Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

Picket Fence

I have a post up over on the Sizzix blog about my new collection of dies called Picket Fence.

They are shipping any day now and I can’t remember when I have been this excited about a collection of dies. Gardening was the inspiration and the dies work great for favors, cards, invitations, albums and table settings. I hope you’ll take a look and try one (or sixteen) out 🙂
For more info and ideas, check out my post on the Sizzix blog and come back here for looks at projects all through June!

Vinyl Gift Card Folder

Just wanted to share a new technique I just discovered. I saw this vinyl remnant for a couple of dollars at JoAnn’s and had to get it because of the beautiful turquoise color. It sat on the pile for a couple of months waiting for the right idea to strike. 

Here’s a folder I made using the Sizzix ScoreBoards Gift Card Folder die, paper, vinyl and my sewing machine. If you want to know how, check out the Sizzix UK blog here.

This was so quick and easy to put together. The folders are great for gift cards, business cards, credit cards, or use it to tuck a spare key in your purse- lots of possibilities! 

Today is our first Monday Designer Connection Hop. Click on the blue button in the sidebar to visit all of the amazing designers on the hop.  

There’s a giveaway too on Julie McGuffee’s blog, Life in the Craft Lane. To be entered to win, hop through the DCC blogs and leave a comment on the blogs featuring your favorite technique, or a technique you can’t wait to try, then let Julie know which ones they are by commenting on her blog.

Thanks for visiting!

Square Box Chunky Book

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! 


Today we are celebrating the release of my From the Heart collection over at the Sizzix blog with a Valentine’s Blog Hop! It’s so exciting to see- our fabulous Design Team has gone to town and whipped up some tasty eye candy for you- make sure to head on over and see all their HEARTwarming creations! 


I decided to use the ScoreBoards Square Box die for my project… but in a different way than you might expect. 
When designing a die, I want to give good value for the money, so many of my dies function in several different ways. The box I used today measures 3 1/4″ square and is a ScoreBoards die, which means it was specially designed to cut thick material like matboard or chipboard at least 1/16″ thick. There is a special blade set down in the die  that perfectly cuts and scores all of the fold lines.

The Square Box can work as a gift box that opens and closes (it’s big enough to hold a cupcake!), an ornament for your tree, a photo cube, or for organizing or storage. The box may be embossed, stamped, painted, inked or misted. A set of baby alphabet blocks would be adorable, don’t you think? The possibilities for this die are endless! 
I used the Square Box die to create a chunky little mini-album instead of building a box with it. The die cut pieces were used to make a book cover and page signatures. This is a super versatile die- hope you take some time to explore different options for using it!
  • Tear dictionary pages in half vertically and coat the back of the page with spray adhesive. Place page on the wrong (uncolored) side of a 6″ x 7″ piece of matboard. NOTE: You will only need two of the three panels of the long die cut piece for each book page so you don’t need to cut a full size panel. Place matboard just over the edge of the second score line, die cut, then trim extra off with craft knife). 
  • Cover ten pieces of matboard (I used colored scraps left over from matting projects) and then roll them through Big Shot. Cut one full panel piece for the outer cover of the book and nine smaller pieces for the pages.
    
  • Distress pages with ink and blending tool.
  • Rub Viva Decor Inka Gold (Gold 901) on a soft rag and apply to edges of each book signature and cover. This adds a really rich look to the book (and I also love that this ink washes off with soap and water if you get it on your hands!)
  • Bend the large matboard die cut panel into a U shape. This will be your book cover and binding. 
  • Fold each small signature in half. This would be a good time to arrange and decorate the cover and pages in the order you would like them to appear in the book. I used Glitz stamps, Cosmo Cricket Tiny Text stickers, rick rack, flower and butterfly dies of mine cut from some different materials such as bubble wrap, plastic packaging, old sweaters, and fun things I had left over from other projects.
  • Take a piece of twine and tie each matboard signature securely into the middle of the book. This allows for movement of the pages as the book is opened, closed and moved around. The nice thick binding piece allows you to include all kinds of 3D items.
Here are some sample pages. I’m not done with the book yet but look forward to adding little tidbits here and there as they fit. This is a sampler book of my dies and includes different materials you can cut and techniques to try. 
 Butterfly die cut from packaging, alcohol inked and heated
 flowers cut from Place Card die then colored with Copics
watercolor paper flowers cut from Hydrangeas & Borders and colored 
with Copics. I die cut rickrack from fun foam and used it as a rubber stamp 
on the left page. 
 Flower, Layers with Heart Petals cut from book pages and inked
 bubble wrap Fringed Flower colored with Staz-On
 Label & Buttons die stamped with ImpressArt metal stamps on matboard
Glitz stamps
Fringed Flower, Flower, Layers #9  and DeNami love stamp
I love how this book came out! I hope it helped you to see how much you can do with the Square Box…

GIVEAWAY TIME! Leave me a comment below and tell me how you would use this die- one of you will win a Square Box die for yourself! I’ll announce the winner here on my blog on Tuesday so stop back then to hear who the winner is… And don’t forget to check out all of the DT’s amazing work- head over to the Sizzix blog now- there’s a nice giveaway over there too. Thanks for stopping by!


XOXO Eileen

Ombre Watercolor Gift Card Folder

I found some really heavy (180 #) watercolor paper the other day in the thrift store. Although normally I would never consider paying $6 for a tablet of 15 sheets of paper (in a thrift store no less!), I was intrigued because the paper was really thick. I wanted to see what would happen when I ran it through the Big Shot using a ScoreBoards die.

First I decided to try my hand at a fun ombre watercolor effect. Here’s how:
Pick four colors that look pretty together…
Dip the brush in water and load on some paint and just start
brushing on the paper, blending the colors in as you go. 
I like the look of light leading into darker colors and even a little white 
paper showing through..
Paint the front and back of the watercolor paper and let it dry 
(or speed drying along with a heat tool). Place paper on top of the die
and run it through the Big Shot using the Gift Card Folder ScoreBoard die. 
The paper is thick enough that the scoring blade should do its work and 
leave a score line. To ensure that the folds stayed crisp,
line up the folder on a scoring board and trace over the score lines. 
Stamp “for you” on the label that comes with the die. Then fold it up, 
tie a piece of twine around the label and add a gift card!

These would be so easy to make for so many different people and occasions. It’s always nice to add a little personality to a gift card. Plus these are so fast to make, you can assembly line them and have plenty on hand for when you need them.

Hope you will try a ScoreBoard die today! Are you ready for Valentine’s Day yet? Still trying to find the perfect little something for my husband- any suggestions?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tip Junkie
Here’s a project I made for the Sizzix blog a couple of weeks ago using my Sizzix ScoreBoard Box with Scalloped Flap and Fringed Flower dies.

You can find the instructions on how to make it here. 

The box is made from matboard so it’s nice and sturdy and holds gift cards, jewelry, notepads and any kind of small treasures. I covered the box with fall pretty papers from Simple Stories. 

Wishes for a blessed Thanksgiving to all! We spending the holiday in Maine on my mom’s potato farm…