Monday, December 7, 2020

Some of my favorite 2020 makes using Eileen Hull's Sizzix Dies

 Eileen Hull Inspiration Team will be sharing OUR FAVORITE PROJECTS OF 2020 all month long! 

Here are just some of my favorite projects for 2020
(with the first one actually from 2019 but it's less than a year ago right?! and I absolutely love having it out  on  display for the winter season!)

Just click on the title of the project and you'll find my tutorial for it!

December 2019    Magical Winter Village


January 2020  We are Better Together


January 2020   You Paint My Heart Happy  



August 4, 2020  Tiny Book Junk Journal


Make sure to stop by Eileen Hull's Blog each Wednesday in December to check out all the fabulous projects created by the teams this past year!

Eileen Hull Designs
also has a Face Book Fan Club!
Come join US!!!
A great place for inspiration in using your Eileen Hull Sizzix Dies!

Best of all you don't want to miss Eileen's Live Shows there on Tuesdays and Thursdays!
Always so much fun!



Sunday, December 6, 2020

A Birthday in the Woods

Today I have a birthday card to share.  

Loll is having a virtual Birthday Party for Susan over on her blog. I know both Loll and Susan from being active on Splitcoaststampers and most recently being on Loll's CAS challenge Design Teams. 

Susan celebrated a milestone birthday in the end of November and also had some scary health issues the past year so we want to show her our love and appreciation.   I already mailed her a card that she has hopefully received (that I did not take a photo of) so I've made this one to link up to her virtual party!  I know she loves the outdoors.

So - here's wishing you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY Susan!  I hope you had a lovely birthday celebration in some safe socially distant fashion with friends and family!

If you know Susan, perhaps you'd like to link up a card as well?   You'll find Loll's Birthday Card Link Up for Susan here.  The link is open until 12/12/2020.

Stamps:  Trio of Trees - Rubbernecker
Paper:  Water color paper - Canson Cold Press, white, Simply Chartreuse, clear acetate - PTI.
Ink:  Obsidian - Altenew
Accessories:  Ranger Distress Markers, water mister.

Friday, December 4, 2020

Eileen Hull Comfort and Joy 2020 Edition

 Today I have a special Comfort and Joy Journal to share with you!


Eileen's design and education teams decided we all needed some fun in our lives right now so we put our heads together and came up with an event that you can participate in as much or as little as you'd like. 

It's a challenge of sorts and we'd like to see you make a Comfort and Joy Journal for this season using any of Eileen Hull's Sizzix journal/book/box dies. Your journal could include activities, photos, recipes, shopping lists, daily thoughts, etc. Really, it can include anything you want; after all, it's your journal!

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday between November 27th and December 23rd there will be a post in the Eileen Hull Fan Club from one of Eileen's team members with a prompt for a journal page. 
These prompts are meant to get your creative thoughts flowing and give you page ideas for your Holiday Journal. It might be in the form of a blog post, Facebook Live, recorded quick video, or a Facebook post in the group. It's up to you to take it from there and we can't wait to see what you come up with, so please share your covers and pages with us in the Eileen Hull Face Book Fan Club.
So my prompt for Day 4 is to: 
DOCUMENT SPECIAL ORNAMENTS
Those ornaments we put on our tree each year that have special meaning -  perhaps inherited from our parents or they document special events over the years - children born, trips taken, home made, etc!
I used Eileen's Wrapped Journal Sizzix Die for the cover of my journal and I made a shaker ornament tag for the cover.
Sorry in advance -  LOTS of photos!
First I'll show you how I made the shaker ornament - and then I'll show you how I put the Wrapped Journal together AND the ornaments I've put on the first few  pages.
I happen to have these Basic Cut Tag and Window Cut Tag dies from Papertrey Ink - but you could use any ornament or circle dies to create this.  You just need a solid back and the same size front that you cut out a 'window' .  I cut out both a cardstock piece and a patterned paper piece for front and back.  The backing piece will show through the window so chose your design to fit in the window.  
(the red house will show through on mine)
Then I die cut a solid piece out of clear acetate for the window of the shaker
I glued the acetate to the back of the window piece and then put foam tape all around the opening and put in the various glitter items I wanted in the shaker window.
(I also put two pieces of foam along the bottom to support the open space when you put two pieces together)
I removed the covering on the foam tape and carefully placed the back piece over the front and pressed around the window opening to be sure the foam was sealing the edges.  
And there's your shaker ornament!
And now to the journal -  I used Eileen's Wrapped Journal because with the 'wrap' design, the journal can expand as you add things to your pages that make it thicker.  

I had some luscious soft dark grey leather purchased on Amazon that I used for the cover.  I also die cut the cover out of Sizzix Sculpting Foam to line the journal.  It gives a little bit of firmness to the leather without being as stiff as matboard.
I glued the two pieces together with Beacon 3 in 1 Advanced Craft Glue.  I laid the die over the glued pieces to hold them firmly while the glue dried.
I cut pages for my journal out of Rustic Cream cardstock. I cut 16 pieces, each one 8 1/2" x 4 1/4", scored them at 4 1/4" on the long side and folded in half to give me 32 pages.  I made 4 signatures as there are 4 holes in the binding area of the journal.
I tied each signature into the journal with a 17" piece of Peppermint Twine, tying the knots on the outside of the binding. 
(you can also knot them on the inside if you prefer a smooth look on the outside binding.)
I wanted to show you how the left cover piece is shorter than the pages - but that's ok because the right side 'wraps' over the pages which also allows for more thickness if you add items to your pages.
Here you see the covers wrapped over each other.
To adhere the ornament to the cover and to create a place for the elastic cord closure, I punched a hole in the top flap and screwed in a Hitch Fastener from Idea-ology.
This shows the screw on the Hitch Fastener going through the cover and the hole in the ornament. 
(I later took off the twine as it was too 'busy' with the hitch and elastic cord!)
I cut a 24" piece of black round elastic cord.  I tied the two ends together in a tight double knot.  
I placed the knot end around the screw of the Hitch Fastener as I screwed the top on so the fastener would hold the elastic cord
Before tightening it completely, I slid the cord so the knot would be on the back of the journal and not so noticeable.
I brought the looped end of the cord around the back, under the binding strings and hooked it over the Hitch Fastener on the front.   
This way, when you pull the loop off the hitch, the journal flap on the right can open and the cording stays on the journal so it can be easily closed again!
I added charms to the binding twines - a pinecone, an ice skate, a bell and a snowflake!


And now for the ornament pages in my Comfort and Joy Journal.
I stamped the front page using Quoted: Favorite Things Stamp Set from PapertreyInk.  I added an ornament sticker on a foam dot and framed the panel with DP and red cardstock.
I'm going to journal on my pages about the ornaments but haven't done that part yet! 
 I have to practice my neat printing skills!

My first ornament to document is one my father (who was born in 1914) had on his family tree growing up.  I'm not sure if it was one his parents had from their families or if it was new as my father grew up.  He passed unexpectedly at the age of 67 in 1981 so this has been particularly special over the years. 
I store it in a separate box in my big ornament box as it is paper thin and has lost most of it's bright red color!
This little stocking (2"x2") was made by my son, Joshua, in 1983 when he was 6 years old.  My sister and I always did crafts with our kids and this is one we made out of a flour craft dough (flour, Elmers Glue and I forget what else!) cut with a cookie cutter, baked and painted.  
Somehow this one has survived the years without crumbling apart! 
I'm glad I thought to put the date on the back!
This angel is actually a vintage gift tag that my mother-in-law, Marge, put on a present to me one Christmas - she saved everything, buttons off old coats, pieces of broken jewelry and boxes of old cards/tags which she would repurpose!  I was lucky enough to inherit her button/jewelry box.
She passed in 2012 at the age of 97 so it's nice to have a memory of her on our tree.
Kent and I purchased this cute boat ornament from Mystic, CT which was one stop on our Honeymoon in 1997.  A happy 2nd marriage for both of us. 
In the past, I often bought Christmas ornaments when I was on vacation, no matter what time of year it was!
This is another one of my dad's family ornaments dating at least to 1914 - my sister had this one for her tree and when she passed suddenly 4 years ago, I luckily found it in her Christmas box when my nieces were clearing out her home.  Another fragile one kept inside a specially labelled box!
Here are my 4 signatures inside my journal  bound with the twine.


So I hope I've inspired you to create a Comfort and Joy 2020 Journal - and perhaps you have some special ornaments or decorations that you'd like to document on some of it's pages?!

Remember, you'll find page prompts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday over at Eileen Hull Fan Club Facebook where you need to join but you just need to request it. 

I hope everyone is finding some Comfort and Joy in this wonderful season of Christmas even though it is so different this year!

Stamps:  Quoted: Favorite Things Stamp Set - PapertreyInk.
Paper:  White, Rustic Cream, Pure Poppy, Pine Feather, Clear Acetate - PapertreyInk, DP Christmas Paper Stash - Tim Holtz/Sizzix
Ink:  Obsidian - Altenew
Accessories:  Eileen Hull Wrapped Journal - Sizzix, dark gray leather - Amazon, Blossoms Set Sculpting Foam - Sizzix, black elastic cord, Metallic Stickers: Holiday Talk, Adornment Skates, snowflakes and Pine Cones, Hitch Fastener - Idea-ology, bell charm from stash, Basic Cut Tag Die, Window Cut Tag Die - Papertrey Ink, 3D ornament sticker - Paper House, Peppermint Twine - the Cat's Pajamas, foam tape, photos of ornaments, Beacon 3 in 1 Advanced Craft Glue, Frosted Flower Sequins - Honey Bee stamps, Iridescent Mini Star Confetti - Pretty Pink Posh, Snow Crystals - PapertreyInk.

Thursday, December 3, 2020

A Vintage Journey December Challenge - ATC's for Christmas and a Fond Farewell!

Brenda, the creator of A Vintage Journey Challenge Blog, has, after much deliberation, decided to close the blog - it seems that people are moving away from blogging to other media and it was felt that the close of 2020 was a good time to say goodbye.

But we are going out with a festive celebration!   

This month we invite you to join our final AVJ challenge which is: A Merry Little Christmas

Celebrate the season by making an ATC (or a set of ATCs) depicting Christmas scenes or colours.  Just remember to create your project in one of our preferred styles: vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk.

Here's my A Merry Little Christmas ATC - A Winter Forest!

Not sure you can see the sparkle on the snowflakes?   I shook Clear Rock Candy Glitter over them when they were still wet and its really sparkly IRL!
I started with a 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" panel of watercolor paper.  
The first layer of background is Speckled Egg Distress Oxide Spray - spritzed lightly as shown below.
I spritzed it lightly with water and then dried it with my heat tool.
Next I laid my mini pine stencil over the panel, leaving some space at the top for my snowfall.  I sponged over the stencil with a finger sponge using Rustic Wilderness Distress Oxide Ink.
Here's how it looked at this point.
I laid my mini snowflake stencil over the panel - lining the edge up along the top.  I spread white embossing paste just over the top and down the left side - leaving some open area on the right.  Wash your stencil and pallet knife immediately after use.

Before the embossing paste could dry I poured Clear Rock Candy Distress Glitter over them and tapped it off.  Then I set the ATC aside to dry.
When the paste was dry - I sponged around the edges with Vintage Distress Ink and added a Metallic Holiday Talk Sticker.

Each Creative Guide has also made a Farewell ATC.

I found this sentiment in a stamp set I purchased when I was doing the Wanderlust Online Classes several years ago.  I had it on my shelf and had never used it -  these words express a lot of my feelings both for this past year and the ending of the AVJ team!    
I believe in: Gratitude, People, Peace, You, Freedom, Love, Beauty, Change, Compassion, Serenity and Friendship!   I couldn't have summed it up better!
To create this ATC - I started with a 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" piece of watercolor paper.   I rubbed Speckled Egg and Vintage Photo Distress Inks onto my craft mat in separate spots and spritzed them both with water.
First, I pressed and pounced the panel onto the Speckled Egg Distress Ink.  I dried it with my heat tool.
Then I pressed and pounced the panel into the Vintage Photo Distress Ink and dried it with my heat tool.
Then I went back to the blue pressing into what was left on the mat until I was happy.  I dried it again and then pressed into what was left of the brown on the mat.  I liked how it looked at this point.
Here's the stamp set I used for my sentiment.  I lined it up in my Misti in case the first stamping didn't cover well but luckily it did!
I cut this piece of a larger Paper Doll group to fit in the space beside the sentiment.  I embossed the clothing with Distress Embossing Glazes in Rustic Wilderness, Tattered Rose, Speckled Egg and Fossilized Amber using a Versamark pen to wet the area and embossing only one color at a time.
I added a little wood veneer star to one of the trees on my Merry Little Christmas ATC and sponged the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink
I added Tuxedo Clay Hearts around the sentiment of my Farewell ATC and sponged the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.
So please join us in this, our final A Vintage Journey Challenge - you'll find the challenge details and some wonderful ATC inspiration from all the Creative Guides here.


Stamps:  Everything Art EEA03 - PaperArtsy.
Paper:  Water color paper - Canson Cold Press.
Ink:  Obsidian - Altenew, Ranger Distress Vintage Photo, Speckled Egg, Ranger Distress Oxide Speckled Egg, Versamark Marker.
Accessories:  Speckled Egg Distress Oxide Spray, Ranger Distress Embossing Glaze - Rustic Wilderness, Tattered Rose, Speckled Egg, Fossilized Amber, Mini Stencils Pines and Snowflakes - Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous, water mister, heat tool, Metallic Stickers Holiday Talk - Idea-ology, wood veneer star - American Crafts, Tuxedo Clay Hearts - Honey Bee Stamps, Paperdolls - Tim Holtz/Idea-ology, Wendy Vecchi White Embossing Paste, pallet knife.