Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

Crafty Sightings

Getting back in the loop after vacation has not been easy. Can’t the summer last a little longer? The weather has been in the 70’s the past few weeks… just perfect!
 
FYI, one of my husband’s dream has come true- we have a hot tub! We found a reconditioned one and have just the perfect spot for it. He has been busy getting the chemicals right, testing pH balance, regulating heat and jets, etc. Last weekend he built a little mini deck so we can get in and out without using a step ladder. I was impressed with how fast he put it together. Lucky we live right down the street from Home Depot- it was a three trip project 🙂


I was grocery shopping the other night and had to check out the Fall issue of Crafts ‘N Things. The page opened to a set of fall projects created by designer friend Melony Bradley. What a fun surprise to see her project made using my Sizzix Caddy die! Wouldn’t this be a cute teacher’s gift or a nice way to customize a birthday present? Melony always designs with recycled materials and I love that about her work. That brown paper flower is probably made with packing paper… just a guess.


Thanks to all who are working with my ScoreBoard dies- I love seeing what you do with them! 

Baby Shower Flower Wishes

Here is a pic sent to me by Lorraine Fletcher, who took the Cutting Flower Garden class that Pam Keravuori and I taught in June at Angela’s Happy Stamper. What a fun group of ladies we had that night!

Lorraine said she “made this bucket of flowers for a friend’s baby shower (it was a girl), then attached leaves and had the ladies at the shower write Bible verses on to encourage the new mum.” Lorraine is Australian- I want her accent so bad!
 
Thanks for sharing what you create with my dies- it’s so much fun to see what you do with them! 

Hanging Desk Organizer

Here’s another handy dandy desk organizer below which was originally shared in Bella Crafts Quarterly and created by Lisa Rojas. Have you seen this e-zine? Tons of projects, tips and techniques from the experts and features. Get your FREE issue here! 
Floral_Memo_Board

Lisa used my Sizzix Window Box die, Vine #2, and Clay Pot to create this pretty project. The colors are so soft and I love how she made pencils with flowers on the top- they are so easy to grab that way… and the post-it notes fit just right in the well of the windowbox… You could also tuck a photo behind the window.
Thanks for stopping by!

 

Felt and Burlap Birthday Cake

Linking up today with tatertotsandjello for one GIGANTIC link party! Go here if you want LOTS of inspiration.




I have always loved making paper cakes because it combines two of my favorite things- cake and crafts. 


 I used my Sizzix flower dies, wool felt and something I received yesterday- a box of matboard from my friend. Connie edited my first book, Matboard Magic, and now works at Crescent Cardboard. Lucky for me, Connie was cleaning out her office and asked if I would like a box of matboard samples. Um- yeah! It arrived a couple of days ago… 
Guess which one is my favorite? Yes, right there in front- burlap matboard! Wow! I really wanted to try it out right away so I decided to make a burlap cake topped with yummy felt flowers.
First I designed and created the cake, then started die cutting a bunch of flowers using my Sizzix flower dies. I had so much fun! I like to cut out each flower in several colors and then start mixing and matching shapes from different flowers and combining them so each one is unique. Once they were cut and stitched together (OK some might be glued), I started arranging the flowers on top of the cake. I also used the Borders and Hydrangeas die as borders on the cake. I really like how the nice bright colors pop on the burlap. 
 
Die cutting wool felt is one of my favorite thing these days. The felt has a nice body and holds it shape but the best thing about it is NO FRAYING! It’s also fun to add decorative stitches.
 
Finally, I arranged the flowers on top of the cake and adhered them with glue.
 
Ta-da! Turn off the lights and light the candles… 

Quick Bag Re-do

Just a quick post. Here’s a project that took 15 minutes- at most!

I found this cute bag for about $1 either at Target or Dollar Tree (it was a while ago!) I love having these bags on hand for taking a bunch of mail and packages to the post office, bringing needlework to my quilt meetings, or gathering stuff to bring to my daughter’s (she always welcomes a few boxes of her favorite cereal).

What a surprise- I happened to have fun foam in exactly the same colors of the bag! 
Here’s how: die cut three of them from Sizzix Butterfly die in yellow, orange and pink.
Arrange the solid butterflies down the bag, and add a little double stick tape on the outer part of each wing to hold them down. Then stitch them onto the bag and rub off the adhesive. That’s it!
Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Create and Connect Roundup

I am so happy to be home! The past month has been spent on the road- first with a trip to Las Vegas for the Create and Connect trade show (aka CHA- Craft and Hobby show). It was lots of fun to see my designer buddies and some new friends that I feel like I know but had never met in person. 

While I was in Vegas, I was very excited to launch a new line of dies with Sizzix called Cherished. The display was over the top amazing and I loved it.

For more pics, visit the Sizzix blog. Amy of Plucking Daisies was such a blessing- she came and helped me throughout the show with demos, classes and workshops. Read about her CHA experience here.
I flew home on the red eye after the show and left the next day for a family reunion in Vermont. It was beautiful there and spending the time with my siblings and their kids and grandkids was really a treasure and something that we will all remember for a long time. 

After our week in Vermont, our kids that live out of state were able to come back to VA with us and visit for another couple of weeks so I finally I feel caught up on everyone’s life! Also managed to squeeze in a trip to the Jersey shore for a weekend with my husband’s side of the family, two birthday celebrations and a trip to WV. 
Can I tell you I am exhausted :-)? This week it was hard to get back to work. I still want to be in that hammock! But I’m pepping up slowly but surely… Do you ever feel like that after vacation?

Categories:
CHA

Birthday Card for Chris

Just a quick post here to wish my oldest a happy birthday! 

So glad we got to spend time with Chris and Trinity this summer. This was a pic from our recent family reunion adventures at Lake Bomoseen, VT. Lots of family time, music and water sports- loved it. I am the oldest of six and we all gathered with our kids and grandkids. I have to admit we are pretty loud but no complaints from the neighbors (this time!) 

Card is in the mail 🙂 Made this using my Borders & Hydrangea die. I die cut the rick rack border from fun foam and used double sided tape to adhere the strips to an acrylic block. Then I just stamped the repeating pattern on a gray card. I used my favorite UniBall Signo pen to write my message. And that’s it! 
 

 Glad we could celebrate with you this year Chris- love you…

Video Tutorial using Craft Attitude

After CHA and a much needed vacation, I am back!

Today I have a fun surprise- a video tutorial by my granddaughter, Trinity. She just turned seven on Monday and I have to say- this girl is a serious crafter. Every time she visits, the first thing she asks is- what we are going to make? Well, unbeknownst to her, I signed her up to be part of the Craft Attitude Back to School blog hop. The hop runs from August 5 through the 17th and features bloggers from elementary school to college ages. Make sure you check out the linky at the bottom of this post to see the completed projects to date. They have all been fabulous!

Craft Attitude is a film that transfers images to all kinds of different surfaces- paper, fabric, metal, wood, plastic, etc. Just print your designs- artwork, photos, or text- on your inkjet printer, reverse the image (so it is facing the right direction when you add it to your surface), and adhere it! This is such a versatile material to work with. Now I look around my house and see an endless number of surfaces to decorate!

We had many ideas for projects to make but finally decided to go with a customized white board for Trinity’s room so she can draw and make notes for school.


Here’s how we made it:

This was a fun and easy project and I really enjoyed making this video with Trinity. We taped a segment and then waited for the film to dry. Guess what happened in the meantime…

Thanks for hopping along with us! Hope you stop back again…

Exciting package arrived!

Hi everyone! As you know I am madly packing up for CHA, but thankfully my kits were FedEx’d today with an hour and 15 minutes to spare… whew.

Deena Ziegler is one of the talented artists in the Sizzix Art Department and this girl never. stops. crafting. In her spare time, she designs and sells these amazing card kits available as a monthly subscription. 
A little while ago Deena contacted me to ask if she could use my dies in one of her card kits. I said Heck yeah!  So she used my Canning Jars ScoreBoards die from the Picket Fence collection. Deena cut the jars out of paper and you can see what all comes in a kit in the video- lots! And here’s what I like- it’s all pre-cut for you with easy to follow instructions. Just look at the picture and make the card. It’s that simple…
I just wanted to show you a video I made after receiving a sample card kit from Deena Ziegler. Take a look at the kind of fun stuff she sends out every month and how much you get in here. I mean- that’s just crazy…… and also hear how Deena saved me from a nervous breakdown at the last CHA here… (I was a mess!)
Check out Deena’s blog here, and her store here.
Subscribe to her card club now 🙂
Like her on Facebook
And by the way, can you like me on Facebook too? I finally started a business page but I am way behind in “likes” 🙁
OK, back to creating, packing, etc. and hoping I get it all done by Sunday!

CHA Sneak Peek

Hi everyone! It’s almost time for CHA and I am freaking out, right on schedule 🙂 


Just wanted to pop in and post this video I did for the Sizzix blog last week. It’s a quick look at what will be coming out at the show. And I am very pleased to announce I figured out how to insert music into a video (!) for your viewing (and listening) pleasure. 


CHA will be held in a new venue this year- Las Vegas- so it will be nice to explore. Unless it’s too hot. Then I will not be leaving the hotel/Convention Center. Here’s what’s on the agenda:


Monday, July 22 Education Day

  • Designer Showcase set-up- this is where designers set up a tabletop display of their work in hopes of getting new clients. I am excited about mine (if I get all the parts done)… Come see me in Booth 116
  • Round Table Discussions- moderating a table at on “What CHA Designers can do for you”
  • Sizzix Rep and Retailer Training 
  • Helping my friend Ann Butler out in a class she’s teaching
  • Designer Section and Designer Council Meetings
  • get together with friends (including the one and only Jonathan Fong)

Tuesday, July 23 Show starts!

  • 8:00-9:00 Panelist on “Multiple Streams of Income” discussion
  • 11:00-1:00 demo new release Cherished in Sizzix Booth #627
  • 1:30 interview in Sizzix booth by Charity Wings
  • 2:00-3:00 volunteer in Designer Showcase
  • 4:00-6:00 teach workshop “Sizzix in 3-D” 
Wednesday, July 24
  • 9:00-10:00 Moderate panel discussion with Mike Hartnett on “Getting Your Work Published” Our panel is amazing- you should try and get a ticket- plus a special surprise giveaway 🙂
  • meetings!
  • 2:00-4:00 Demo in Sizzix
  • 4:00-5:00 Meet and Greet for Designer Showcase
  • 5:30 Paper Crafting Section meeting
Thursday, July 25
  • 9:00-11:00 Demo in Sizzix
  • 11:00-12:00 Volunteer in Showcase
I am getting both tired and excited at the same time looking at this. Amy Bowerman of Plucking Daisies, a blogger and friend I met at SNAP, is coming along to help me- so happy to have her along! Also Pam Bray from Scrapbook Flair, Pam Keravuori from Pamela Jane’s and Barbara Rankin from Black Hole Arts Studio made the most beautiful samples for me at the last minute- God bless you all- they are amazing!

If you are at the show, please stop by and see me- I love hearing what you all are up to. I will try and post about what’s going on but it’s a new place and not sure of the internet situation. If that doesn’t work, I will take pics and share when I get back home.

Thanks for stopping by- wish me luck!