Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

CHAW 2012

Hi everyone! I returned from CHA last Thursday and am finally getting back to normal. Wow- what a fun busy week it was! Next time remind me not to schedule every minute though… because sadly, I did not get to walk the show and see all of the new stuff 🙁 

Today is first Monday and time to check in with the Designer Connection! Everyone is reporting in on their CHA experiences. Click on the blue icon on the sidebar to see what the members of the group were up to at the show. Did I mention I was part of a flash mob?

I spent a good bit of time in the Sizzix booth, demoing my new line of ScoreBoard dies, Sweet Treats. People seemed to enjoy building the boxes and I loved meeting everyone. 

Here’s a picture of Cara and Tammy standing in front of the display. It looked super cute and bright and fun! Cara is the Art Director and is so very good at what she does- including making my stuff look fabulous. Thank you Cara!

Tammy Tutterow, a talented designer and blogger extroardinaire, is new to the Sizzix team and will be the Design Team and Community Coordinator. So excited to be working with her! 

Here’s a quick video clip showing a few of my new samples in the booth done by the multi-talented Stephanie Barnard, our Sizzix Spokesperson, who also happens to be the owner of the Stamps of Life. 

Karen Burniston and I had a great time teaching our sold-out Sizzix Workshop, Love is in the Air. We were so busy teaching I didn’t get a pic of us!

In fact, I looked on my phone and camera and realized I hardly took any. If you have any photos you could share, could you email them to me? I told you… too busy! Next time… 🙂 It was great seeing you all!


Check out some other attendees’s experiences (with much better photos!) here at the FaveCrafts CHA Roundup.

http://www.favecraftsblog.com/cha-recap-blog-roundup/


I will be posting my portion of the Designer Section Trends Report soon. What a pleasure working on that committee. Check back… 

Getting ready for CHA!

All my designer buddies are busy in their studios finishing up final preparations for CHA. I thought you might like a look at what Karen Burniston, designer of the fabulous Sizzix pop-up dies, and I have been cooking up for a Sizzix workshop. We will both be working with our latest dies. Karen has a brand new system coming out that is SO cool called Pop ‘n Cuts– (click to see how they work)! Here are the cards she is teaching. Just wait till you see how quickly these come together! So much fun…

My release for CHAW 12 is called Sweet Treats. It combines all of my favorite things- sweets, treats, matboard and ScoreBoard dies! With so many beautiful papers, stamps, and embellishments out there, these dies are a lot of fun to decorate. And they’re actually practical too! What more could you want in a project? They go together really quickly so you can make lots in one sitting, making them great favors. Easy to personalize and embellish too. I’m loving these papers from Creative Imaginations– so romantic and pretty!

Stop by the Sizzix booth #949 at the show. I’ll be there demoing all of the Sweet Treats dies:
Sunday         10-12
Monday        2-6
Tuesday       10-12
Wednesday  12-2 
Here’s a look at what’s on my table…
See you in Anaheim! 
If you are not able to be there, come virtually through the Live from CHA site! I’m giving away a free ticket to see what’s going on at the show through streaming video. The winner will be picked tomorrow so you still have a chance- leave a comment here before midnight tonight!

EDITOR’S UPDATE: Congrats! The winner of the Live from CHA craft kit and event ticket is Monika! Please contact me so I can get you the prize- EileenHull@aol.com. Thanks- hope you enjoy it 🙂 See you there…

Sizzix Fresh Vintage: ScoreBoard Caddy

Welcome to the eleventh of twelve blog hops featuring dies from my Fresh Vintage collection. I hope you have been enjoying the fabulous projects created by these amazing designers.

To view the hop, you can click on the Fresh Vintage blinkie on the sidebar. This will take you around to all of the designers on the hop OR you can click on the linky party below for a look at the projects.

The featured die today is the ScoreBoard Caddy which has been specially designed to cut and score thick material like mat board. Matboard is my favorite art/craft supply ever. It’s nice and sturdy, you can ink, paint, chalk, mist and color it with markers. Cover it with paper or stamp on it. Whatever you do with this stuff, it looks great! The caddy can be created with just one pocket or you can cut two, and add another pocket on the back (like a beverage holder). The flowers and leafy vine also come with the die and are great for embellishments. 

The idea for this die on a trip to Aruba. My husband and I were delayed for 2 1/2 hours at the airport and when we finally boarded the plane, they offered us each a free drink. Although I was not quite ready for happy hour (at 10 AM), I took the little bottle. It was so CUTE I knew I had to make a tiny caddy for it. Unfortunately, it is not quite big enough! I have to work within the die specs and just could not make it fit 🙁 but that’s how the caddy came to be. And we had a GREAT vacation in Aruba!
Let’s take a look at what the other designers did with this die:

There are so many ways to fill this container. Pick a theme and have fun with it. For your friend who sews, tie up some fat quarters, add fun trims, needles and lace. Know a letter writer? Fill this with stamps, a pretty pen and personalized notepad. Chocolate fixes everything- send treats for a friend in need of cheering up. Put teabags and accessories in one for your favorite tea drinker. Hair bows and headbands would fit great in here. What would you put in the caddy?

To see dies and projects that have already been posted, visit the page above titled “Sizzix Blog Hops”. For a chance to win the Flower, Layers #9 die, answer the question about today’s hop on the Oh My Crafts blog today.
For my project I kept it simple. Had a big deadline today to finish up and deliver.
  1. Cut one divider piece and 2 pockets from aqua mat board. 
  2. Following instructions on package, assemble caddy adding pockets to front and back of divider. Cover divider with ledger paper on back side. 
  3. Color leaves and flowers with Copic markers, blending for depth. Add pearl bling to centers of flowers. Adhere to front pocket of box.
  4. Add a scoop of Perfect Pearls to a mister spray bottle. Spray mixture all over finished box. Let dry.
  5. I realized that the Memo Holder just fit perfectly in here! Did I plan it that way? Nope, but it worked out 🙂 Cut memo holder from heavy card stock. Place a matboard die cut on scoring board as a guide and score lines onto to paper memo holder.. 
  6. Emboss flap with Textured Impression folder. Add magnet closures.
  7. Wrap twine three times around outside of caddy and tie in a bow.
  8. Fill folder with post it notes. Add matching pencils and you have a fun little caddy for your desk. You may want to glue this to a base if contents are heavy or could get off balance.
A present for Trinity!

Special treat- Julie McGuffee is giving away the items pictured above! See the blue Designer Crafts Connection logo on my sidebar? Well, many of the DCC designers are also participating in this blog hop. Hop forward through these DCC designer blogs and see how many you can find with the Sizzix Fresh Vintage logo on their blog, then hop on over to Julie’s blog to leave a comment. She will announce the winner on November 8th, so check back.

Sizzix Fresh Vintage Blog Hop: 3D Flower, Wrapped

Wow- is it already time for another hop? Every Tuesday and Thursday, until Nov. 3, one of my new Sizzix dies will be featured here starring the fabulous Fresh Vintage designers! Today they are working with the 3D Flower, Wrapped die. This is a such a fun one! This die looks great no matter what you cut it from: paper, fabric, fleece, felt, packing paper, sheet music, recycled bags or tissue paper.

HEY, this just in! Today is Designer Days at Sizzix! Just for today, 10/13/11, all Eileen Hull dies are 25% off! The promo code is: SZEH25.  This offer excludes Outlet items and cannot be combined with any other discounts. Come on by for a look at the new line coming out in November, It’s a Wrap (click to the end of the scrolling to see).
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To view the hop, you can click on the Fresh Vintage blinkie on the sidebar. This will take you around to all of the designers on the hop OR you can click on the linky party below for a look at all the projects. To see projects that have already been posted, visit the page above titled “Sizzix Blog Hops”. For a chance to win this die, answer the question about today’s hop on the Oh My Crafts blog today. There are lots of ways you can use this die and you are about to see some very cool ideas. Are you ready?

For my project, I decided to combine the Vase die and flowers into a canvas project that I had the idea for last week… Heard this reading in church and as the kids say, it got stuck in my head…

  1. Lay down a coat of Mod Podge over the canvas and add book pages on top (mine came from an old etiquette book which is hilarious). Coat pages with Mod Podge and let dry. Add a layer of gingham tissue paper over the bottom 3″ of the canvas and Mod Podge it down.
  2. Cut strips of foamboard to simulate a windowsill. Adhere them to the canvas with Tacky Tape.
  3. Cover 6″ x 13″ piece of matboard spray adhesive and cover with Grant Studio paper. Die cut Vase with Big Shot. Trim 2 segments from vase and bend into circular shape, flattening 4 back segments against canvas. Set on shelf and attach to canvas with glue gun.
  4. Insert one quarter of a 2 1/2″ STYROFOAM ball into the vase. Add flowers.
  5. Lay out text in your publishing software and print on transparency. (I always have trouble getting this work but this time I rubbed the sheet before printing with a bag of stuff I have to rub off scratches on matboard. Think it’s similar to the Perfect Printing Pouch which I have somewhere but could not find- it worked. After I printed it, I sprayed with Krylon Workable Fixitif.)
  6. Trim text to fit inside of window. Spray a light coat of spray adhesive on the back of the transparency and stick on.

Flower:

  1. Die cut Wrapped Flowers from a stack of coffee filter (about 20). Randomly dab them with four colors of paint  that has been slightly diluted with water. Allow petals to dry.
  2. Cut stems from branches. Wrap tape around top 1″ of stem and start winding the petals around the stem. Depending on how full you want your flower, add layers of petals starting with the smaller ones and graduating to large. Or if you want a small flower, just use the small petals. Cut flower bases from green felt and add to bottom of flower. Add green leaves adhered to sticks.
  3. Coil wire around a pencil and insert in to arrangement.
  4. Add a coat of Radiant Rain Egyptian Gold mist from Luminarte for a rich shimmery effect.
  5. Stick stems into STYROFOAM ball and cover with yarn or paper shred.
  6. Wrap wire around a pencil or dowel and insert wire coils into arrangement. Stretch out as desired.

Other Supplies:
8 x 10 canvas, old book pages, sticks from your yard, foamboard scraps, glue gun, coffee filters, transparency sheet, colored wire from Beadalon

Sizzix Fresh Vintage Blog Hop: Flower Layers #9

Hi everyone and welcome back to the fourth Fresh Vintage blog hop!  Every Tuesday and Thursday until November 3, one of the 12 dies in the collection will be featured. 6-10 projects for every die will be posted by 75 of the most creative designers in our industry. I am thrilled that they have agreed to work with my Flower Layers Sizzix dies and the projects that have been posted so far have been super inspiring!

To view the hop, you can click on the Fresh Vintage blinkie on the sidebar. This will take you around to all of the designers on the hop OR you can click on the linky party below for a look at all the projects. To see projects that have already been posted, visit the page above titled “Sizzix Blog Hops”. For a chance to win this die, answer the question about today’s hop on the Oh My Crafts blog today.
Eileen Hull Flower Layers #9 Sizzix Die
The die we are all working with today is Flower Layers #9. This is such a versatile die! I have made flowers cut from all kinds of fun materials:

  • book pages
  • old maps
  • sheet music
  • fabric, fleece
  • felt
  • ledger paper
  • coffee filter
  • bubble wrap
  • soda cans… the list goes on…

Ways to Create with Flower Layers

Ways to create with Eileen Hull Flower Layers #9 Sizzix Die

You can spray the Flower Layers petals with mists and dyes, stamp them, ink the edges,and add glitter. They can be framed, made in bunches and used for paper flower bouquets, added to shoes and hair accessories, and of course, you can add them to your layouts and card projects. They make beautiful home decor projects if you cut a bunch from fleece or felt and add them to pillows, lampshades or baskets.

Let’s see what our designers have created for you today!

Flower Layers Headband Tutorial:

I made a quick and easy headband from fleece.

Eileen Hull Flower Layers #9 Fleece Headband Tutorial

Supplies:

fleece, headband, needle and thread, elastic

Steps:
  1. Buy a premade headband in desired size and color.
  2. Cut a piece of fleece 6″ x 12″ and fold over. Run piece through Big Shot and flower layers die, yielding 2 of each flower sizes.
  3. Layer flower pieces on top of each other staggering petals so they lay in different positions.
  4. With needle and thread, sew all layers together. Secure In the middle with a button.
  5. Cut leaves from green fleece and position as desired around flower.
  6. Sew a piece of elastic to back of flower. Wrap around headband to measure and stitch to other side, forming a loop to slide over headband and make it interchangeable.

Wouldn’t these be a great activity for a child’s party or even to give as a gift with several flowers in different colors? I love fleece because it never wrinkles or unravels, has a nice feel to it, and gives great dimension. For a more sophisticated look, use designer fabrics. If you want romantic, use filmy sheers and organdies. Add beads, buttons and fringe too!

Sizzix Fresh Vintage Blog Hop: Butterfly

Thanks for stopping by for the third in a series of twelve Fresh Vintage blog hop projects! Every Tuesday and Thursday, until Nov. 3, a new die will be featured here starring the fabulous designers that are putting their crafty skills to the test, creating some seriously cool designs. Today’s featured product is the ScoreBoard Butterfly die. ScoreBoard dies are designed to cut and score thick materials like matboard (my favorite!). But that’s not all…

Designer Tip for the Day: ScoreBoard dies also work with paper, fabric, felt, leather, recycled packaging, soda cans, etc! The only thing you will have to do is score the lighter material by hand since the scoring blade is set higher for thick material. However this takes just a few seconds using your scoring board, If you are like me, getting the best value for my money is important so I hope you will experiment and use your dies to the max.

The butterfly is a symbol of freedom, renewal and hope to me. It is appropriate to use for so many occasions where we handcraft cards, gifts or memory items.

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OK, on to the amazing projects! I get so excited the night before a hop posts because I have no idea what everyone will be doing- these designers just blow me  away. Let’s see what they have been up to…

I want to pass along a project that is free, eco-friendly and beautiful. When I got this die, it occurred to me that the butterfly would make a really cool pin if I could find an inexpensive way to cut it out of metal. And then the lightbulb went on- SODA CANS! So I cut one up and it worked great! I was concerned that the edges of the metal would be too sharp but it is not the case- they are fine- I have gotten more cuts from paper.But this butterfly still needed more…Wait a minute- how about running it through a Textured Impression folder? SCORE- another success- it looked great. And now for the color…hmmm, maybe those alcohol inks that had been sititng there on the shelf for a while might work…Yes, perfect!

Now we have a colorful pin that may be customized to each person’s favorite palette or to reflect the seasons. I have been saving cans all summer and plan on selling these at my annual Barn Sale in a month. The butterflies (or as my granddaugther Trinity calls them “beautiflies”) could be added to a project, layout or album cover for some great dimension. I have also used map pages and paint chips to cut these out, as well as double sided cardstock, matboard, glittr chipboard, vinyl and any other material I think would work.


Soda Can Butterfly Pin:

  1. Cut soda (or beer) can top and bottom off, then cut down the middle of remaining piece.
  2.  Place opened can on die and run through die cut machine using Butterfly die.
  3. Run butterfly shape(s) through a Textured Impression folder.
  4. Lay die cut butterflies on non-stick craft mat and put on latex gloves- this gets messy! Ink foam applicator with three colors of alcohol ink, and sponge on, blending and covering until you have desired look.
  5. Allow to dry. Add a line of glue dot lines on the back of the cut out butterfly shape and lay on top of solid butterfly.
  6. Add pinback adhering with Zips (clear adhesive lines) and gift wrap in a fun container or card!
Cupcake:
  1. Coat wrong side of matboard with spray adhesive and lay an old book page on top. Run matboard through die cut machine using ScoreBoard Cupcake die. Lay Crafter’s Workshop stencil on top of cupcake die cut. Mist with paint of choice. Let dry.
  2. Assemble cupcake using tacky tape.
  3. Add embellishments.
  4. Fill with crumpled shimmer tissue paper.
  5. Place butterfly pin inside container and add a tag.

You are finished- love these quick and easy projects!

Supplies used: