Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

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!

Sneak Peek

Here’s a quick look one of my new dies that came out at the CHA Summer show which I recently talked about on Cool2Craft. Click here to see my segment on the show. It’s the ScoreBoard Pro House die. This is a new adventure for me- the Pro dies are huge compared to the XL dies so I am liking having some room to work in. You will need the Big Shot Pro to cut the house out. I recently got one and it’s my new favorite gadget! I can also use it to cut several of my smaller dies out all in one pass. Great for doing mass production projects for large events like weddings and parties.

I can think of so many fun ways that this might be decorated, especially around the holidays. This picture shows a very simple version that I did right before leaving for CHA. I just added crystal glitter to the roof and made a small button wreath for above the door. A scalloped oval cutout and more glitter tells whose house it is.

Guest Towel Cupcakes

I got home from a long and tiring day trip to NJ last night, wondering what the heck I was going to do for a project for my Sizzix blog today. As luck (or divine intervention) would have it, there was an email from my friend Jonathan Fong, a fabulous designer, author and lifestyle expert I met at CHA a few years ago. Jonathan said that he had shot a quick video showing how to create this adorable Guest Towel Cupcake project in response to a call out for new talent from Oprah. She is branching out with her own network and sponsoring a contest in search of a TV host. So Jonathan’s video is his audition and he needs votes! Please go and watch the video to see how to make the cupcake… and while you are there, place as many votes for him as you can- there’s no limit! I love that he gives such easy instructions.

After I watched Jonathan’s video, I immediately knew what I was going to do for my project. I cut five ScoreBoard cupcakes in coordinating colors on my Big Shot with some washcloths that I had just picked up at Target.  I assembled the cupcake holders using my tape gun. Unfortunately, I did not have small red lollypops on hand (due to a severe Tootsie pop addiction). I know that somewhere in the far reaches of my Christmas craft supply area, I had some large red berries, but I decided the cupcakes were just fine the way they were (it was 2:30 AM). I made them just the way Jonathan said to. I also added a small rubber band around the cupcake washcloth so it stayed together.

The cake stand is made using two mismatched plates and a dollar store candle holder. I use E-6000 to adhere the candle stick and small plate to each other. Let dry for 24-48 hours. Stack this on top of a cool plate of the same color or general style and add your cute little cupcake guest towels!

Thank you my friends…

Does everyone use Google Alerts? They are the best! You just go to Google, enter the URL you’d like to track and every day you will get a message listing referring sites.

So just a little while ago, I got an alert. One was from a friend from way back, Korie, who is an amazing designer. She used to manage our local stamp store where I taught calligraphy and mat cutting. I still remember some really neat projects she did- my favorite was an altered Nancy Drew book. Check out her blog for local metro DC events and general cool stuff! Thanks Korie 🙂

The other alert was from my friend Ann Butler. Ann is a mixed media artist, she works full time and has 5 kids! And if I needed something to get done, I would go to Ann. Her secret must be that she never sleeps. I know when I’m on line at 2 AM, she oftens sends messages. I saw her and adorable 16 year old daughter Callie (yes, I am using adorable and 16 year old in the same sentence!) at CHA. We shared a cab to the hotel and discovered her older daughter was getting married the Saturday after the show which ended on Thursday! I’m telling you, this woman could rule the world… Thanks, Ann, for your nice photo and blog about the Scoreboards!