Eileen Hull Field Notes Junk Journal

I'm back again this week, but this time with a junk journal using a whole bunch of Eileen Hull Sizzix Dies, a whole bunch, as well as a lot of Tim Holtz Idea-ology and vintage goods for the inside. Eileen challenged her Design Team and those of us who are Educators to make a journal and focus on the inside, the guts as I like to say. Good thing I made a junk journal, because I decided to sew the majority of it, and the sewing machine decided to give me fits, so there is absolutely no perfection in this messy album, and I'm not very good on the guts of albums and journals. I'm more of a cover girl. ;0) This journal will be on going as well, as I have a slew of pages to fill that will take some time, so I am sure I'll be back someday to show you the rest of the guts. Until then, this is what I have so far, and it's a very long photo heavy post.  Enjoy!

 

I used heavy felt material for the base of the journal, the bones.. It's quite thick and rigid compared to regular felt. I adhered it together with two sided tape, and then added stretchy string to hold the pages in the middle. I saved all the scraps from the die cuts to use as the tabs for the inside of the journal.

Using the Notebook Pocket Die, I die cut with more thick felt this time in a grayish color. I only used the front area of the die, and not the back with all the tabs as I sewed this flat, so keep that in mind. I sewed the shiplap fabric to the front of the panels of the pocket. Then I die cut the words 'one' and 'two' in felt and hand-stitched (yup, you read hand-stitched...lol) those to strips from Idea-ology Stitched Scraps, and onto the base of the pockets using black thread. I am in love with those strips. I used every piece from one package on this journal.

After both of the pockets were finished on the inside panels, I started the front of the album, that way no stitches would show through on the inside covers. I cut a panel of the shiplap fabric to fit the front of the album, but DID NOT adhere it until the end. I stitched everything on first. I began with the doily die cut that I used the heavy gray felt with. I only used about 3/4 of the doily, and stitched two circles around the inside of the die to hold it on. Then I die cut the cup, to use as a pitcher, out of regular felt. I stitched it over the doily. I added pieces of the Stitched Scraps to the pitcher, and the spine (or where the spine is going to be). It was at this point that I was falling in love with this. There is just something special about sewing.

Then, I discovered something MARVELOUS. Something I probably already know, but forgot. REMNANT RUBS WORK ON FABRIC!!! I knew they worked on canvas obviously, but on felt?!! I was blown away!!! Seriously, blown away. I was so excited to know this, and tried the rubs on every piece of fabric I used in the this journal. THEY ALL WORKED. Remnant Rubs really transformed this from cool to WOW! for me. I was so worried about all the journaling in this, and thought I would have to either stitch or hand write, but the Remnant Rubs saved the day. Anyway I digress. Next, I die cut the 'journal' using the heavy felt, and hand-stitched that on with a light blue thread (the only time I used anything but black thread).

Then came the flowers. I die cut the Heart Petals with layers of fabric and heavy felt, and layered them up, making several stacks of flowers for the outside and inside. I adhered the layers together by hand-stitching a button to the center, and then stitching to the cover. I wanted pops of red, but only had a few sheets of this weather proof type of fabric that I have no idea where it came from, but I die cut the pansy flowers out of it, and stitched a black potbelly type button to the center, and then onto the cover. Then I needed leaves, so I die cut leaves from the Spring Leaves Die, out of a brownish colored felt. I just love this die as there are many leaves to choose from. Then I hand-stitched those leaves on randomly around the flowers. Then I finally stitched this piece of shiplap onto the base cover piece, leaving the blue from the felt being seen around the edges. I scruffed up the edges of the shiplap fabric to give it a more shabby feel. I am in love with this cover...yup, I am a cover girl! Oh and, as I was sewing the cover on, I added the tulle and velvet ribbon to the back of the album to wrap around and hold the album closed. I had a large bee charm from my stash, and tied to onto the tulle ribbon.

Then it was time for the guts of this album. I cut six pieces of each of the fabric prints I used, plus I used left overs of the soft felt pieces. So once I stitched the fabric pieces together, I ended up with 13 pieces for the pages. The pages would obviously be folded in half around the stretchy bands, so really I had 26 pages. Ugh, so many I know. I left the tops of the stitched pages unstitched, so I could hand-stitch things onto the fronts and backs of the pages so the stitches would not be seen on the other side. Confusing for sure, and I did mess up a few times, but I am all about details. ANYWAY, I used tags from all the Tim Holtz Demos over the summer for the main parts of the pages. I adhered and stitched on the tags as well as ephemera from Idea-ology and some from my stash for the guts of the album and on the tags. I fell in love with the whole Idea-ology Field Notes Ephemera line. There are so many butterflies and flowers to choose from. These pieces really transformed every part of this for me, and made the pages so easy to put together.  I adhered using Collage Medium and two-sided tape as well as stitching. I inked every piece of ephemera as well, and added more tulle for the tag tops. Lots more Remnant Rubs were used throughout, as well as scrap fabric pieces to make plain pockets. Nothing was formal about this, just willy-nilly. I truly had fun putting all the pieces together, and I am no where near finished, so the pages you will see below still need stuff in my opinion...remember it's on going. 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies: 

(Die Cut Machine, Scissors, Sewing Machine, Needle w/Black, Light Blue Thread, Rub-on Tool, Ink Blending Tool, Two Sided Tape)

-Sizzix Eileen Hull XL Scoreboards Die: Journal, Notebook Pocket

-Elastic String, Heavy Felt, Regular Felt, Shiplap Fabric, Flower Script Fabric, Tulle Ribbon, Velvet Ribbon, Mother of Pearl Buttons, Small Black Buttons

-Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements Fabric: Memoranda

-Sizzix Eileen Hull Bigz Die: Lace Medallion Doily, Mug and Spoon, Spring Leaves, Flower Layers with Heart Petals, Pansy Flower

-Sizzix Eileen Hull Thinlits: Homemade Alphabet, Journaling Words

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Heavystock Tags: #8

-Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Stitched Scraps, Specimen Remnant Rubs, Tiny Text Remnant Rubs, Field Notes Ephemera Pack, Field Notes Snippets Ephemera Pack, Botanical Layers, Paper Dolls

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink: Speckled Egg, Gathered Twigs

-Ranger Tim Holtz Collage Medium: Matte

-Vintage Floral Postcards, Floral Ephemera, Bee Charm

-Faber-Castell Pitt Pens

If you are looking for themes for journals, measurements for use in Eileen's journal dies, journal inspiration, or just entertainment, then visit Eileen's blog for several informational posts the last few weeks, as well as links to so many blogs filled with beautiful journals.

I'll be back again soon. Until then, I hope your hands get creatively dirty!

More Tim Holtz Stencil Binders

I'm back again this month, shocking! Thank you so much for all the visits and comments lately...I appreciate it immensely.  Today, I have another set of stencil binders to house my ever growing stash of Tim Holtz Collection Stencils from Stamper's Anonymous. I love functional art. It's nice to have what you need in an organized way and when it's decorated it makes me happy. The Sizzix Colorize Animals from Tim are super fun to put together as well. ***Disclaimer: Please excuse my disgusting sense of humor on the Mini Stencil Binder. I adore the Charmin Bears commercial...you know the one with "My hinny's clean.", and since the shortage of toilet paper I really have come to love the commercials. So I recreated the Charmin Bear and added a little silly wording to go with the theme, and some napkin for the toilet paper. NO REAL TP WAS USED TO CREATE THIS! ;0)

The two on the left are my older stencil binders (larger here, smaller here) that were quite full, so I made the two on the right to house the rest of the regular and small size, and I split them up between everyday and holiday varieties.

To get the correct size I needed, I trimmed down chipboard, #12, and #10 sized tags for the covers.

I have been following along and sometimes playing along with Tim's weekly demos. I love playing along when I can, and this day was all about Distress products. I used Distress Spray Stains and Distress Paints to create the backgrounds for my covers.

I used more paint to stencil in the foliage for the large covers. I let the paint go under the stencil, so after it dried, I used a white pen to outline the image. LOVE this. I also painted the edges of the chipboard covers with different reds and oranges.

I used more stencils to create the sun using paint, and the trim with wording using Picket Fence Distress Ink and stencils.

Then came the fun part...making the animals. I used black, gray, and white cardstock for the main parts, and a tag from the demos to make the colorful stripes and spots.

Then I added black silhouette flowers from the Wildflower Stems 1 and 2.

For the bear Theodore, I repeated again, but I didn't do a stenciled background. Instead I kept it simple with wildflowers and Remnant Rubs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies: 

(Chipboard, Twist Book Rings, Pliers, Scissors, Two Sided Tape, Foam Tape, Remnant Rub Tool, Mini Rotary Score Tool, Pink Marker, Napkin)

-Ranger Surfaces: Manila Tags #12, Manila Tags #10

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain: Fossilized Amber, Festive Berries, Peacock Feathers

-Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Paint: Picket Fence, Fossilized Amber, Festive Berries, Peacock Feathers, Twisted Citron, Aged Mahogany, Barn Door, Mustard Seed, Blueprint Sketch, Black Soot

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Water Sprayer

-Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set: Dots and Circles

-Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz Layering Stencil: Doodle 141, Mini Burst 116, Mini Tinsel 094, Mini Christmas 030

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink: Picket Fence, Fossilized Amber

-Tim Holtz Sizzix 3D Impresslits: Medallion

-Ranger Tim Holtz Embossing Glaze: Rusty Hinge

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayon: Walnut Stain

-Ranger Archival Ink: Shadow Grey

-Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Label Tape, Fabric Tape, Yuletide Design Tape, Specimen Remnant Rubs, Theories Quote Chips

-Cardstock: Black, White, Red, Rust, Dark Gray

-Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlits Colorize: Winifred, Gertrude, Clarence, Theodore

-Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlits: Wildflower Stems 1, Wildflower Stems 2

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium: Matte

-Sakura Gelly Roll Pen: Whie

Thanks so much for stopping by. Until next time...I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

Travel Organizer Folio Pocket Notebook

Happy October everyone! This year is flying by! Today is the official launch of Eileen Hull's new Chapter 4 Sizzix Die, The Pocket Notebook Score Board XL, and she decided to have a Release Party Blog Hop, and I'm happy to be a part of it!  You will definitely want to grab some sustenance if you plan on participating...there is a lot to see and read. On the die, you get all of the pieces you need to make an entire book- the cover, pages, latch and pen loop, and the completed notebook measures 6 3/4” x 4 1/2” with a spine that can adjust from 3/8 of an inch to almost 2 inches. String it with elastic, hemp, ribbon or twine. There are so many options for this die.

I only had time to make one project with this fabulous new die, but make sure you visit the other designer's as well, as you will have your socks knocked off with all the makes (see blog hop links below), and many of them made a slew of them...talk about inspiration! For me, it was all about business function and organization, so I made (more like stitched up) a Travel Organizer Folio to hold all that I need on the go for business, and it even holds my phone, with the help of some other dies.

I wanted a raw feel to this which is good because my sewing machine did not like the leather so much! I embrace imperfection.

I added a lined notebook to the first insert, and folder of sticky notes to the second insert. I love and use sticky notes a ton, so I included lots.

Lots and lots of pockets and slots for business cards, hotel keys, credit cards, receipts, whatever.

In case you want to know how I put this together, I have included my steps, although might be a little confusing, but now you can make one yourself.

I die cut the pieces with mat board and adhered them together with Multi Matte Medium so that  four of the stitching holes are shown...even though I am only using two...so that the folio is nice and wide.

I found this faux leather animal print material at the craft store, and thought it would be perfect for this. I wanted to wrap the notebook front and back with the material and then stitch the top and bottom, so I measured and cut the material to fit exactly, but it is just one long piece that wraps around the sides of the notebook. I also marked where the hole would need to go on the spine of the notebook for a closure, and I punched that hole. I stitched the edges of each side that will be next to the inside spine piece so that it will look nicely finished.

I cut the material to fit the center spine portion on the inside and punched the holes for the pages. I also cut the leather binding strap and inserted the elastic for the closure, and then set this all aside for later. Note...I ended up adding a black piece of leather to the back of the red and stitched these together as I thought it looked better on the front of the folio.

I die cut black leather from Eileen's Gift Card Folder and Label #2 L Die, as I thought this would be a perfect pouch for the phone. I cut a long strip of the red leather for the strap, and found large snaps for the closure on the phone pouch. I also die cut the pen holder from the Pocket Notebook Die.  I stitched around the three folding edges of the Gift Card Folder just for a nice look. I set these aside for a bit.

I die cut only the front portion of  the Notebook Pocket from black leather, and cut off the folding edges so it would fit in the notebook. I also cut red leather to fit inside of the pocket, and cut slits for the cards. I stitched a piece of the animal print behind the red leather so the cards would stay in place as it will also serve as a pocket behind the cards. Then I stitched the this to the black leather pocket.

I used the mat board notebook as a guide and marked where everything needed to go, so the mat board notebook was constantly added and removed and things measured...no pattern here for sure.  I stitched the pen holder in place above where the pouch would go so I had plenty of room for it.  I stitched the back portion of the Gift Card Folder onto the animal print onto the left inside,  leaving the pouch folding sides loose. I gathered the sides together and stitched the snap in the center of the pieces to hold them together and of course for the closure. I stitched the other snap to the back of the red leather strap, and then stitched the strap above the pouch measuring how long it needed to be using my phone.

Before I did the opposite (right) side of the pouch, I decided the front needed something, so I die cut my initials using the animal print from Tim Holtz's Storybook Alphabet Bigz Die. I stitched them onto the red leather, and then stitched that onto black leather, and finally onto the front of the book. It was difficult maneuvering the front part with the back part already having the pouch sewn on, so I should have done the front first. Live and learn.

I stitched the pocket and slotted pocket onto the left side of the notebook. The mat board notebook was placed for the last time in the center of the animal print, and I threaded the closure strap through the hole on the front spine and through the hole in the mat board spine and tied a knot, making sure that the closure strap would fit tightly but not too tight, and then I added tape over the knot to hold it in place so that it would not show. This proved a little challenge as the sides are not adhered to the mat board yet, so it felt clumsy to have the closure hanging but there was no other way to do that.  I added skor tape to the inside spine on the mat board, and adhered the animal print spine over this. I threaded the stretchy cord through the two holes for my inserts, and tie the knot behind the mat board spine between the animal print fabric so it would not be seen. Finally I adhered the sides onto the mat board pulling them nice and tight using a little skor tape. Then I stitched the top and bottom edges, and cut the overhang of animal print fabric.

...and Voila!!!

 Now it's time to visit all the others! Please follow the Blog Hop to see all of the fabulous projects, techniques and videos!  AND...There are also two GIVEAWAYS- the Pocket Notebook die and a gift certificate for Eileen’s Etsy store. To enter to win, leave a comment on each of the posts. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, October 8, 2019, on Eileen’s Facebook Live show. 

 Eileen Hull

Susie Bentz

Pam Bray

Julia Aston

Annette Green

Kathy Clement

Cheryl Waters

Ginger Ropp

Mitsyana Wright

Debbie Bankston

Anita Houston (You are here.)

Maggi Harding

Anne Redfern

Jenny Marples

Betsy Skagen

Anna-Karin Evaldsson

Tonya Trantham

Madeline Arendt

Lisa Hoel

Karen Bearse

Sue Eldred
Nicole Wright

Thanks so much for stopping by everyone, and good luck on the prizes! I'll be back soon!
I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!