Die Cut Mania for Eileen Hull Designs

 Hello and welcome! 

Eileen's teams are doing die cutting on a grand scale this month - sharing tips and techniques for cutting and also how to use all those die cuts we seem to collect.

I am doing the latter and showing you a project where you can use up a heap of die cuts and with a number of stages where you can stop and complete or continue into a full mixed media project. I will also have a couple of tips of how to die cut envelopes and mini books at the end of the post too. It is a bit of a photo heavy post with no video this month!

I am sure we all have boxes like this ! This is my Eileen box and there are bits and pieces of boxes, journals, books, little bits and pieces ...... I always seem to have a pile of things left over from projects.

I went through the lot and found two bottom pieces from the Treasure Box and decided to make a box. I started layering bits and pieces onto the larger pieces to create a repeat pattern on both sides and the ends.

I decided to get some texture on to the box sides and used a couple of PaperArtsy stencils and Ranger Texture Paste. I also managed to fit the word Notes on these two labels.

I used a couple of Eileens 3D Embossing Folders to create texture on the spoons and some of the larger ovals.

Now time to glue everything down.

And this is how this stage finished. I added a couple of flowers in as well. Now if you like your colours you could leave everything as is and move straight on to making up the box. 

I wanted to pull all my differing colours together and get rid of the bar code at the bottom of the box cover, so I used White Gesso to even everything out. Again you could stop here having got everything the same colour and move on to making up the box.

I decided to go another step on in the process and painted everything with PaperArtsy Fresco Paint (Eggshell). It has a lovely silky finish and everything really is looking evened out and one colour. Again you could stop the project here and make up the box !

As everything now had a really good covering of gesso and paint I was able to use PaperArtsy Rusty Car Infusions (a coloured infused powder with walnut granules) which gives amazing colours when spritzed with water. Just sprinkle the Infusions lightly onto the surface and then spritz with water. You can see how much I soaked up to get a more even lighter colour.

You could also do this stage with Ranger Distress Inks.

I just love the way the Infusions sits on and within the textures I created with the 3D Embossing Folders and Texture Paste. 

It dries a lot lighter as you can see from this photo. I like to fill in some of spaces with a little bit of inked text.

And finally I added some copper micro beads here and there.

The final thing to do was to use the Infusions to highlight the letters on the label. 

I could then make up the box and paint the inside! Not bad considering it has all been made from discarded die cuts over the last couple of years!

I have filled my box with some file folders made using cream cardstock and my envelope maker - I will have a video tutorial on my YouTube channel shortly for these.

I have also made three little books and some envelopes from these gorgeous papers from the Natural History Museum. I like to die cut my books so the edges look good .... see below for how I do it

This is another of Eileen's die cuts (from the Envelope Set of Thinlits) but you could use 

any die cut or shape. 

Fold the paper you are using in half for the fold.

Then lay the die over the paper so the fold is inside the cut edge. You can butt the paper right up to the edge of the die before cutting.

This gives you a nice cut edge around the outside of the book. And if you do the same with your inside pages everything fits together.

And here is a tip for cutting envelopes. Use the die this way up with your paper the right way up, ie the pocket not the flap at the top. 

This will ensure that any flowers, butterflies, text etc. is the right way up on the front of the envelope which is going to be seen the most. I made these seed packet envelopes from an old gardening book.

I hope you have managed to get this far! and that there are some ideas for you as to how to use your die cuts and the tips are useful too.

As always thank you for joining me!

and Happy Crafting!

Jennie x