Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

Mod Podge to the Rescue

I was at Office Depot last night buying labels and found the cutest thing. It’s a notepad in a plastic case and the pen is what holds it closed. It’s brilliant! I have a notebook in my purse now now but after a while it gets torn and messed up plus I have to search my bag for a pen because there’s no place on the notebook to hook a pen to… am I weird that this bothers me?
Anyway, I bought this little beauty for $1.99. Not feeling it’s too beautiful though…

So I decided to customize it with my logo and one of my favorite crafty products, Mod Podge!

It was so quick and easy- here’s how to do it:
You will need:
Mod Podge– I used the Glossy formula but any kind will work.
plastic object to work with
paper cut to size
brown ink for distressing
crystals for blinging (optional)
Instructions:
  1. Print out logo, image or desired text. (This would be cute with photos too, don’t you think?) Trim paper to fit the top of the box. (I cut mine just a tiny bit smaller)
  2. Ink edges of paper if you want a more distressed look. Once you start brushing the Mod Podge on though, this ink may move a little depending on what kind you used. I liked how mine turned out but you might want to seal the ink first with spray fixitive.
  3. Lay down a fairly thick coat of ModPodge on the top of the plastic case (following directions on bottle). I used a paintbrush to apply it because it was a small project but check to make sure there are no stray paintbrush hairs on your surface before it starts drying. Mine was shedding all over the place!
  4. Center and place paper image on top of box. Add another coat of Mod Podge on top of the paper. Let dry for 30 minutes or so. Layer on one or two more coats, allowing drying time in between.
  5. Add a crystal or two- this really makes the project! It can be glued or affixed with a heated tip tool.
  6. Hard to see in the photo but I also added a crystal to the end of the pen and colored it with a Copic marker to color coordinate! Love it!

This technique will work with any plastic container so feel free to start personalizing kid’s school items, household storage containers, craft totes, gift boxes, recycled Crystal Light containers or whatever you have around the house.

I am excited to have a personalized pen and pad right on hand and easy to grab when a creative inspiration hits me!

Designer Connection blog hop

Our theme for the Designer Connection June blog hop is “Patriotic”. And I can’t think of anyone more patriotic than military wives and moms!

To see more of the red white and blue, hop on over to my fellow designers’ blogs by clicking on the blue Designer Crafts Connection button on the sidebar. You will be taken around a fabulous hop. Make sure you find the blog with the great giveaway! Keep hopping 🙂

I started designing matted artwork about 20 years ago. Traditionally, in the army, a small gift (usually bearing some reference to the military or unit) is given to welcome a new spouse to the family support group. Items like this were hard to find so my good friend Kim and I started designing military wife pieces for this purpose and later expanded into baby items and everyday sayings, as well as creating custom farewell gifts, volunteer appreciation and other gifts for the commanders on post. I am happy to say these pieces continue to sell well for me on line, at craft shows and in military post gift shops and boutiques. I am happy to help support the units with donations to many worthy causes such as scholarships and organizations helping the military community. I loved our time in the military and am proud that our children have also chosen to serve.

This is a small sampling of some of the military wife specialty gifts I create and sell. If you are interested, see more on my website.

Happy Memorial Day!

Sending out a huge thank you to all who have served in the military. Having visited other countries, I sure appreciate living here and the freedoms we enjoy. The military life is not an easy one, but one I feel blessed to be part of because of all of the amazing people we met and still have as friends. You guys are my heroes (especially the one I married and two I gave birth to). Go Army and Coast Guard!

Here’s a Patriotic Banner I designed for the Buttons Galore and More blog. Hop on over to see how to make it.

Enjoy your day off. We’re celebrating with a cookout and some relaxing. It’s supposed to be 97 degrees… time for the AC.

A Glass Act

Just back from a trip to New Orleans… and boy is that place HOT! But also very cool. Because while I was there I took a class in glass blowing. This is something that always fascinated me but I never thought I’d have the opportunity to actually try it out. New Orleans Glassworks was right around the corner from our hotel so I went over to check it out and, after some deliberation, scheduled a two hour private class with a teacher. I was given a quick tour of the studio and advised to wear close toed shoes and sunglasses.

I arrived at 10 AM and it was already about 90 degrees. I met my instructor Drake. To be honest, he did most of the work… but I did pick the colors 🙂 The first thing we (he) did was use this long steel stick called a “punty” to gather the molten glass from the 2200 degree oven. (I’m sure you can understand why I was overjoyed that he took this job upon himself.) The punty always has to be twirling so that the melted glass doesn’t get off center and fall off. So that was lesson one… not too hard. Turns out I am a pretty good twirler. When you take it out of the oven, that’s when it’s the hottest so if you are going to add color, it happens then. I was allowed to pick from a bunch of Dixie cups holding crushed glass and larger chunks in all different colors. We rolled the hot glass in the “sprinkles” of color (all the while twirling away) and then shaped it into a smooth round knob using a cherry wood “block” which looked something like a ladle with one side off. The block had to be wet often so that the glass didn’t burn it- you could see sparks starting if it got dry.  After that was formed, another gather of glass was added on top of the first one. In order to keep the glass hot, there was another oven called the “Glory Hole” where you would “flash” the glass to heat it back to a workable temperature.

The first project I made was a paperweight which I think came out pretty cool. I never really got to see it because once you finish the piece, it has to go right into another oven where it is annealed. This oven slowly brings the temperature, starting at 900 degrees over a period of hours, down to room temp. If it is cooled too quickly, the glass will crack and be ruined.

The second piece we did started as a vase but kind of morphed into more of a bowl and actually involved blowing glass. I think I was most nervous of this and thought somehow I might inhale scorching air into my lungs and die. But luckily, it really was not possible to do that. I was surprised- the first bit of blowing took the most effort because the glass was relatively thick but once it thinned out, less pressure was required and it got easier.

I was especially interested in how the piece came off the punty. One of the last things you do when finishing a pieces is to take calipers (which look something like a large pair of tweezers) and score a line (twirling twirling) where you want to cut off your glass. Then you simply dip the calipers in water and press the point of them into the thinner (and weaker) scored area in 6-8 spots around the base of the piece. It is then placed it in the annealing oven over one of the shelves and given a couple of sharp whacks and off it falls! Then the oven door is quickly closed so the heat stays in.

Drake was drenched by the time we were finished and I was not much dryer even though I was not near the ovens half as much as he was. This NY girl was ready for a Big Gulp! I was very happy to hop on the streetcar after class and and cool down.

I am so glad I took this class. I now have some idea of the things that can be done with glass. I appreciate the talent and dedication of glass artists and would love to do more but it really takes some major equipment so doubt I’ll be switching careers. Also it’s just too hot for me. But I love it and can’t wait to see my five little glass babies when they arrive in the mail after they have safely cooled down. I encourage you to think about taking a class here and there- it’s super inspiring!

My trip to the National Stationery Show

Home at last! The past week has been a blur as we traveled to Longwood University to see our youngest daughter graduate from college on Saturday. Then it was a long dark rainy drive to NY to bring my parents back home and an early morning wake up call Monday morning to catch the train in to “The City”, as we referred to it growing up. Come on- is there really any other?

We arrived at the show right as it opened. I saw and talked to a LOT of people, one of them being Tim Holtz, fellow Sizzix designer and all-around cool dude, who graciously agreed to talk about his new product line in a video clip. I’ll be sharing this on a Craft Critique post so I’ll let you know when that’s going up. I also got to visit with Ken Oliver from UniBind– one of the most entertaining and talented designers I know. Stay tuned for more looks at what’s hot!

Duetica Design Team

I mentioned a while ago that I was working with a new company called Duetica. Well, today is the first posting of the Duetica Design Team! I am so excited to see what everyone has come up with and hope you can check out all of the fun projects. Here are links to the other team members:

Becky Conley
Candice Windham
Christy Monge
Eileen Hull
Kathy Peterson
Kristie Taylor
Niki Meiners
Rebecca Lynn
Suzanne Sergi
Veronica Goff

Duetica, a cool new on-line lettering art studio, gives you lots of options for customizing your text. Using the lettering system, you are able to view a bunch of different options for each letter and select the exact version you want so that your finished piece looks hand written. I used one of my favorite fonts for the wedding invitations and stationery pieces- the graceful Mandolyn. I printed the bride and groom’s names larger and in a different color so they really stand out and then used an everyday font for the rest of the information. I don’t like to mix more than two or three fonts on one page as I feel it can be distracting. Thank you cards, favors and the program were also created using this combination of fonts and colors to keep the suite consistent.

 

Is anyone else around here a font geek? It’s sometimes hard to find an alphabet where you like every letter or symbol. With Duetica’s many font options, I was able to select my favorite ampersand! I enlarged it and reduced the opacity. It serves as a cool background and also draws attention to the two names and ties them together. There are so many subtle ways that fonts add impact to our artwork.

Here is a small favor tin using two capital Mandolyn “J”s- (one is reversed and together the J’s form the base of the cakestand). It’s so much fun to see what kinds of word art you can make using fonts!

The CD favor that everyone got was composed of songs that were played for the first dance at the weddings of their parents and grandparents, friends that have gotten married and songs that were special to them. We cut the envelopes from 8 ½ x 11 cardstock, scored them to size, embossed the envelope flap, slipped the CD in and added a label with song list.

Jess and I both saw these hearts in a Martha Stewart Wedding magazine and commented on how cute they were. She decided she wanted to use them as her seating cards. Here’s how to make them: (thanks Martha!)

 

You will need:

Cardstock- we used 5 shades of blue
Silver and black fine tip markers
Die cut or heart shape punch (I used my Sizzix eclips machine)
Glue pen or thin double sided tape
Scissors

Instructions:

  1. Cut as many hearts as you need and some extra to allow for mistakes. The size we went with was about 2 ¾” across.
  2. Cut a slit from the bottom point up toward the middle of the heart
  3. Cross one piece of the split heart over to the other side. Adhere in place. Trim unwanted sides off so heart shape is clean. Remember to make it large enough to accommodate your guests’ names in a readable size. The surface of the heart is tricky to write on as it is 3D but just keep it flat as you write.

A vintage window with decoupaged book pages served as a seating chart display. We ran 3 lines of double stick tape with my handy dandy 3M ATG gun down each pane, then stuck the hearts on in alphabetical order, so it would be easy for the guests to find their names. Many thanks to my niece Katrina, who made this look so pretty. The flowers were made from my new Sizzix Fresh Vintage dies using crepe paper, tissue paper and some foil.

A birdcage that I had found years ago in a thrift store was called into service to house the cards given to the newlyweds. Originally a natural wood, it was spray painted white and topped with a blue and white bow. I cut some of the bamboo spokes off the top of it to allow a slot for the cards to be dropped in.

I have been collecting silver plate for quite a while and had a good number of silver bowls on hand. We decided to fill these with hydrangeas and other spring flowers for the centerpieces.

Here’s me with my son Chris right before we walked up the aisle 🙂

And here’s the happy couple heading into the reception. Love her blue shoes. What a fun day it was…

Happy Birthday magazine

Just a quick post to let you know that Amy Powers’ Happy Birthday magazine is published and available for download. I am totally impressed by her talent. She put a 245 page idea book together in just a two months and every turn of the page is a delight! I saw her previous “Spring” issue on Facebook and thought it sounded cool so I followed the link, paid my $3.30 and downloaded it. What a treat- talk about eye candy!

Loved the look of it so much, I decided to see if I could submit something for her next issue and contacted Amy. In the course of our conversation, I discovered that she actually lives right down the road from me! We are going to get together at some point and meet in person.

I promise you will not regret getting this magazine- it is so worth it! Follow the link above and let me know what you think… And don’t forget to check out pp. 186-191- you might know that designer 🙂 What is your favorite project? What was your favorite birthday memory? 

Floral Trinket Box

I am so excited to be working with Oh My Crafts, a huge on-line scrapbook and craft supply store! They carry my dies and asked if I would do a UStream video for them demo-ing one of my dies. I happily agreed so went on and did a show. However, I neglected to push the record button :-(. Since I did not want to have cleaned the studio for nothing, I did an encore performance. You can see it on the Oh My Crafts UStream channel. They have 4-5 shows every week highlighting products that they sell. These mini-classes are a great way to find out different uses for all of the amazing supplies, tools and gadgets out there. I like to turn a tutorial on and watch or even just listen to it as I am puttering around in my studio.

Here’s how to make the box.

You will need:

Big Shot
Sizzix ScoreBoard Box w/Lid die
Little Sizzles
Textured Impression folder
Zip Dry Paper Glue
spray adhesive
heavy duty tin foil
rubber bands

Instructions:

  1. Cut matboard in half so you have two 6″ x 12″ pieces. Cut a piece of foil about 6″ x 12″. Coat the back of the foil with spray adhesive and place it on a piece of matboard. Smooth foil flat on board. With foil side facing down, place matboard piece on die and run through Big Shot.
  2. You will now have a box and lid cut out. Bend at each fold to break the fibers down and ensure a crisp score. Place the box bottom (larger piece) in a Textured Impressions folder, leaving one side of the box out of the folder. Run through Big Shot. Repeat for remaining side and lid of box.
  3. Randomly sprinkle drops of alcohol ink over the boxes. More ink will result in darker colors and less ink will have almost a watercolor effect. Completely cover box by swirling and blending ink with small paint brush. Let dry for about 5 minutes.
  4. Fold up box and lid. Wrap rubber bands around the boxes to hold them together. Run lines of Zip-Dry Glue down the inside four corners. Let dry for about 5 minutes.
  5. Your box is complete!

OPTION: A hinged lid may be added by punching two 1/16″ holes on one flap of the lid. Glue the opposite corners together, leaving the joins near the brad holes glueless.

I’ll be back with another tutorial on how to assemble the Fresh Vintage flower die.

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful Moms out there, including my own!

Mother’s Day Teacup

Today is a hop with my Designer Connection friends! See the blue logo on the sidebar?  Click on it (back or forward) and you will be taken around the webring of blogs of participating designers. Those taking part in this hop have been busy creating their latest and greatest so you won’t want to miss this. All of the projects posted today celebrate this busy time of year, so you will get lots of inspiration. I’m going to try to get this gift for Mom in the mail tomorrow (she will be in shock if she sees a package from me before the actual event!).

Does your mom enjoy a nice cup of tea? Mine is more of a coffee drinker, but on occasion, she will get the teakettle going. This project was made using my Sizzix ScoreBoard Teacup die. This would be great to give this to your mom loaded up with teabags, small gifts, jewelry, or a gift card to the spa. 

Here’s a quick peek. It’s still a surprise so don’t tell :-). Later this week I will post instructions and share some of the cool techniques (like how to make that fun flower and glittery stem). Thanks for dropping by and hope you will check out the Designer Connection!

Flower Artist Susan Tierney Cockburn

While I was at CHA in January, I had the pleasure of meeting the amazingly talented Susan Tierney Cockburn. She came to my booth and showed me some of the most unbelievable projects that she had made using my ScoreBoard dies. She has graciously allowed me to share some of them with you. Susan’s specialty is making paper flowers- some are so TINY and so PERFECT!  

I especially love the project she calls Kelly’s Garden, made in honor of her daughter who passed away from cancer. So many times, the joy of working with my hands has helped me through tough times and I know that Susan has found comfort there as well. This project is beautiful on many levels and I am so honored that Susan would use my House die as a base for such a special art piece. Look at all of these miniature flowers all made by hand! Wow…

Her book, Paper Bouquet, is filled with detailed examples of her work. Why not order one for Mom as a Mother’s Day gift?

Paper Bouquet

Here’s Susan’s version of a ScoreBoard Box die using the Create-A-Bow to top it off with one of her signature flowers inside. Love this!

I am going to post another set of Susan’s projects which she made using my Cake die. I will be holding a giveaway which you will automatically be entered into if you vote for your favorite cake!
Speaking of cake, you should definitely check out Susan’s blog, My Mother’s Apron Strings, where she posts mouth watering desserts and other tasty treats almost every day. How she makes all this and remains skinny is a mystery to me.
Thanks for stopping by!