Taking a Break

 Hello Blogland Friends,

I hope you are well and enjoying the start of summer. Just wanted to let you know I am taking a break from blogging. Just in case you were wondering "whatever happened to her"? I am still active on my other socials and will leave links below. I am making more YouTube videos so that could be fun. I hope to see you over there!

Cheers,

Karen

• YouTube- Karen Bearse
  
• Instagram- @karenbearse
  
• Facebook - Karen Bearse (designs)
  

2023 Favorite Projects for Eileen Hull Design Team

Hello Fans of Eileen Hull! It is the last blog post of the year which is traditionally where the teams show their favorite projects of the past 12 months. Never an easy task to just pick 3, but here we are. I will have links to 2 of the individual projects as well below. All of these wonderful dies are made by Sizzix.

1st, I have an announcement that I will be stepping down from Eileen's team. I have been on her Inspiration Team for 7 years!! It has been an honor & a privilege to design along such a wonderful group of women. Eileen, our fearless leader, is one of the kindest, most genuine & fun to be around people that I know. I have watched in amazement as she has tackled building an awesome community with her Eileen Hull Facebook Fan Club. She has had to learn so much tech along the way, all while being an amazing family leader of her kids & grand kids, as well as taking care of her aging mother. Super Woman in many ways traveling the country & building an etsy shop on top of all that!! Oh & did I mention she also designs awesome dies for Sizzix & other product lines along the way? Incredible human, & one of my all time favs, that Eileen. I wish both her & the team all the best as they continue to inspire all of us with their incredible talent. I will pop in and say hello once in awhile and you will still see me creating especially on Insta & FB. 

Here is a quick look at my 3 favorites. Below is the individual photo & blog link should you want to make one. All of them have full step by step tutorials just for fun.  

 

All right enough waxing poetic here are my 3 favorite projects of the last year, in order of dates. 1st up was in January of 2023, the snowy Frame, Pocket Journal. You can find the post here. I don't often work in purple but I should because I love it! 

 

Next up let's fast forward to September. Which for the record feels like was just last month. However time is a "big ball of wibbly wobbly time-y wimey stuff" as said brilliantly in Doctor Who. It was also time for a Nature Journal! This project was made using the aptly named Field Notes Journal. The paper is gorgeous 49th & Market.

 

Love how wide this spine is!! The rub on's for this line are divine. You can find the tutorial link here.

 

Last but not least is... drum roll please. The Ephemera Keeper! I don't have a blog post on this but it was created using the Wrap Journal. The Sunflower die is front & center. 

The inside is full of envelopes using another favorite die of mine the Journaling Card, Envelope, & Window thinlet set.  

Here is a peak at one of the envelopes. Each envelope creates space for lots of fun ephemera. The tea pot creates the closure. This paper line is also a favorite by Stamperia called Bauhaus. All the art! Well that is it for my annual round up! I hope you have enjoyed my Eileen Hull inspiration as much as I have enjoyed bringing it to you. I will see you around! Take care & remember to get inky!!

 

Envelope Recipe 3 ways for Junk Journals

Hello junk journal fans! Today I have a recipe to use Eileen Hull's Envelope die by Sizzix, 3 different ways for your journal fun. You can also incorporate this into your mini albums or scrapbooks. This month Eileen's teams are creating "recipes" to help you create!

*Affiliate- some of these companies have given me product to use, play & experiment with. The ideas are my own but I tend to work with companies whose products I like so enjoy the inspiration.  **some of these links are affiliate, I receive a small percentage from the company at no cost to you. This helps me deliver free content!

As both Eileen & I are heavy into the junk journal realm right now, I decided to work with that as my theme this month. Now that the holiday season is almost upon us, quick & simple crafting is what most of us can aspire to. Eileen's Envelope die makes building pockets of fun easy peasy. 

The other thing that makes envelope & junk journal easy is the delightful products that go so well together. Think embossing folders & Luster Wax, 49th & Market sets like Spectrum Gardenia, digitals like those from Pink Monarch prints. So much product, so little time. 

1st let's look at assembly. Figure out paper placement, remember that directional paper needs to be cut upside down so the flap & base will be right side up. This does mean that the front where the address would go is upside down. You can always cover this space with another piece of paper.  For easy envelopes use double sided paper. Or cut another piece that will cover the inside flap.

 

Here you can see using that 2nd piece of paper. Glue the inside paper piece using a strong glue stick like UHU. Fold the tabs & add glue to them then fold up to create the envelope. Voila an envelope. 

 Envelope Idea #1: Page Fold Over

The envelope folds over the page so the flap is on the other side & creates a pocket. The front of the envelope has 49th and Market ephemera. Their paper is heavy & works great for this.

The envelope flips open to reveal the envelope pocket. This gives extra space for some more of the ephemera. Great space to add in some photos. 

Here is what the envelope looks like before it is attached. The elements from this paper line are just gorgeous. The designer is Katie Pertiet and her images are stunning, & the colors are so vibrant. 

This is the flap side, the bottom & side were glued so it creates a tuck spot. This technique adds some serious real estate to your junk journals or scrap book pages. Lots of potential for tags and added ephemera. Plus the bonus of that interactive envelope!

Envelope Idea #2: Double Pockets

For these envelopes I used digitals by Pink Monarch Prints. Anna's designs are wonderful & there are so many cool kits to play with. I made 2 envelopes and they were glued on another piece of her digitals. This whole page will go into my junk journal. The bottom envelope was glued on the bottom, top and right side, leaving the left side as a pocket. The arrow paper clip holds the flap closed.

 

Inside is a file folder & a tag with room for more. The top envelope was glued on the sides & bottom leaving a top loading pocket. Tags are tucked in with room for photos and journaling. The flap is held closed by the butterfly ephemera. Inside the pocket is a tag with a side tab, just for fun. 

Envelope Idea #3: 3D Embossing & Wax

For this envelope I played with heavy vellum. I did realize that 3D is probably too deep an emboss for vellum as it is tearing a bit. Maybe just a regular folder would work better. Let's do it anyway. 

 

Start by cutting the heavy vellum with the die. The 2 flaps were 3D embossed using Eileen's Key folder. The tabs have Redline Tape which is the best for this kind of paper. Don't assemble the envelope until your closure is added.

Next luster wax was rubbed on using a flat foam hitting the high points. I used Rose Gold on the bottom flap & Charcoal on the top. Set aside to dry, which does not take long.

A tab will be the closure so a slot was needed for it to tuck into. The Waterfall set has a slot die that worked perfectly for this. Remember to open the envelope before you run it through your Big Shot so you only cut the flap part. 

 

One side of the tab was adhered, then a brad, then the other side of the tab. Before I put my envelope together a piece of paper was glued to the inside. The envelope was adhered. There are spots were I missed with the embossing so the simple fix was a spot of washi tape. An idea I had after making this was to add a layer of collage medium to the entire envelope. That would take care of the issue of tearing, making the envelope more sturdy.

 

The pocket was glued on the sides and adhered to my junk journal page. Now a tag will fit and slide through, showing more of the tag to add interest to the page.

 

Here are the inserts, digitals by Pink Monarch Prints. The nice thing about digitals is you can size them for whatever you need.

 

If you want to see more envelopes and how to work with the other elements of the die set you can go to my other post here. I hope you stop by Eileen's blog to see what the rest of the team has going on this month. Also make sure if you are not a member of the Facebook fan club, join up, so much inspiration and a wonderful community over there. 

Supply List:

Eileen Hull Dies by Sizzix:

• Envelope, Folder & Flowers
• 3D Key Embossing
• Card, Waterfall & Tags

Other 

• Luster Wax 
• 49th & Market- ARToptions- Spice
• "           "       - Spectrum Gardenia
• Pink Monarch Prints
• Redline Tape/Super Tape
• Distress Ink
•