Mixed Media Eileen Hull Notebook

A  little Notebook, made from an Eileen Hull die, went off to the Craft Stamper to be used for an article about Eileen's dies to celebrate her visit to England last September. It was published in the October 2019 issue and given to Eileen when I saw her at Country View Crafts. (You can see it in the bottom left hand corner on top of the CS magazine.

I chose my colour palette by googling and flicking through my Pinterest board, keeping the colours fresh but vintage at the same time.

Background. 

First there were three layers of brayered paints all mixed to create the colour I wanted from the palette. To start using yellow green light, paynes grey, titan buff and titanium white to get  the darker green colour. Next the beige mixing titan buff, titanium white, burnt umber and paynes grey, and lastly a mix of white and titan buff to lighten it again.

Dip, drip and dry with  a mix of pyrrole orange and paynes grey and rubbed it into the surface - the colour was grabbed by the white card substrate, dry and repeat the process with quinacridone gold but let this layer really drip and dribble before drying.

Next stamp using the entomology text stamp and coffee archival ink.

Use a couple of stencils and a bending tool and blending foam to stencil through both titan buff and titanium white.

Make a weak colour glaze using soft touch varnish, paynes grey, translucent white, yellow green light with a little water mixed together and use this to knock back the background and vintage it up a bit more.

Alter one of Tim's lace baseboard frames with quin gold and titanium white watery paints.

I had some notebooks bought last year and just waiting to be used. Tey fitted perfectly so I bound the nto the spine just going over and through the centre of each booklet using thin elastic.

I used some black thread to pull the elastics together and tie on a typed token at the same time.

For the cover I used some wildflower stems that I watercoloured using media fluid acrylic paints and Tim's new crochet die with one of his quotes too.

Unfortunately I didn't get any more photos taken of the finished design, but I do have this one taken by Craft Stamper which was in the magazine.

I'm catching up a bit with some previous projects and hoping to get to grips with more new ones.

Happy Sunday.

xxx

Book It! A Vintage Journey challenge and Eileen Hull Passport Book

I Just love creating handmade books, mini albums and journals etc and as  a child I was an avid reader but all I seem to read about these days is new techniques and craft ideas etc. :o) x

There is nothing better than curling up with a good book to take us away to another place! This month over at A Vintage Journey we'd like you think about books - perhaps you will make a book, or a journal, create a journal page showing a scene from one of your favourite books (do please tell us what book!) or a card showing someone reading or made using text stamps, stencils or word stickers. Just remember to create in one of our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk.

I attended a workshop with the lovely Antonis Tzanidakis last weekend and bought some of his papers and stamps to play with. I decided to use these to make a little grungy, mixed media passport style book.

Process steps

1. Cover some black card with patterned paper - I used Mechanical Fantasy from Stamperia by Antonis. Cut two covers from the die.

2. Cut a spine from mountboard, stamp it with the typewriter from Tim Holtz Inventor set.  Daub some paints over it, stamp it and dip in some watery colour washes using the same as you just used.

3. Add some additional colour to the papers and spine, seal them with matte medium and give a coat of clear crackle glaze and leave it to dry naturally.

4. Paint the back of the covers with the titan buff paint. With a palette knife drag over cobalt blue and quin gold and dry. Stamp. Repeat the dragging over with white gesso. Seal with a coat of matte medium mixed with both the quin gold and cobalt blue and when that is dry again give a coat of the clear crackle glaze and dry naturally.  Also crackle glaze the spine.

5. Brush everything (inside and outside of the covers) with oil paint to get into all the cracks, then rub back with a baby wipe and dry kitchen roll to leave the cracks and crevices aged with the paint.

6. Stick the covers to the spine and add embellishments to the front. It was here I swapped the inside and outside covers over. I prefer the painty layers to the patterned papers.

7. Die cut pages with patterned papers and watercoloured papers and insert them as three signatures  into the booklet using elastic.

My book is now ready to use tor any "Stuff, ideas and things"

I hope you will be able to pop over to AVJ to see some other wonderful creations from the members of the team posting this month and maybe we'll see you joining in as well?

xxx

Supplies from Country View Crafts

Stamperia Mechanical Fantasy paper pad - Antonis

DecoArt premium acrylic paint- titan buff

DecoArt Media acrylic paints - Cobalt Teal Hue, Quinacridone Gold
DecoArt Clear Crackle Glaze, Matte Medium

Tim Holtz stamps - Inventor
Eileen Hull dies
Tim Holtz supplies

In the Neutral Zone for A Vintage Journey

It's Nikki's turn to host the challenge at A Vintage Journey and she want us to be in the neutral zone. 

Time to banish colour and use blacks, whites, greys, beiges, creams and browns, just what I love for some shabby projects.

I love sewing and haberdashery themed projects but rarely make them so I thought what better way than give me an excuse to get the sewing machine out, a little fabric and dress form and sewing associated stamps than to create a journal. Now I have somewhere to stay fairly neutral and to use collage papers, old patterns and vintage images to fill it.

Having cut one of Eileen Hull's wrapped journals I set about getting the covers sorted first.  I used DecoArt gesso and premium acrylic paints to create some texture and mottled colouring, adding layer upon layer until I was happy with it.

I sealed the whole surface with varnish so it will take more wear and tear.
The products are listed at the end of the post.

I used Stamperia papers to line the inside and yes ok I have included a little colour here but I know I will also use pastel tones on some of the pages I create over time.

Next came the collage front cover. The stamped dress form from Tim Holtz took centre stage and I collected together some ephemera, fabric oddments and used the sewing machine to leave some hanging threads.

I really like the way the dress form stands out prominently having been stamped with white acrylic paint on some dark brown card, it's a fabulous contrast.

The collage layers came together with me sitting and playing with small pieces of papers, ephemera and fabric until it looked balanced. I always know when it looks 'right' and I just have to spend time arranging and rearranging until it fits like a jigsaw puzzle for me.

 I decided to do something very similar for the back cover as I had this dress form left over.

Some more words to inspire me when I look to add some pages.

I added two small but very strong magnets to hold the journal together and covered them with a strip of tissue tape so that you don't see them when you open it.

I'll add my signatures soon, but this is what it looks like standing up.
There's a little button sewed onto the dress form as an embellishment and some words that open up the world for my imagination to run wild.

If you'd like to see more inspiring projects pop over to A Vintage Journey to see what some of the rest of the team has been making and please join in if you choose to use a neutral palette in one of your projects this month.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by - and ....

Supplies

DecoArt Premium Acrylics - raw umber, burnt umber, burnt sienna, dark grey value 3, titanium white, titan buff.

DecoArt Premium white gesso

DecoArt Media ultra matt varnish, matte medium

Eileen Hull Wrapped Journal and collage paper

I love this little wrapped journal, it's perfect for passport size pages. I've used Eileen Hull's wrapped journal die with Tim's collage paper, ephemera and frame and it all went together really easily and is my sample for Country View Crafts Project Blog today.

Glue collage paper to back and front of the journal using decou-page sealer, let thoroughly dry.

Using a sanding block sand down the outside edges getting rid of all the excess paper.

Ink the edges with brown distress ink.

With sharp knife cut through the tissue along the scored lines (which is the outside of the journal).

Bend the scores round slightly.

Seal the inside and outside of the journal with decou-page. As it dries just bend the score lines a little to achieve those lovely rounded sides.

Glue magnets to the inside and outside of opposite covers - you choose which will be the front wrap and which will be the back wrap. I chose the longer side over the top to take the frame I wanted to add.

Take the small green backboards frame by Tim Holtz and sand the edges. Blend peeled paint then ground espresso distress inks around and over them.

Take a couple of the flower ephemera pieces from the Tim Holtz Botanicals set, ink the edges and seal both sides with decoupage sealer to make them stronger
Find a small butterfly - this was from my downloaded box of butterflies. Seal it as above.

Put the pieces together with some string glued to the back frame for tying the journal. Add other pieces to your collage if needed - I used some coloured cambric fabric and a single self generated and printed word.

Use a screw punch or pokey tool to remake the holes for the elastic .... 

.... and thread it through the spine.

I was lucky my front panel had some lovely flowers positioned perfectly to lay the frame over.

It's now just waiting for me to make or buy some booklets/signatures for the inside.

I think this would make a lovely garden journal, especially if you like going out visiting places like Kew and Wisley Gardens.

 This is going in my shop space, so fingers crossed I get a good price for it.

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy creating your own special art.

Beauty surrounds us, but usually we need to be walking in a garden to know it. 

Rumi