Christmas Junk Journal Organizer with Eileen Hull's Pocket Notebook

Hello Blogland, I am here today with Part 1 of a Christmas Organizer using Eileen Hull's Pocket Notebook. This is a project that I have had in my brain for literally years, or a variation of it anyway. As November has hit the Inspiration Team are working on holiday projects so grab your favorite beverage- coffee, spiced cider or wine depending on the time of day!

Here is my finished book cover. This is a definite case of having an idea in your head with no idea if it will work out in practice. The best part for you is I will have a list of what I would do different next time, as I did come across some challenges along the way. 

I wanted this book cover to be made of fabric with quilt like padding but sturdy enough that it could hold many pages & end up being a chunky junk journal. I set off on this journey with some luscious Tim Holtz fabric. It is not Christmas themed but has the potential with the map, postage & package labels... love it! Here is the back of my book. Directly below in red is what I would do differently. If you are making a book read the steps 1st & in red see how I would fix my challenges & do things differently.  

I am entering this in the Mini Album Makers Challenge this month. 

 *I would change the way I make the next book. I think I would fuse the fleece to the inside papers & cut the covers using the die. Next assemble the book covers as usual. Then hand cut the fabric larger than the book & adhere the fabric with double sided adhesive, leaving a 1/4" around the edges so I am not sewing through the adhesive. Another option to solve this problem would be distressing the edges or adding something around the edges like lace. 

Step 1: Carry on this way if the edges don't bother you & you want the look I achieved. Cut a piece of fabric large enough to cut 2 book covers out of & iron on the Therm*O*Web Heat n Bond Fusible Fleece. Follow the directions on the packaging. This will be the outer layer of our book. 

Step 2: Cut 4 pieces of book paper or newspaper (this will be sandwiched on the inside of the book so it doesn't matter what it looks like). Cut 2 pieces of music paper being careful with the direction- ie: cut one piece with the holes on the left & one with the holes on the right so when you put your book together the music & words are the right way up. Adhere 3 pages together either with a glue stick or double sided adhesive keeping the glue away from the edges so you won't sew through glue. Make sure the music paper is on top to create the inside covers. 

Assemble the 2 covers using Red Liner Tape along one of the middle edges & lining up the middle hole.

Sew around the cover. *this is what it would look like if you are using the other method. The cover would be sewn from the inside of the book. It will be necessary to  re-punch the holes through the fabric with a cropodile. Follow the rest of the directions as normal.

Here is my book after the edges have been sewn.

Step 3: At this point I felt my spine needed some re-enforcement so I cut a piece of mat board to fit inside the spine, covered it with double sided adhesive & fabric. I went with fabric, tearing instead of cutting it about 1/2" wider then the board. Just a design decision. Alternatively you could also paint the mat board or cover it in paper. 

Adhere & then re-punch the holes using a cropodile or punch, don't worry if you can't see the holes very well because of the fabric & the batting. Hot Tip- fabric only tears in one direction you may have to cut it & fray by pulling at the strands along the edges. Also cut your fabric a little longer as well so the mat board doesn't show. The base of our book is done!!! Now it is time to decorate. 

I had the hardest time trying to figure out what to put on my cover! I had ideas of die cut corrugated deer, Santa ephemera or junk journal type ephemera. Nothing was working, I think in part I did not want to cover up the fabric. Finally I went with a combo of digital ephemera & die cuts. I am really happy with how this turned out!

Here is part 2 in the series you can find it here. This one is a tutorial on how to create tags, pockets etc to build the ephemera for the book. Next month I will work more on the inside Junk Journal pages, the binding & theme of the book.I hope you have a chance to get inky today!

Part 3 is up! It includes how to make the 1st book which is a December Journal booklet. 

Supplies:
Eileen Hull Pocket Notebook die by Sizzix 
Tim Holtz Snowflake, Tree & Deer dies by Sizzix
HeatnBond Fusible Fleece by Therm*O*Web
Double Sided Adhesive & RedLiner Tape by Therm*O*Web
Fabric & Christmas Ephemera by Tim Holtz
Owl Digital Tickets by Artymaze
Flowers by Prima Marketing
Distress Oxide in Gathered Twig by Ranger

Seahorse Wrap Journal Tutorial

Hello Eileen Hull Book Club fans! Today I have a tutorial using the newest Wrap Journal die. This die is definitely a must have. The best part of this tutorial is you can use many different products to add the color which makes it suited to the products you have at home.

Here is the wrap journal book I made, it is one of my favorites. I love anything to do with the sea, I love seahorses & these are my favorite colors!!!! Win, win. It is also very easy to take these techniques & simply use different colors & theme to get a totally different look. 

Here we go!! First off cut out 1 wrap journal using mat board. This die is amazing because the entire journal fits on one steel die (photo below). Cover the book with a coat of light modeling paste. You will want it to be a fairly thin coat, thick enough to stamp in but thin enough that the images are crisp. If the coat is too thick when you pull the stamp out the images will blur. The best part is as you are stamping if you don't like the image just scrap the paste out with a palette knife & re-stamp. Set aside to dry. 

While that is drying you can make the seahorse- sadly I do not have step outs. I cut the horse & covered it with gesso to start with a white surface. Next color with acrylic paint, or Eileen's Color Blend inks. Once that is dry cover with a clear Crackle, I used DecoArt One Step Crackle. Set aside to dry which can take a few hours. Then wrap wire around the seahorse adding a charm. 

Once the cover is dry it is time for paint. I used an acrylic glaze with one of my favorite paints- Golden brand micaceous iron oxide mixed with their acrylic glaze at a 50/50 ratio. This is a technique I learned from Donna Downey years ago to make a glaze that has an open dry time, & is slightly more translucent. Paint this mix over the stamped areas & let dry about a minute. Use a baby wipe to carefully pull some of the color off so it remains in the recessed areas. Let that dry. Now you can add color using either the same technique with an acrylic paint or with a water based spray like glimmer mist or Color Blends. Just add your color & wipe back until you get the desired effect. 

Next let's add some stamping. I used distress ink as I want this layer to be subtle. Do random stamping over the 2 spines. You can also stamp on the covers if you want, I liked my covers so i only did the spines. If you want your images to be crisp then be sure to use archival ink. 

Here is what the entire book looks like at this point. You can see that the journal cuts in one long piece.  You can see how there are holes on only one of the spine pieces. This is where you string you book, the other side is where the book folds over to create the wrap around flap. I did not use the Iron Oxide on the spines so the color is different.

I love adding embossing powder to my projects especially the spines of my books. I also find it helps give the spines some strength and helps the mat board hold up to use. On the right hand spine I used clear emboss, on the left I used Emerald creek Fractured Ice.

This product looks different on whatever surface you put it on- it has clear properties but an iced look with some black in it. Here is a pic of the finished spine but you can see the black and clear of the Fractured Ice emboss. 

Time for assembly! I found this very cool whale tail charm at Hobby Lobby & it was perfect as a closure. I adhered it with a brad, wrapped a hair elastic around it & glued the tail to my book. I added a fabric covered brad from my stash to the hole in the middle of the spine & the elastic wraps around that to hold the book closed. 

One of the challenges of this book is it is slightly longer then 12" so you have to be clever when using scrapbook paper.  I used paper which is an old K&Co. paper pad. In this case I just cut a piece using the wrap journal die & adhered it to go from the back side through to the front side, about 1/2" past the holes on the spine.  

Using a different paper I cut a piece 3 1/2" wide by 5 1/2" tall then adhered it. I like to use Supertape around the edges, inside the spine & a strong glue stick everywhere else. Make sure the entire paper is covered with glue & use a bone folder to press it into the mat board, or you will get parts of it that pull away. 

For the spine I used clear bracelet making elastic & simply stung it with beads on the outside, knotting to keep the beads in place. Each set of holes got 1 strand of elastic that was tied leaving a knot on the inside of each signature. I added some glue to the knot to help hold it. You have room for 4 signatures with this method.

For the signatures I used a mix of canvas, kraft & white textured card stock & each signature I started with a tag. The paper is cut 7 1/2" long & 5" tall. That gives about 1/8" of an inch to spare when placed in the book. The cool thing about this system is I can slide my signatures out to work on them. If I change my mind & want to make more of a scrap book I can simply replace the signature with scrapbook paper. Thanks for joining me today!! I hope you hope over to Eileen's blog to see the amazing designs my team mates have come up with! Have an inky day. 

I am entering this book in the Mini Album Maker's Challenge. You can win $25 in Stencil Girl stencils this month. 

Seahorse Wrap Journal with Eileen Hull

Hello fans of Mixed Media Monthly, I am showing you a seahorse wrap journal today. This month the team is playing with Eileen Hull Designs Wrap Journal by Sizzix! This is a brand new die that is making it's way to stores right now & should be available in June. I have some photos to show you this how this die works. I will have a full tutorial next month as my Inspiration Team post. Make sure to follow me so you don't miss it!

This is my luscious mixed media book. I used all the fun techniques!! As you can see this book has a cover that wraps around- hence the name. It cuts in one long piece & holes on the spine that punch out to make room for 4 signatures.

This month the challenge is Wrap it up. Sadly this will be the last month of the Mix Media Challenge. It has been only 1 term for me & I have loved working with these talented, talented girls. I know a few have been on this team for years so please take a moment to give them some love on their blogs. The prize this month is sponsored by Eileen Hull. The prize is the awesome passport die which I have made many, many books from. 

I hope you come & join us!! Also go over & check out what the rest of the team is up to!

Love adding beads & charms to these books!!!

This is how the book opens up. Plenty of room for a memory book, art journal, a place for art cards. Like Eileen's other books you can use elastic on the spine to just slip the signature in & out or thread the spine to make the book more permanent. 

 I like to do both, use elastic to give me flexibility & then when the pages are ready, thread them to make it permanent. Thanks so much for joining us at Mixed Media Monthly!!!

A Journal Inspired by Two Women

Hello Blogland, I have a journal for you today that is inspired by two of my favorite women. This month Eileen Hull's Inspiration team is all about flowers, so there are some of those as well. My Journal Book combines the die cutting talents of Eileen with the inky, funky style of Dyan Reaveley. I am lucky to be in an industry that has many amazing, talented women. These 2 strong, wonderful, women are forging careers in this crazy art world while having raised families. Let's be clear the raising of children continues even when they leave the nest! Both of these ladies have given me the gift of their time, & advice which has been invaluable! They are truly an inspiration. Plus as an added bonus they have some of my favorite products!!!

 

Journal using Eileen Hull dies & Dyan Reavely paints & stencils.

  

 I Love Journal Books!!!

This book is also a work in progress so this will be a 2 part blog post. I want to add some beading to the spine, as well as pockets, stamping and such to the inside of the book but will leave that for another time. I do have a simple tutorial for you on how this book was accomplished. 

Front cover of Traveler's Style Notebook

Let's Make a Book

I have been keeping a journal or Traveler's Notebook as the style is called, almost everyday since February. It is a combination of inky art journal fun, memory keeping with photos & journaling. I needed another journal cover to be a permanent house for my latest series of Dyalog books. Eileen's journal book is most conveniently the perfect size! I started by cutting my cover pieces out of mat board. A bit of a spritz of water and a background using Dylusions Paints. Then a bit of stencil work using more of the paint. I decided I wanted the front cover to be cool & the back warm colors. 

 

A bit of stencil work adds a pop of cool.

 Pink & Orange for the win.

Here is the back cover once the background was done, ready to add paint with a stencil. Before you ask, yes I painted my black dabber base Vibrant Turquoise. I used Dyan's stencils sticking with the flower theme. 

Flowers can be made from fabric, paper, felt, metal...

Flower Fun

Next up was to die cut & color flowers. Using canvas & crinoline, I cut using Eileen's Heart Petal die. I spritzed these with Dylusions sprays- so vibrant I love these colors! Crunch up the flowers & leave them to dry naturally. This is a technique many of my teammates have done so check out Eileen's Blog to see more fabulous flower construction and also Eileen has an entire series of videos on her Facebook page dedicated to making them using different materials.

For my 3rd and smallest flower I used the wipe up, baby wipe. I quite often keep these & then don't use them. This is a great way to recycle both the wipe & not waste the spray! I cut 6 of the smallest flowers for this one. 

Time to Spritz!

All of the flowers were assembled loosely with a brad to hold them. The final touch was to add some glitter & gold metallic which was easy to do with Marvy Uchida pens. 

I also wanted some funky leaves for my book & opted for the feather stamps from Dyan's stamp set- Flight of Fancy. One of my new favorite techniques is to randomly spritz on a piece of card stock, dry and stamp. You get this cool background for your stamped image.  In hind sight I would have used some of the turquoise as well, maybe for the tips of the "leaves". 

How about some assembly? I glued my book together using SuperTape & also added eyelets down the middle for extra strength. The inside edges of my book were distressed using the paint. The elastic was wound in a fashion to only show on the outside spine at the top & bottom. I want to add beads on the outside spine & find it is easier to do this separately sometimes.  

I added paper to the inside covers using paper torn from the Dyary Book. Handy & quick as these are already printed backgrounds.  This is the front inside cover- I am going to add a pocket. The edges of the paper were distressed with Color Blends Ink.

Here is the inside back cover. I may add something fun here too. 

The back cover is kinda different but I like it!! Way cool with the different paint combos. I may have to add a stamped image there or a butterfly die cut. The butterfly is from A Flair For Buttons. It is a pin & I attached it to the elastic as a reminder to use it somewhere, probably on the closure, I think it will go nicely.  

I love how these flowers turned out! I am not the best at the whole flower thing but I can't wait to see how they will look when I add beads. You can see the cool leaves/feathers that were stamped and cut out. I also added some doodles to help those flowers really pop! Thanks for joining me today. I hope you pop over to Eileen Hull Designs to check out the cool projects my teammates came up with & please join the fan club on Facebook! See you next time.

Supplies:

Eileen Hull Journal & Heart Petal dies by Sizzix
Mat Board by Sizzix
Color Blend Ink by Clearsnap
SuperTape by Therm*O*Web
Dyan Reaveley stamps by Stampers Anonymous
Dylusions Ink Spray, stencils & Dyalog Books by Ranger Ink
Deco Just Glitter & Deco Color Pens by Marvy Uchida
Butterfly Flair by A Flair For Buttons

My Favorite Book Halloween Page

Hello Topflight Stamps fans, it is Thursday so it is time for my blog post! Today I am playing with My Favorite Book & I have made a Halloween page. 

Halloween circa 2006

This is a photo from 11 years ago! How time really flies. We always love going out Trick or Treating & dress up as a family. I wanted to put a larger photo on this page so I cut it to fit across 2 pages. I left a slight gap in the middle so the pages will close properly.  This photo was edited using the Rhonna Designs app on my phone.  

My memory journal page started as a wipe up page in my book so it was almost ready to go. All I had to do was add some stencil with paste to create the perfect background. The Katzelkraft stamp set has the just the right amount of spooky! You can find it here.

 Pumpkin Head

I love being able to recycle & I thought the Tim Holtz packaging was pretty cool with the spider web & distressed look. It made for a great tag. All I had to do was add washi to cover up the words, Distress Oxide some paper & heat emboss it. The spider charm was just painted with copper so it would show up more.

 It's French!

Love this title! As a French Canadian this is the perfect title for my page. These stamps are really crisp & detailed. I used Memento in Tuxedo Black, really love this font. This year I am going as Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas- even though my kids are older we still dress up. I hope you have a spooky fun Halloween with lots of nummy candy & most importantly some wonderful memories! Until next time...BOO!