Inspiration Team Archives - Page 5 of 16

New Pocket Notebook Die Wrap-up!

30 Oct

More wonderful Pocket Notebook projects:

October has been a month full of inspirational makes using my new Pocket Notebook Die. The Inspiration Team has really been knocking it out of the park! After our Kick-off Blog Hop Party, each week has shown us that the Pocket Notebook is a extremely versatile die and the possibilities are only limited by your imagination. This week we have four more to show you as the month winds down to a close.

First off we have a beach-y journal from Julia Aston. Is she already dreaming of a winter get-away to a tropical location? I love how she used my House Ornament Die to cut the piece for the little beach hut on the front of the journal. The ribbon binding is very clever as well. Be sure to check out her tutorial to see which of my other dies she was able use as well… you might be surprised!

Julia Aston for Eileen Hull - beach journal created with her new Sizzix Pocket Notebook and House Ornament Dies

Ahh, sunset on the beach…

Tonya Trantham got into the swing of things with this darling vintage baseball notebook. I think the World Series is a perfect time of year to create a baseball themed journal. Go Team! Tonya made hers the full spine width so it can hold five signatures.

I love the button closure and the eyelets:

Tonya also has another Notebook to share with us. This is a cover that she created for Eileen to take with her on her UK Paper Trail. This is a globe-trotting project folks!

Love those butterflies and the little pom-poms!

Next up is Maggi Harding with her gorgeous Lost in Paradise Notebook. You must go to her blog and see her video flip through posted there. The inside pages are amazing!

What is coming up?

Next month we will be taking a look at projects covering the upcoming holidays! I can’t wait to see what the Inspiration Team has in store for us. Check back here next Wednesday to see.

You are also invited to join Eileen on her twice weekly Facebook Live shows at Eileen Hull Designs– Tuesdays at 6:00 pm EST and Thursdays at 4:00 pm EST. Become a member of the Eileen Hull Fan Club- a friendly, talented and encouraging community of crafty folks that you will want to meet. Join on Facebook and don’t forget to answer the questions! You can also find Eileen on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

Susie Bentz’s Bee Journal Blog Takeover!

12 Sep

Susie Bentz continuing with the Inspiration Team Blog Takeover! Eileen is still gadding about “across the pond”, crafting away with lots of new friends, so I am having a go on her blog. Today I am sharing a honey bee themed journal I made for my sister using Eileen’s die from Sizzix!

Bee Journal Supplies:

Sizzix Eileen Hull Scoreboards XL Die, Journal
Sizzix Little Sizzles Mat Board
Leisure Arts Diamond Art Kit, Bee
Therm O Web Eileen Hull Easy Cut Adhesive Sheets 6″ x 12″
Therm O Web Eileen Hull Red Liner Tape, 1/4″
Clearsnap Eileen Hull ColorBox Blends Inks – Sunshine, Golden, Nutmeg
Emerald Creek Eileen Hull Molten Dimensions – Glistening Glass
Rinea Metallics Foiled Paper Variety Pack
Sizzix Eileen Hull Textured Impressions embossing folder – Honeycomb
Marvy Uchida Jewel Picker
Marvy Uchida Le Pen
Plaid Mod Podge – Gloss
Honeycomb stencil
Black cardstock
Gesso, modeling paste, elastic, beads, twine, misc. dies

The Cover:

This project started with a lovely honey bee themed Diamond Art Kit from Leisure Arts. The design is printed on a heavyweight canvas type material and the honey bee area has a coating of strong tacky adhesive. I positioned the fabric on a piece of mat board, centering the bee image and then adhering it with Eileen’s Easy Cut Adhesive Sheets. After placing the fabric side down, so that it was facing the Journal die, I cut it using a Big Shot machine.

Because the Diamond Art kit was intended for a beginner the instructions were very clear and easy to follow – very much like a paint by numbers kit! It was fun and relaxing and I completed the design in a couple of hours.

The shine off of those rhinestones is really eye catching!

At this point I began to alter the background with gesso, stencils, modeling paste and Eileen’s ColorBox Blends inks.

I used Sunshine, Golden and Nutmeg inks, blending and playing until I was happy with the color. Next I sprinkled on Eileen’s Glistening Glass Molten Dimensions from Emerald Creek. I had to be careful with my heat gun because if I got too close to the rhinestones they started to melt!

The Diamond Art Honey Bee is meant to be framed and hung on a wall, not handled on a daily basis. I added a top coat of Mod Podge to protect the design. I chose the Gloss formula because I didn’t want to lose the amazing shine!

Assembly:

For the back of the journal I covered mat board with Gold Rinea Foil paper. I die cut the cover then used Eileen’s Honeycomb Textured Impressions embossing folder. Because the journal cover is longer than the embossing folder I had to run it through a second time. I flipped the folder to the other end of the cover and matched/ overlapped the design.

I used Eileen’s Red Line tape on the spine to hold the cover together.

Here’s a peek at the inside! I stenciled a honeycomb design and strung black elastic to hold the signatures.

Finally I added a dangle of fun beads on the spine!

The Signatures:

There are coordinating signatures on the inside featuring die cut Rinea Foil paper. I actually created an etched glass element for one of the covers! (you can find a quick tutorial HERE)

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you find some time to play today! Susie

You are invited to join Eileen on her twice weekly Facebook Live shows at Eileen Hull Designs– Tuesdays at 6:00 pm EST and Thursdays at 4:00 pm EST. Become a member of the Eileen Hull Fan Club- a friendly, talented and encouraging community of crafty folks that you will want to meet. Join on Facebook and don’t forget to answer the questions! You can also find Eileen on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

How to Assemble the Sizzix Journal

24 Apr

Just a quick post to show how to assemble the Sizzix Journal die and create inserts. There has been so much interest and chat about this versatile die, I thought it might be good to do a post and keep all of the resources in one spot. Thanks so much for your interest!

Here’s what the Journal die packaging looks like:

The Journal is a ScoreBoards die, designed to cut and score thick material like matboard and chipboard, forming a rigid cover for your book! Matboard is the perfect blank canvas- add paint, ink, stamps, sprays, texture paste, stencils, buttons, beads, and more. You can also cut it from paper, fabric, felt, paper leather, metal or combinations of these materials. You can run the matboard through embossing folders too, creating a rich dimensional cover.

One of the things I love about this die is that it’s so easy to put together. And once you make one… well, you’ll see- they are addicting! There are so many ways to use this die- make art journals, planners, for a special occasion, photos, baby book, guest book, wedding journal, junk journals, and traveler’s notebook. It’s your Journal- decorate it as you’d like in the colors, style and materials you’d like!

In this Facebook Live video, I show how to assemble the Sizzix Journal, after looking at some amazing samples from the Inspiration Team. Please watch and see how easy it is! Skip ahead to about minute 30:- for actual assembly.

The Journal measures 8 3/4″ x 4 1/2″ when assembled. Three to four inserts may be added to the book. Watch here to see how to make Journal inserts and how to thread the elastic though the spine to keep the inserts in place:

NOTE- I admit I am not an expert book maker. Here’s a quick tutorial from my friend Pam Keravuori.

Signatures

The story I’ve heard suggests that the sections, or “signatures”, which are the sets of pages sewn into a book, supposedly got their name from monks. When monks finished hand-writing their section of a book, they signed it and that section became known as a signature. Now it means sheets of paper, or “folios”, stacked and folded in half. A signature may be one folio, or one sheet of paper folded in half to make four pages, but generally it is two or more sheets/folios (and sometimes more folds).

The Pamphlet Stitch

The pamphlet stitch is probably the simplest and most popular binding technique for notebook inserts like ours, because you can stitch the pages and the cover of the signature at the same time. You can use 3 or more holes along the fold, but the trick is to start and finish on the same side (whether inside or outside) and have both ends of the twine end up together at the same hole to tie off. Usually this means having one long stitch go over (rather than through) the center hole.

So, for a 3-hole pamphlet stitch, your needle would go through the center hole from inside to outside (or reverse), then through one end hole from outside to inside, then across the center hole to the other end hole, going through from inside to outside, then back through the center hole from outside to inside. Both ends of your thread would now be on the inside at the center hole, ready to tie around and secure the long stitch that crossed over the center hole.

Alternatively, if you stitch with a back stitch and wind up with one thread end inside and one thread end outside, you can make a loop knot to anchor the thread around the earlier stitch at the hole before going through to join the other thread end. This is called a saddle stitch binding.

I usually use 5+ holes for my pamphlet stitch because I think it makes the spine sturdier and puts less pressure on each hole (to avoid tearing). More holes also help keep smaller sized papers in place, so they don’t slant or settle to the bottom. As I start stitching, I leave a thread tail long enough to reach near the bottom of the signature, where I hold onto it against the paper until the 2nd or 3rd stitch, when it becomes secure (without a knot until the tying off). General advice is to always pull your thread parallel to the spine in the direction you’re stitching, since pulling the thread straight out from the spine tends to tear the holes.

Please follow me on Facebook at Eileen Hull Designs and watch for extra LIVE shows in honor of this new Heartfelt Sizzix release! I hope you have enjoyed seeing how to assemble the Sizzix Journal and will consider getting one for yourself!

If you would like to purchase a die, there are a few left in my Etsy shop!

Sizzix Sale on Eileen Hull Dies

31 Mar

There is a huge Sizzix sale on Eileen Hull dies going on this weekend! Head over here to check it out…

Sizzix Blog

Not only is there a sale, but the team is up on the Sizzix blog today sharing their favorite Eileen Hull dies and awesome projects. Make sure to hop over and be inspired.

Do you have an event coming up? ScoreBoards dies are perfect for party favors and wrapping gifts with just that special handmade touch. And they go together so fast too! What are you doing this weekend? Make sure to take some time for yourself to create for you or someone you love.

Last Minute Blog Hop

To celebrate, some of the Inspiration Team members have gathered up their favorite projects and we are doing an impromptu blog hop! See how good they are? This was their idea! I am so lucky to have them <3. Click on each link and it will take you to their posts with even more ideas for ways to use these versatile dies!

Eileen Hull
Anne Redfern
Pam Bray
Julia Aston
Lisa Hoel
Karen Bearse
Anna-Karin Evaldsson
Donna Budzynski
Diana Hetherington
Nicole Wright (Sunday)
Tonya Trantham
Mitsyana Wright
Julia Aston– Sunday post!

Linky With Prize

We want to see which dies are your favorites! Don’t be shy 🙂 Add your favorite Eileen Hull project(s) in the linky below by April 7. A lucky someone ??? will win a prize!

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks so much for visiting and make sure to check out the Sizzix sale on Eileen Hull dies- really, amazing prices!

See you on Tuesday night for another Facebook Live at 6 pm eastern and get ready for a busy month of releases- lots of fun stuff planned! Hope you will also follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Eileen Hull Sizzix Card Making Ideas plus CHA Sneak Peaks

20 Jan

Hello everyone! I’ve made it to CHA and after a long journey. I’ve fought wind, rain, ice, snow to find myself in sunny Arizona for Creativation! In my absence the Inspiration Team will continue to share their Sizzix Card Making Ideas in honor of the launch of our new serious “Make it Monthly”. The Make it Monthly series will feature a new technique every month that you can use for your creative endeavors. Stay tuned at the end of this post for the January Make it Monthly technique and a sneak peek of my new Sizzix Collection debuting at CHA.

Sizzix Card Making Ideas

Julia Aston is bringing the hoopla with this darling Birthday Card. Julia used my Embroidery Hoop die and Eyelet Lace embossing folder to create this innovative card design. Contrasting colors inked over the textured lace embossing give these easy to assemble card project serious impact.

Stop by Julia’s Blog for more details on how to create this fabulous faux embroidery card!

Pam Bray shares a Valentine’s Day trio of Sizzix card making ideas! Pam’s romantic designs feature my Place Card Die, 3-D Vase die and the Twist and Style Tool used in a variety of ways.

Visit Pam’s Blog for a heARTy tutorial on how to create these lovely Valentine’s Day projects yourself.

Wow some amazing Sizzix Card Making Ideas! If you would like to play along with the January Make it Monthly Technique you can check out my Twist and Style Heart Card technique HERE and share what your project in the linky below.

You can also find more Sizzix Card Making Ideas from the Inspiration Team HERE.

CHA Sneak Peeks

As you may know Scotty and I are at the CHA show and you can see us and preview my upcoming Sizzix Collection on the Creativation Show floor if you are attending the event. For those of you who couldn’t make it to the show fear not the IT has some sneak peeks of their projects to share. Stop by their blogs for a peek at what’s in store.

Tracy Evans CHA Sneak Peek

Lisa Hoel CHA Sneak Peek

Michelle Zerull CHA Sneak Peek

Julia Aston CHA Sneak Peek

Diana Hetherington CHA Sneak Peek

Anne Redfern CHA Sneak Peek

You can find more Sneak Peeks and behind the scenes happenings from CHA by following me on Facebook. Stay tuned next week for more Sizzix Card Making Ideas!

Eileen

New Inspiration Team Member!

5 Jan

Today we are super- excited to introduce Mitsyana Wright, our new Inspiration Team member! It turns out she will be going to CHA and we will actually meet in person in just a couple of weeks. 🙂

Mitsyana blogs at Up On Tippy Toes. You will see beautiful projects like this on her blog…

Here she took the Sizzix Needle Book to make an adorable little notebook. Her style is bright and clean and she has quite the magic touch with ScoreBoards!