Saturday Showcase - Eileen Hull Designs 'Box, Snowman' and Pam Bray Rock Candy Embossing Powder

Hi everyone and welcome to another Saturday Showcase, the Design Team's chance to share tutorials and products available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique with you. With the run up to Christmas now in full flow today's tutorial brings an idea for creating a set of festive cards using Eileen Hull's 'Box, Snowman' Sizzix Scoreboards Die and Pam Bray's Rock Candy Embossing Powders available now from The Funkie Junkie Boutique. There's plenty of mixed texture and yet it lays flat to make posting easier, with the Rock Candy Embossing Powder adding that special touch of sparkle that will reflect beautifully in Christmas lighting.

(click on the photos to see them closer)

Let's start with creating the sparkly snowman beginning with the body; from a sheet of A4 white card (you can use a standard 8 1/2x11 US size) cut a couple of strips 3 1/4 tall (8.5cm) across the width of the card - you should be able to get three snowman bodies from each strip with a little left over. Cover the card in 'Marshmallow' Rock Candy Embossing Powder and heat set. You'll find there are much larger 'rocks' in the powder which are fabulous for adding dimension but since we'll be die cutting this card those can be allowed to fall away when you remove the excess powder before heating. If preferred you can give the card a second coat of embossing powder depending on how well the first has covered. It's hard to capture here but there are sparkly bits (not glitter) and mixed grain sizes in the powder which give the heated results a beautiful shimmery textured finish. 

Allow the powder to cool properly before picking it up and die cutting the snowman figures from chunks of card that are 2 1/4 inches (6cm) wide. Since Eileen's 'Box, Snowman' Die is a big one it will cut through the embossed surface easily. You'll see below how you'll also cut the triangular 'nose' section at the same time. Save these for the next step.

To give the nose bits a more traditional 'carrot' colour use a drop of 'Butterscotch' Alcohol Ink on each - this will keep the embossed shine evident in the finish.

Cut a strip of black card 1 1/2 inches (6cm) tall and cover with a single coat of 'Licorice' Embossing Powder. Use this to cut the 'hands' and eyes for the snowman - I find it's easier to cut an initial sample of the hands from scrap paper and use this as a guide to cut appropriately sized chunks from the card which can be placed over the relevant sections on the die.

Back to the white card and you'll need to cut a strip and a half across the card that are 1 1/4 inches (3.5cm) tall. Cover the strip fully with embossing ink - you'll need to ensure there's plenty of ink on the card to capture the textured embossing crystals. Sprinkle 'Peppermint' Embossing Powder across two thirds of the card, tap off the excess, then cover the remaining one third with 'Butterscotch' Embossing Powder. It's ok if the two powders blend a bit where they meet. Heat set before cutting the strips into 1 1/2 inch (4cm) sections, then cut the bobble hats using Eileen's die.

With another full strip of white card, this time 1 1/2 inches (4cm) tall, repeat the process of covering it in embossing ink before covering with two colours of the Rock Candy Embossing Powder. For the scarf I used 'Cotton Candy' with 'Butterscotch' as seen below. This time cut the heat set strip into 1 1/4 inches (3.5cm) wide and cut the scarves using Eileen's die. You can now 'build' the snowman by adding the scarf, bobble hat, hands and eyes to the main body piece using strong wet glue. I found it helpful to place the snowmen under a heavy box to flatten them until dry.

Moving on to the background I took some of the tissue Gel Print pulls from my latest journal project and tore them into strips. To recreate the look use a mix of 'Rosy', 'White', 'Buff' and 'Heather' Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paints.

One piece was stamped with Wendy Vecchi's 'Register' Background Stamp using some pale grey Archival Ink.

Another piece was stamped with Wendy Vecchi's 'Tiled' Background Stamp using a deeper pink shade of Archival Ink.

I stamped one of the decorative strips from Tim Holtz 'Ornate Trims' Stamp set on one side of pieces of tea stained copier paper and blended brown ink around the edges.

Finally cut pieces of kraft card slightly smaller than your card blanks (A6 UK, 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches US) and run through with the Kath Breen 'Jeweled Snowflakes' 3D Embossing Folder - I find lightly misting the card with water before embossing gives a deeper impression. Dry brush the surface with a little White Gesso.

To finish the card I stuck the various torn strips of tissue and pieces of tea stained paper onto the background, drawing stitch lines around some with a white gel pen. Machine stitching with black cotton around the edge of the kraft card creates a border for the card and the sentiment came from Tim Holtz 'Yuletide' Stamp set. Finally the snowman can be mounted on top of the background using more wet glue.

Thanks for visiting to catch today's Saturday Showcase tutorial featuring Eileen Hull's 'Box, Snowman' Die and Pam Bray's Rock Candy Embossing Powder.

There's still plenty of time to enter the current Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog challenge 'A Time to be Grateful' which runs through Tuesday, December 8th at 11.55pm. We look forward to seeing your amazing creations.

Jenny

Products used to create this junk journal are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed/linked below.

Eileen Hull Designs Sizzix Scoreboards L Die - 'Box, Snowman'

Kath Breen 3D Textured Impressions Embossing Folder - 'Jeweled Snowflakes'

Pam Bray Rock Candy Embossing Powder by Emerald Creek Crafts

Wendy Vecchi 490 Background Stamp - Tiled
Wendy Vecchi 490 Background Stamp - Register

Tim Holtz Stamp Set - Ornate Trims

Tim Holtz Stamp Set - Yuletide

Ranger Alcohol Ink - Butterscotch

Ranger Archival Inks

Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paints and Gessos

Saturday Showcase - Eileen Hull Designs Sizzix Scoreboards Die 'Teacup, 3D & Spoon'

Hi everyone and welcome to another Saturday Showcase, the Design Team's chance to share tutorials and products available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique with you. Following the official launch of the new Sizzix Chapter 4 dies this week today's spotlight falls on one of them, Eileen Hull's 'Teacup, 3D & Spoon' Scoreboards L Die. Both this and Eileen's second new die, 'Box, Post' Scoreboards XL Die are available now from The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

In the UK teacups are something of a national institution - we love a good 'cuppa' especially from a vintage teacup, traditionally decorated with floral patterns. So for this showcase I've created three of Eileen's new teacups in this vintage style that could be used to hold gifts like special teabags and maybe some cookies (biscuits).

Let's start by looking at what you get as part of the 'Teacup, 3D & Spoon' Die; below are the various shapes that can be cut with just one pass of the die, in this case cut from sturdy mount board.

In order to make a teacup like the ones shown at the beginning you'll need to cut two cup pieces and a supporting piece for the middle. I painted mine with white gesso before adding the decoration.

For the first teacup I stamped the image from Wendy Vecchi's 'Bouquet' Stamp It Stencil It set using Archival Ink on the front of one cup and the back of the second, colouring the flowers and petals with Seth Apter's Izink Pigment Inks.

To create a 'gilded' border around the top and bottom of the teacup, so often seen on traditional patterns, I took a spare teacup shape and used it as a template to draw a line about 1/4 inch from the top rim and up from the bottom rim with a gold pen. I then coloured above the top line and below the bottom line with the 'Cotton Candy' Izink Pigment Ink.

After embossing the stamped sides of both teacups with Eileen Hull's 'Glistening Glass' Molten Dimensions Embossing Powder I glued the pre-scored supporting piece in place at the bottom of the first cup as shown below. When set I glued the second cup to the other side of the supporting piece.

Moving on to the second cup I went with a very traditional blue and white look. Once again I used a spare teacup to mark a 1/4 inch border at the top and bottom of each cup, masking these areas off with washi tape before stamping them in blue Archival Ink with the image from Wendy Vecchi's 'Garden Fresh' Stamp it Stencil It set.

After drawing over the lines with a gold pen I embossing the stamped sides of both teacups with Eileen Hull's 'Glistening Glass' Molten Dimensions Embossing Powder I glued the pre-scored supporting piece in place at the bottom of the cup pieces as shown already. 

For the third cup I drew on the borders again and stamped the image from Wendy Vecchi's 'Rose' Stamp It Stencil It set with light grey Archival Ink using a stamping platform. This time I painted around the rose with 'Turquoise' Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint and painted the rose itself with 'Gilt' Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint. The rose was then over stamped with black Archival Ink and the border lines re-traced with a gold pen.

Once again I embossing the stamped sides of both teacups with Eileen Hull's 'Glistening Glass' Molten Dimensions Embossing Powder I glued the pre-scored supporting piece in place at the bottom of the cup pieces.

The matching teaspoon for the first cup was covered with white gesso like the teacups and then I drew lines with the gold pen, filling in the spoon bowl shape with the 'Cotton Candy' Seth Apter Izink Pigment Ink. I then clear embossed the spoon as before.

The second teaspoon was embossed with Eileen Hull's 'Golden Rod' Molten Dimensions Embossing Powder. Once heated until molten I pressed the 'Garden Fresh' stamp onto the handle to create the patterning seen below.

After covering the third teaspoon with white gesso I painted the handle with the 'Turquoise' Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint, drawing borders at the top and bottom with the gold pen. The handle was then embossed with an embossing folder and I coloured the raised pattern with a black pen before clear embossing the whole spoon like the first one.

Finally I used one of the teabag die cut shapes, cutting out the joining part and gluing the two main pieces together with some string between before painting it with 'Sand' Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint. The thank you words and little dots come from the Wendy Vecchi MAKE ART Stamp/Die/Stencil Set - 'Thank You'.

So with all the steps complete here are the finished teacups;

Thanks for visiting to catch today's Saturday Showcase tutorial featuring Eileen Hull's new 'Teacup, 3D & Spoon' Die.

There's still time to enter the current Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog challenge 'Fall Foliage' to be in with the chance of being a Guest Designer here. We look forward to seeing your amazing creations.

Jenny

Products used to create this junk journal are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed/linked below.

Eileen Hull's 'Teacup, 3D & Spoon' Scoreboards L Die

Eileen Hull Molten Dimension Embossing Powders by Emerald Creek Crafts

Wendy Vecchi's 'Bouquet' Stamp It Stencil It Set

Wendy Vecchi's 'Garden Fresh' Stamp it Stencil It Set 

Wendy Vecchi MAKE ART Stamp/Die/Stencil Set - 'Thank You'

Seth Apter Izink Pigment Inks by Aladine

Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paints and Gessos

Saturday Showcase - Eileen Hull Designs Tiny Book featuring Tim Holtz Field Notes

Hi everyone and welcome to another Saturday Showcase, the Design Team's chance to share tutorials and products available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique with you. With the release of Sizzix Chapter 2 at the beginning of this month I've chosen to share a project created using the 'Tiny Book' Sizzix Scoreboards Die from Eileen Hull Designs.

This particular little book measures just 2 1/2" x 3" (it's slightly wider because of the construction method I used in this case. Here's how it came together;

I started with a piece of card coloured with a 'pull' from a Gel Plate and a cut of the basic Tiny Book made using matboard (mount board).

The print was created using layers of Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint in Sterling, Gilt, Rosy, Elephant and Cheddar. I cut apart the die cut book, putting the spine to one side and covering the two cover pieces with some canvas. This was painted using the same paints to match the card. As an alternative to pulling a Gel Plate print you could always use some card from the Tim Holtz 'Abandoned' Paper Stash pack.

I used some of the Tim Holtz Fabric Tape to reattach the spine to the two painted covers, leaving a 1/4" gap between each side of the spine and the covers. It's important to wrap the tape from the front round to the back to stick on both sides and burnish between the spine and covers to make the spine more flexible.

To secure the pages inside the book I took 1" strips of card, folded them in half and glued them together at the top as shown above. In total I stuck seven strips together.

Next I cut twelve pages from the printed card each measuring 2 1/4" x 3" and stuck them onto each side of the central strips back to back in order to create double-sided pages. The two pages cut for the end strips measured 2 1/2" x 3" and after attaching them to the spine piece I glued each one onto the covers to hold the pages firmly inside the book.

The way the pages have been added to the spine allow them to lay flat so you can decorate them more easily. Below you'll see how I used more painted card to create the die cut and hand cut shapes on the pages. The colours were chosen to match those featured on the Fabric Tape. I've shown a purple one but ended up not using that one this time. Dig out some of those old dies to cut shapes like stamps, tickets, labels etc.

I cut tab shapes for each page from some of the turquoise coloured card using the Journal Die, securing them in place after edging each one with black permanent ink. I edged the pages and cover in the same way.

The stamps from the Tim Holtz 'Field Notes' set were used to create images on old blank book paper. If you don't have any you can use 'Old Paper' Distress Ink to get a similar look on white paper. After stamping the images they were fussy cut and edged with more black ink. I also stamped images from the same set on the pages and die cut pieces.

Now to show you how the decorated pages look. You'll see how I combined those coloured die cuts and stamped images with stamping directly onto the pages, some coordinating Design Tape from the Tim Holtz 'Journey' set, 'Ticket Book' Tickets and words from the Clippings Sticker Book. It's fun to create mini stories or commentaries with the phrases included. Click on each of the photos for a closer look;

Thanks for visiting to catch today's Saturday Showcase tutorial - I hope you've found it helpful. There's still time to enter the current Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog challenge 'April Showers Bring May Flowers' to be in with the chance of being a Guest Designer here. We look forward to seeing your amazing floral creations.

Jenny

Products used to create this Field Notes Tiny Book are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed/linked below.

Sizzix Scoreboards Die by Eileen Hull Designs - Tiny Book
Sizzix Scoreboards Die by Eileen Hull Designs - Journal
Tim Holtz Stamp Set - Field Notes
Tim Holtz Ideaology Paper Stash - Abandoned
Tim Holtz Ideaology Fabric Tape
Tim Holtz Ideaology Design Tape - Journey
Tim Holtz Ideaology Ticket Book
Tim Holtz Ideaology Clippings Sticker Book
Tim Holtz Distress Paints
Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paints

Saturday Showcase - Eileen Hull Designs 'Fabulous Fall' Pocket Notebook

Hi everyone and welcome to another Saturday Showcase, the Design Team's chance to share tutorials and products available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique with you. Our latest challenge is called Fabulous Fall - my Design Team project for this one is an Eileen Hull Designs Pocket Notebook featuring a Prima Marketing Finnabair moulded piece and an Autumnal floral bundle altered with Ranger Alcohol Ink.

With a number of techniques and products being used to create this Fall Pocket Notebook I've put together a tutorial to show you how to recreate it, so here goes!

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Start with the cover - I've shown in previous posts on my blog how to use the Pocket Notebook die cut pieces to create a cover with a flexible spine (see HERE if you've missed it). Cut away the spine pieces from the covers, place one of the spines in the centre separated from the covers by about 1/4 inch each side, and stick together with adhesive backed tape. I then covered the outside of the cover with cotton calico fabric, painting over it with White Gesso and Apricot Acrylic Paint from Dina Wakley Media. To darken the edges try blending them with Watering Can Archival Ink from Wendy Vecchi.

You'll see by clicking on the photo below to enlarge it that I've punched two extra holes in the centre of the spine so that there are three holes at the top, middle and bottom. To add age to the cover spritz over with water and brush on diluted Umber Acrylic Paint. By letting it dry a little and dabbing off the excess you get this watermarked look.

To finish the cover stick patterned paper of your choice onto the inside and re-punch the holes through the fabric and paper layers.

Now for the embellishments; I love using Ranger Alcohol Inks to alter embellishments as they will work on pretty much any surface, dry fast and add a lot of colour with just a drop of ink. First up these adorable silver acorn charms were given a warm brown glow by adding a little Latte Alcohol Ink.

Next a small sprig of Tim Holtz Bouquet Findings needed just a little Lemonade Alcohol Ink to make it pop with a beautiful yellow-orange hue.

Tim Holtz Beaded Berries were transformed for Fall by applying Cranberry and Shell Pink Alcohol Inks to the tips. With a little Espresso Alcohol Ink on the stems they were ready to bend into shape.

These Antique Bronze Leaf Charms are incredibly detailed - after being given a coat of White Gesso a little Lettuce Alcohol Ink was added to make them more lifelike.

A much larger Bronze Leaf Embellishment needed to contrast with the vibrant Fall colours used for the rest of the floral bundle. Again, White Gesso was applied, followed by Gunmetal Mixative Alcohol Ink.

Now for the moulding; I pushed air drying clay into one side of the Prima Marketing Finnabair Kingsbury Medallion, ensuring the surface was smoothed over to make it flat and remove any excess clay. Linda now stocks the new tubs of Prima Marketing Redesign Air Dry Modeling Material which will be ideal for this. You don't always need to use the whole of a design to get a dramatic impact.

Whilst wet turn out the moulded piece onto a stamping block (or similar) and add a little wet glue to the upturned surface.

Flip the stamping block over onto the front cover to apply the moulded piece to it - as everything is still wet at this stage there's time to wiggle it all into the desired position. I left the clay to air dry as required and waited for the colour to change to a crisper white.

Once dry it's time to start adding the altered embellishments. I glued a piece of muslin next to the moulded piece to disguise the unfinished edges and added the large leaf to the top; you'll see from the photo below that you can shape the leaf easily by bending it with your fingers. Carry on adding the other bits and pieces that you've coloured into an arrangement you're happy with.

Creating the signatures inside is easy as Eileen Hull's Pocket Notebook die cuts the pages as well as the covers. Fold your choice of papers in half, lay the folded edge along the blank side of the die and cut! I chose to use tea stained old scrapbook papers and copier paper to coordinate with the cover.

Use a sharp tool to stab a hole into the centre of each set of signatures. I chose a coordinating colour of jute string to secure them in place. Start by threading the string from one of the centre holes on the outside of the spine through to the inside and through the corresponding hole in the signature. Then take the string to the top of the signature and push the string through one of the top holes in the spine.

Now thread the string back through the centre hole in the spine to the middle of the signature before pushing it through one of the holes in the bottom of the spine.

The photo below shows where the string has gone through the spine, into the signature, back out to the top, back through the middle, down to the bottom and out. Finish each one by tying the string off in the centre.

When finished you'll end up with three sets of knotted jute string on the outside of the spine. These can be embellished further with beads and charms, but I chose to tie them together and untwist the jute to create a tassle.

When finished you'll have a Fall themed Pocket Notebook with three signatures inside. Here are some close ups;

Thanks for visiting to catch today's Saturday Showcase tutorial - I hope you've found it helpful. There's still plenty of time to enter the current Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog challenge 'Fabulous Fall' to be in with the chance of being a Guest Designer here. We look forward to seeing your amazing creations.

Jenny
Products used to create this Faux Finish Pocket Notebook are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed/linked below.

Eileen Hull Designs Sizzix Scoreboards XL Die - Pocket Notebook
Prima Marketing Finnabair Mould - Kingsbury Medallion
Prima Marketing Redesign Air Dry Modeling Material
Ranger Alcohol Inks
Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paints and Gesso
Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Bouquet Findings
Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Beaded Berries
Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Jute String
Antique Silver Acorn Charms
Antique Bronze Leaf Charms
Bronze Leaf Embellishments