December Roundup for Eileen Hull

 Hello Eileen Hull Friends! Can you believe we are well into December?? I cannot keep up with the flow of time & am just realizing that need to jump on the HoHoHo of the season! First it is time for our Inspiration Teams yearly roundup of favorite projects.  

Never an easy task to pick only 3, but that is the assignment. Here is my fancy photo with all 3 projects in it. Apparently this year I was really into color & also under developing my photos cause they all seem very light!

 

#1: Here we go in order of calendar release with the link included.. drum roll please. Gustov Klimt Box which was one of my Chapter 1 release projects. This was using Eileen's Book Box.

 #2: The Four Seasons Journal which was the release for Eileen's Maker Forte stamps in February. This also became a class at my local store in which we made a booklet every month to go in it. Started with the Full Size Journal, adding in the Snail Mail die & stamps. This one was very satisfying to complete.

 

#3: The Travel Journal which is also on it's way to becoming a class in a bit of a revised fashion. Love all the mix media on this one. Also lots of Eileen's stamps and quite a few of the smaller dies. Yes I love making books!! Thanks for a great year of support from everyone. I hope you have a fantastic holiday season & get to spend lots of time with friends & family. Cheers!

Seahorse Trinket Box for Eileen Hull

Today I have a stunning seahorse trinket box as part of the Eileen Hull Inspiration Team. April showers bring May flowers & also lots of parties! The design team are playing with all things DIY spring party prep. I hope you go over to the blog & check out what my teammates have been up to. There are some amazing designers on this team!!

I decided to create this box that can be used for a beach wedding. My idea actually came from my son's high school graduation. I put out a bunch of project life cards & pens, letting his friends jot down a note or memory that they had of him. Some of the cards are hilarious, some silly, some shared a special memory. All together they are priceless. I thought this would be a great thing to do at a wedding... hence my project. 

I have a bit of a tutorial for you. HOT TIP: Before you start figure out what type of closure you want for the box. It may change the way you assemble your box (you will want to punch any holes before assembly) & if you should adhere the inside paper after to hide brads or screws. I do have to say this box is pretty amazing & very well designed. It fits together easily & looks very professional, if you follow the tricks for success. I decided I wanted my box to have a very mix media top but paper for the rest of the construction. Tip: Paper side down on the die will be the paper that shows on the outside of any scored piece.

For ease I cut a sample of the box out of green paper to use as a template. That allowed me to cut out the individual pieces, saving mat board, paper & adhesive. For example I wanted the blue pattern on the outside of my box. You will need 2 pieces of this cut as it makes up the rectangular base of the box. I cut 2 pieces of mat board slightly larger then my template. Adhere paper front & back using double sided adhesive. The blue paper went face down on my die. 

I use pieces of washi to hold the mat board in place on the die. To save some time I followed the same procedure & cut the spine piece. Place that beside 1 of the side pieces in the proper spot & run it through your Sizzix machine. For my 2nd run I made the 3x4 card & the 2nd side piece. You only want to cut 1 layer at a time but can cut multiple shapes. 

It worked! Using my templates I cut more paper/mat board/paper sandwiches. After cutting all the edges were distressed & a marker was used to color the white edges of the mat board.

1. This is the spine of the box, because a template was used it was possible to cut out a specific part of my scrap book paper. Cool seagulls!!

2.This is the bottom piece of the box, (simply remove the oval mover & shaper) which I decided looked better with the wood finish on top.

3. For the lid of my box, paper was adhered on only 1 side of the mat board. I cut another portion of the blue paper leaving the mover & shaper die in which cuts out a beautiful oval. This is going to be the inside of my lid as the outside is mixed media.

4. The inside bottom of my box. This piece hides the side piece's flaps & gives your box a nice spot for some pretty paper. I used a portion of the paper that has a compass, shells & ship. 

5. Here is the 2 side pieces assembled which make the base of the box.

* Tip: Use Therm*O*Web Supertape to adhere your box together it is just super strong.

 * I am going to make templates out of clear acetate so I can better position my pieces if I want a certain pattern (like the seagulls).

Time to assemble. 
1. Assemble base of box.
2. Adhere card in bottom of box.
3. Adhere left side of spine to bottom of box.
4. Adhere bottom of box. 
5. Adhere top of box to right side of spine.

This ships wheel brad was added to hold the top down with an elastic. It has been hard to open & close so I may change the brad to something else. 

The die cut "Moments" was added to the end of the box. I took some Project Life cards & added beach theme stamps. I also added in some Kaisercraft cards that totally matched the theme. For presentation these will be wrapped with a ribbon with a charm. I will also put the ribbon at the bottom of the cards to make it easier to pull them out of the box. 

Supplies:

• Eileen Hull dies by Sizzix- Trinket Box, Flower Arch & Words.
• Tim Holtz die by Sizzix- Garden Greens
• Matboard by Sizzix
• Double sided adhesive & Supertape by Therm*O*Web
• Paper for box by Stamperia
• Paper for cards by Becky Higgins for Project Life & Kaisercraft
• Stamps by Tim Holtz, Kaisercraft & Prima.
• Inks- Archival by Ranger

Thanks for joining me today, I will have a follow up post showing how I made the mixed media top of this Seahorse Trinket Box. Have a wonderful inky day!

Making a Resin Bumble Bee

Welcome to a quick tip on how to make a resin bumble bee. Usually when I play with resin I almost always have left over. Rather then waste it pouring into an available mold always is the better option. That leaves me with a container of finished resin pieces so when a quick embellishment is needed they are ready for the picking. 

I will have an upcoming post on how to pour resin into molds. Please read the resin directions included in the box. Not all resins are mixed the same way & that will help avoid mistakes.

Simply paint your piece using black gesso. This is better for resin then acrylic paint as it has more tooth & is designed to adhere to your substrate. Let it dry naturally. I don't use a heat gun when working with my cured resin pieces. 

Last step was to color my cutie using a combination of metallic paint & wax. I used Finnabair Art Alchemy products by Prima. Simply paint the bee & when it is dry add some wax to give it extra shimmer. That is it super simple embellishment. 

I adhered him to the edge of a stamped flip card in My Favorite Book to use as a tab. Check back tomorrow to see the full page. You can see the tutorial of the project where he landed here. Thanks for joining me for this quick tutorial & I hope you get the chance to play with left over resin soon!!!

Supplies:

Resin by Resin Obsession

Mold by Plaid

Metallic paint & was by Prima.