New Dies, More Ideas with Folio Die

 A new release of Eileen Hull dies for Sizzix is here once again. This latest project here is made by combining the two new dies that were designed to coordinate with the FOLIO die and the other thinlit sets. 

The combination of all the dies gave me the opportunity to create a sweet little booklet to give as a gift. 

It began with a collection of coordinating decorative patterned  papers and card stock.  Die-cutting and layering the pieces and altering the folio as the base can create some fun projects. With this collection, the versatility and the ease of using these dies can result in so many interesting combinations. The Folio covers are cut without the fold and extra flap. All but one binding strip was removed for the spine to make the booklet. A single folder/page was constructed for placing in the middle of the booklet. The inside page contains the waterfall cuts.. The outside, front and back folder covers has the corner pocket attached to hold tags. The inside covers (front & back) of the main booklet have the binding die with tags attached. The booklet is finished off front and back with the Mandala die. The front shows a white shiny mandala adorned with flowers and leaves. The back cover has a black foil mandala cut and adhered with a button at the center for part of the closure. 

This blog hop will show ideas of all types to help with inspiration to start creating. This post will not be sharing a step by step tutorial of the process I used, but will be at another time.  Use this link from Eileen Hull Designs to see the post and read about the projects or use the individual links to each participant of the blog view each individual post here. 

Additional Photos of Folio Booklet

Material List

Dies: Folio journal, scoreboard die

         Mandala, thinlit die

         Folio Page, Pocket & Flowers, thinlit dies

         Card, Waterfall & Tags, thnlit dies 

         Bookbinding & Label, thinlit dies

Decorative patterned paper, several coordinating sheets

Card stock, coordinating solid colors

Double sided adhesive tape, various widths 

Spray adhesive or adhesive sheets

Ribbon, to cover spine

Seam binding

Cording, thin black leather

Elastic hair band

Button, flat for closure

Gel medium, matte 

Brush 

Embellishments 

IDEAS

Mother's Day is soon approaching and this little booklet would make a special small, personal gift card or keepsake for any mother, a new mother and grandmother.  Add photos, quotes, memories, gift cards onto or into pockets, the various tags or folded binding.  (NOTE: I have made my own folded accordian style binding for projects, and I'm really liking this new design.)

Think beyond Mother's Day to upcoming graduations, weddings, special birthdays or celebrations. This is basically a four page booklet made from coordinating decorative papers and some basic card stock. It can go from simple to extravagant as anyone likes. Any combination of the Folio Die with the other elements are a great start to very personalized projects.

***A MESSAGE FROM EILEEN***

Welcome to our Chapter 2 Release Party! Today we are sharing Folio Journal accessory dies- the Waterfall & Tags and Book Binding dies and the new Bigz L Camper ScoreBoards die! Use these elements in different size journals, cards and layouts!

Check out all the different ways to use these dies on our Blog Hop. Click through and leave a comment on each of the designers' posts and be eligible to win a $25 gift certificate in Eileen's Etsy Shop! 

Join us on Facebook Live and YouTube Live for an up close and personal look at the team's projects. I will also demo how to use the dies during the show. Really hope you can join us for this fun event- prepare to be surprised! Thanks for joining us!

NOTE: There is also another Eileen Hull die design in this latest collection being released.  It is a 3D Camper on a Scoreboard die to allow the use of heavier materials.  A new project coming soon using this die in a special way. 

Here are images of the three newly released dies from Eileen Hull -

List of Blog Hop Participants

Julia Aston

Madeline Arendt

Jennie Atkinson

Karen Bearse

Susie Bentz

Sarah Lizzie Dodd

Sue Eldred

Maggi Harding

Lisa Hoel

Jenny Marples

Elizabeth Robinson

Tonya Trantham

Mitsyana Wright

Cheryl Waters

Spring Foward with Cheery Ideas

Spring brings with it more sun, more daylight, longer days, green grass, budding trees and plants ... what's not to love! 

Here are a few little projects, old and new, to show the versatility of Eileen Hull's dies and other Sizzix dies. 

I'll begin with the basket created with the older LOAF PAN die. The die-cut piece was then  embossed and filled with little felt flowers made from another Eileen Hull thinlit die.  Wire handles are added that are made by using the TWIST & STYLE tool by Eileen also. You can find a link to the older blog post here (LINK).

Next comes one of my very favorite dies, the GIFT BOX! This die makes a great square box that can be refigured in so many ways.  Here I used it to create a square basket to hold some spring flowers. I covered poster board with fabric before cutting the shapes. The scalloped edge is also from the die and made with more poster board covered with white fabric.  The basket handle is twisted strips of torn, green fabric, again made using the TWIST& STYLE tool. 

The second piece in this photo used the Eileen Hull 3D VASE die-cut to hold the handmade, paper mache primitive bunny. 

Here is the latest little projects made using Sizzix dies.  The little bunny pins are made using the oval shape from Eileen Hull's TINY BOOK die.  The ears are cut from a leaf die-cut from the FOLIO PAGE & FLOWER thinlit die set.  The tiny felt flowers, leaves, bow and hearts are other various Sizzix dies.  Again I layered a muslin fabric to a sheet of kraft colored card stock to cut the oval and ears. I sealed the edges of the fabric shapes with some clear gesso to keep the edges from fraying too much.  A pin tack was glued to the back side of the oval.

Also the TULIP were made from a different Sizzix die and the sculpture foam. All placed on a TAG cut from another SIzzix die. These were made as little gifts to give to a few friends that I was recently able to finally see, actually in person, in a safe setting after months and months of FaceTime or Zoom meetups!

NOTE: Some of the dies used in these projects are not available through Sizzix any longer. They may possibly be found by searching online.

New Die Release - Folio Fun My Way

 It’s always fun creating with Eileen Hull dies, but really exciting, interesting and fun when there are brand new designs.  

The newest Eileen Hull dies released by Sizzix are the Folio, Mandala and Folio Page, Pocket and Flowers. I will be showing how I combined these dies for my creation. 

Though I will not be giving step-by-step instructions, this post will give a description of the process I used. 

When creating projects with Sizzix dies I have a tendency to try to combine a variety of materials and also play around with with the designs of the dies by altering them or combining them with others.  

The folio die will likely become another favorite! I think you will see that with the creations by the  others participating in this blog hop.  It’s always inspiring to see the ideas shared. This project begins of course with the folio die-cut design. It does have a old, shabby distressed look because of the materials used, plus the surface techniques used. The addition of the mandala design, the red, wool hearts and ribbon each add a little touch of warmth to the finished project.

• This version has a spine that extends as far as possible. This gave me the opportunity to include several sections inside.
• The outside of the folio was painted with a metallic copper paint. Brushed over with a wash of brown paint. Old dictionary pages are torn and applied to the inside of the folio cover with gel medium.
• Corrugated board is cut to fit the front and back covers, as well as the front and back inner flaps.  
• Apply adhesive for foiling sheets randomly into the corrugated pieces. Press foiling sheets of choice to add bits of the metallic foil on the covers. 
• Use glue or adhesive sheets cut to size to add the covers and flaps to the folio.  
• Cut a mandala design from a copper colored paper, backed with adhesive for the front cover. 
• Cut the same mandala design from another type of paper for the back cover.  Gel medium was used to apply the design to the back. Heart shapes were cut from a felted wool sweater. Two are layered to the front cover, one to the back. A ribbon tie is added for a closure.

The inside has a variety of sections

• The first section is enclosed as a holder. A couple folders were made to be inserts into the holder. Each folder has a tab added to the edge for removing and inserting them into the holder. 
• The next insert is a folder made from card stock cut from an older Eileen Hull scoreboard die (Album). Pockets are added in two different directions from coordinating decorative paper.

• The next insert is made with the older album die, cut from a acrylic folder and altered to create a narrow album insert.  The covers are embellished with the mandala cut from white copy paper. Use a gel medium to adhere them. Pages are made from copy or newsprint paper. 
  
  
  
• The next two inserts are small lined notebooks. Each is covered with coordinating decorative papers. 
  
  
  
• The last folded section also hold a small covered notebook and has a pen holder. The pen holder shape is from the Journal die. TIP: One or more pocket folder could be added to this section too. 
  
  
  

Finishing the folio

• Black elastic hair bands are used to hold all the inserts in the folio. The bands are placed in the notches instead of using the holes.
• A pen is attached to the inside back flap using a cut from EH Journal die as a holder. It is held in place with a paper brad.
• The elastic bands are gather together and held in place with a pin, with the charm holder piece attached.
• A variety of ephemera can hang from the holder.
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• Follow along from each blog to the next with this list 
• Eileen Hull Designs
• Julia Aston
• Madeline Arendt
• Jennie Atkinson
• Karen Bearse
• Susie Bentz
• Sarah Lizzie Dodd
• Sue Eldred
• Maggi Harding
• Lisa Hoel
• Jenny Marples
• Elizabeth Robinson
• Betsy Skagen
• Tonya Trantham
• 
  

Follow along the list of participants to see a wonderful variety of ideas and styles. 

***A NOTE FROM EILEEN ***

Welcome to the Chapter 1 Eileen Hull/Sizzix Release Party Blog Hop! Just wait till you see all of the fun options the new ScoreBoards Folio Journal die has in store for you! You will also love the Mandala and Folio Page, Pockets and Flower Thinlits dies that coordinate 

Please hop through the blogs and be inspired by the work of the talented Inspiration and Educator teams! Leave a comment for each designer and you could win a Folio Journal die (as soon as it arrives!)

Join me and specials guests for a Facebook Live on Wednesday, Feb. 3 at noon Eastern. Comment on our Facebook Live and be eligible to win either the Mandela die or the Folio Pages, Pockets and Flowers die- two winners! 

Winners will be announced on the Facebook Live show on February 9 at 6:00 EST. 

We appreciate your love and support, friends!

Designer Craft Connection - I LOVE This Tool!

February's blog theme was to choose a technique or tool that I LOVE.  For me that's a tough choice!

If I am not making a quilt or clothing, I can honestly say that my "go to" tool seems to always be my Sizzix Big Shot™ and dies.  Whether designing a project for a gift, shared ideas or myself, I normally find some way to include the use of these items.  No matter what type of materials I could be working with, it's still the most used tool in my workroom.  Cutting fabric, felt, metal, thin plastics and wood, cork, chalkboard and magnetic sheets, I LOVE this little machine.

Make simple decorations or more intricate ones with the wide variety of shapes available from Sizzix.

Use nested heart thinlit dies (6) and two sizes of red jeweled hearts at bottom of string

I made this simple "String of Hearts" in a couple hours yesterday with scraps of red papers and a set of Sizzix Heart Thinlits™ nesting dies and the Big Shot™.

Simply cut four hearts from different papers for each various sized hearts.  Fold each of the heart shapes in half.  Glue the hearts together.  Before gluing the last fold of the fourth heart, insert bakers twine along the middle fold of the hearts.  Space each different sized heart on the twine, spacing evenly.  Form a loop at the top of the string for hanging.  (NOTE: I began the heart placements at the bottom of the twine by placing two small jeweled red hearts at the very end of the twine, followed by two larger jeweled hearts.  Then continue with the sets of paper  hearts - smallest to largest - up the twine to the hanging loop.)

I just made the one string, but I could see making a few more to hang along the arched area above the fireplace for decoration.  These hearts could be made from white papers and used for a wedding theme decoration, or switch out the shapes and use snowflakes, holly leaves, fall leaves, egg shapes, just to name a few, for other holiday decorations.  These were made from paper scraps, but consider using fused fabric, felt or fun-foam for a start.

Designer Craft Connection December - Handmade Holiday

Here we are with the holiday season upon us.  Decorations are up around the house. Those lovely twinkling lights are going on allover the neighborhood. We have celebrated the season of thankfulness just a couple of weeks ago.  Now we are coming upon the biggest time of the year for giving.

What better theme for this month then "Handmade Holiday".  I have always enjoyed the giving and receiving of handmade anything.

When it comes to giving at Christmas time I enjoy giving gifts that are for the season.

I have been knitting and crocheting scarves and they will make wonderful gifts for giving for the girls and ladies.  Here is a crocheted pattern that I came across at a wonderful new shop in the area.  The original pattern calls for only one skein of yarn to make the scarf.  This first scarf was made with the yarn bought from the shop.  I liked the look of it so much that I needed to experiment with yarns and length.

This second one is made with yarn purchased from Michael's.  Love the bright, variegated colors.  The longer length makes the scarf wonderful for wrapping.

The third version was made using a solid, neutral color, with the length somewhere in between the two other scarves.  It's a fairly quick project to crochet and many can be made in any variety to suit the receiver of the gift.

Here is a ruffled scarf that knits up easily with only one skein of yarn.  There are different versions of this yarn available and each yarn gives the scarves a different look.
This "blue" version was made using Sashay.  There is a wonderful selections of colors available  in this brand.

This second scarf was made using a similar yarn from Hobby Lobby.

All of these scarves were quick to make up and would make lovely handmade gifts.

My kitchen has been a busy place too, with mixing going on for lots of homemade holiday goodness.  Later today there will be loads of baking happening, with ten different varieties of cookies being made for more giving.  I hope to be sharing a post about the baking and making of more holiday gifts.

Here's one more handmade idea.  I found these great wooden cut-out trees at Michael's.  I painted them and glittered them, added ribbon for a hanger.  Strips of red and green papers were cut to make a 25 loop paper chain.  I made these reusable "countdown to Christmas" hangings for my two young granddaughter's.  Once the paper links get to the Christmas tree that special day will be here.  The top part with the tree can be saved from year to year and all they will need to do is add a 25 link chain each season.

I needed a new idea for my front door this year and the result was this pretty quick wreath made with a purchased wooden wreath form.  It was covered with scraps of white fabric, then adorned with snowflakes from the dollar store and a simple white bow.

Other family gets into the "handmade" groove too.  This tree was made by a brother-in-law from leftover pieces of willow from the bent willow chairs he makes.  There is another out front of the house with lights on.

These little reindeer are one of the last holiday projects my husband made.  He made them to decorate our very long table three years ago when many of the family were visiting for Christmas.  After, several were given to the guests along, with a handmade ornament that were at each place setting.

In our house "handmade" has always been big, especially during the holidays.  From handmade decorations for every purpose to crafting eatable gifts, all for our home and for giving.  We gave up the act of exchanging gifts among our many family members years ago.  For a while we were given a needy family through our church that we gave gifts to.  Now the next generation takes turns choosing  an organization of their choice and all family members can make contributions to it. With family across the country, each year brings a wonderful chance to help in different areas.

Giving comes in many ways, but "HANDMADE" has a special way of saying it comes from the heart!

So I will say this: Make Handmade, Give Handmade, Buy Handmade, Live Handmade.