Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

Sizzix ScoreBoards Blog Hop #4

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am so grateful for the fabulous designers who took the time to come up with this special project for you so close to the holiday! I am truly thankful for their friendship and willingness to share their talents.

Tonight I had a fun time over at Angela’s Happy Stamper in Reston. I taught a class using the ScoreBoard dies. I invited them to stop by the Blog Hop and also to join the Sizzix fan page where you can see the latest new products, coupons and great ideas. Also, a new feature will be added soon to the Sizzix.com site and someone you know might be participating! 🙂

OK, getting down to business, the featured die this week is the Notebook Pocket. There are so many uses for this die- it’s inspiring to see all the different ways the designers have created with it!

I decided to emboss the matboard. Now, embossed matboard is actually available for purchase BUT the price is steep. For the little time spent experimenting with this technique, it was well worth my while considering the rich textured effect that resulted.

First I laid the embossing folder sideways over a piece of white matboard and the die, roughly estimating where the folds would lie, and marked these areas lightly in pencil. Then I sandwiched the matboard inside a Sizzix embossing folder where I wanted the design to appear and rolled the die through. Some adjusting of the plates are needed to get the deeply etched effect but I think the finished product is very elegant. I added a ribbon where the pattern stops- bought at the Offray outlet up in Hagerstown, MD a few weeks ago- and what a fun road trip that was… (A big old bag of this wide green ribbon was in the clearance section for a dollar! Love it!)

Then I just had to make a card to put IN the pocket! The card base is a soft green and I used the Sizzix cake folder to emboss the design onto a small scrap of matboard which I trimmed, then bumped up from the card and accented with white ribbon.

I think this set has the look of fine letterpress. And it was done for pennies using the Sizzix embossing folders! OK, time for someone to get married- I can’t wait to give this!

Where Creativity Knocks designer Cindi Bisson sent me this cool project. That would be a fun item to have on the dinner table to get positive conversations going. Or considering what day it is, this could be a great favor for your Thanksgiving dinner too. Lay at everyone’s place with “Why I am grateful for you…” written on the front with their name… so special, such a nice thought. Thanks Cindi!

Now grab your beverage of choice and get comfy. Check out the other outrageously creative projects the ScoreBoards designers have come up with for you!

Jennifer Ellefson
Candice Windham
Denise Clason
Ann Butler
Fabrizio Martellucci
Korie B
Barbara Matthiessen
Brenda Pinnick
Karen Burniston
Bonnie Bruns

And thanks to all of you for visiting. Please stop back on December 9 to see what we do with the business card holder (which also fits gift cards!). Now on to the business of turkey eating!

Sizzix ScoreBoard Blog Hop #3


Welcome to our third Blog Hop! The featured project today is the checkbook holder. Of course there are many other uses for this die which I’m pretty sure you will see as you visit each designer’s blog.

And here’s a more little background on some of our Blog Hop designers. I am happy to welcome back my good friend, reluctant blogger and partner in crime, Lorine Mason. Lorine is a fabric artist and has authored many books. Denise Clason joined us last week with her cool pin cushion cupcake project- Denise has also written several beautiful quilting and sewing books. From across the pond, I am happy to welcome Fabrizio Martellucci. He is a designer in London and loves working with anything Brenda Pinnick designs! We met in the Inspired at Home chat room. Gabriela Delworth is another great photographer and project designer. She is from Toronto and teaches classes in gift wrapping and other paper projects. I was so happy when Karen Burniston (of pop-up fame) introduced me to her friend Bonnie Bruns a few weeks ago. Her work is amazing- you may remember seeing her dog Bella posing with a cupcake die crown for the last Hop. Laura Bray is a fellow CHA Designer member whose work I have been admiring for quite some time. Laura shares my love for making crafts that look like yummy food! Brenda Pinnick is an amazing designer and fellow licensed artist with Sizzix. She has just started a color series entitled Color U. Check out her blog for details. This summer I was so happy to have some time to talk with the Golden Press Kit- Designer award winner Candice Windham. She is another matboard/foamboard fanatic! I loved what Barbara Mattheissen did last week with the cupcake holder die. I am fascinated with how many techniques she has mastered and manages to make them look fun and easy to try. Did you see the sweet cupcake projects from Niki Meiners? She has a fun and contemporary style that just makes you smile. Thanks to all of the fabulous designers whose work is truly outstanding. I am blessed to have you all as part of my die promotion events. Readers please stop by their blogs for inspiring projects and insights!

And now… on with the Hop!

I designed a notepad with this die. My inspiration was a book called “Elegance- a Complete Guide for Every Woman who Wants to be Well and Properly Dressed on All Occasions” originally published in 1964. I found it in the thrift store and was fascinated by the advice of the author. The page I used on the cover of the notepad is telling the reader why you should not go shopping for clothes with good friends and it’s hysterical. VERY proper. So not me 🙂

Here’s how I created it… This project requires you to cut out 2 covers, which means you need one and a half pieces of matboard to make the project. I coated the front and back covers with spray adhesive, adhered the book pages to the outside cover of the folder, then ran the whole thing through the Big Shot. The added pressure of the rolling through ensures that the paper will stay adhered to the matboard. The binding was attached with brads and the faux crystals adorn the closure. One piece of advice… magnets may be the way to go with the closure on this project instead of Velcro. The paper is tearing away from the base layer and ripping paper. Darn it!

While I was working on it, I realized that I had a bunch more ideas that I could use this die for… stay tuned…

Here are some fantastic designs that the Blog Hop Designers have come up with for you! Thanks for sharing them with us.

Brenda Pinnick
Fabrizio Martellucci
Jennifer Ellefson
Ann Butler
Lorine Mason
Karen Burniston
Bonnie Bruns
Gabriela Delworth
Candice Windham

Sizzix ScoreBoard Blog Hop #2

Welcome to this week’s Blog Hop extravaganza! Today we have lots of amazing projects to inspire you with. The featured die is the Cupcake Holder. Last week in all the excitement, I didn’t introduce everyone- so I would just like to include some interesting facts about each of the contributing artists who have been working on this promotion with me. In Hop post #3, I will introduce our Cupcake Holder designers.

From the Box with Flap episode, we had Karen Burniston, a world famous pop-up artist and teacher, fellow Sizzix designer and lots of fun! I met Karen at CHA and it has been a joy getting to know her. Jenn Ellefson is a friend, neighbor and multi-talented designer as well as my blog guru. She will be posting to the Hop as a “regular”. Thanks Jenn :-). Ann Butler works in mixed media, sews, has a full-time job and has 5 kids. She is a fellow CHA designer friend who loves KFC almost as much as me and will also will also be contributing to each Hop. Ann definitely needs more to do… Korie B. and I go way back. Her work is exquisite, she has 2 adorable daughters and a beautiful new studio- check out her blog for pics. AND also… big Sizzix fan 🙂

Hope you have a chance to stop in tonight, Wednesday, October 28 at 10 PM for an informal interactive chat with Tiffany Windsor and show what you are working on. I will be posting some pics from the Hop today AND I will be wearing my pajamas… any excuse! 🙂

For my project, I designed a pumpkin. It’s two cupcake holders on top of each other which you can probably tell. The interesting part of this project is the material it’s made from. And honestly I am not sure WHAT it is. But it’s very cool. I was at Michael’s the other day trolling for fun materials I could run through the Big Shot and test the ScoreBoard dies with. I saw this plastic bag in the felt aisle. The label says “some material made from Eco-Fi” (which is 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles). The manufacturer is the Kunin Group. The material I chose to use feels like felt on one side and crushed up plastic bottles on the other, so I’m guessing this is the Eco-Fi. It went through the die cutter like a dream. It’s thicker and more rigid than regular felt. The score lines didn’t really make an indentation but the material is pliable so that didn’t matter too much. I added the two bottom brads to each cupcake holder and stacked them together to make a pumpkin shape. Then I lined up both pieces along the remaining one opening and joined all four layers with a brad. This is a little bulky but holds it together nicely.

I punched a hole in the top and threaded two pieces of thick brown floral wire for a stem. Twirled some thin green floral wire on a pencil for tendrils and inserted it up the middle with the stem, securing with glue.I glued the tabs on to the top and bottom because I wanted this to be sturdy. I sewed buttons to each section of the middle with embroidery floss, and wrapped thin orange ribbon around the buttons as a closure.

This little pumpkin would make a great favor box, special Halloween gift wrap or a nest for a big creepy SPIDER!!!! Ewwww…

Now take a look at what the other fabulous designers have done with this die…

Jenn Ellefson
Laura Bray
Fabrizio Martellucci
Bonnie Bruns
Barbara Mattheisson
Denise Clason
Lorine Mason
Gabriela Delworth
Ann Butler
Candice Windham
Niki Meiners
Eileen Hull

Sizzix ScoreBoard Blog Hop #1 Box with Flap

Thanks for stopping by the Hop! Just a little intro here… ScoreBoards are a brand new kind of die designed for Sizzix that can cut and score matboard to create boxes, totes and folders. As the ship date got closer for the dies, I realized that the best way to show them off was to ask my amazing designer friends to play with them and see what they could whip up. Well, wait till you see what they have done!

This is my version of the die. It is a project I have been thinking about for a while. Our family is spread out all over the world from CA to VA to Iraq. I worry that our granddaughter in KS will forget who everyone is because we don’t get to see her often. So I made a little box of flash cards with photos of us so she remembers us in between visits.

The cool thing about the cards is I used an old set of playing cards that my grandmother had given my kids at one point to mount the photos on. Some of my early memories were of Grandma Lang getting ready for her card parties, the smell of her special orange cake baking and seeing the table set with the good china before the ladies arrived. So now although Grandma passed away two years ago at the age of 99, part of her life passes on to her great-great grandchild!

To make the box, you’ll need:

Big Shot die cut machine
Scoreboard die
matboard piece
coordinating paper
elastic
spray adhesive
Beacon’s Zip Dry paper glue
brads
embellishments

I used the “Box with Flap” ScoreBoard die. This box measures 2 5/8″ x 3 3/4″ x 3/4″. I cut patterned paper 6” x 13” (the same size as the matboard piece that accommodates the ScoreBoard die) and adhered it to the wrong side of the matboard with spray adhesive. I ran it through the Sizzix Big Shot with the paper side down. I opened it up and cut slits in the side of the die where I wanted to insert my elastic (thanks Jenn!). This was the trickiest part because the matboard box is pretty tight when it closes and the elastic is thick, but that also works to keep everything firmly in place. I threaded it through by pushing with the dull side of my exacto blade. Don’t cut yourself! The elastic is held in place by red line tape inside the box. Pink brads are inserted in the back to hold the box together. I punched holes in the sides of the box with my Crop-o-dile and used some fun green beaded trim for a handle. The title was printed off the computer and mounted on coordinating paper. I used an extra piece of matboard left over from the die cut to bump the title up from the box.

To make the flash cards, I measured the playing cards and created a template in PhotoShop and inserted photos of our family with their name below. Trinity is not reading yet but it won’t be long! I cut them out and adhered them to the back of the playing cards. There are still a lot of cards left so I’m going to have Dawn send me some pics of her family so I can add them to the box. When she comes to visit I can include photos of us together. FYI- there is a Sizzix ATC (artist trading card) die if you do not want to use playing cards. The next batch I do will be laminated so they’ll be easy to clean.

Every other Wednesday from now until January, one of the eight ScoreBoard dies will be featured. Today’s projects have all been created using the Box with Flap (item #656137). This box can hold a deck of cards, crayons, ATC’s, and gift cards. What are your ideas for this box? Leave a comment and let us know!

Please visit each of the links below to see what innovative creations these designers have produced!

Karen Burniston
Korie B.
Jenn Ellefson
Ann Butler

Sizzix ScoreBoards Blog Hop starting 10/14!

I am very excited to announce that next Wednesday, October 14 is the kick-off for our Sizzix Blog Hop! Stop by to see the cool projects that my designer buddies and I have created using my new Sizzix ScoreBoard dies!

“What is a Blog Hop?” you may wonder…

Basically it is a set of posts on individual blogs with a common theme. For example, every other Wednesday you can come here to see what project I have created using one of the eight Sizzix ScoreBoard dies. On my blog will be a link to other designers’ blogs that also have posted a project using that die Each blog will have a list of other blogs to go to, so you are just “hopping” from one blog to the next and seeing what each person has done with the same Sizzix ScoreBoard die. How cool is that? I cannot wait to see what these designers come up with. Every one of them is so talented and each has their own signature style. I hope you will come by on October 14 and check this out.
Please sign up to be a “Follower” of this blog or subscribe in a feed to keep up with all that’s going on. Comments are welcome- please let me know your thoughts. See you back here next Wednesday!