When is an Eileen Hull Sizzix Journal not a Journal?!

This month Eileen Hull's Inspiration Team is making projects using some of their favorite Eileen Hull/Sizzix dies.  She is gathering all the projects and will have weekly posts on her blog in August.

Today I have a project using her wonderful Wrapped Journal Die - but I didn't make a journal -  I made a purse/wallet!  I also used her Flower Heart and Soul die and her Movers and Shapers Floral Cut outs die.

As you can see - you can pack a lot of 'necessaries' in this little purse that measures about 5" x 4 1/2" when closed up.

I  die cut the journal out of some beautiful grey, wonderfully supple, leather.  (more on that below).  I placed the rough side of the leather against my die to cut it.  There are score lines created with the die - and they might cut through the leather if you put the 'good' side down on the die.  You can see the score lines created in the photo above. 

(They are there so the journal will bend when cut from matboard)

I laid the Floral Cut out die inside the space on the journal die to get this lovely floral edge.  Some of the petals didn't quite cut through and I left them on at first, liking the dimension added, but ended up snipping them off as they probably would have torn off when tucking the purse into a pocket book or carrying it around.

There are 4 holes in the middle of the die on each edge, that are used to tie the pages into the journal - I made the bottom fold of the purse where those dots are, matching up the top and bottom dots, and held the fold with clothespins until I sewed the edges.

I don't usually work with leather so I was winging the techniques a bit -  I did put a heavy duty needle in my sewing machine and used a heavy duty thread.  I sewed up from the bottom fold about 1/4" seam allowance.  I had to pull the leather forward as it stitched a bit where it's doubled (maybe there's a thickness adjustment on my Singer - but I didn't think to check that out!) - and I sewed from the bottom up along the side, across the single layer top and back down to the bottom on the other side. 

I think stitching will help keep the leather from stretching out of shape (?)

I die cut one of the flowers from Flower Heart and Soul for the front as a decoration and also to hide the stitching from attaching the large snap I used for the closure.  I used another piece of leather for the flower - this one has texture and a molded design on it - I added a purple gem brad to the center.

I stitched the top of the snap on the inside of the purse and the stitches show on the outside, of course, but will be covered with the flower.

I stitched the other side of the snap on the bottom as shown.  It was a little tough getting the needle through the leather -  perhaps there are better tools if you work with leather a lot?  But I did get it secured.  I double stitched through each hole in the snap to be sure it won't pull away with a lot of opening and closing.

I used a strong craft adhesive to apply the flower and leaves to the front - over the stitches.  Beacon 3 In 1 Advanced Craft Glue I found it at Walmart on line.

(I learned about this adhesive when checking out another sewing project where they were adhering a metal closure to a purse so thought it would be good for this application - so far everything glued is still attached quite soundly!)

So I got my leather pieces from Amazon -  I got two packages of scraps - looking for descriptions that said the package included some larger pieces - hoping they would be large enough for a journal!(these are just some of the larger pieces left)

I purchased two packages - and so far have had enough large pieces to cut out 7 wrapped journals.

I'll be posting my second journal/purse next week so please check back!  I added a little loop strap to that one!

One of the packages included 4 small pieces of snake skin!  Not sure what I'll use that for, but it looks pretty cool -  it's thin, of course, and apparently real!!

I hope you like my little journal purse!  And that you will think outside the box about some of your dies too!!

Please check out Eileen's blog this month to see what favorite dies the rest of the Inspiration Team is creating with!

Accessories:  Wrapped Journal Die, Movers and Shapers Floral Cut Outs die, Flower Heart and Soul die - Eileen Hull/Sizzix,  grey leather scraps - Amazon, Sew On Snaps Size 10 - Joann, strong black thread, needle, sewing machine,  strong white thread, Vintage Brad - Creative Charms, Beacon 3 in 1 Advanced Craft Glue - Walmart.