Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

Noodle Contest!

Remember I told you a couple of weeks ago about getting the yummy bag of free food from the soon-to-open Noodles & Company? Well, I was contacted by the Noodles social media person, and she came up with a challenge for all of you, my crafty friends! OK- who out there has some cute noodle crafts?  This can include projects made by you or anyone in your family. I do have some but that bin has not yet been unearthed. Here is a quick gift card holder I made from a tag with some fun pasta I picked up at World Bazaar (I think).
I embossed the top part of the tag with Tim Holtz’s Snow Flurries Textured Fade, scored about 1 1/2″ from the bottom and folded the bottom up. I stapled the sides and tied a bow at the top. I sprayed the snowflake pasta NOODLE piece with Glimmer Mist and spray adhesive then added glitter. And that’s it! Looks so rich but really quick. I love those kinds of projects, especially at this time of year.
One of you can receive a $10 gift card for your local Noodles & Company restaurant! Post a pic on Facebook or your blog of your favorite ornaments/holiday crafts made with noodles, then comment here with your link. I’ll let you know Thursday night who won!

Triple Play Blog Hop- Week 7: Treat Toppers

Welcome to our last round of the Triple Play Blog Hop! At this time I personally want to thank all of you, designers and readers, for hopping along with us on our 7 week journey. It has been totally amazing to see the beautiful and creative projects that everyone shared and I hope they have inspired you to try out some of the techniques and ideas presented for inspiration!
And on to the project for this week- the ScoreBoard Treat Toppers die. The holidays is a great time to use these toppers to wrap half a dozen cookies for yet another cookie exchange, for jewelry and small gift presentations, handmade crafts or candy and other baked goods… you see where I am going here- lots of possibilities. The die is loaded with pieces that all work together so it’s a great value that you will use over and over again. Although this die is designed to work with matboard, you can easily run through paper as well and just fold in half! This is a great way to use up your paper scraps and make adorable packaging.

I used Stephanie Barnard’s stamps on this project and loved how they fit so perfectly on the different pieces. It was as though they were made for this die! Thanks Stephanie- I know you planned it that way! And I don’t know about you, but I love to color. The stamps lent themselves to some fun coloring with Copic markers and these I owe to Colleen Schaan, the Copic Queen, and another one of our blog hoppers!

You will need:
Big Shot die cutting machine
Treat Toppers ScoreBoard die by Eileen Hull
Little Sizzles matboard pack 6″ x 13″
Notebook Pocket ScoreBoard die by Eileen Hull
House ScoreBoard Pro die by Eileen Hull
Holly4Christmas set #14- Stamps of Life by Stephanie Barnard
Memento stamp pad- black
Copic Markers– assorted reds, greens and grays
silver marker
silver stamp pad
paper
coordinating glitter paper
silver glitter
glue pen
Tiny Attacher

Instructions for Toppers:

  1. Cut Treat Topper die from cream matboard piece with Big Shot. 
  2. Stamp messages on scored pieces of the die with black Memento ink.
  3. Color images with Copic markers shading as you go to give depth to the text or design.
  4. Add embellishments, such as bells and ribbons to complete design.
  5. Package gift items in clear cellophane bags.
  6. Staple or tape bags together.
  7. Add toppers by taping, tying with ribbons or stapling sides together.

HINT: Tim Holtz’s Tiny Attacher works great for stapling layers together.

For gift card holder:

  1. Cut red matboard piece 9″ x 4″. Score at 4″ on red side. Fold up.
  2. Cut a piece of coordinating paper the same size and adhere it to the white side of the matboard.
  3. Cut a pocket from paper to hold gift card and adhere to inside of folder. 
  4. Cut/punch various embellishment dies to coordinate. (I used MS snowflakes, bird, EK Success tree, 2 circles for snowman, and Plaid white HD paint for snow along with some stickles to add sparkle)
  5. Cut front bumpout section for the House die and use as front porch and door. Add strips cut from glitter paper for roof and add faux snow.
  6. Add bells on jump ring tied to ribbon on top of roof.


For bag of spices:

  1. Stamp topper and color in with Copics.
  2. Use double sided tape to adhere front and back of topper to cellophane bag.
  3. Thread ribbon through slits and tie on corner.
  4. Cover oval die cut with paper.
  5. Layer smaller scalloped oval piece on top and label contents. Ink edges.
  6. Adhere to outside of bag.


For bag of bells:

  1. Stamp topper and color with Copics.
  2. Run double sided tape on front and back inside of topper.
  3. Cut about 10 inches of ribbon and lay on fold inside.
  4. Center and press toppers closed into place on top of bag.
  5. Tie ribbon in middle and hang from tree!


But wait, there’s MORE… I have saved the best news for last! Karen, Brenda and I have so much fun on this hop, we have decided to keep it going by launching our own Triple Play blog! Here you will find new projects, guest bloggers, tips and techniques for using our dies along with some great videos, color hints and some sneak peeks here and there of upcoming releases!  Keep the inspiration going- stop by and leave us a comment or two and check back frequently for new posts. We are also on Facebook– please “like” us and let us know what you thought of the hop. 🙂 We would love to see any pics of projects you have created using our products so send them on in or post them on our FB page.

Thanks so much, my friends. It has been a blast. Warm wishes for a wonderful holiday season to all of you!

Triple Play Bog Hop- Week 6: Album Ornament

Thanks for hopping by today! Today’s featured die is the Mini Album by Brenda Pinnick. We received a fun bag full of die cut pieces to work with. I used mine to trace the shapes and transfer to double sided cardstock. But I have beautiful teal felt shapes for another project. And this die is added to my wish list! You could use this classic shape for many different projects. To get in the Christmas spirit, I decided to make a 3D ornament from this die cut. I will add more pics later…

After cutting all of the pieces by hand I can honestly tell you that die cut machines and dies are worth every cent spent on them!

You will need:
Big Shot die cut machine
Mini Album die by Brenda Pinnick
Textured Impressions folder- Damask
3 pieces of coordinating paper- I used some yummy ones from My Mind’s Eye and October Afternoon
glitter
glue
silver twisted wire
16 gauge aqua wire
double sided tape

Instructions:

  1. Die cut 2 solid and 2 patterned pieces from the largest die. 
  2. Cut 2 solid, and 2 each of three other patterned pieces for a total of eight.
  3. Score or fold down the middle of each shape. NOTE: pieces are not exactly symetrical.
  4. Run all solid paper pieces through Big Shot using the Damask Textured Impressions folder. 
  5. Alternating colors and patterns, fold all papers on the diagonal and score for a crisp fold. 
  6. Add a small line of double sided tape to the back fold of each card and butt up against each other in a circle, pushing the centers together. You could also glue the spine together.
  7. Run a line of glue around the outside of the solid paper pieces and sprinkle with silver glitter.
  8. For hanger, bend a piece of silver wire about 18 inches and twine it around the large gauge wire to add color and depth. Twist into a spiral shape at the top and bottom. Bend piece into hanger shape.
  9. Run another piece of silver wire through the holes at top of card. Knot and curl ends of wire.
  10. Hang on your tree!
  11. I can see I need to print photos- wouldn’t they be adorable set in the fold of the die? A photo each year of the child’s school picture could be glued into the center of each small album piece.

What would you do with this die?

For more ideas, hop along to the next designer on the list by clicking on the Triple Play icon either forward or back. To return to Sizzix, click on the middle button.

Thanks so much for joining us today. Hope to see you next week for the last installment of the hop. We’ll be working with the Treat Topper die by yours truly 🙂

I love Noodles & Company!

So last night when my husband got home from work, I asked the usual, “What would you like for dinner?” (note- this does not mean he will GET it, my asking is merely an acknowledgement that at some point there will BE dinner). My favorite nights are when he says (as he did last night) “China King”. I have been doing some serious cleaning out/rearranging of my studio for the past few days,so was quite happy to get out of here for a nice meal. So we set off for China King….

As we pulled in to the parking lot we noticed that there was a new Noodles and Company. It’s a chain but not sure if it’s just in the local area or what. You can probably imagine the menu selection- every ethnic noodle you can think of. So we decided to go there instead. We walked in and noticed that everyone in the place had the same thing on. No one was sitting down eating either. I asked the nearest black shirted employee if we could have dinner there and she said no, that they weren’t open officially till next Thursday but if we were interested she would be happy to give us a nice hot bag of food! Apparently it was a carry-out training session so they had a supply of food and no one to eat it. We happily took the food and thanked them. As we were leaving, they came running out with dessert! Rice Krispy treats and 2 giant cookies. What a fun thing! We sat out in the car and ate this tasty meal of tomato soup (you have to try this!) and Thai chicken and noodles.

Wouldn’t it be nice if more people did stuff like this? Speaking of giving stuff away, St@rlight is the winner of the Texture Boutique machine donated by Sizzix for commenting on the last blog hop. Congrats- please email me with your mailing addy- EileenHull@aol.com.

Triple Play Blog Hop: Week 5- Gift Card Holder

Hello my friends! Thanks for stopping by for another installment of our Sizzix blog hop. Today, the featured die is the Gift Card Holder w/Phrase, For You 3-D (Pop-Up) by the amazing Karen Burniston. I can see so many possibilities for this die and it went together really quickly after I watched Karen’s video tutorial. 

I decided to start my Christmas crafting early (for me) and make a fun gift for my granddaughter Trinity. She is four and loves books. Rudolph was one of my favorite holiday stories- in fact, I am sure we had a version of this Golden Book because I remember these illustrations! It’s a classic. When she comes at Christmas, I plan to read it with her and have one of the kids film us so she remembers the visit. It kills me that they live so far away and I don’t see her nearly as much as I would like.

You may be wondering what all this has to do with the gift card holder… Well, when you open the book, there’s a pop-up gift card attached to the cover!

You will need:

Pop Up die Gift Card Holder #656740 
Big Shot die cut machine
Styled Labels die by Tim Holtz
3 coordinating papers- eskimo kisses by BasicGrey
strong double sided adhesive
glue
crystal glitter
craft knife
lace and embellishments
thin magnets (2)
brown flocking- Doodlebug

Instructions for book cover:

  1. Paint white glue over the brown areas of Rudolph’s body. Sprinkle on brown flocking. Let dry.
  2. Add red Stickles to Rudolph’s nose. I did two coats so his nose really glowed 🙂
  3. Add other embellishments if desired.

Instructions for card:

  1. Measure the inside cover of the book. Cut a piece of paper to size and adhere paper to book cover.
  2. Cut a another piece of cardstock at least the size of an A-2 card. This one juuuust fits inside the book- it’s a tight squeeze allowing for the pop-up action but it works!
  3. The card opens backwards from a regular card so make sure to factor that in as you work.
  4. Die cut gift card pieces and assemble as shown in instructions. I decided to add my own twist and cut out Trinity’s name. It’s not really a pop-up but is probably the closest I will ever get to one 🙂 Added glue to the frame around the edge and Trinity’s name and then covered them with crystal glitter for a little sparkle. 
  5. Glue a magnet to the top of the book and one to the back cover of the card so it stays closed when book is opened. Cover magnets with design elements.
  6. When you have the card positioned as you like, adhere in place with strong adhesive. 
  7. Die cut Styled Labels from white paper and stamp/write message. Adhere to lower section of the book cover.
  8. Embellish the front of the card as desired.

I tried to keep the layers to a minimum because I was concerned that it would bulge.

In case this is your first time hopping with us, here’s how it works. Wherever you see the Triple Play logo, click on “hop ahead” or “hop back” to bring you to the next designers’ blog where there will be another cool project waiting. At any point if you want to return to the Sizzix blog you can hit the center “Sizzix” button or just click on the logo. So easy and so fun! There are more than 50 fabulous designers participating so make sure to see them all. Talk about inspiration…wow. See you next week with Brenda Pinnick’s mini album die.

Triple Play Blog Hop #4: Frame and Frame Back (permalinks)

In case you were not able to stop by on Thanksgiving Day to see all of the great projects posted on our fourth edition of the Triple Play Blog Hop, here’s a permanent link to all of the projects!

Amy Anderson
Ann Butler
Beth Watson
Bonnie Bruns
Brenda Pinnick
Candice Windham
Carla Schauer
Carol Heppner
Cathleen Smith
Cherish Flieder
Cheryl Miyashiro
Cindi Bisson
Cindy Rippe
Colleen Schaan
Debra Quartermain
Denise Clason
Dina Wakley
Eileen Hull
Einat Kessler
Erin Madsen
Gretchen Schmidt
Jane Dean
Jen Goode
Jenn Ellefson
Julie McGuffee
Julie Fei-Fan Balzer
Karen Burniston
Kathy Cano-Murillo
Kathy Peterson
Ken Oliver
Keri Lee Sereika
Laura Bray
Linda Peterson
Lisa Rojas
Lolly Chessie
Lorine Mason
Madeline Arendt
Meggan Maravich
Lynda Kanase
Melony Bradley
Michelle Cummings
Niki Meiners
Phyllis Dobbs
Roann Mathias
Roxi Phillips
Sandy Laipply
Stefanie Girard
Stephanie Barnard
Tara Noel
Terry Ricioli
Theresa Cifali
Tiffany Windsor
Veronica Goff
Vicki O’Dell

Triple Play Blog Hop #1: House (permalinks)

Hop along and see what sixty amazing designers created using the Sizzix ScoreBoard Pro, House, 3D die. This hop originally posted on the Sizzix blog on November 4. Have fun!

Amy Anderson
Ann Butler
Beth Watson
Bonnie Bruns
Brenda Pinnick
Candice Windham
Carla Schauer
Carol Heppner
Cathleen Smith
Cherish Flieder
Cheryl Miyashiro
Cindi Bisson
Cindy Rippe
Colleen Schaan
Debra Quartermain
Denise Clason
Dina Wakley
Eileen Hull
Einat Kessler
Erin Madsen
Gretchen Schmidt
Jane Dean
Jen Goode
Jenn Ellefson
Jennifer McGuire
Julie McGuffee
Julie Fei-Fan Balzer
Karen Burniston
Kathy Cano-Murillo
Kathy Peterson
Katie Hacker
Ken Oliver
Keri Lee Sereika
Laura Bray
Linda Peterson
Lisa Rojas
Lolly Chessie
Lorine Mason
Madeline Arendt
Meggan Maravich
Lynda Kanase
Melony Bradley
Michelle Cummings
Niki Meiners
Phyllis Dobbs
Roann Mathias
Roxi Phillips
Sandy Laipply
Stephanie Barnard
Stefanie Girard
Tara Noel
Terry Ricioli
Theresa Cifali
Tiffany Windsor
Veronica Goff
Vicki O’Dell

Triple Play Blog Hop: Week 4- Thanksgiving Table Decor

On behalf of Karen, Brenda and myself, I want to wish you all a blessed holiday. Designers, we are so thankful for the chance to get to know you and appreciate all of your hard work and wonderful projects. To our viewers, your comments and feedback have been so positive thoughout this hop- thanks for supporting what we do! Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you have a little time to relax after the turkey and pie and enjoy these fabulous projects that our guest designers have cooked up for you! It’s the Triple Play Blog Hop Thanksgiving Edition 🙂 The featured die this week is the ScoreBoard Pro die: Frame & Frame Back w/Stand by Eileen Hull.


There are so many ways to go with this die. The frames nest inside each other so there are LOTS of them! You can layer them or use separately, making this die a great value. Each of the designers received a set of pieces to construct a frame. The decoration was completely up to them. Take a spin through the blogs to see amazingly clever ideas for using this versatile frame die.

I decided to do a Thanksgiving project. Unfortunately, this holiday seems to get lost sometimes, but it’s one of my favorites. I decided to add a burst of teal to the traditional autumn colors. Not only teal, but teal GLITTER! Yummy…

You will need:
Sizzix eclips
Seasonal eclips cartridge
Big Shot Pro die cut machine
Frame & Frame Back w/Stand by Eileen Hull Pro die
autumn colored papers
glitter cardstock
wired ribbon
rickrack
foamboard
double stick tape
glue dots
spray adhesive
gold Stickles
buttons and embellishments

NOTE: If you would like to cover the matboard piece with paper, coat the back of the paper with spray adhesive and place on matboard, then run through die cut machine. The pressure of the machine will ensure that the paper will stick well to the matboard and cut all pieces exactly the same size.

Instructions for “Give Thanks”:

  1. Use eclips machine to cut “Give Thanks” sentiment from brown.
  2. Adhere patterned paper to matboard and then die cut for the back support piece. Cut frame and flowers from aqua glitter chipboard. Add 1/2″ strips of scrap foamboard under the scalloped frame as spacers to give the project dimension.
  3. Make a ribbon rose by gathering both ends of one side of wire. Wind the ribbon in a spiral around the middle piece, speading it more open as you go. Secure the last section with a glue dot or glue gun under the rose.
  4. Add other embellishments and papers as desired.
  5. Secure easel stand to back of frame with strong double sided tape.



Coaster and Wine Glass charm:

  1. Cover the 4″ piece that the flowers are punched from with patterned paper (see directions above). Normally, this piece is just thrown away. But if you cover it with paper you can make a coaster! Or a set of them…
  2. Add gold Stickles dots around the border of the coaster.
  3. If desired, add a smaller piece of cork to the bottom of the matboard.
  4. With a piece of 16 gauge colored wire, twist into a spiral and start wrapping around the stem of the glass. Add glitter flower and continue twisting wire. Make another spiral at the end.

Placecard:

  1. Cut postage stamp frame from patterned paper covered matboard and smaller square from mat scraps. Cut an easel back piece, trimming down top to accommodate smaller size.
  2. Cover front of mat scrap with brown paper and center as desired inside frame. Write name on placecard.
  3. Add flower, leaves and mini rickrack to embellish.

 

Ready to check out the rest of the projects created with the frame die? Wherever you see the Triple Play logo, click on “hop ahead” or “hop back” to bring you to the next designers’ blog where there will be another cool project waiting. At any point if you want to return to the Sizzix blog you can hit the center “Sizzix” button or just click on the logo.
Have a relaxing turkey day! Thanks for hopping by 🙂
Leave a comment below and you could win a Sizzix Textured Boutique embossing machine! You have until next Wednesday- what would you use this die for?

Triple Play Blog Hop #3: Beauty Bloom Cupcake

Welcome to the third edition of the Sizzix Triple Play Blog Hop! And Happy Birthday to my friend Tiffany! Here’s a little cupcake for you along with wishes for a wonderful year…

This week we are working with Brenda Pinnick’s extremely versatile Beauty Bloom die. Many thoughts went through my mind for ways to use it. But I wound up using it as a cupcake topper. I need to get this die.

You will need:
Sizzix Originals Die – Flower, Beauty Bloom
Sizzix ScoreBoards XL Die – Cupcake Holder, Ruffle
Big Shot
1 yard of ribbon
2 1/2″ STYROFOAM ball
straight pins
U-pin
Plaid Folk Art paint
brush
Sakura permanent marker
16 gauge wire
stem of millinery flowers
birthday stamp, ink and paper

Instructions:

  1. Die-cut and assemble cupcake die, cutting off one section to accomodate Styrofoam ball.
  2. Starting in the center, wrap ribbon around ball, twisting it as you go. Hold in place by inserting straight pins and cover while wrapping.
  3. Outline edges of petals with black marker. Paint in desired colors.
  4. Punch a hole in the middle of the petals, layer and insert small millinery flower stem in center.
  5. Anchor flower to top of cupcake with U-pin.
  6. Stamp birthday message on paper, trim to tag shape and punch hole at the top.
  7. Shape wire into a spiral by wrapping around a vase or glass. Coil the end of the wire.
  8. Add stamped image to wire and stick in top of cupcake.
Don’t forget to hop around to see all of the cool projects from the other designers on this hop. They are so clever! Apparently lots of people envisioned duck feet from the petals… not sure how I missed that!

Please join us next week- we designers never rest, even on Thanksgiving! Happy Turkey Day to all…

Great weekend

Just thought I would post a few photos of the Barn Sale this past weekend. The weather was perfect! Sunny for both days and sweatshirt weather. The crafts were spectacular and we had lots of compliments on the set up. There were new friends from the Hive that came to say hi like Susan Pohedra (who happened to see the article about the Barn Sale on the Hive and lives only 3 miles from me!), Elizabeth and her husband Bill (the cameraman) Taylor, and knitter Margaret and Dave Nock. Barn artisans Tiffany Windsor of Cool2Craft, Jenn Ellefson and Lorine Mason were already here so we had a great visit and got some fun pics outside.

The sale was a great success. I am so grateful to our loyal customers for stopping by with their bags of food for the Thanksgiving collection and shopping lists in hand! And the Barn Sale would never happen without the amazing crafts and sales support from the wonderful vendors who are part of the show. Thanks to you all! Hope you are ready for next year. I have all kinds of ideas to make the Tenth Annual Barn Sale an extravaganza… stay tuned!