Eileen Hull Release- Foolish Mortals Pocket Notebook

Pocket Notebook Release Party

Welcome to the Pocket Notebook Release Party! This is Eileen Hull’s newest book die with

Sizzix. On the die, you get all of the pieces you need to make an entire book- the cover, pages,

latch and pen loop! The Pocket Notebook measures 6 3/4” x 4 1/2” with a spine that can

adjust from 3/8” to almost 2”!

String it with elastic, hemp, ribbon or twine. So many options for this fun die! Eileen’s Inspiration and Educator teams have combined options to show us their amazing

Pocket Notebook ideas.

Please follow the Blog Hop to see all of the fabulous projects, techniques, and videos! 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 on Eileen’s Facebook Live show.

**The Full BLOG HOP LINE-UP will be listed below**

Thanks for hopping along with us today!

Let me start off by saying... I am a Halloween JUNKY!! It is absolutely my most favorite holiday EVER!! So I love any and everything Halloween-y! And that includes all the creepy-crawly things that go bump in the night, like SKELETONS & BUGS!

So with that in mind, I created this ghoulishly delightful piece...

If this tickles your Halloween fancy, let me show you how I created it...

Supplies Used

Eileen Hull Designs Pocket Notebook Die (Sizzix)

Eileen Hull Designs Gift Card Folder & Label (Sizzix)

Big Shot Plus (Sizzix)

Mat Board (Sizzix)

Creative Station (Xyron)

Burlap (DCWV)

Cheesecloth/ Gauze

2"x3" Ornate Picture Frame (Recollections)

Skeleton Toy

Pegasus Pony toy 

Black Chalkboard Paint (Prima Marketing)

Gilding Wax (Pebeo)

Crown Charm

Tim Holtz Idea-ology -Adornments- Wicked (Advantus)

Tim Holtz Idea-ology -Adornments- Typed Tokens- Halloween (Avantus)

Tim Holtz Idea-ology -Word  Bands- Incantations (Avantus)

Metal Brads

Beaded Garland

Jump Rings

Quickgrip (Beacon)

Black Twine

Black Mat Board (Grafix)

110lb Black Cardstock (Recollections)

Jewelry Making Tools

Button Shank Remover (Buttons Galore)

Nail File or Fine Grit Sandpaper

2mm Black Elastic Cord

Long Reach Stapler

I'm gonna let you in on a little secret... I love toys... shhh, don't tell anyone! But more importantly, I love to incorporate toys into my creations. So I love to keep them in my crafting arsenal. But you don't need to spend big bucks to get an amazing project, I found these cool items at the dollar store! 

It's Halloween and you can find skeletons aplenty everywhere! I picked this skelly garland up and untied one from his noose. 

And... what little girl doesn't love pretty ponies?? Well, this girl is no exception... so, this pretty little thang is going on my project too!! Or should I say,  just her wings?? Yup, I ripped those suckers off and now she's wingless- Oh no, that's so sad... ok, I'm over it. LOL

I'll start on first prepping my boney friend...

I had some really cool charms my amazing friend, Eileen Hull, had sent me. In the batch, I found this cool crown charm. It had two rings on each end that I didn't need, so I cut them off using a button shank remover. Then I filed down the jagged edges with a nail file.

Once the edges were smooth, I glue the crown to the skeleton's forehead.

I laid him face down till the glue hardened. Then severed his pelvis from his spine using kitchen shears... Wow, sounds kind of gruesome! 

I set his pelvis and legs aside- I'll incorporate them later. They're in perfect condition... I don't want to waste a perfectly good pelvis!

Now, we bring in the wings...

I painted both the upper torso and pegasus wings with black chalkboard paint.

 I removed the backing of the ornate frame to get rid of bulk and painted that too with chalkboard paint then set all the pieces to the side to dry.

Now onto the main part... building my pocket notebook.

I die-cut white Mat Board using Eileen Hull's Pocket Notebook Die using a Big Shot Plus machine.

Then ran sheets of burlap through my Xyron Creative Station and attached them onto my notebook panels.

I made sure to burnish the burlap with a bone folding tool for maximum adhesion.

I added clear drying liquid glue to the spines and connected the spines together and used a couple of clothespins to hold my spines together till the glue set and dried.

Then, ran some cheesecloth through my Xyron Creative Station too and attached it to the front panel.

I added glue to the back of the frame an attached it onto the cheesecloth.

Then, glued the painted wings and skeleton onto the frame.

Next, I took a little spider adornment and cut off the little charm shank and filed down the sharp edges and attached it to my skelly's chest.

Then, I painted the entire notebook (back, front, and the reverse) with more chalkboard paint.

Once the paint was dried, I attached a word band with brads onto the cover.

Then, using my finger, rubbed gilding wax over the surface of the brads, band, and all the raised surfaces of the entire notebook cover.

I finally got back to my pelvis and dangly legs...

Using a piercing tool, I poked a tiny hole through my tailbone. And painted the lower body with more chalkboard paint. Then, rubbed gilding wax over the raised surfaces. And hooked a tiny jump ring through the hole.

For the inside of the notebook...

I decided I wanted a pocket on the inside front cover, so I die cut one from black chipboard using Eileen Hull's Gift Card Folder & Label. I folded the mat board along the creases and glue the overlapping edges together. Again, I used a clothespin to hold it in place till they dried.

For the cards, I found some cool Halloween cobweb paper in my stash. When I die-cut the pocket from the black chipboard, I also die-cut cards out of it too. I covered the fronts of the cars with the cobweb paper and attached a small spider to the top of each along with bows made from black twine.

Then placed my cards in the inside pocket. 

My Inserts were nothing fancy just pieces of folded 110lb black cardstock die-cut using the Pocket Notebook Die that I stapled together with a long-reach stapler.

And here is my finished Notebook... 

I also decorated the spine by stringing this gorgeous beaded garland down the side. I attached charms more to the ends.

I also strung some nylon cording from the jumpring I attached to the tailbone and tied it to the top center hole in the book spine to use the skelly legs as a bookmark/ place keeper.

I absolutely LOVE how this turned out... It's so CREEPY COOL that it's AWESOME!!

I hope you enjoyed my project & tutorial!

CREEP IT REAL, GUYS & GHOULS!!

~Mitsyana

AND...

Don't forget to visit my amazingly talented crafty sisters for more amazing Pocket Notebook projects and leave a comment on each blog to be entered into the GIVEAWAY!!

**BLOG HOP LINEUP DESIGNERS**

Eileen Hull

Susie Bentz

Pam Bray

Julia Aston

Annette Green

Kathy Clement

Cheryl Waters

Ginger Ropp

Mitsyana Wright (YOU ARE HERE)

Debbie Bankston

Anita Houston

Maggi Harding

Anne Redfern

Jenny Marples

Betsy Skagen

Anna-Karin Evaldsson

Tonya Trantham

Madeline Arendt

Lisa Hoel

Karen Bearse

Sue Eldred
Nicole Wright

Elizabeth Robinson

Mixed Media - Awaken the Soul - Journal

Hi, Crafty Friends!! 

I'm back again with another Mixed Media Journal Project today. Since discovering that I can dramatically shorten the length of time I can put these bad boys together I have been even more addicted to making them!

I can't get enough of Eileen Hull's Journal Die! Journals are so on trend but tend to get very pricey when buying pre-made ones. But with Eileen's Heartfelt Journal die from Sizzix I can make as many as I want whenever I want and customize and personalize each one, making them as extravagant or as minimalistic as I want.

This and my last journal are quite detailed. But just because they're detailed doesn't necessarily mean difficult. Let me show you how I made this journal using unexpected materials.

Supplies Used

Big Shot (Sizzix)

Eileen Hull Heartfelt Journal Die (Sizzix)

Eileen Hull Book & Pages, Trinket Box & Frame (Sizzix)- COMING SOON

Mat Board (Sizzix)

Brick Wall Stencil (Little Birdie Crafts)

Chipboard

Natural Burlap Stack (DCWV)

Corrugated Cardstock (DCWV)

Cheesecloth/ Gauze

Creative Station (Xyron)

Whipped Spackle (Faber-Castell)

Black Chalkboard Paint (Prima Marketing)

Art Alchemy AcrylicPaint - Emerald Green (Prima Marketing)

Art Alchemy Acrylic Paint-Opal Magic Blue Pink (Prima Marketing)

Mechanicals Tin Hearts (Prima Marketing)

Art Ingredients Mélange Art Pebbles (Prima Marketing)

Gilded Life Large Heart Bezel (Spellbinders)

Pebeo Gilding Wax- Silver (Crafter's Companion)

Pebeo Gilding Wax- Empire Gold (Crafter's Companion)

Pebeo Gilding Wax- Renaissance Gold (Crafter's Companion)

Pegasus Pony (Dollar Store/ King Dollar)

Mixed Media Glue (Beacon)

I started by cutting my chipboard, burlap sheet, and corrugated cardstock into 6"x 9" pieces.

Then I ran the CHIPBOARD pieces through my Xyron Creative Station. Once I ran it through I flipped it over and ran it through one more time. This way I have adhesive on both sides. I repeated this for both pieces of chipboard.

Once both pieces of chipboard were covered in adhesive, I peeled back the protective film and attached a burlap sheet to one side and a corrugated sheet to the other. I repeated those steps for the second piece of chipboard as well. These will be my covers.

I ran my covered chipboard through my Sizzix Big Shot using my Eileen 

Hull Journal Die (Corrugated side FACE DOWN, against the blade).

Then added Mixed Media Glue to the spine and adhered them together, Lining them up using the pre-cut holes. Then clipped the ends together with a clip and set a heavy object on top till the glue set.

 While that was drying, I ran pieces of cheesecloth and burlap I randomly cut up through my Xyron Creative Station.

Then applied the burlap and cheesecloth onto the front of my cover.

I die cut a frame from Eileen's NEW Book & Pages, Trinket Box & Frame from white Mat Board. 

I used Little Birdie's Brick wall spackle with some Whipped Spackle to stencil on some texture.

 Once the paste was dry, I ran the frame through my Creative Station, Peeled off the protective film and applied it onto the front cover over the cheesecloth. 

Then added a little fleur de lis metal embellishment to the top of the frame.

Here's a little something unexpected... Just like my last journal, I used plastic toys to build my mixed media piece. I found the plastic pegasus pony at my local King Dollar Store. I love her hot pink color but she's not the prettiest looking pony... but upon further inspection, her wings are absolutely GORGEOUS!! So much detail and texture just in her wings... I just had to take her home and sacrifice her for a greater cause.

Yes, I killed a pony. I'm not a bad person (I promise) but I have to say... I most definitely would and WILL do it again. Sorry kids... Just look away!!

I yanked out her wings... which surprisingly were easy to dismember from her body. Then trimmed off the stumpy plugs off the ends.

WOOT WOOT!! A huge pair of pretty WINGS for a little over $1!! WIN!!

Then, I used mixed media glue to attach the wings to the center of my frame.

And glued a metal heart bezel over top using more mixed media glue. There was quite a bit of a gap so I used some craft foam to fill that uneven space under the bezel.

I used more foam under the tin metal heart and glued it onto the top of the bezel.

While the glue was setting I placed an ink pad between my cover flaps to keep it level so the embellishments don't slide before they set.

Then I added these clear art pebbles for added interest.

Once the glue set, I painted the entire cover and embellishments with black chalkboard paint.

I dry brushed on emerald green and opal magic blue pink acrylic paint over the wings, burlap, pebbles, and bezel.

I ended up repainting the center of the heart and the frame black. I didn't like the grout of my brick green and I wanted the gilding wax to stand out. It really stands out and does best over black.

Then I applied gilding wax over all the metal embellishments and random raised areas along the cover. Rubbers lightly over the grooves in the corrugate, mesh, and burlap... and also tips of the wings and over the brick of the frame.

 I brushed on black chalkboard paint over my Tim Holtz Word Band then rubbed off the excess. I just wanted the paint in the recessed areas in the words. then attached it to the front cover under the frame.

 Then I painted over the back flap and insides with more chalkboard paint and set it aside to dry.

After my journal was dried, I threaded elastic strands through the pre-cut holes and tied the ends into a knot. Then inserted black page inserts I had made earlier... to see how I made my journal inserts, please visit my previous journal making post.

I personally think plain white pages in dark journals look awkward but black pages look amazing!! 

But you can use whatever inserts you like.

And here is my finished journal...

Close Ups

I really enjoyed making this journal! I've been meaning to try more Mixed Media art and I'm so glad I have!! 

I hope you enjoyed to this project and it inspires you to give mixed media a try!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time...

HAPPY CRAFTING!!

~Mitsy

***Disclaimer***

This blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, I always give my honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products.

The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with each manufacturer, provider, or party in question.