Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

Frame Banner

Life has been crazy here at my place. Apparently, even when your kids grow up, move out, get married, have kids, etc., you still worry about them…sheesh! So there’s been lots going on here, most of it good 🙂

I did have a chance to make a project for my friend Sandy whose birthday will be celebrated this week. I made a banner to hang over her chair in the restaurant. Sandy is so interesting… she grew up on a farm and has been collecting skulls for a while. Yes, real animal skulls which are displayed in her basement! See why I hang with her? This is a super fun group folks…

As you may know, I have been doing some videos for Oh My Crafts, an internet scrapbook store. They have some really great sales there- you should check it out and get on their mailing list because some of the prices are amazing. For example, they have my Sizzix ScoreBoard Frame, Easel die which normally sells for $39.99 on sale for $9.59! I highly recommend getting one while they are still in stock. Sizzix has discontinued them 🙁

I did a video showing how to use this frame die to create a birthday banner

and a mini-album
This frame holds the wallet photos that are sent home in school picture packages. How easy to cut out a quick frame, let your kids decorate it with markers, paint or crayons and then put it in an A-2 envelope and mail off to the grandparents! Major points…
Some exciting news coming soon, my friends! Get ready…

Duetica Glitter Monogram

I bought this frame a while ago at Ollie’s for $1.49. I loved the flower at the top and knew with a fresh coat of paint, a beautiful font, some glitter and a little elbow grease, this could really be something special.

You will need:
access to Duetica Lettering system
frame with glass
paint (Cloudless and White by Plaid)
Stickles (turquoise)
Copic markers
white paper
Sizzix Big Shot machine
Sizzix Textured Impression folder: Lace by Eileen Hull (coming in December!)
pearl embellishment- Queen and Co

Instructions:

  1. Paint frame and dry brush white on top for vintage look. Color carved flowers with Copic markers for accent. Add pearl to flower center.
  2. Run white paper with Textured Impression folder through Big Shot. Using an almost dry stencil brush, lightly highlight raised images with aqua paint.
  3. Go into Duetica Lettering site. If you have not been here before, take a minute to watch the quick tutorial that explains how the system works, then sign up and give it a try. So easy and cool!
  4. Select desired font (I used Mandolyn- my all time fave!). Scroll through capital letter you wish to use as a monogram.  Be mindful of the area you have available to work in. Letters with long swashes and high ascenders and decenders may not work for this project (although they are SOOOO pretty!)
  5. Import letter into your design program. I used Illustrator and created a template that was 4″ x 6 inches. I added a black border and arranged the letter to a size (270 points) and position that I found desirable.  Print on a piece of copy paper.
  6. Lay glass on top of letter, using 4″ x 6″ border to align.
  7. Take Stickles bottle and (with a steady hand- no diet Coke before this!) , start tracing over the letter allowing the glitter to follow the thick and thin of the letter. Put in an out of the way place and allow to dry.
  8. Assemble frame, glass and paper. Hang on the wall or set on your desk.

Other options for assembly might include backing frame with pretty fabric, vintage lace or table linens. Book page flowers might be added for a more dimensional effect on the top of the frame as well as ribbons or trim.

This “E” reminds me of how my Grandma Mamitsch used to write my name. She had such beautiful penmanship! I have a small leather notebook in her perfect copperplate hand where she wrote bird and butterfly names next to stamps with their pictures on them. She later gave it to me and I love looking through it. I think that’s where my appreciation of beautiful fonts and writing began.

Stay cool my friends! It’s going to be a hot weekend…

CHA report

I really did try to blog from CHA (at least a couple of nights) but it was hot and I was tired. End of blog attempts…

CHA was a great show! My new Sizzix line, “It’s a Wrap”, was released. Beth Reames of the fabulous Sizzix art department really rocked the samples and had people lined up to look at them. Go Beth! It’s funny- we had a meeting at the January show and she said she wanted to use purple and gold for this line. Honestly purple is not one of my favorite colors and I was less than enthusiastic about these selections but I trusted her and it’s a winner! I also had the opportunity to speak at the Sizzix rep meeting and let them in on some ScoreBoard tips and get to meet the folks who are out there selling my stuff.

Karen Burniston and I had a great time teaching our Super Duet workshop. Special thanks to Cheryl Mezzetti and Marah Johnson for rolling up their sleeves and showing our students how to work with the fabulous Luminarte paint by Creative Imaginations. Big thanks to designer friends Ann Butler and Lisa Rojas who helped man the Big Shot stations.

More later- have to get to FedEx…

Craft Critique

In other news, it’s Sizzix week over at Craft Critique! So far the reviews on the Vagabond and Big Shot have been amazing- really thorough and very positive. If you comment on one of the reviews, you could win an eclips or Big Shot! Go now! RUN!

Samples made, bags packed, refrigerator filled… I am headed out! We are driving from Virginia to Atlanta to see the Gift Mart, then on to Chicago for CHA, then home again. I am excited to see all my designer buddies, new products and total inspiration. I am sure I forgot something but it’s 3:45 AM and I can only hope it will come to me in a dream…

I am going to attempt to blog from the road. I know I always say that but now I have an iphone! Just could never bring myself to spend the $12.95 per night for internet. I wanted to do another CHA sneak peek but the camera is packed. Sorry folks. The bed is calling my name. Talk to you soon! Wish me luck 🙂

Melissa Samuels and Sneak Peek!!

The other night I was down in my studio making samples for CHA. I happened to notice a UStream event going on that looked interesting so I logged in. It was Melissa Samuels from the Art of Scrapbooking making a beautiful mini-album. 

After the class I contacted her about the possibility of her carrying some of my products in her shop. I sent her some samples so she could test them out. And voila! She has already come up with some CUTE projects using my Flower, Layers #9 from the Fresh Vintage collection. See what Melissa made!

Also I don’t know if she is sold out, but if you are in the Richmond area and are looking for a fun retreat to attend, she’s hosting The Art of Scrapbooking Luxury Retreat Getaway on July 15-17, 2011. Sounds amazing. Too bad I will be on the road to Chicago… CHA or bust!

Here’s a sneak peek from the workshop project that Karen Burniston and I are teaching for Sizzix.

Lots of textures and shimmers and all kinds of techniques. Can’t wait!

Categories:
CHA

Messy Studio Day

I am deep in preps for CHA today. Finishing up the samples of one of my new Sizzix PRO boxes that will be released at the show. Karen Burniston and I are teaching a workshop called Sizzix Super Duet Scoreboard & Pop-ups (sold out though- sorry) which is going to be lots of fun. We have come up with an amazing project because Karen is a genius and has all kinds of coolness popping out of this box. You can stop by the Sizzix booth to see a sample.

I am excited to be using Creative Imaginations Luminarte paint in our project as well as some fun papers by Cosmo Cricket. This is a shimmery rich paint that you can mix to match papers, fabrics, whatever you want. The paper collection we are using for the class is called “Odds ‘n Ends” and I LOVE the colors and designs. But there was no exactly matching shade of Luminarte so I used some of their fun new products- brushes, pipettes and salsa jars- and mixed myself up a batch of paint that is perfect. In the class, students will be encouraged to experiment with this also. I feel like a mad scientist in my lab-  drop of this, a drop of that, eye of newt, diet Coke…ah, success- love it!

Here’s a look at the mixing and matching…

Try it… you’ll like it! You might want to wear gloves unless you want pretty aqua hands 🙂

Designer Craft Connection Hop

Hi everyone and happy July! 

The day has finally arrived! All 30 designers who participated in the iLovetoCreate Beads in a Bottle challenge are posting their projects today. And I for one cannot WAIT to see what everyone has done with this fun product. 

I had never used anything like this before and am so glad that ILoveToCreate came up with it. After the paint dries, it really does look like those expensive adhesive half pearls and beads that come in a tiny little package. This bottle can make TONS of beads and you can make them as large or as small as you want them. They are recommended for fabric but I can tell you (because you always have to try…) that they work great on paper… and maybe a few other surfaces as well 🙂

For my project, I decided to make a headband for my 4 year old granddaughter Trinity. She came to visit last week and she was happy to model it. She loves her butterflies (last year she called them beautiflies…sigh). All the dies I used are part of my new Fresh Vintage collection by Sizzix.

You will need:

Tulip’s Beads in a Bottle– red, turquoise
Tulip® Glam-It-Up!™ Iron-On Crystals™
large and fine size netting
white canvas
headband
wire
green fabric scraps for leaves
felt for flowers
spray adhesive
Big Shot die cutting machine
Butterfly die
Leaves die
Flower, Layers #9 die

Instructions:

  1. Apply spray adhesive to two 6″ x 6″ pieces of netting. Lay netting adhesive side down on canvas squares.
  2. Lay both canvas squares on Butterfly die and roll through Big Shot machine. Layer fine netting in between canvas to give a little extra “poof” to the butterfly’s wings.
  3. Make sure that large netting is on top of the butterfly shape and use it as a grid to lay out the pattern for your paint design. I did several different arrangements. After they dried, I played around with which design would go on top and bottom of the butterfly.
  4. Cut several flower layers and punch a small hole in the center. Insert a brad or sew the layers together with a button and thread. Add random paint beads where desired.
  5. When paint beads are dry, add bling down the center of the butterfly’s body and on the flower.
  6. Arrange butterfly, flowers and leaves as desired and glue entire group together on a small scrap of felt. Add elastic to the arrangement so the it can be removed from the headband to switch out for another design.

 iLovetoCreate is having an awesome giveaway to celebrate-just look at all this stuff!


To find out how to enter to win, you need to get over to iLovetoCreate’s blog. Find out how to enter here.

 
Thanks for stopping by and make sure to hop around using the Designer Craft Connection button in the sidebar to see all of the other projects!

Designer Connection and iLovetoCreate partner up!

This coming Friday on July 1st, the Designer Crafts Connection Blog Hop is doing something special.  We have partnered with iLovetoCreate for July’s challenge! iLovetoCreate provided 30 designers from this group with Tulip’s Beads in a Bottle. We each used Beads in a Bottle to create a special project in our own style.

I can’t wait to see all of our completed projects on Friday, JULY 1ST, but if you want a sneak peek… here’s a YouTube Video preview.

And if that’s not enough… iLovetoCreate is having an awesome giveaway that some lucky winner will get their crafty hands on! Just check out this huge batch of goodies:


To find out how to enter to win, you need to get over to iLovetoCreate’s blog. Find out how to enter here!

That’s it for now….so get over to iLovetoCreate’s blog and then make sure you come back here on Friday to see all the amazing projects!

Vintage Flower Pin

Sorry to take a break in blogging- my granddaughter has been here for a visit and she took the front seat for a week!

I have a fun project to share. My Fresh Vintage Sizzix dies are finally here and I’ve been having such a great time making all kinds of cool flowers. Here’s a pin I made for a friend’s birthday. Once I made it, I realized I also needed a special way to present it and decided to make one in the style of a vintage button card.

I used a Duetica font called Tin Whistle to create the card. Duetica is a customizable font system where you are able to create unique lettering layouts. A year’s membership only costs $25- what a deal! They have some really fun fonts to pick from and I thought Tin Whistle was fun and had a hand written feel to it which went along with the handmade gift.

You will need:

Card:
access to Duetica Lettering System
Adobe software (Illustrator)
white cardstock
printer
matboard scrap in a coordinating color
Corner Rounder and Crop-a-dile- We R Memory Keepers
glue dots

Instructions:

  1. In Illustrator, lay out the project in the finished size you want so you can see how much room you have to work in. I chose a 4″ x 6″ layout.
  2. Go to the Duetica site and type in your text. Play with it until you have it just how you like it. Save it and import to your editing software.
  3. Create a shadowed affect for the title by layering one “fresh vintage” in brown, then copy it and change the color to white. Offset the white image and you have a title that really pops!
  4. After editing the project as desired, print on white cardstock.
  5. Cut a piece of matboard slightly larger than your artwork and round the corners. If desired, punch a hole for hanging or to add a ribbon for embellishment.
  6. Adhere card to matboard base.
  7. Add flower pin to card with glue dots.

Flower:
Sizzix Big Shot die cutting machine
Sizzix Flowers, Layers #9 die by Eileen Hull
brad
3 sheets of white tissue paper
Copic marker in desired accent color
Radiant Rain by Luminarte– Egyptian Gold
pinback
matboard scrap
small brad

Instructions:

  1. Fold all sheets of tissue paper in half and continue folding until your paper is about 6″ x 6″ and fits on the Sizzix die. Roll tissue paper through Big Shot with flower die.
  2. With the largest size flower, stack all pieces together in your hand. Run the marker along all of the flower edges and outline just the edge of the flowers.
  3. Punch a hole in the middle of all the flowers. Insert brad and close.
  4. Starting with the innermost flower, start scrunching one paper flower into the middle. Continue scrunching each flower one by one and drawing into the center of the flower. When all pieces are in the middle, spread them out and fluff! Beautiful!
  5. Add leaves made from scraps of ribbon and glue to back of flower.
  6. Add a matboard circle to the middle of the flower back. Glue pinback to circle. Attach to card.

Wasn’t this fun? Once you have your artwork laid out, it’s easy to change the message or colors up to coordinate for a special person or event.

For more ideas on ways to use fonts, check out the Duetica website under Inspiration and see the gallery of great projects created by the Duetica Design Team. Follow the Duetica blog to see what’s new and show us what you are working on at the Duetica Facebook page. We want to see!

Blown Glass Reveal

I wrote in a post a couple of weeks ago about my adventures in glass blowing at the New Orleans Glassworks and Printmaking Studio. Well, yesterday the box of my projects arrived! I was so excited to see how these pieces turned out since when I last saw them, they were still glowing red from the heat of the fire. As soon as they were done, they were whisked into the annealing oven to cool down slowly.

Are you ready? I will give you a little narrative since you may not be able to guess exactly what they are. 🙂 The piece below is a paperweight. And let me tell you, this thing is HEAVY.  I love the aqua blue glass embedded inside. Not sure about the green stripes but I think this was more of an exercise in how the different effects are achieved than making a “pretty” paperweight. Overall the shape was pretty good so that means my twisting and twirling was satisfactory.

Next we did the vase. This involved blowing glass gathered on the end of a long hollow stick until a bubble formed and caused a hollow in the middle. Then we pulled it out and shaped it into a bowl. I like the colors and ripply edge. And I know it’s not perfect but I still am amazed that I made that (at least a good portion of it).
Then it was time for this octopus. It is ever heavier that the paperweight. I am considering putting it on my bedside nighttable. Not sure I could lift it to hurl at intruders though.
If you angle it just the right way, it seems that there’s a little fish hiding in the water complete with eye and everything… Can you see it?
Now for the tough question. Which of these two do you think I did? No question about it, mine is the stumpy little one. I was too slow and let the glass cool down so when I went to pull the stem into the nice curlicue shape that Drake had done, that stuff would not move for anything!
So what, I’m still happy I did this class and urge you to step out of your comfort zone once in a while and give a new craft a spin! It’s inspiring…