Saturday 21 April 2018

My First Attempt at an Eileen Hull Journal

I have had the Eileen Hull XL Journal die by Sizzix for a while and had cut two of the covers out of grunge paper ready for decorating.  These had sat for a few weeks waiting for me to get round to making up and decorating the journal, so I used the opportunity to finish it using my Golden Hi Flow Acrylics.  It is my first hand made journal, but I shall certainly be making more.
I started by giving both sides of the journal pieces a couple of coats of white gesso; once dry they were glued together according to the instructions.
Having decided on the main decoration, I stamped the Gerbera (inside) and Butterfly (outside) from the stamp set of the same name by Claritystamp using Versamark ink and heat embossing in Ancient Copper Detail EP by Cosmic Shimmer.  I had to be very careful not to get the grunge paper too hot as it starts to bubble if you keep the heat in one place for too long.  Golden Pthalo Blue Hi Flow paint was mixed with High Flow Medium and a coat painted over both the inside and outside of the cover.  The addition of the extender gives the paint a glossy finish.

To try and hide the areas where some bubbles had appeared, I stippled the same paint colour (this time without mixing it with so much High Flow Medium) all over both sides.  This disguised the worst of the bubbles and created a leather look effect.

Next it was time to paint the focal points using a range of the Golden Hi Flow Acrylics (mixed with the Medium).
Inside

Outside
Copper cord (from Hobbycraft) was used per instructions to thread the journal, not only to form the closure but also to allow the addition of three signatures.
I cut three pieces of card for each signature (7.5" x 9") and scored them in half.  I used kraft card and two different colours of yellow Co-ordinations card. Unfortunately I forgot to get a shot of the inside including the signatures.  To finish the back of the journal I stamped and heat embossed the bespoke stamp from Claritystamp 'Handmade by Sarah Brennan'.
On the front,  I added the words 'My Journal' using stamps from Word Chain 1 (also Claritystamp) in the same way as before.
Some beads from my stash, attached to the ends of the cords, finished the journal.

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