiting,

Jenny xxx