Re-purposed Canvas Tote with Eileen Hull's House Ornament Die Cut

Hello Blogland, I am here today with a fun re-purposed canvas tote using Eileen Hull's newest House Ornament die. I am sure you have received a canvas bag or 2 that maybe the logo no longer applies or you are bored with. I decided to give one of mine new life!! 

Here is my fun bag!!! This was a project that really allowed me to play with different techniques. Once I got going it was easy to just keep adding & adding.... This is a no sew project but you can easily add sewing to the list if you like. I still may zig zag stitch around the houses. 

The House Ornament die will cut a piece of mat board & score allowing you to make a strong 3D house. As I just wanted the house shape I made a template using the mat board piece, & then a piece of paper to mark where to cut off the tabs. This will make it easier to cut the tabs off the fabric shape as the score lines may not show up. 

Let's get started!! There is a supply list at the bottom of this post so you can see the products used that made this an easy no sew project. Start with either a plain canvas bag or as I did re-purposing one. The logo for this bag was in black so I covered it with a coat of black gesso, let that dry & then added a coat of white gesso. This covered the logo nicely & gave my bag some tooth so the stencil images would adhere nicely. Hot tip: wash you hands after this step so you don't put black finger smudges on your project!

While that was drying, it was time to cut some fabric. Using a few pieces of batik & some Heat & Bond Fusible Fleece was a good place to start. Following the directions I cut the fleece the size of the fabric needed. I ended up cutting each fabric piece separately.

I used my iron, on the steam setting to pre-shrink the fleece & then to adhere it on the back of the fabric (as per the directions). This will give my houses that puffy quilted look. I cut one house but realized I wanted to have a no sew option so my work around was to use another layer of iron-on adhesive. Using Heat & Bond Lite (this gives me the option of sewing) was the answer. You could use Ultra-hold instead for a stronger bond without sewing.

I simply cut a piece the size of my fabric, moved my iron to no steam, med heat & adhered according to the directions. 

This piece only has the fleece adhered.

Next step was to run these fabric pieces through & cut my houses. Put the piece fabric side down & run it through your Big Shot or equivalent. The steel rule die easily cut through the layers to leave me with the nice little house. I trimmed the flaps off using my template. Voila! 

I cut 3 houses & positioned them on my project to see what else I wanted to do.  

This is where the fun really started! I decided to make some stencils using Eileen's flower dies & acetate packaging. Next I sprayed the back of my stencils with Pixie Spray. This is a "light tack, repositionable adhesive for stencils" it helped stick the stencil down so my ink didn't bleed underneath making the image sharper. 

Using Colorblends 2, I stenciled flowers around where my houses would be, so some of the flowers would peak out behind the house. I heat set the flowers as I went adding layers of petals once the bottom flower was dry. 

Using a posca paint pen I outlined the flowers giving them a sketchy look. I also added a leaf diecut using Flock Transfer sheets. Love the look of this material. 

Time to add my houses. I heat set my houses with an iron, following the directions on the Heat & Bond package. I also had to add my wee Minion on there just for fun. He is made of fabric & I just followed the same steps as the houses, then cut fussy cut him out. 

Now my repurposed bag is already to go for a shop maybe at a fabric store so I can make another?!!! Thanks so much for joining me here. I hope that I inspired you to play with some of Eileen's dies, fabric & Thermoweb products! Have an inky day!!

Supplies:

Eileen Hull dies by Sizzix- House Ornament, Spring Leaves, Flower w/Heart Petal, Hydrangeas. 

Color Blends 2 in Pansy, Bay, Beach, Hydrangea, Sunshine, Wildberry,  Melon, Tutu, Coconut.

Therm O Web- Pixie Spray, Fleece Fusible, Heat & Bond Lite,  Flock Transfer Sheet in Green Envy.

Canvas Bag

Gesso & Black Gesso

Posca Pens in black. 

*Thanks to Therm O Web, Sizzix & Eileen Hull for supplying me products to experiment with!!!
*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.

Christmas in July with Topflight Stamps

Hello Topflight Stamps fans, it is time for Christmas in July!!! I decided to make a notebook to hold my Christmas lists etc. 

Here is my notebook that I simply changed the cover of a store bought book. You can check out my tutorial on the Topflight Stamps blog! Thanks so much for looking.

Mini Art Journal Page with Darkroom Door Stamps

Welcome to Mix Media Monday, today I have a mini art journal page using Darkroom Door Stamps & Hero Ink Ombre ink pads. This week the Topflight Design Team is playing with those 2 products. I hope you check the blog for some fun inspiration! All the supplies are listed below.

I have been working on a mini art journal for The 100 Day Project. The pages measure 3x4.5". I am loving working with embossing powder right now & discovered a fun way to make the filmstrip stamp actually look like a real aged film strip. This is the great part of art journal play is discovering new techniques! 

My page started by dragging the Neon Ombre (yellow to orange) ink pad down my piece of card stock. I used sponges to fill in & darken the color. 

Next step was to stamp the Darkroom Door Collage Stamp "Arty Hexagons" In a similar color to the dark orange. 

I added some stamped & cut out hexagons using the same stamp & ink as the background. 

For the film strip technique I first stamped in another Ombre ink " Pool to Navy". Once dry it was covered in embossing ink & Vintage Beeswax embossing powder. After heat setting I realized the vintage beeswax made the film strip look real!!! Eureka. 

Then it was just a matter of adding ephemera to my page along with some mark making.I hope you enjoyed this project & I hope you get a chance to get inky today!!

Supplies:

Darkroom Door Stamps- Arty Hexagons, Paris Filmstrip.

Hero Arts Ink- Ombre (Pool to Navy), Neon Ombre (Yellow to Orange). 

Prism Ink in Fire Coral

Seth Apter Vintage Beeswax embossing powder by Emerald Creek. 

Art by Marlene Ephemera

Tim Holtz Snarky Small Talk.

*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.  

Eileen Hull Embossed Notebook by Karen Bearse Designs

Hello Blogland, today I am making an embossed notebook for my Eileen Hull Inspiration Team post. This book was so much fun to make, when I finished it I just wanted to turn around & make another. I will keep you posted if I do!!! 

This project showcases Clearsnap Ink, the company that makes Colorboxblends original & 2 for Eileen. Let's get started!!

Start by cutting an Eileen Hull notebook by Sizzix out of mat board. Run it through an embossing folder. 

Using Colorblends2, color the cover & back of the notebook. Just put a smallish drop on your craft mat & dab it on. You can add a bit of water if you like, to help the colors blend where they meet. The beauty of Colorblends, it is easy to control the depth of color. If a pastel is what you like do a light coat. If you like bold as in my sample, simply use more ink or do an extra coat of color.

Put a dab (lima bean size, a little goes a long way) & using a piece of stiff foam (like kids fun foam) put a small amount on the foam & run it lightly across the top of the raised areas hitting the high points. I like using a metallic for this like Copper in the Colorblends 2. I have been on an embossing kick & lucky for me Eileen has embossing powders with Emerald Creek now....very convenient & also fun!!!

Heat set the ink. This may take a bit of time,  one of the bonuses of this ink is the open dry time but that makes it more of a challenge to get it to set. If you emboss directly on the ink, the emboss seals it in, which means it does not set properly & the emboss can chip off. Heat setting solves this issue. Simply add Colorblend 2 Clear on top of the high points the same way. Then pour the Glistening Glass on top, tap off excess & put back in the bottle. Heat set until the crystals are all melted using an embossing heat gun.

I love the the look, the emboss makes the flowers have this shiny, wet or Glistening look.

Cut a piece of sticky back canvas that is about 1/2" wider than the spine. Cover it with Clear ColorBlends 2 using a piece of foam. Pour on Aqua Splash & tap off excess, heat set. Once that has cooled I distressed the edges using Navy. Adhere the canvas onto the book spine.

Stamp carefully using a permanent ink, the surface is slippery. Let ink dry well. Sponge on Clear Colorblends2 carefully, try not to smudge stamping. Add  a layer of Glistening Glass, heat set, while embossing sprinkle Golden Rod, heat setting as you sprinkle.

I decided I wanted beads & on my spine. Punch holes using a cropodile about 1/2" from the top & bottom. You can decide to make 1 or 2 signatures. I am using elastic so I can easily pull my pages out to work on them. Once my pages are complete I may change the elastic to wax linen thread to make the pages sturdier. 

Lastly I added a closure. using different color cords and stringing different beads & charms on the cords. They were attached through a brad on the back of the book with a simple knot, leaving room to expand my closure if needed. 

The closure on the front is a ring and the hummingbird charm goes through the ring to close the book (toggle clasp style). My signatures are made from scrapbook paper. I originally wanted to add ephemera & flowers to the cover but it is so pretty I just decided to leave it plain for now. Thanks for taking the time to read this post, I hope you get a chance to make an embossed notebook soon! Cheers!

Batik Notebook with Topflight Stamps

Hello I am here today making a batik notebook using products from Topflight Stamps. I am so happy to be back on the this Design Team!! I will be coming to you 2-3x a month on the new Mix Media Monday. My goal is to bring you different mix media ways to use your stamps & the other fun products carried by TFS. 

For my first technique we are going to play with embossing powder, stamps & Infusions by PaperArtsy! I will be showing you the steps I used to make this fun Notebook. The paper was cut using Eileen Hull's Notebook die by Sizzix. 

I started with a piece of paper from Kaisercraft. You will want to use a piece of paper that has lots of small details or patterns, like a map or something like this one, lots of vintage ephemera. It should also be light in color. We are going to create a batik like pattern on top of it, so the images show through. Choose stamps/stencils that are not too detailed & have some open space that will let the patterns show through. 

Using an embossing ink pad, & stamps along with Eileen Hull's Glistening Glass powder. When heat set this powder looks like glass on top & will create a resist. I also used stencils & pressed the emboss ink stamp into the pattern, removed the stencil, then covered it with the Glistening Glass powder. Tap off the excess powder & use an embossing gun to heat. As this powder is chunky it is easier to heat set from underneath the paper so the crystals don't blow away. You are done when all the crystals are melted. 

Once the cover is cool & the powder set, it is time to add color. Sprinkle Infusions powder & add a spritz of water. The more water you add the more you activate the walnut or brown color crystals. I added a bit of water & dabbed up some of the brown spreading the color with a dry brush. Infusions are a really fun product, so spend some time playing with them first to get a hang of how they work.

Next let the color dry, you can add a bit of heat for this but not too much so as not to re-activate the embossing. Using a baby wipe clean off the embossed areas & the stamped/stenciled images will really pop. On the left side is the wet, the right side has been wiped up see how the images have that cool batik look.

You will also be able to see some of the pattern paper through the embossed images. This makes for a dynamic cover with lots of texture. tFeel free to finish off your book however you like. I cut & glued a 2nd notebook shape using paper to the inside. 

This helps give my book some stability. Punch 2 holes in the spine and use wax linen thread, to add a signature of papers. I also distressed the edges of the book using Patina Oxide emboss.  You can add charms & beads to the thread to add some fun!! Thanks for joining me today for Mix Media Monday on Topflight Stamps!!

Supplies:

Prism Embossing Ink Pad in Clear by Hunkydory

Stamp sets- Seth Apter 9, Indigo Blu Shine Bright, 

Stencils- Darkroom Door- Diamonds, Polka Dots
Eileen Hull: Glistening Glass Emboss Powder-Emerald Creek  
                 :Notebook die by Sizzix 
Seth Apter: Patina Oxide Emboss by Emerald Creek
PaperArtsy Infusions in Emerald Isle & Lemoncello 
Paper & Ephemera by Kaisercraft.   
 *Affiliate- some of these companies have given me product to use, play & experiment with. I tend to work with companies whose products I like so enjoy the inspiration.