I can’t tell you how obsessed I am with this new journal die from Eileen Hull. I love all her journals, but this one is now my favourite. I really like the design, and the landscape format (of course you could flip it to have a top folding notebook if you prefer).
When mine arrived, I instantly knew I wanted to create a journal following the Field Notes theme, full of botanicals and butterflies, and incorporating so many of my older stamp and die sets.
I’m warning you now – this blog post has a LOT of photos. I went totally overboard with this one – I couldn’t put it down for nearly a week, and even now, I feel I’d like to go back and add some more to it!
So on the front cover, I used the frame that comes with the journal and added some vellum behind it, then a little butterfly cigarette card. The papers I used throughout the journal are from 49 & Market, and I also added some Tim Holtz collage paper and chipboard sentiment.
Inside the front cover, more 49 & Market papers, together with the little folder from the Envelope, Folder & Flowers die set. The stamps are Aall & Create, and I added a few little bits of ephemera into the folder.
For the pages inside the journal I used the journal die to create pages that had the same shape as the journal. I created a little hinge from cream card, then sandwiched that between two sheets of kraft card so that my pages were nice and sturdy and could take the weight of all the layers.
I had great fun rummaging through my boxes of ephemera that I’ve collected over the years, and it felt good to actually use some of it (I’m terrible at hoarding nice things!). I had bought some chipboard elements to match the 49 & Market papers, and I had a lot of Tim Holtz ephemera and they all worked so well together.
This little folder is from the Tim Holtz Specimen die set – the elements in that collection work so well with this journal.
The flower here is from the Folder, envelope and flower die set, along with a 49 & Market frame.
I even did a little bit of stitching! I stamped the butterflies on a scrap of fabric, then took a piece of cardboard box, dry brushed some gesso on it, then stitched the fabric to it before attaching it to the page. I love how it turned out.
For the back of the journal I used the same collage papers as the front, then a fern and butterfly from the 49 & Market collection.
I punched holes in the pages so that I could attach them to the journal with seam binding (I used cream seam binding and soaked it in tea to give this lovely vintage colour). I also added a little metal hardware piece (Tim Holtz).
Hope you’ve enjoyed seeing this journal. I really enjoyed making it and can’t wait to do more (I’ve been scouring antique shops for old botanical books and ephemera so watch this space!)
 Stampers Anonymous Field Notes Shop at: SSS | SBC |
 Stampers Anonymous Papillon stamp set Shop at: SSS | AZ | CS | SBC |
 Sizzix Eileen Hull Journaling Card, envelope & window Shop at: SSS | SZ | SBC |
 Sizzix Eileen Hull Field Notes Journal Shop at: SZ | CS | SBC |
 Sizzix Eileen Hull Slotted Treat Box Shop at: SZ | CS | SBC |
 Sizzix Eileen Hull Envelope, Folder & flowers Shop at: SZ | CS | SBC |
 Sizzix Surfaces Mat board white* Shop at: SSS | SZ | CS | SBC |
 Sizzix Surfaces Texture Roll White Shop at: SZ | AZ | CS | SBC |
 Sizzix Texture Roll Arctic Sky Shop at: SZ | AZ | CS | SBC |
 Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutting machine Shop at: SSS | SZ | AZ | CS | SBC |
 Sizzix Big Shot Plus Die Cutting machine Shop at: SSS | SZ | AZ | CS | SBC |
 Sizzix Big Shot Switch Plus Electric die cutting machine cherry blossom Shop at: SBC |
Sharon Curtis 