What’s Hot on the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo Show Floor

Lorraine here with my September’s update to share products that are all the buzz on our Stamp and Scrapbook Expo show floor. As many of you know, I host the Creativity Center at 18 of our Stamp & Scrapbook Expos. It truly is my happy place because this is when I have the privilege of sharing my passion for the industry as well as for creating beautiful projects with you in person. Talk about having your cake and eating it, too!

We all love Sizzix, I know.  Have you seen the new Sizzix Journal Die designed by Eileen Hull?  This really is a “:must have” die set. I know, there I go enabling your habit again but you know it’s true! 😉 Let me start off by saying that this die is so popular that Eileen even has a  book available, appropriately titled Journal Treasury featuring over 75 journal projects right at your fingertips!  Think of all the possibilities – art journals, travel journals, mini albums, prayer journals, and planners, need I say more?  🙂

Now that I have your attention, I want to share a few of the beautiful journals that I’ve discovered while searching for fun things to share with you. I apologize for not having my own journal to share, but I just picked mine up at our Chicago show last week and haven’t had time to play yet. Maria B with It’s Cheaper Than Therapy to the rescue, she always has an amazing selection of Sizzix products both at the show and on line. If you are looking for the die and you happen to be at one our shows, Maria B is the lady to see for all your Sizzix needs. I’ll be sure to post pictures of my journals once I have a few complete.

Have you had the opportunity to play with Sizzix Paper Leather? It’s a durable material that can do it all! Made to simulate the look and feel of real leather, Sizzix Paper Leather Sheets can be used to die-cut, emboss, print, ink, stitch, paint, watercolor, or distress. When you run the paper through your favorite embossing folder and hit it with some Distress Inks it really looks like tooled leather. How cute would that be for your first handmade journal cover? Just thinking out loud.

Eileen Hull Journal with Seth Apter Stamps and Dies

It’s time to break out your texture paste and your favorite color mediums.  On this journal Autumn covered the dies with Prima texture pastes and then watered Vintage Photo Distress Oxide to tone it down, wiping away as needed. I love the vintage shabby chic look that she created.

Click here and I will take you over to the Sew Paper Paint blog so you can see all the other techniques that Autumn used while creating this little work of art.

Prayer Journal By Julia Aston

What about a Prayer Journal? I love what Julia Aston created with her die. She made a Faith Journal out of kraft cardstock and embellished the cover using embossed panels of black paper leather.

Julia used Newsprint Paper by Wendy Vecchi for the inside pages.  She cut 12 pieces of the 8.5′ x 11′ to 8″ x 7.5″, folded them in half to measure 4″ x 7.5″ and divided them into three signatures, each with four papers folded in half, giving eight pages in each signature.

Art Journal Designed By Suzanne C

This gorgeous journal caught my eye immediately due to the beautiful brightly colored background. I love how Suzanne incorporated a shabby chic feel while introducing the bright colors, not an easy task to marry the two together. Way to go, Suzanne!

Would you believe that there is no patterned paper involved on this artsy journal cover?  Suzanne created an ombre effect with Distress Oxides in wilted violet blending into worn lipstick into spiced marmalade, finishing off with fossilized amber. While designing the cover, Suzanne got a little carried away with her Distress Oxides (not hard to do) so she had lots of orphan bits. This worked out nicely as she used those pieces to coordinate the inside of the journal pages to match the amazing colors on the cover. You’re going to love it!

Tree Sketch Journal By Anna-Karin 

Check out this simple sketch book that Anna-Karin created. The great thing about making your own sketchbook is that you can use your favorite papers and also mix different papers. The front and back covers were coated with a clear gesso then colored using Dina Wakley’s Scribble Sticks and stamped using a Jet Black ink. So simple and yet so pretty.

The binding can be done multiple ways; be sure to stop by Layers Of Ink as Anna-Karin shares some great tips for adjusting the thickness of your journal to fit any size you need. Eileen also has a video on how to assemble your book click here and I’ll take you over to her video.

I hope you are inspired by the journals that were created by some very talented paper crafters. I tried to pick several different styles to show how versatile this die can be. I love it when multiple people use the same product and come up with totally different looks. I highly recommend stopping by their individual blogs for a visit, you’ll be very glad you did. Each designer has their own unique techniques to share and I wouldn’t want you to miss out.  You don’t have to be an art journal aficionado to have fun with this one. The possibilities are truly endless!

Since I’ll be busy flying to the last five shows of the year, there won’t be much personal crafting happening for me for during the next two months. I guess I will have to enjoy my creative therapy with all of you at the Creativity Center. 😉  I’m ok with that, it doesn’t get any better than creating beautiful things with some of the most talented crafters in the industry.

I hope to see many of you at the shows, I’ll meet you at the Creativity Center. Hugs to all!