Fall Garden Journal with Eileen Hull

Hello there! Happy fall everyone! One of the fall garden tasks that I have is to save seeds from my annuals as they are finishing up blooming for the summer. I thought making a cute journal for keeping those seeds in (and any garden notes!) would be fun. I also managed to use a ton of Eileen's dies and other products in the creation of it! =)

Cover close up!

I put lots of pockets and little tuck spots inside!

The Notebook is permanently glued into the main journal.

And now for a little how-to:

First, the flowers are all created using Eileen's Molten Dimensions embossing powders and an easy embossing technique that makes use of a tool that might just be gathering dust in the back of your craft closet. Check that out here on this past blog post.

Next, I used her Blends 2 Inks to 'marble' the insides of the main journal cover. I wanted to use orange as one of the colors but there isn't a specific orange ink color. No problem! You can mix whatever color you want from the existing inks!

I spread that ink around on my craft mat and added some dots of yellow, then spritzed it with a little water. Then I smooshed one side of the matboard pieces into the ink.

Cool beans!

Assembling the journal:

I laid out all my parts:

I decided I wanted to try to make a case bound mini notebook that fit inside the big journal. I followed this excellent video tutorial by Sea Lemon. So watch that first (and save it!) Below are some step photos from the process but they won't make as much sense if you don't know how to do the case  binding.

Here are the pages all sewn together. I cut the pages using the Passport Book Die. They fit well into the Notebook Die cover!

My solution for a book press (lol) during the gluing step.

The end papers cut and ready to glue onto the page block.

Ready to glue into the cover.

Also, here is a close up of the little label cards that fit into the Giftcard Folder element up above the inner notebook.

Thanks for stopping by! Check out Eileen's blog and if you are not already a member, join the Facebook Eileen Hull Fan Club group. It is a warm, supportive group with lots of inspiration and sharing going on. You'll just have to answer a few simple questions when asking to join (to keep out spammers) and then you'll be added. ;-)

Dies:
Eileen Hull Sizzix
Journal ( Sizzix / SB )
Notebook ( Sizzix / SB )
Gift Card Folder & Label #2 ( Sizzix / SB )
Book & Pages, Trinket Box & Frame ( Sizzix / SB )
Journaling Cards - Flowers & Leaves ( Sizzix / SB )
Passport Book ( Sizzix / SB )
Flower, Heart & Soul - retired
Starlight Embossing Folder - retired
Phrases, Bloom & Plant Markers, 658445 - retired 

Other:

Eileen Hull Embossing Powder by Emerald Creek - Golden Rod
Eileen Hull Embossing Powder by Emerald Creek - Aqua Splash
Eileen Hull Embossing Powder by Emerald Creek - Glistening Glass
Eileen Hull Clearsnap Blends Ink - Clear
Eileen Hull Clearsnap Blends 2 Ink - Stop, Sunshine, Coconut, Leaf, Golden
Eileen Hull Easy Cut Adhesive
Rinea Foiled Paper - brown
Rinea Ghost Ink
Sizzix Sizzles Matboard
Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher
Tim Holtz Mini Paper Clips
cardstock
Paper Artsy stamp set - ETS24
Tim Holtz Stamp Set - Entomology + matching die set
Ranger Melting Pot - retired
Potting Soil Archival Ink

Some links in this post are affiliate links which do not affect the price you pay but allow me to earn a small percentage of a sale. Thanks! (My husband also thanks you!) If you shop at Topflight Stamps, use my coupon code LISAHOEL for 10% off your order.

Halloween in the Greenhouse - Altered Book

It is done! I've had this project in mind ever since I found a few volumes from a vintage encyclopedia set at the thrift store. Volume 13 was one of them and I immediately thought, "Halloween project!"

The cover had a perfect open spot to add a die cut and owl adornment.

I used wax to highlight the embossed design & color the silver owl.

I hollowed out the book to make a niche inside. It was rather time consuming but worth it! (I went through many X-acto knife blades!)

Ta-dah!

The genesis of the idea for the theme for this little vignette came from a single 'intriguing' item that I dug up in the garden several years ago:

See that rose tag?

I found an old metal tag from a rose bush and the name was "Intrigue". Cool!! I knew it would come in handy some day. I built up a back story about a lady named Elmira who has some questionable activities going on in her greenhouse… what is she up to?

The inside cover is layered with paper from the Abandoned Paper Stash, Worn Wallpaper, lots of crackle paste, inks, paints, ephemera etc.

The scene is staged as if you are inside the greenhouse looking out the glass wall to the house in the background. Elmira is creeping around outside!

Details:

Creepy!

Scroll on to see how I made the plant stand!

I had so much fun making all the little details to add to this scene.

Here's a bit of how-to and in progress photos:

I decorated the inside front cover first after covering the endpapers with black gesso. Then I moved onto the niche part. I started playing around with the placement of the elements.

I colored some Mummy Cloth to layer over the foreground.

I cut a piece of manila folder to fit the background and inked it up with Distress Oxide Inks and stamping (Haunted House set). I also glued two strips of painted wood on either side to be spacers for when I glued in the greenhouse glass wall panel.

The wall panel is a sheet of thick acetate I cut to size. The cobwebs I stamped onto the back with archival ink. I covered the front with Matte Collage Medium to frost it a bit and provide a surface for the Distress Crackle Rock Candy to stick to. The sashing is strips of thin chipboard glued on. I added the crackle paint along the sashing and let it pool in the corners. Once it was dry I added the alcohol ink to grunge it up.

I was inspired by Stacy Hutchinson's candle tutorial she shared with us a few weeks ago. I made my own version. =)

I wanted to make a plant stand to raise up my pot of Death Bells for more visual interest. I thought one of the Thimbles would work but it needed something more. I poked through my stash of odds and ends and came up with a thick plain washer and a lock washer to glue onto the thimble. Perfect!

Well thanks for sticking in with this reeeeally long blog post! I hope you've enjoyed all the details of my project. I have lots of ideas for other projects so we'll see how many I can actually get done before Halloween. ;-)

I am also entering this into the September Vintage Journey challenge, Box it Up. My project is a bit out of the box for the theme (see what I did there?? =D ) but I maintain that I made the book into a box of sorts when I hollowed it out. It can close and it contains stuff. See, box! ;-)

Supplies used:

Dies:
Tim Holtz Sizzix
Bat Crazy ( Sizzix / SB )
Frightful Things ( Sizzix / SB )
Regions Beyond ( Sizzix / SB )
Funky Floral #2 ( Sizzix / SB )
Labels ( Sizzix / SB )
Tattered Leaves - retired
Twisted Edge - retired
Strip Die - Brick Wall - retired
Village Graveyard - retired
Branch Tree - retired

Stamps:
Tiny Toadstools
Haunted House
Life of the Party

Other:

Tim Holtz layering stencil - Falling Stars
Ranger Distress Crackle Paste
Distress Crayons - Set 3, Set 2
Ranger Distress Collage Medium - Matte
Distress Oxide Inks
Distress Paint - Peeled Paint, Forest Moss
Art Alchemy - Métallique Wax, Aged Brass
Art Basics - Heavy Gesso, Black
Emerald Creek Quarry Gemstones, Pyrite
iCraft Decofoil Metallix gel - Glazed Pewter
Ranger Alcohol Ink - Pebble, Mushroom, Rust, Blending Solution
Distress Crackle Paint - Rock Candy
Abandoned Halloween 8x8 Paper Stash
mini terracotta pots from craft store

Tim Holtz Idea-ology:
Halloween 2018: Clippings, Ephemera, Worn Wallpaper, Remnant Rubs, Skulls
Halloween Accents
Halloween Layers & Baseboard Frames
Halloween Paper Dolls
Mummy Cloth
Bitty Bats
Creepy Eyes
Thimbles
Mini Paper Clips
Keys

Store links in this post may be affiliate links which do not affect the price you pay but allow me to earn a small percentage of a sale. Thanks! (My husband also thanks you!) If you go shopping at Topflight Stamps, use my code LISAHOEL for 10% off your order.

Altered Halloween Book
by MonalisaH -Lisa Hoel
Scrapbook.com

Listen to the Current of Your Heart with Topflight Stamps

Hello! This week the Design Team over on the Topflight Stamps blog is taking a look at a new product in the store: MDF desk plaques by Debbi Moore. There are designs for every occasion! I received a mermaid themed one to decorate. (Donna knows me so well!)

The plaques are made from laser cut MDF and come ready for you to paint, ink, spray and otherwise doctor up however you like. They would make a great gift or piece of home decor! I used Fresco chalk paint, glitter paint, embossing powder and foil to bling mine up.

Let's take a look at the how-to:

Step 1 – I chose three different Fresco paints to use for my base coats. First off I painted it all over  with Mermaid, the lightest color.

I dry brushed on the other colors so the base coat would have a mottled effect.

Step 2 – After painting the base coat, I added some touches of pink (Prawn) as well as some teal glitter paint on the lettering. I also wanted to add foil to the figure of the mermaid. I applied TCW's Tacky-When-Dry Gel Medium through a stencil. When it had dried, I applied the foil. (see next)

Gel Medium is wet here. It dries clear...but tacky!

Step 3 – Applying the foil is easy! I laid a sheet of the foil (dull side down) over the tacky gel medium and burnished it. The foil sticks to the gel. Peel back the sheet and the foil stays behind! I also added some Dirty Sand embossing powder to the base.

Thanks for stopping by! Below is a list of supplies I used. Be sure to check out the Topflight Stamps blog for more inspiration. All week long we will be sharing more of these plaques. =)

Topflight Stamps Products:

Debbi Moore MDF Life Quotes Plaque - Mermaid Current of Your Heart

Paper Artsy Fresco Chalk Paint - Caribbean Sea, Mermaid, Captain Peacock, Prawn
Seth Apter Baked Texture Embossing Powder - Dirty Sand 
AALL & Create stencil - ACS#53

Other:
Ranger Emboss-It Dabber
TCW – Tacky-When-Dry Gel Medium
iCraft Deco Foil - Lilac
Aladine - IZink Diamond glitter paint - Vert Pastel

Some links in this post are affiliate links which do not affect the price you pay but allow me to earn a small percentage of a sale. Thanks! (My husband also thanks you!) If you shop at Topflight Stamps, use my coupon code LISAHOEL for 10% off your order.

Funkie Junkie Bits & Bobs Challenge

The current (for another day!) Funkie Junkie blog challenge is Bits and Bobs – making a project out of the leftover bits you have roaming around your crafting space. Well, I certainly have little bits and pieces saved from all sorts of projects! I found a card I had started and for some reason abandoned. I got out some of my bits stash and pulled it all together!

The beginnings:

And the end result!

I ended up using a different color of crackle paper for the card base. I also added a happy birthday graphic that was one of the freebies from a past Funkie Junkie order. They send great stuff! ;-) I used my new Skeleton Leaves die set and Tim's Metallic Jewels paper to give the card some bling. All the other little parts were from my bits and bobs stash though! I need to do this more often. ;-)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great rest of the week.

Dies:
Eileen Hull Sizzix:
Journaling Cards - Flowers & Leaves ( Sizzix / SB )
Phrase, Bloom & Plant Markers - retired

Tim Holtz Sizzix:
Skeleton Leaves ( Sizzix / SB )
On the Edge Die, Scallops - retired

Other:

Kraft paper - Metallic Jewels

Woodgrain cardstock
Tim Holtz Stamp Set - Glorious Bouquet
Tim Holtz Stamp Set - Ledger Script
Tim Holtz Stamp Set - Ornate Trims
Tim Holtz Stamp Set - Entomology
Distress Oxides Spray
Tiny Attacher

Sizzix and Scrapbook.com links in this post are affiliate links which do not affect the price you pay but allow me to earn a small percentage of a sale. Thanks! (My husband also thanks you!)

Thrift Store Upcycle with Topflight Stamps!

Hello and happy Monday! Once upon a time I stumbled across this vintage microscope kit in the bulk bins at the thrift store. It was far from complete but it did have the actual microscope and some of the original parts. It was cheap and in a fairly rough and incomplete state – a perfect candidate for an art project!

The case itself was in pretty good shape.

Inside!

I cut pieces of heavy watercolor paper to fit over the original cardboard inserts. They were kind of beat up so they needed covering. I also wanted to be able to stamp and stencil on the inside surfaces! The base color is a combination of Squeezed Lemonade and Antique Linen Distress Oxide Sprays and then I mostly used Prism inks, a new line of inks Topflight Stamps is now carrying for the stamping and stenciling.

Details:

I thought the Katzelkraft Monsters Stamp Set looked like little microscopic beasties so they were perfect to stamp and fussy cut for embellishing this project.

The kit originally came with two books. I replicated the cover of one using design software and then stamped one of the Monsters stamps onto it.

The second side:

Those little monsters crack me up! I love working with the Katzelkraft stamps.

Thanks for stopping by! Below is a list of supplies I used. Be sure to check out the Topflight Stamps blog for more inspiration. There is always something fun to see there.

Topflight Stamps Products:
Katzelkraft - Monsters
PaperArtsy - Tracy Scott 24 stamp set
Stamperia - Corrugated Cardboard
Stamperia, Antonis Tzanidakis stencil - KSAT05
Visible Image Stencil - Collision
Prism inks - Apple Green, Peacock Green, Smoked Paprika
Blender tool
watercolors

Other:
Archival Ink - Jet Black, Coffee
Distress Oxide Spray Stains - Antique Linen, Squeezed Lemonade
Distress Ink - Dried Marigold, Barn Door
foam tape

Some links in this post are affiliate links which do not affect the price you pay but allow me to earn a small percentage of a sale. Thanks! (My husband also thanks you!) If you shop at Topflight Stamps, use my coupon code LISAHOEL for 10% off your order.