Eileen Hull's Chapter 4 Dies - Heart Mandala used for a Pocket Posy

Today I have a card to share using Eileen Hulls new Heart Mandala die from Sizzix.

And instead of using it as a full Mandala, I cut it in half, folded the edges in and made a sweet Pocket Posy!

Here's a brief view of how I made my pocket posy.  I die cut the Heart Mandala and cut it in half 

(so now I can make two pocket posies!)

I scored the inside edge of the outside panels and folded them in, creasing with a bone folder making sure the centers lined up neatly.

I sprayed the pocket with Speckled Egg Ranger Distress Oxide Spray, inside and outside. 

 I use a pizza box lined with computer paper whenever I spray something to help contain the spray!

I die cut flowers and leaves from Designer Paper using Eileen's older Stitchy Flowers and Leaf Die set.

I adhered the back of the pocket to a square of the same DPI used for the flowers.  I layered the flowers with foam dots to make them dimensional.  I adhered the flowers and leaves inside the pocket and tied it closed with a piece a twine, hiding the knot behind a little punched heart.  I added Teal Crystals to the centers.  I adhered the whole thing to a card base cut with an older Noted:Scalloped Square die from Papertrey Ink.  I splattered gold over the card using a fine tip paint marker taping it with a plastic ruler.

This card measures 3 3/4" x3 5/8".

I think it would make a lovely card for a birthday, get well or just saying hello!

Please check out Eileen's Blog each Wednesday this month as she posts inspiration from her Design Teams using all of her new Chapter 4 dies and embossing folder

Are you a member of the Eileen Hull Fan Club? Join over 5,ooo other members to share ideas, inspiration, sources, challenges and make some fabulous friends – make sure to answer the questions! Watch her Facebook Lives at Eileen Hull Designs on Tuesdays at 6:00 Eastern and Thursdays at 4:00 to for project ideas, techniques, inspiration and creative community. Additionally, you can also find Eileen on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

Paper:  White Linen - Ellen Hutson, DP Craft Papers Ink Drops Earth - Craft Consortium.

Accessories:  Heart Mandala Die, Stitchy Flowers and Leaf Die - Eileen Hull/Sizzix, Noted: Scalloped Square Die - Papertrey Ink,  Speckled Egg Ranger Distress Oxide Spray, Fine Tip Gold Paint Marker - Top Notch, foam dots, heart Punch - McGill, Brown Twine, Teal Crystals - Prima

May Your Season Sparkle!

 Today I'm here with my reminder card for the October CAS Christmas Card Challenge which is to use red and grey.

I used glitter paper in red and silver (that's grey right?!) for the die cuts on my design, with grey stenciled snowflakes in the sky.

I die cut the oval using a Petite Oval Nestability out of silver glitter paper for my frozen lake, then l adhered it to my card base and stenciled lightly above the oval using Tim's mini snowflake stencil from Stampers Anonymous using a blender brush and Limestone Ink from Altenew.

I die cut the skater out of both red and silver glitter card stock.  I cut the hands and hat off the silver die cut (accept for the pom pom which I left red!) and glued the pieces over the red skater.  I popped the skater over the ice with foam dots.  The sentiment and sentiment strip die are from Taylored Expressions.

You have until 10/24 to get your CAS Red and Grey creation linked up over at the CAS Christmas Card Challenge -  hope to see you there!

Stamps: Simple Strips: Christmas - Taylored Expressions
Paper: White - PTI, Silver and Red from Glitter Pad - Michaels.
Ink: True Black - PTI, Limestone - Altenew
Accessories: Mini Snowflake Stencil - Tim Holtz/Stampers Annonymous, Petite Oval Die - Nestabilities, Thin Ice Thinlit Die - Tim Holtz/Sizzix, Simple Strips Die - Taylored Expressions, foam dots, blender brush.

A Fun Day Pressing Plants!

 I checked out the CAS Mix Up Card Challenge this month and got so excited about it I made a plethora of cards.  Hostess Bonnie's  challenge is Botanical Prints -  to gather leaves, flowers, stems etc from your garden and then press them with your Big Shot or gel press them etc.  Bonnie has links to several videos for different techniques.

So my first card was made using a leaf stem from one of my Astilbe plants - long past bloom but the leaves are still green

I put the stem between two pieces of water color paper and ran it through my Vagabond.  The first card is more CAS and I'm linking this one to the challenge.  This is the print gotten from the back side of the stem and pressed much lighter than the panel that was over the front of the stem (see 2nd card)

I added a stamped sentiment panel up on foam dots, 3 green enamel dots and splatter - using a gold Paint Marker.

My second card uses the front panel of watercolor paper that was laid on top of the face up stem,  It gave a much darker imprint.  I die cut this panel with Ship Lap Builder from the Greetery, layered it over a piece of DP from Ink Drops/Earth paper pad from Craft Consortium..  The ship lap die adds woodgrain texture to the panels and they are popped up on foam dots.  I stamped the sentiment on a strip of water color paper in brown ink and splattered the panel  with the same gold Paint Marker I used above.

For my next card I pressed 2 geranium leaves and a few red single petals that were left on the geranium.  These leaves pressed very lightly on both front and back panels and the petals were very watery and ran across the panels.   I stamped Quinn and Hearts Mini from Lavinia over the pressing using my Misti to get good coverage over the water color paper, and added splatter using a Purple POSCA Ink fine tip pen.  I stamped the sentiment from Heart Felt Verses from Lavinia on a strip of watercolor paper and used it as a seat/grounding for Quinn.  I added Clear Glitter Wink of Stella to her wings but you can't really see the sparkle in the photo.

And finally,  another press from two geranium leaves and a full red geranium blossom - funny how it turns purple when pressed!  I die cut the panel with Nordic Circles from the Greetery, I layered the outside piece over a white card base with foam tape and adhered the pressed circle inside.  I splattered the card with a Purple POSCA ink pen and added the stamped sentiment on a die cut strip up on foam dots.

What a fun day I had in my craft room pressing these leaves and petals from my garden -  now I'm going back in to try out the gel press technique shown over at the challenge.

CAS Mix Up

Giving Thanks with an Autumn Posy Pocket

I'm into Thanksgiving mode already making some things for my church fair and also to sell in a local shop where I have a booth.  I totally CASED Betsy Veldman's post over at The Greetery showing this sweet Autumn posy heart.   But, instead of having my posy a stand alone and opening up, I glued all the wheat and leaf stems inside, glued the heart closed and adhered it to a die cut circle and looped a piece of twine through the top so it could be hung up. I also added a fall leaf to the front behind the sentiment. I absolutely love how these came out!

The circle is 4" in diameter and this fits into a regular A2 envelope for mailing with plenty of room on the back of the die cut circle to write a message.

Everything is from The Greetery - Posy Pocket Dies, Boxwood Heart Details dies, Botanicuts: Wheat dies,  Botanicuts: Mighty Oak dies, Botanicuts:  Palm dies and Nordic Circles dies accept for the sentiment which is Mini Strips Harvest stamps and Mini Strips Die both from Taylored Expressions.

There was a lot of die cutting involved in making these - so I made eight of them while I had all the materials out with various sentiments from the Mini Harvest Strip Stamp set - all for the Thanksgiving season.

I assembled them while watching TV at night!

Everything is cut out of white card stock and then inked with Distress Inks 

(accept for the circle which is cut out of Canyon Clay card stock.

I'm linking my Autumn Posy card to:

Paper Players

Stamps: Mini Strips - Harvest - Taylored Expressions.
Ink: Ranger Distress - Gathered Twigs and Scattered Straw for wheat, Peeled Paint, Rusty Hings, Wild Honey for the pocket, Wild Honey, Fired Brick, Walnut Stain and Antique Linen for the stems, Cocoa Bean - Papertrey Ink
Paper: White, Canyon Clay, Vintage Cream - PTI
Accessories: Dies: Posy Pockets, Boxwood Heart Details, Botanicuts Wheat, Botanicuts: Mighty Oak, Botanicuts - Palm, Nordic Circles - The Greetery, Mini Strips Die - Taylored Expressions, brown and grey colored pencils for detail on wheat, natural twine.

New Chapter 4 Journal from Eileen Hull/Sizzix - Bugs Tutorial

 Today I'm sharing a quick tutorial on how I put together this fun BUGS Journal using Eileen Hull's new Chapter 4 Full Size Journal Die.    

This is a larger die and requires a machine with at least a 9" throat like the Big Shot Plus or Big Shot Pro.   Eileen also sells all the precut pieces for this journal in her Etsy Shop so you can still make one if you don't have the larger machine. 

 First a few views of the finished journal. 

The front showing the latch closure and label using pieces included on the die.

The back and binding, showing the elastic cord that holds the 3 signature sections in the journal.  Depending on how  you layer the binding, you can increase the width of the journal to hold more signatures.

I added the longer label die cut on the back, stamping it with my name and adding enamel dots to the ends.

The pages inside - awaiting drawings, photos and notes on any bugs I encounter!  Slipping the signature pages through the elastic cord allows for more pages to be added very easily.

Now on to construction.  

I die cut the cover piece twice and adhered ScorTape to one of the binding areas being sure not to cover the holes.  Then I laid the right binding section over the left and pressed to adhere.  If I only put the tape on  the outside edge on the left and only laid the outside edge of the right piece over it - the journal would be wider allowing 5 signatures to be added.

I cut pieces of my bugs paper and Stick it Double Sided Adhesive Sheets to fit the outside covers, and adhered them to the journal covers.

I sponged Bay Blends 2 Ink over the inside covers and let dry.

I cut a piece of Sticky Back Canvas Tape to cover the outside binding and sponged it with the same Bay Blends 2 Ink.  The canvas tape is 2" wide and fit perfectly over my binding and wrapping around onto the covers about 1/2".

I adhered the Sticky Back Canvas piece over the binding and then used an ice pick to open the holes for the elastic cord.

I lined up the latch panel and marked the holes, punched them with my Cropadile and attached the latch to the cover with large aqua brads.

I attached the closure tab to the back of the journal with another brad.

And slipped it through the front piece.

 

I cut 6 pieces of Rustic White Card Stock to 7 1/2" x 11", scored them at 5 1/2" on the 11" side and folded them in half. I used 2 folded pieces in each signature.  I cut 3 pieces of white elastic cord 18" long, looping each piece through a whole in the top and bottom of the binding and knotting it in the middle.

This new die makes a lovely large size journal that can be made narrow or wide in the binding.  A lovely addition to all the different size journal dies Eileen has created for us!

Please check out Eileen's Blog every Wednesday this month for more inspiration from her Inspiration and Education Teams using her new Chapter 4 Dies and embossing folder!

Are you a member of the Eileen Hull Fan Club? Join over 5,ooo other members to share ideas, inspiration, sources, challenges and make some fabulous friends – make sure to answer the questions! Watch her Facebook Lives at Eileen Hull Designs on Tuesdays at 6:00 Eastern and Thursdays at 4:00 to for project ideas, techniques, inspiration and creative community. Additionally, you can also find Eileen on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

Paper:  Rustic White Card Stock - Papertrey Ink (for pages), white Little Sizzles Matboard - Sizzix, DP Bugs - American Crafts (Michaels).

Ink:  Bay Blends 2 - Eileen Hull/Color Box Clear Snap

Accessories:  Full Sized Journal - Eileen Hull/Sizzix, Alphanumeric Dies - Tim Holtz/Sizzix, Double Sided Adhesive Sheets - Stick It, Sticky Back Canvas Tape - Dina Wakley, colored brads, ice Pick, white elastic cord, enamel dots - Altenew.

September Card Chain Challenge Reveal - The Time of Falling Leaves has Come Again

 The September Card Chain Challenge was revealed on Oct 2 and I forgot to do my post with the card I made and sent to Linda in Michigan and I received a card from Greta in Oregon -  so here I am with my slightly late post!

This is the card I sent to Linda in Michigan.

For my September card, I used the suggested Sketch as well as one of the suggested themes of leaves.

This is such a fun challenge to join in, signing up to send a card to someone who could be living anywhere around the world and receiving one from someone too!  Check out all the details here.  If you'd like to try it out - you can sign up to just do one month, or join in every month - it's up to you!

Stamps:  Mini Leaf 5, Mini Pine Cone, Mini Sycamore - Lavinia Stamps, EAB04 Alison Bomber Set - Paper Artsy.

Ink:  Cocoa Bean - Papertrey Ink

Paper:  white, Dark Chocolate - Papertrey Ink, water color paper - Canson Cold Press, DP Farmstead Harvest Mat Stack - DCWV, foam dots, Rectangle dies - Spellbinders, October Sky Dew Drops - Honey Bee Stamps.

October CAS Christmas Card Challenge - Gray and Red

 Welcome to October and also to the newest CAS Christmas Card Challenge.  Marcia is our hostess with the mostest this month and she wants us to use grey and red in our clean and simple creations!

I rummaged through my three boxes of Christmas stamps and dies and pulled out Christmas Critters - an older set from Papertrey Ink that I think I've only used twice - so way past time to ink it up again!  

I went REALLY CAS this month - a no layer card accept for the sequins!  These are such great colors for Christmas designs.

We are really getting down to the wire here folks, for needing our Christmas cards to be made, so we hope you will get out your red and grey inks and papers and link up your CAS creation over at the CAS Christmas Card Challenge blog!   You will find lots of inspiration from the rest of the team as well as our talented (and well known) Guest Designer Darnell!

Stamps: Christmas Critters and Christmas Critters Sentiment Stamp Set - PaperTrey Ink.
Paper: White - PTI
Ink: Pure Poppy, True Black - PTI, Limestone - Altenew
Accessories: Spring Sequins - Honey Bee Stamps.

Eileen Hull/Sizzix - New Chapter 4 Release!

Today is the release day for Eileen Hull's new Chapter 4 Sizzix dies and embossing folder.

From Eileen:

The Chapter 4 Sizzix Release is exciting for so many reasons- there are two never-done-before designs!

One is the Full Size Journal which is a Bigz Pro size- you will need a machine with at least a 9" throat to cut this die- like a Big Shot Plus or Pro. Not to worry- if you don't have that machine, Eileen will have the pre-cut pieces available in her Etsy store for you to work with. The other new technology is a 3D Embossing Folder! It's called Sweater and is oh so cozy. Also new this release is a Bigz Notepad die with lots of options for materials and uses, and a Heart Mandala Thinlits to decorate with!

There is a GIVEAWAY too- leave a comment on each of the designers' blog posts and you will be entered to win one of the new dies! Another prize will be given to someone who attends and comments in the Release Party Facebook Live at 12 noon ET.

Here are some projects I've made using the new Chapter 4 products just to give you a quick peek!

Full Size Journal Die

8 3/4" x 6 1/4" x 1"

I will have a tutorial on how I made this BUGS Journal on my blog on 10/11/21.

 

Heart Mandala Thinlit Die

I cut the heart mandala in half for this birthday card.

Knit 3D Embossing Folder

Such a gorgeous deep knit embossing - it looks real!

Note Pad Die

A handy little notepad to slip into your bag or pocket!

3 5/8" x 3 3/4" x 3/8"

Hop Stops:

Eileen Hull Designs
Julia Aston
Jennie Atkinson
Sue Eldred
Maggi Harding
Lisa Hoel
Tonya Trantham
Sarah Lizzie Dodd
Karen Bearse

Have fun and visit next week for more inspiration from Eileen’s Chapter 4 Sizzix Dies release!

Are you a member of the Eileen Hull Fan Club? Join over 5,000 other members to share ideas, inspiration, sources, challenges and make some fabulous friends – make sure to answer the questions! Watch her Facebook Lives at Eileen Hull Designs on Tuesdays at 6:00 Eastern and Thursdays at 4:00 to for project ideas, techniques, inspiration and creative community. Additionally, you can also find Eileen on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

Don’t miss Eileen’s Sizzix Chapter 4 Release Party Facebook Live
Friday, 10/1 at 12pm EST! It will be streaming live on both her YouTube channel and in FaceBook.