PRIVACY POLICY

Saturday, 15 July 2017

Eileen Hull Journal with Seth Apter

Hello Friends!

I hope you are not getting too tired of seeing journals, I think it is safe to say that Eileen Hull's Journal die is one of my all time favourites - and when I saw Seth Apter's new stamps and paints by Paper Artsy, I thought they would be a marriage made in heaven!

At the end of this post I have added a little tutorial to make a very simple Pocket insert for a Midori sized Journal.  I will post a more complex insert when I post my next Journal.  I will keep the steps for this journal to a minimum - don't want people getting bored!
I started by painting by the journal covers with Paper Artsy paints in Buff, Mahogany and Mud Splat.  I added some Terracotta, along with a little Stone mixed with a tiny drop of White Fire, all applied with a brayer.
I stamped onto Kraft card which was lightly coloured with Buff paint.  I used Ranger Black Archival ink to stamp the large image and the smaller frame piece.  I mounted these onto black card and then Kraft card.  I added some 'screw' brads, a key wrapped in rusty wire and a clear glass Cabochon over the image of the gentleman.
A quick overview of the three signatures I created for the inside, (they still need some stamping to finish them off) using several of Seth's wonderful dies.  I 'rusted' all of the pieces using Imagination Crafts Texture Patina Paint in Rustique and a few dabs of Verdigris - these paints give a wonderful textured rusty surface.

To finish off I added one of Tim Holtz new Assemblage charms, a metal egg timer, (sent to me by my dear and lovely friend Darnell.  It hangs from an Idea-ology hinge clip which I 'rusted' with embossing powder.

So there it is, I hope you enjoyed seeing my latest Journal, I have to admit, I love this one!

I am adding this project to Craft Stamper's Make it Take it Challenge - July - Anything Goes.

Thanks so much for looking, if you want to see the mini tutorial for a Pocket Insert, please keep reading, otherwise I will see you again soon.

Hugs, Anne xx


POCKET INSERT 1 (easy)



  1.  Take an A4 (8.1/4" x 11.1/2" approx) sheet of strong card, plain or patterned.  It needs to be able to hold up with the tension of the elastic holder
  2. Score on the long side at 4.1/4" and 8.1/2", fold and burnish well with a bone folder
  3. On the short fold side, use a circle punch to punch out a finger hole in the middle (see left above)
  4. Glue both ends of the short fold to create a pocket (left above)
  5. Cut a piece of card 6" x 6.1/2" to create your second pocket
  6. Score on the short side at 1/2", 1", 5" and 5.1/2"
  7. Score at one end at 1/2"
  8. Cut across the corners on both sides at the bottom, see below.  This reduces the bulk and makes the finished pocket look neater.  Cut at an angle to neaten the top if you wish, as shown below


9.   Fold on all score lines, the side needs to be accordion folded, the inside line is mountain        folded  and the outside line needs to be valley folded, see below

10.  Add strong tape or wet glue to the three folded edges and attach to the inside from of the folder
11.   Use a circle punch to create a finger hole 
12.   The finished pocket will be flush at the bottom, the top part will stand proud to give lots of                 storage room (see top picture)  Add to your journal in your chosen way.
..........................................







Tuesday, 11 July 2017

Eileen Hull Journal and HeARTfelt dies

Hello Friends

Eileen Hull's Inspiration Team are showcasing Eileen's fabulous Journal die together with her new HeARTfelt dies.  It doesn't take much persuading for me to use these new dies!
Part of Eileen's new release is her HeARTfelt Paper Pad and I used it to cover the Journal and also to create the signatures inside.
I also used Eileen Stitchlits House/Pocket die and her Stitchy Flowers & Leaf die and of course, the Journal die!  I don't have many step outs today as it was so simple to make...
I die cut the Journal (Sizzix 661906) and covered it front and back with Eileen's Paper Pack (Sizzix 661946).  To seal it and give it more strength I coated the covers with DecoArt One Step Crackle, it creates teeny, tiny cracks.  Then, I painted DecoArt Antiquing Cream in White, left it to dry and wiped it off with a slightly damp baby wipe.  The white stays in the cracks but it is very subtle.
I covered the insides of the covers with more of the Paper Pack.  Each of the signatures was covered with more paper from the pack.
I created two accordion type pockets inside one of the signatures.  I don't really measure, I just wing it with these pockets, but if you are interested and want to know how, just leave me a comment and I will do another post showing the details.
Inside the back cover I added a pocket, made with Eileen's House/Pocket Stitchlits die (Sizzix 661902).
I wanted to use my lovely friend, Tracy Evans, fabulous new stamps somewhere in my Journal.  I stamped and coloured them onto mini cards.  To house them I created a perfectly sized double pocket insert using my Laminator and following a fantastic video by Gio Gio HERE.  It really is a great video!  Do check it out if you would like to have clear pockets in your Journal!
To finish off I die cut a pretty flower from Eileen's Stitchy Flowers & Leaf die (Sizzix 661903) and I die cut the Travel Trailer (Sizzix 660327) from shrink plastic, coloured it with alcohol markers and heated it up, it creates a lovely charm size decoration.  I attached it and some flowers and a heart to a clip for the side of my Journal.

This was so much fun to make, and so easy with Eileen's beautiful papers.  Thanks so much for looking, I hope to see you again soon!

Hugs,  Anne xx

Friday, 7 July 2017

All Squared Up for A Vintage Journey

Hello Friends

It is time for a new challenge over at A Vintage Journey and this month the talented Tracy is our host.  Here is what Tracy has to say:

Whether a frame, embellishments, or die cuts, drawn squares, doodles or windows, lets see where inspiration takes you, lets get all squared up and show how creative those right angles can look!  Show us your squared up pieces in a vintage; shabby; mixed media; art journalling; industrial; timeworn or steampunk style.

I have only used these Seth Apter square dies once before, HERE, so I wanted to give them another airing!  I used a square wooden seed pot that I found in a sale, to create a timeworn tea light holder.

I have a few photo step by steps to share with you.
I started with a bargain square shaped seed planter.
I die cut four sets of square shapes using Seth Apter's Robo Square die set and some heavy black cardstock.
The squares were coated randomly with DecoArt Media Texture Sand Paste.
The shapes were all coloured with DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic paints in Paynes Grey, Diarylide Yellow, Quinacridone Gold and Cobalt Teal Hue - all quite randomly.
The square block was painted first with Indigo Blu's Artists Matt Acrylic Paint in Leather Corset and let it dry before stippling over with  Imagination Craft's Texture Patina paint.  I wanted to leave quite a lot of the gorgeous brown colour showing underneath.
Here is a view from the top with a night light inside.  There were a couple of squares left over, so I made a little lid to go on top.
Finally I added some square feet made from beads and painted in Leather Corset.

So, do you feel inspired to join us at A Vintage Journey for Tracy's 'All Squared Up' challenge?  I hope you are!


Our sponsor this month is Tando Creative who are offering a package of MDF and mini shapes to one lucky winner.

If you would like to see what my talented teamies have made for the challenge, you can check them out HERE.

I would like to join in That's Crafty's Anything Goes Challenge.

As always, thanks for looking, I hope to see you again soon!

Hugs, Anne xx