Desktop Displays with Eileen Hull's Latest Sissix Dies

Hello and welcome!

I have been very lucky to have had the opportunity of creating with some of Eileen Hull's latest Sissix dies ahead of Creativation in Phoenix later this month. And not just that I am VERY excited to be going myself ... but more of that in another post.

Today I am sharing two projects I have made with the new Display Stand. This is a brilliant die and I can see the creative potential for using this over and over in lots of different ways. It cuts in one piece (yes!), lies flat for posting and is great fun to decorate.

I thought it would be lovely to make a scrapbook layout which would also double as a birthday card for a favourite friend.

And completely different ... a desk tidy combining it with another of Eileen's dies.

The die easily lies flat for posting - just brilliant!

For the scrapbook layout I coated the front pieces of board with white gesso and then added some stamping, texture paste using a stencil and bit of watery ink.

I have used different die cuts for layering - my favourite to way to create depth. Some are layered on foam. I have also added a sentiment from Eileen's Floral Arts and Words Thinlits die.

For the desk tidy I made a shortened box using Eileen's CD Wrap and Box Storage Die. A large post it note pad sits inside perfectly.

I have used Stamperia Winter Botanical papers to decorate the stand and the box, fussy cutting some smaller pieces for decoration. This was so quick and easy to make I think I could have one for each season!

The outside edge of the inside (if you get my meaning) is on show once the stand is finished, so for the scrapbook stand I roughly painted the edge with chalk acrylic paint to match the design.

But it is possible to cut a piece of cardstock measuring 5 1/4" x 5 3/8" to fit. I cut a 1" border around three sides and left 1 3/8" at the bottom. I found it works best if only the top is glued that way the bottom moves with the stand when folded or closed.

The stand is very sturdy and means you can place a lot of embellishments on the front without fear of it falling over.

Eileen's Creative Team are making some fabulous samples using this new die and she will be sharing them over on her blog HERE. Do keep visiting as you will find loads of inspiration for these new dies both now and during the show in Phoenix.

As always thank you for joining me today and I hope to be sharing more projects with Eileen's new dies soon.

Jennie x

Small is Beautiful ....

Hello and welcome to my first creative post of 2020. I hope, like us, you have had a restful and peaceful Christmas and are now ready to jump into not just a new year, but a new decade!

As it is also the first day of the month we are starting a new challenge at Mini Album Makers and I have decided to start the year with some small tiny books representing the four seasons which have helped me use up some small, but precious pieces of scrapbooking paper and were great fun to make.

Whilst taking stock of my paper supplies earlier last month I decided to use some of these fabulous little pieces of Graphic 45 papers from the Time to Flourish pack which have been so much a favourite but which I couldn't part with even the tiniest little piece!

It is always fun making a new book(s) and at Mini Album Makers we just ask you to share whatever you have made this month. The team love their bookmaking and you can be assured of some great inspiration. Do hop on over to the MAM blog to see more.

As I had made quite a number of books for Christmas presents I had lots of small leftover bits of paper and board. So ..... in order not to waste anything I decided to create a little set of books none of which is more than 2" high.

Spring was my first little book and I had a few little labels which filled a few pages.

Then I turned to some summer papers. The book measures 2" x 2" but has a thicker spine than the rest which makes for a lovely chunky book especially as I had more in the way of labels and cutouts.

By the time I got to Autumn I realised that a plain inside cover suited the books well. Autumn has a similar chunky spine to Summer but the book measures 2" x 1.75" (and really is kinda cute!).

And finally to Winter which is the smallest book of the set measuring only 2" x 1.5". I was running out of papers at this point so it is quite a thin book but has some lovely labels and quotes inside.

And here are a few steps explaining how the books came together:

I sorted all the left over bits of paper from my Christmas present making and pulled together four books of varying sizes, although they were all 2" high.  I made sewn signatures in the normal way but only used two holes for the sewing.

Board was then cut to fit the signatures and I played around on my papers to see what would fit. I am using papers from the 8" x 8" paper stack which means the images are small enough for these tiny books.

The board covers were made in just the same way as I make my larger ones.

I always glue the long edges first .... no idea why but I find it makes for a neater finish.

Once you have everything stuck down don't be tempted to bend the paper as it never folds correctly. Always score with a bone folder first for a crisper fold.

There are many videos/step by steps on the internet showing how to make board cover books and I have used the same principles for these small ones. Once you have the skills it is easy to translate them to any size.

I don't expect the books will be used for anything but were fun to make and look really cute sitting on the mantlepiece and have caused a few comments!

So another creative year starts and I have much to look forward to ... more about that later in the month!

As always thank you for joining me and I wish you all a very happy, healthy and creative year ahead.

Jennie x

It's a Holly Jolly Christmas !

Hello to you all and welcome to this rather indulgent post!

I say indulgent because I just had SOOOO much fun making these wonderful little houses using Eileen Hull's House Ornament Die (as well as a few embellishments from some of her Thinlits dies). It brought back so many wonderful memories of making decorations like this as a child.

So I give you .....

...... three little Christmas houses, three great techniques!

All of which fit perfectly into our new challenge at A Vintage Journey which is

A Holly Jolly Christmas

Basically anything goes as long as it says Christmas and is in our preferred 

styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, journaling, timeworn or steampunk.

Check out some great Christmas inspiration from my fellow Creative Guides and 

all the details of the challenge for this month by clicking

the link HERE.

House Number 1

Simply covered with some gorgeous Christmas paper

For all the houses I cut windows from Eileen's House/Pocket Stitchlits die. They don't quite match the window but actually look like proper vintage astragals from a distance!

The roof is made from a piece of greyboard which I ran through a wood embossing folder and then inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

I love clusters of flowers and berries at this time of the year and you might just be able to see underneath a couple of flowers cut from Eileen's Journalling Cards (Flowers and Leaves) Thinlits.

House No. 2

Sparkle!

The technique used for this house was crackle paste added through a brick stencil and when it had dried I spritzed it with Perfect Pearls Heirloom Gold Spray.

The roof for this house was cut from corrugated packaging which had white acrylic paint dry brushed onto it.

A similar cluster around the window but you might just make out underneath I have used the leaf spray from Eileen's Floral Arch & Words.

House No. 3

Peeled Paint!

I love this technique! A combination of washi tape, crackle paste, PaperArtsy Infusions and a final layer of Texture Paste.

You can see the full technique HERE.

For this house I placed my cluster on top of the roof ..... just for something different .... well not really! I didn't want to hide any of the gorgeous cracked paint! Again I have used leaves from Eileen's Journalling Cards Thinlits dies cut from text paper. I also dyed the ribbon with the PaperArtsy Infusions to keep everything consistent.

I think these three little houses are going to look great on our Victorian mantlepiece amongst the ivy and lights. I wished I hadn't stuck down the bottom as I think they would also look fabulous with a little light inside ..... that means I need to make another one!

Thank you so much for joining me and I hope this gives you some ideas of how to use some of Eileen's fabulous dies.

Have a great weekend!

Jennie x

Christmas Memories Book

Hello and welcome to this first day of December!

And what better than to share with you a small Christmas notebook for recording Christmas memories and which I hope will be brought out each year and added to in order create a timeline journal.

As it is the first day of the month it also means we start a new challenge at Mini Album Makers. There is no theme, just share with us any finished book you have made and if you can share with us how you made it as we love to see how books are constructed. My fabulous teamies have made some gorgeous books (as always!) so please do hop on over to the challenge blog HERE to see them. 

I have used Eileen Hull's Notebook die as the base of my book and decorated it with some fabulous Stamperia Wintertime papers. I have kept things simple and just added to the cover some layered papers and a small bunch of bright red berries.

A little bit of muslin between the layers adds a little texture.

I have kept many pages blank for writing on, but added a few covers to my signatures and used some of the gorgeous labels which come as part of the pack.

So here is a short tutorial of how the book was constructed:

I used thick mountboard to cut the covers and spine using Eileen's Notebook Die, cutting the spine from the covers and glued them to my patterend paper.

The corners were mitred and the edges folded over. I decided to use red sticky tape instead of glue - it is quick, dries quickly and means the papers lay lovely and flat.

Use a bone folder to score the papers around the spine before folding them otherwise they will crease.

I have stitched my signatures together following this wonderful video HERE by SeaLemon. It is very easy to follow. I have then glued paper to hold everything together (I am working on this bit and trying to perfect it so it lies flat and glue doesn't seep through the signatures!) and also glued some folded paperstock onto the top and bottom of the signature pile.

These pages then glue down onto the book as the photograph above shows. It is really important that you work with the covers flat at this stage.

Choosing the right papers for this part of the book is really important as either a plain or a patterned cardstock can really alter the look of your book.

The papers don't always meet the edges of the book so it is necessary to cut a small strip of patterned paper and glue this to the edge.

I made two panels to fit the front of the book from layered patterned and plain cardstock. I decided to sew the edges rather than glueing. I then sandwiched the muslin between these two layers.

A super little book measuring only 3.75" x 5" but which feels really sturdy and is full of pages for recording our Christmas and New Year memories.

As always thank you for joining me today and I hope you have a fabulous month leading up to the Holiday Season with hopefully some time for crafting.

Jennie x