Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

My trip to the National Stationery Show

Home at last! The past week has been a blur as we traveled to Longwood University to see our youngest daughter graduate from college on Saturday. Then it was a long dark rainy drive to NY to bring my parents back home and an early morning wake up call Monday morning to catch the train in to “The City”, as we referred to it growing up. Come on- is there really any other?

We arrived at the show right as it opened. I saw and talked to a LOT of people, one of them being Tim Holtz, fellow Sizzix designer and all-around cool dude, who graciously agreed to talk about his new product line in a video clip. I’ll be sharing this on a Craft Critique post so I’ll let you know when that’s going up. I also got to visit with Ken Oliver from UniBind– one of the most entertaining and talented designers I know. Stay tuned for more looks at what’s hot!

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!

Flower Artist Susan Tierney Cockburn

While I was at CHA in January, I had the pleasure of meeting the amazingly talented Susan Tierney Cockburn. She came to my booth and showed me some of the most unbelievable projects that she had made using my ScoreBoard dies. She has graciously allowed me to share some of them with you. Susan’s specialty is making paper flowers- some are so TINY and so PERFECT!  

I especially love the project she calls Kelly’s Garden, made in honor of her daughter who passed away from cancer. So many times, the joy of working with my hands has helped me through tough times and I know that Susan has found comfort there as well. This project is beautiful on many levels and I am so honored that Susan would use my House die as a base for such a special art piece. Look at all of these miniature flowers all made by hand! Wow…

Her book, Paper Bouquet, is filled with detailed examples of her work. Why not order one for Mom as a Mother’s Day gift?

Paper Bouquet

Here’s Susan’s version of a ScoreBoard Box die using the Create-A-Bow to top it off with one of her signature flowers inside. Love this!

I am going to post another set of Susan’s projects which she made using my Cake die. I will be holding a giveaway which you will automatically be entered into if you vote for your favorite cake!
Speaking of cake, you should definitely check out Susan’s blog, My Mother’s Apron Strings, where she posts mouth watering desserts and other tasty treats almost every day. How she makes all this and remains skinny is a mystery to me.
Thanks for stopping by!

Valentine Coupon Book


Don’t tell my husband but he’s getting a special Valentine this year. We were looking through some old papers a few weeks ago and came across coupon books that we had given each other on our fifth anniversary, when we had two little ones and money was tight. I decided to revisit the idea and give him one this coming Valentine’s Day. Of course, in the early days, all these cool supplies and tools were not available to create with. Technology is a wonderful thing. I’m happy to share this project with the FaveCrafts viewers! Click here to see the Blog Hop

You will need:

Heart brads (Recollections)
Wired ribbon
Cream cardstock
Mat board scrap
Fleece scrap

Spray adhesive
Faux velvet
Foam strips
Strong double-sided tape

Box assembly:
  1. Run 6″ x 13″ cream mat board through the Big Shot using the Notebook Pocket ScoreBoards die.
  2. Center Textured Impressions folder at the bottom of the cut out box and run through Big Shot again. Repeat on back side.
  3. Using spray adhesive, adhere red faux velvet to a 5″ x 5″ scrap of mat board. Position Primitive Heart die on scrap and die cut with Big Shot.
  4. Cut a scrap of teal mat board to 2 1/4″ x 3 3/4″. Round corners if desired.
  5. Die-cut a small flower from fleece using the Box w/Scallop Flap & Flowers or other small flower die you happen to have. Punch a hole in heart where desired and poke a brad through the flower and secure to the heart.
  6. Use foam tape to raise heart and position on top of scrap teal rectangle.
  7. Mark and punch holes for three heart brads on side of box. Insert.
  8. Assemble the box and use double-sided tape or brads to hold together. Wrap ribbon around top of box and tie a bow. Adhere heart piece to box.

 
Coupon book:

  1. On the computer, lay out a 3″ x 5″ coupon book cover and pages, inserting desired coupon offers available. Print and trim to size. Round corners.
  2. Punch hole at top of booklet and insert brad or ribbon to keep book together. This also makes it easy to remove a page when a coupon is redeemed.
  3. Slip coupon book in Notebook Pocket box. Present to your lucky recipient and be ready to pay up! Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!

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 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 🙂