Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

A Cut Above class

When I saw there was a die cutting class being offered by Jennifer McGuire, Nicole Magouirk, and Kristina Werner, I had to sign up. They are such amazing designers- I knew I would pick up lots of helpful tips and tricks. So far it has been fun and I’m trying to keep up (kind of) with the lessons and do a project that has been shown that day. That is why I am posting two days in a row- shocking, I know…

On this card, the idea was to use cut out shapes. I am ashamed to say I had a set of Framelits from a 2 CHA’s ago that I had never used. So I cracked those babies open and had some fun.
  1. First I folded a card base made from my favorite Cougar 100 lb white cardstock. I ran it through the Big Shot using my Wreath Textured Impression folder (now available at your LSS!). I used a Robin’s Egg Color Box pigment pad and brayer to get a good overall coat of ink on one side of the folder. I folded over the other side and ran it through using the Multi-purpose Platform.
  2. I cut several Framelit openings- one circle in the center of the card and a larger frame from a piece of aqua. I added the aqua cutout behind the card. 
  3. Then I cut a white butterfly from the Birds and Butterflies Sizzlit set, flared the wings out a little and put a line of adhesive down the middle of the butterfly and centered it in the middle of the card.
  4. For the sentiment, I used the Daisies2Garden stamp set from The Stamps of Life. Inside it says… “a happy birthday”. You can always use a birthday card! I raised the inside of the sentiment on foam dots.
  5. I also used my Hydrangeas & Border die to add an aqua, white and aqua chevron pattern under the sentiment.

Let’s see how long I can keep the streak going… 🙂

Shower

This weekend, my daughters and I are hosting a baby shower for my other daughter. Here’s a pic of the invitations that I created using the Sizzix eclips. I drew an elephant in Illustrator and saved it as an .svg file, then cut it out on the eclips. The detailed cuts on this machine are unbelievable. Those little gray elephants are only about 1″ big! 

I curled the elephants’ ears out from their body to give a little dimension. This green shimmer paper is beautiful but almost too heavy. The ears did not roll back as smoothly as I would have liked and I think thinner cardstock would have worked better. But the color was not as good… so I chose color over weight…

I printed the card bases on the computer and then used the die cut elephants as accents. I also used the rickrack border from my Bigz Hydrangea & Border die coming in June from the Sweet Treats collection. Stay tuned for the rest of the decor- we were hard at work today… I am hoping it doesn’t rain Saturday (even though it’s a shower :-)).

Happy Anniversary!

It’s my daughter and SIL’s first anniversary. They are both officers in the Coast Guard and he is out at sea for sixty days. She is expecting at the end of June, and probably not for the first time, they had to spend a significant occasion apart. They have’t lived together yet because they are stationed four hours apart. Our military sacrifices a lot of things that most people take for granted and I am so proud of the way they are handling things.

  1. The card base is made from natural cardstock. I layered two pieces of pretty Basic Grey papers from the Picadilly collection on top and punched the bottom border with a Martha Stewart punch.
  2. The sentiment was embossed using my Textured Impressions Birthday, Thanks, and Congrats set on top of both layers and then I inked over it lightly in brown. 
  3. Flower Sizzlits (coming in June) called Sweet Treats for You and Birds and Butterflies were used to cut the flowers, leaves and swirls. 
  4. Pearl bling from Queen and Company and a piece of vintage mini-rickrack complete the card. 

Today is special. Happy Anniversary, Jess and Jason! We love you…

A Day Out…

On Tuesday I did something I should do more often.  One of my CHA Designer friends, Cheryl Boglioli, is teaching her way up the East Coast and Angela’s Happy Stamper was a stop on her route in nearby Reston VA. So I signed up for her class.


When I got there, I was happy to see the familiar faces of Kitty and Linda, who were also attending the class. Basically, it was a party just waiting to happen! 

Cheryl had everything organized for class and gave great tips and techniques for using Tattered Angels mists and Helmar glue on the Basic Grey canvas and papers. I loved the project that we made. Here’s how mine came out:
The time went by very quickly. There was a little excitement when Kitty dropped a very hot heat gun in the garbage can which resulted in a plastic coated heat gun and some toxic fumes.
But aside from that we behaved pretty well and all loved the new techniques we learned.

After class, Cheryl, Lorine Mason and I adjourned to Clyde’s and sat on the patio enjoying a leisurely lunch then topped the day off with a trip to Paper Source. It doesn’t get much better than that, folks! Do you take the time to recharge by spending time with creative friends? You need to…

Recycled Pencil Can

First Monday means that we’re hopping with the Designer Connection! Click on the blue logo in the sidebar to see what all of the other designers have created for spring!

Thanks to all the designers who participated in our Sizzix Spring Linky and also to those who visited and left your kind comments. I will be contacting the winner today and getting that Fringed Flower die out in the mail! 

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I have been getting into the recycling bag quite a bit lately. My husband deposits stuff and then I go dig it out. Today he came home with some solar lights for our driveway and I almost had a heart attack when I saw the plastic packaging it came in. You will see it in another form soon 🙂

So anyway, about the project… it’s simple, easy and inexpensive to make. That’s sure to be a winner, don’t you think? 

Here’s how:

  1. Assemble materials- soup can, string, Big Shot die-cut machine, Flowers, Layers #9 die, wool felt, large girls’s headband elastic, 2″ piece of pipe cleaner, mismatched earring, glue gun
  2. Clean out soup can. If you have one of those Pampered Chef can openers that roll the lid instead of leaving jaggedy edges, make sure to use it. Unfortunately I do not have one and proceeded to rip my finger open. 
  3. Dab a tiny bit of glue along the bottom edge of the can and place the end of the string over it anchoring it to the can. Wrap string around the entire can. Keep pushing down on the string so all areas of the can are covered. Dab another dot of glue at the top of the can to anchor the end of the string. (I thought the effect of the string on top of the ridges in the can was really cool. The thicker your yarn or wrapping material, the less you will notice the bumps though)
  4. Die cut two flowers from felt. Layer them in size order. Find a pierced earring in your jewelry box that you don’t want. Stick the post through all of the layers of the flower. Put earring back on behind the flower. 
  5. Double wrap the headband around the can and use the pipe cleaner piece to secure the headband to the earring. 
  6. Fill can with pencils and place on your desk for a fun touch of spring!

I’d also encourage you to stop by the ScrapScene blog today and take a look at the WIP Monday where you’ll see some inspiring Works in Progress!


Thanks for stopping by today.
Tip Junkie handmade projects

Sizzix Spring Linky

We had such fun doing the Sizzix Fresh Vintage blog hop last fall that we figured it was time for the Reunion Tour! So you are going to see some fun spring Sizzix projects from your favorite designers. Click on the links below to see what everyone is up to: 


I needed a spring wreath for my front door. I wrapped a 12″ STYROFOAM wreath with ribbon that I had gotten on a fun field trip to the ribbon outlet for $1 per bag. In my CHA sample making frenzy, I had amassed quite a collection of die cut Sizzix flowers made from fleece, felt, bubble wrap, paper, canvas and cotton fabrics. So I decided to add these to the wreath along with some leaves. I used a glue gun to adhere the flowers to the ribbon and added a ribbon hanger to the back. Simple, quick and in my favorite spring colors.

If you would like to enter to win the Fringed Flower die, please visit the designers’ blogs and leave them comments. If you feel so moved, please feel free to follow their blogs too. (who doesn’t like a little blog love?) Then come back here to let me know which is your favorite project. I will pick a winner on Thursday night.

What are you working on this time of year?

All Things Altered Blog Hop

Pam Bray has coordinated a fun blog hop with some crafty friends! Our challenge was to create an altered project. Please hop through all of these sites- if you leave a comment you will be entered for a chance to win the grand prize.

Here are the participating designers! Can’t wait to see what everyone has done 🙂
Pam
Pinky
Nicole
Betty
Debbie
Christine
Jess B.
Charity
Laura Evangeline
Eileen – you are here!
Jennifer
Irit
Gloria
Cindi

I mulled many ideas over in my head but decided to alter an item I love to collect- cigar boxes! I found this one I had already spray painted and used years ago at CHA to hold some rack cards and little piece of foamboard candy that I made for giveaways. But honestly, it had seen better days. The die I wanted to use was my Sizzix ScoreBoard Candy Drawer from the Sweet Treats collection (shipping in June). It’s one of my favorites- I love to make a bunch of them and stack them to hold all kinds of stuff. When I placed the drawers inside the cigar box, they fit perfectly! It was meant to be… I have been collecting buttons for a while and these work great to give some character to the piece and also function as drawer pulls!

 
 
Supplies:

cigar box
dictionary pages
Sizzix Candy Drawer by Eileen Hull
Sizzix Butterfly by Eileen Hull
Sizzix Mat Board Pack (6 sheets 6″ x 13″)
Sizzix Big Shot die cut machine
brown dye ink
cool buttons
kraft knife
spray adhesive
ATG gun
glue gun
old drawer handle

 
 

  1. Cut lid off cigar box with knife and ink edges of box to distress.
  2. Coat matboard sheets with spray adhesive and lay dictionary pages on top.
  3. Run matboard through Big Shot  and die cut six candy drawers.
  4. Ink edges of drawers and box fronts in brown.
  5. Pick 6 coordinating buttons and cut off shanks. Glue a small button in the middle of the drawer and glue the larger one on top. (it needs to stick out a little for you to grab the button to open the drawer).
  6. Tape all outer boxes together to make one piece. This is not necessary but it does make it easier if all of the drawers are stuck together to pull them out each time. If you ever wanted to re-use the drawers somewhere else, just tear the paper off and paint it, stencil, whatever…
  7. Glue handle to cigar box. (oops- I meant to glue this handle on top! However, now I can put my business cards on top of it and grab it from the side so easily- it’s better this way after all)
  8. Load up your drawers with fun goodies you want to keep close at hand.
  9. At the last minute I decided to add a butterfly because it just seemed kind of plain. See this post and video tutorial if you want to know how to make the butterfly using recycled soda cans. 

This project will stand right next to my computer to hold office supplies that I use often like sticky notes, memory cards, paper clips, binder clips, stamps and brads. I really like how this came out and it’s useful too!


I am also posting this project over at ScrapScene for WIP Monday (Works in Progress). So you subscribe to ScrapScene? You will love it! It’s a great source of info- lists DT calls, shows pretty projects, new products, artist’s studios, etc.


I will be giving away a Triangle Box ScoreBoard to a lucky winner who comments here too so please make sure you let me know you were here! So glad you could stop by… have a great weekend!

A Night in the Studio

Last night, although there were a million other things I should have been doing- taxes for one :-(- I started playing around with some packing tape that I had found a while ago in the dollar section at Michael’s. It works great for taping up boxes, but the patterns and colors were so pretty I thought there might be a crafty use for it too. And it turns out- yes, of course there is! Keep an eye out for these fun ideas coming soon…

I like to have a bunch of projects going on at one time. Can you tell :-)? Usually there is something that has to dry, or I’m waiting for the glue gun to heat up so I just start in on another project. Anyone else out there do that? 
While catching up on Project Runway All Stars, I die-cut 75 Cake Slices for a Make and Take at The Collins Group event this weekend. Here are more samples of what will be taught at the Sizzix blog. Special note- my good friend Karen Burniston will be demoing her new line of dies called Pop’n Cuts. They are so cool- it’s a system that Karen designed to make creating pop-up cards easy, quick and super-impressive!

Here’s the project that I designed for the event. It has been interesting working within these parameters:

  1. showcase the product 
  2. 10 minute assembly 
  3. successfully completed by all skill levels 
  4. looks amazing
  5. is quickly and easily taught
It took a little thought but turned out to be a piece of cake! (get it?)

On to finish the next thing… stay tuned!

Spring Bouquet in Recycled Glass

The glass jars in my recycling bin keep finding their way down to my studio. I am trying to slowly reorganize and glass containers are great because I can see what’s in them and also they’re free! But kind of boring…

Here’s what I did with a larger jar. It had no lid- I don’t know where this came from. I thought it was a good size for a vase. All I did was add a 12″ piece of pretty packing tape around the circumference of the jar. I thought about adding ribbon but then I won’t be able to send it through the dishwasher. So this is how it will stay!
The only flowers I have blooming right now are daffodils but there aren’t that many (in fact I just went out to pick some and saw that my zealous husband had just mowed them in a fit of spring fever! I will not repeat what I may have said. Don’t worry- he didn’t hear because he had returned to the mowing). So I picked the few remaining daffodils and some pretty forsythia and greens. 

 

I used the lid of a to-go cup from Subway to support the stems (daffodils are so floppy!). Using a Crop-a-dile and awl, I punched some holes to stick the stems in and there you have it- a pretty spring bouquet!

Birthday Bash

On the night of March 6, the Woolies held their annual birthday celebration. This is a group of 18 amazingly creative women who meet twice a month in the local Wegman’s. Two of the members have moved- one to Hawaii and one to CO, but they keep in touch through email and FaceBook. Read here about how I came to be invited to this group by Pat Sloan.

Since most of the group are quilters (I don’t really quilt but I still love fabric!), each person brought a fat quarter and a $15 gift. The exchange of gifts was quite lively! Here’s what one of the gifts looked like. Are these little guys not adorable? They were made by the talented Lina LaMora.

 
A call went out to the group to help organize different parts of the celebration. Not wanting to look like a slacker, still being new to the group, I volunteered to handle the cake. I also volunteered my friend Lorine Mason so she wouldn’t feel left out 🙂 Plus she makes killer cakes…
We decided to bake cupcakes.  I cut 30 paper cupcake wrappers using my Sizzix ScoreBoard Cupcake Holder die. Did you know those dies also work great with paper? 

 

The Cupcake Stands (below) and pennants (above) are part of the Sweet Treats Collection and I was dying for the chance to actually use them. 
I cut 17 individual cupcake stands. The bases were decorated with sewing pattern tissue (we are mainly a sewing group) and spring colored toppers.

 A blurry picture of a cupcake sandwich. Still have to try this!

All the cupcakes on their stands- so pretty. Lorine did a great job decorating them and the taste was out of this world. They were lemon…mmmmmm.

 Here’s the group!

 These pennants were so much fun to make and really fast! I stamped the sentiment, added a line of double sided tape on the inside fold, tucked a toothpick in the crease and folded it over. 

 All in all, I can’t wait for the next birthday celebration. Thanks for the warm welcome into the group everyone! You are so inspiring…