Let's Decorate the Inside of My As the Crow Flies Wrap Journal

Hello Blogland, today I am back to decorate the inside of my spooky wrap journal from last week! I love making these books but I am less fabulous at working on the inside. DCWV gave the Eileen Hull Inspiration Team a paper stack to play with. I scored the Spooky & Sparkly stack. I thought today I would come up with some simple formulas to create pages. This makes it easy as I work through my book to add tags, flips & pockets.

 Here is a hodge podge of items I made to include in my book. It is kinda hard to just take one photo to show all the fun. There is a flip through video of my book too, below so you get to see all the nummyness! Working from one paper line can make the job easier as it limits the "now where did I put that...favorite sticker" syndrome.

Here is a photo and link to make the outside of my As the Crow Flies Wrap Journal. 

First up on the day I started creating this project, a fine fall day in October, it was 82 degrees out. This makes it a little tough to get in the Halloween mood. The obvious solution was to crank up the AC, put a Halloween t-shirt & cardigan on & have Nightmare Before Christmas movie & a few episodes of Supernatural on to set the tone!

I made a video flip through so you can see all the fun elements in this book. Plus I have the written tutorial with some of the highlights & supplies for making this spooky book.You can find this 12x12 paper stack at Joann Fabrics.

I started by cutting my paper stack. The great thing about this paper pad is there are 2 pieces of each paper plus a sticker sheet. I have 1 booklet to show you today with the idea of adding to it. I cut paper in 2 sizes- 6.5" x 4.5" & 8.5" x 4.5. I cut the height 4.5" as I wanted to be able to use elastics & slide the booklets in & out. If I was adding them in permanently I could have made the books a little taller.  Beware of the pattern when cutting so your bats are flying right! 

I have been working on batch creating to save time. The idea is instead of creating one item you work in batches to save time. I also wanted to add in distressed ruled paper so I cut some of that. This is one of my favorite techniques, cause the paper ends up all crunchy. I distressed the paper with Eileen's Colorbox Blends in Ebony & mixed up some water colors on my craft mat with the Blends & water. Did you know that Bay & Wildberry make a very pretty purple? 

Next up was to add some stamping. Basically stamped a little something at the top & bottom or 2 corner sides. I can always add titles as I go. 

Time for tags! Using the Blends to distress the edges of some tags, plus some more stamping. These tags can be used for photos, journaling or ephemera. Maybe a favorite candy wrapper!

Let's add foil. The paper stack by DCWV has silver foil touches that go fabulously with the paper line. I decided to add some more foil using Therm*O*Web & various techniques to make that happen. So many options!! Using one of Eileen's latest thinlet dies- Journal Card, Flower & Leaves to cut double sided adhesive. The purple tape you see holds the die in place during cutting without tearing the paper for easy removal.

Remove one side of the backing & place foil shiny side up. Simple burnish with a bone folder or your finger. Lift foil off & you are left with a shiny, happy, embellishment sticker that can be placed where ever you need to add some wow. In this case I added some to my pockets & tags. 

The second way to add foil is using Peel n'Stick Transfer sheets. For this you need a heat laminator. I die cut the word wander & added a new foil called Glittering Green which is so cool as it has the look of sequins kind of embedded in it. Sandwich the die cut with the foil color side up between a piece of parchment sheet & run it through the laminator. 

The 3rd way was making a side tuck spot using Deco Foil Clear Toner Sheets. Here is a Therm*O*Web video showing the sheets & how to use the heat laminator. 

Finally using the Transfer Gel I edged a card with it & added red foil. This is also a great way to add some stencil work. Simply apply the gel, let dry clear & use the same sandwich as above to set the foil on your project. 

This book definitely required lots of pockets, tags & tucks. I cut some tags with Eileen's die & paper from the stack using the Credit Card, Sleeve & Tag die then added tabs using her other dies. See my video above for more info on the individual die pieces used. 

Here is an example of the Credit card sleeve at work on the left side. The right side has a simple pocket. The spider & crow are stickers from the paper stack. 

Who says Halloween can't have flowers? I cut them using the Flower & Leaves dies out of one dark, & one light foiled paper & sandwiched them with a brad. The flower was used as a tab to lift the pocket card. I added some washi at the top to make the card flip. This book was so much fun to make & is now ready to go as I take photos this Halloween season. As the book has room for 4 signatures I can add more to it. Please head over to Eileen Hull's Blog to see what the rest of the Inspiration team is up to this week!! 

Supplies:

•  Eileen Hull dies by Sizzix- Credit Card Sleeve & Tags/ Journal Card, Flower & Leaves/ Journaling Words/ Bookmark-Tag & Pocket/ Bookplate, Hinges & Label/ Wrap Journal
• Clearsnap Color Blends
• Tim Holtz dies by Sizzix- Stacked Labels, Movers & Shapers: Mini Cat & Raven
• DCWV (Die Cuts With A View) Spooky & Sparkly Set
• Therm*O*Web- DecoFoil- Designer Toner Sheets, Peeln'Stick Toner Sheets, Transfer Gel, Foil Transfer Sheets. Purple Tape
• Stamps by Recollections, Inkadinkado, Stampers Anonymous.
• Tim Holtz- Ephemera & Charms

As The Crow Flies Wrap Journal with Eileen Hull

Hello Eileen Hull & Spooky journal fans of all ages! I am here today with a Caw-tastic journal using Eileen's Wrap Journal die. This book can be used for Halloween, for your favorite creepy movie quotes, for fall lists or even as a Games of Thrones journal. The best part? There is room for 4 signatures, so you can use it for all of the above!!

Here is my finished cover, I plan on making booklets for the inside. Thanks to DCWV for sending me this wonderful paper pad called "Spooky & Sparkly"  I had all the paper needed to create my spook-tacular project. If you want to see how I used this paper on the inside of my book you see it here.

You can find this paper pack at Joannes & other online stores. Some of the double-sided paper have wonderful foiled images & you also get a sheet of pocket cards as well as a sticker page. That is a lot to work with!

I started by cutting a piece of mat board out with the wrap journal die & a mover/shaper die in the open space. That is how I got the cool, crow to die cut right out of my book.  Here I had to option of adhering my paper first & die cutting the whole thing or die cutting them separately as I went along. 

Next step was to use a stencil & texture paste on the flap portion. I like the paste as it dries very quickly. Once the paste was dry I spritzed it with Dylusions spray in Slate Grey. This will help the image to pop once I add the color. 

Using Distress Crayons to hit the high points & rubbing with my finger was the next step.

One of the challenges of the wrap die is it just a bit longer then 12" so a great way to cover the book it to cut the paper individually. I also like using different papers on the front from the back... this makes covering the book easy. I simply measure, cut & distress the book.
 

For the spine I used my favorite technique covering it with embossing powder. Seth Apter's Rocky Road from Emerald Creek provided the perfect texture. I added a bit of Hammered metal to add some silver to the mix. The bonus of using embossing is it helps protect the spine by making it stronger. 

My closure was created by adding a door knob to the spine. An elastic was hooked through an eyelet on the flap & that wraps around the door knob on the spine to close the book. Of course I needed to add charms!! 

For the hidden cover of the book I added some Tim Holtz Halloween pieces and the owl sticker from the paper pack. Here you can see that I covered the inside spines in black paint & embossed stamped spiderwebs with Fallen Snow. The skull paper is silver foiled and really detailed. Thanks for joining me today! I hope you take the time to see the other great projects the Inspiration team has made this month!

Supplies:
Eileen Hull Wrap Journal die by Sizzix
Tim Holtz raven mover/shaper die by Sizzix
Spooky & Sparkly 12x12 stack by DCWV
Dylusions Spray in Slate Grey
Distress Crayons- Antique Bronze, Fossilized amber, Squeezed Lemonade, & Wilted Violet
Opaque Texture Paste, Glossy Accents by Ranger
Tim Holtz Halloween ephemera & charms

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!!!

Eileen Hull Wrapped Journal Organizer

Hello Blog Land! Today I have a peak at a new release from Eileen Hull Designs Book Club 2 Collection. It was released this month at Creativation 2018 (formerly CHA) which is the trade show for AFCI- (Association for Creative Industries). This new die is going to be one of my favorites!

Fabric Wrap Journal

Here is "My Precious" the fabric wrap journal I made to house business cards, product info, class notes, and even a mini scrapbook at the end for adventure journaling with pics. It is using Eileen's new Wrap Journal that I have already made 3 books with!!! Hee. The Inspiration Team are doing peaks of the release. We will have full tutorials closer when the dies become available. Encourage your store owner to order this die! Book Club 2 will be released in June. 
 

 

An Afternoon In Scottsdale, AZ

I just returned from Phoenix, AZ,  where Creativation was held. (In a nut shell all the crafty manufacturers get together to show the retail stores, designers & teachers the newest products being released. It is a whirlwind of classes taken, demos given, networking & meeting up with friends, colleagues that you haven't seen in the last year. It was also fun to meet interweb friends for the first time, especially some of Eileen's Inspiration team that I have gotten to know over the last year but never met. 

Eileen Hull, Suzie Bentz, Me, Mitsyana Wright, Jenny Marples.

Creativation Class 2018

I will be posting some videos over the next few weeks on my YouTube Channel. There are some interviews I have done, some demo watching, showing product from some of the booths & even a mini book binding class. You can find it here at Karen Bearse. Please subscribe & let's see where this new adventure goes! Have an inky day.