Eileen Hull – Heartfelt Collection Journal

Hello! Eileen's new collection, Heartfelt, is soon to be in stores and all this month the Inspiration Team is sharing projects using it! One die that is sure to be popular is the Journal die. You can use this die to make your own custom junk journals, notebooks, planners… the possibilities really are endless.  It's also sized to fit Midori inserts; you can buy pre-made refills or make your own.

Here's a closeup of the cover of my journal:

Back Cover

Let's take a look at how it went together. (It was lots of fun! ;-) ) I cut two pieces (making the front and back covers) out of Sizzix Sizzles Mat Board.  I also used the front half of a Luggage Tag to form a title block on the front cover. To add texture, I stenciled Prima Transparent Soft Gloss Gel to lay down a pattern as a background.

I pulled out all sorts of lace, Prima Mechanicals, buttons and other doo-dads to form the cover assemblages. It was a serious "stuff" explosion on my desk! I used Prima Soft Matte Gel and Upi's Crafter's Pick Ultimate Glue to adhere all the parts over the previously stenciled pattern.

Next step, apply gesso! Once everything was nice and dry, I covered all the parts and lace with white gesso to prime it for adding color.

The first layer of color added was with DecoArt Media Shimmer Misters in White and Yellow. I like the DecoArt Misters because they are permanent when dry and won't react with other medias. The gloss gel I had stenciled on first also acted as a bit of a resist so the mists brought out the pattern. It makes a great background!

After the mists were dry I started layering on the Silks Acrylic Glazes. I just kept going until I was happy with it. =)

Partway through the process.

Assembly:
An easy way to bind the inside pages to the cover is to use elastic cord. I tried using thicker rubber cord but it wasn't strong enough and snapped. The spine parts of the covers overlap so I added a bit of glue between the layers to make a strong spine that wouldn't shift around.Then I threaded the elastic cord through the holes, using one long piece.

From the inside, I went down the bottom hole, up the one next to it, up to the top hole and down through it, up through the hole next to it, and then pulled the cord tight and tied it off with a square knot. By binding it this way, you can easily slip in your page inserts (in this case I used two Midori refills). Open the inserts to the center fold and slide it under one of the elastic lengths. Repeat for the second insert and the other elastic strap.

After I put the inserts in, I decided the inside covers were a bit plain and needed a background too. So I took the insides out again (good thing it's so easy! ;-) ) and came up with a simple addition. I had some white butterfly rub ons that I applied to the inside covers and then I sprayed them with the DecoArt Media Yellow Shimmer Mist. The rub ons acted as a resist and popped right out of the yellow color.

Thanks for stopping by and making it to the end of this looong post! Be sure to head on over to Eileen's blog to check out all the wonderful projects being shared there. Every week this month there will be lots to see!

I'm also entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge – Make Your Own Background.

The supplies I used for this project can be found at Sizzix or Simon Says Stamp. Follow the links below and a shopping you may go!

Sizzix ScoreBoards XL Die - Journal	Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 6PK - Birds & Butterflies	Die - Tags, Luggage	Sizzix Little Sizzles - 6" x 13" Mat Board Pack, 6 White Sheets	*The Crafter's Workshop MINI HONEYCOMB 6 x 6 Template	Prima Flowers CLEAR CRACKLE TEXTURE PASTE Art Extravagance 961541
Prima Flowers SOFT GEL IN GLOSS 8.5 OZ. Art Basics 961435	Prima Flowers SOFT GEL IN MATTE 8.5 OZ. Art Basics 961428	Splash of Color WINE AND ROSES Silks Acrylic Glaze 30724	Splash of Color PINK AZALEA Silks Acrylic Glaze 30567	Splash of Color SUNBURST Silks Acrylic Glaze 97566	Silks-Boysenberry

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