Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

I Love the USA Blog Hop

Welcome to the I Love the USA blog hop- sponsored by my amazingly talented friends Laura Kelly Walters and Jen Goode!

Laura has designed a line of fabric for Joann Fabrics and her bloggers friends have teamed up to show some cool ways to use it. Jen is the technical whiz who made it easy to navigate the links, giveaway, html stuff, etc- thank you! This hop was especially fun because along the way we received little treats and surprises in the mail to help keep our creative mojo going.

Here’s who’s up today:

  • Jennifer Margeson- Laura Kelly Designs
  • Niki Meiners- 365 Day of Crafts
  • Eileen Hull- you are here!
  • Melony Bradley- Mel Designs
  • Lorine Mason- It’s Sew Lorine
  • Cathie Filian- Cathie and Steve
  • Jen Goode- Projects for Preschoolers

Thanks to these generous partners who contributed product and inspiration to the hop:
General Fabrics, Plaid, Fiskars, Coats and Clark, Buttons Galore and More, Joann Stores, Cre8Time, and Expressionery!

I made a couple of things… once I got going it was hard to stop. The fun colors and cheerful peeps just make me happy. Do you Cre8Time for yourself to enjoy the satisfaction of making something? You really should!

First up, a wreath.

A 12″ STYROFOAM™ wreath was wrapped with blue ribbon. I used some 3D flower dies I designed for Sizzix to decorate the wreath:

I added fabric to both sides of a 6″ x 6″ pice of Phoomph, an adhesive backed foam stabilizer. Then I ran the whole piece through the Sizzix Big Shot die cutting machine. Solid color felt and paper pieces were also cut and added to the flower layering process. I adhered them to the wreath with hot glue and added patriotic buttons to the flower centers. A red and white pipe cleaner is used as a hanger.

 

I am co-hosting a luncheon today for fellow military spouses here in
the DC area. Our theme is Flag Day- perfect timing! This wreath will
hang on the door to welcome our guests.

 

My other project is a framed and matted piece.

I covered Crescent matboard with Laura Kelly Walters fabrics and created a shadowbox behind it with a little scene of the peeps.
(FYI, I was not sure how this would work but it came out great- will definitely be using this technique again.)

Here’s how I made it:
  • Coat the matboard with Mod Podge Fabric , then lay your fabric on top of the matboard piece (right side up) Mod Podge the fabric. Let dry overnight.
  • Using a Logan mat cutter, cut a 6″ square window in the fabric covered matboard. A piece of red matboard was selected as the second mat and cut 1/4″ smaller.
  • Make a shadowbox of the blue matboard for the backing.
  • Stitch “I heart the USA” using Coats & Clark embroidery floss.
  • Add the peeps (extra pieces of fabric that I had already Mod Podged) by adhering with Zots. Don’t you love the guy doing a cartwheel?
  • Adhere fence piece (part of my new Garden Gate Album die from the Picket Fence Sizzix collection.) Arriving now in your local scrapbook stores!

I had a great time playing with Laura’s fabric.

Wooden Wedding Sign

I was asked to make a sign for my friend’s wedding. She wanted it to say, “All the roads led to you” which I love. She has a happy ending story and I am so excited for her in her new life.

So I went to Lowe’s and bought the wood I needed. Although the power saw was out, the nice employee cut the wood for me with a hand saw. Upon checking out all options, I decided to use a picket for the stake because I liked how it looked. All told, I think the sign was made for less than $5 in materials!

Lace Front wigs

After painting all of the boards white with some leftover paint I had on hand, I asked my husband how he would attach the boards to the back. He helped me by screwing the boards to the back. (I was considering gluing them but will admit it’s very sturdy the way he did it)

Then it was time to break out my Sizzix eclips electronic die cut machine. I LOVE that you can cut your own designs on this!

I laid out the text I wanted on the computer, selected a font, saved in the appropriate file format and pressed “cut”. The machine cut out the words from vinyl chalkboard material (I didn’t realize till after it was cut that it was chalkboard- I just saw black…) After cutting all of the words, I used a piece of clear contact paper to transfer the letters to the sign. And that was pretty much all I did… did give a brief coat of spray sealer in case it rained on wedding day and signed the back too.

I really like how this turned out and it makes me want to make more signs…

Thanks for stopping by!

Eileen

 

Washi Tape Gift Card Folder

Are you loving washi tape as much as I am? It is so easy to use and brightens up any project. This  aqua diamond pattern by Scotch is one of my favorites. Jennifer gave it to me at the SNAP conference and I am hoarding it. 

Here’s a project I did for the Sizzix UK blog. Stop over for instructions on how to make this fun Gift Card Holder using the new Sizzix die of the same name. 

Hope you are having a good Memorial Day weekend. Remember all those who gave their lives for our freedom and all who have served our country…

Square Box with Vintage Button Trim Tutorial

Here is a look at one of my new Sizzix From the Heart dies. The Square Box is such a handy size- it’s about 3.5″ square- the perfect size for a cupcake (shoot- now I want a cupcake!). I stacked vintage buttons to use as a knob and on the bottom of the box as feet.

Assembling the box is quick and easy. This particular box is covered with fabric so it’s one extra step but to actually build it takes only one or two minutes (see video below). This box is great because you can customize colors and match to special events (wedding or party themes) or home decor. Since this is a ScoreBoard die, it’s designed to cut and score matboard and thick materials, resulting in a sturdy, rigid box that will hold up to whatever you want to put inside.

 
Here’s a video with a quick look at assembling the box:

Coat two 6″ x 13″ matboard pieces with spray adhesive. Place fabric on top of matboard and press down when fabric is in desired position. Run the matboard through the Sizzix Big Shot twice with the Square Box die.

Place strong double sided adhesive on three of the four tabs. The flap with no adhesive is where the box will open and close.

Adhere the label shapes to the outside of the box for a decorative embellishment (or not).

TIP: The label shape may be die cut from paper and used to decorate cards, layouts, jars, bottles and packages.

Here’s how to use the Square Box die in a different way to make a chunky book– so much fun! 
Tomorrow I am headed off to NYC to see the National Stationery Show. Can’t wait- there is so much cool stuff there! Thanks so much for stopping by.

Paper Store in JFK Airport

I recently took the red-eye back from the SNAP blogging conference in Utah. Aside from the crying baby, the first leg of the journey was not too bad. There was a brief layover in NYC at JFK and we had to change planes. I turned a corner outside my gate and to my delight, saw this beautiful paper store called Muji! 

At 6 AM my brain was not doing so well and I didn’t get pictures except for this one…

The prices were very reasonable and I found some pens with .3 nibs. For the pen geeks reading- you know how hard it is to find a nice pen with a nib that fine! I love these and keep doodling away when there are way too many other things I should be doing… 
Looks like they have an online catalog. Here’s what I bought but now I am kicking myself for what I didn’t get… luckily they have an online catalog.

 I think I need another trip.

Paper Store in JFK Airport

I recently took the red-eye back from the SNAP blogging conference in Utah. Aside from the crying baby, the first leg of the journey was not too bad. There was a brief layover in NYC at JFK and we had to change planes. I turned a corner outside my gate and to my delight, saw this beautiful paper store called Muji! 

At 6 AM my brain was not doing so well and I didn’t get pictures except for this one…

The prices were very reasonable and I found some pens with .3 nibs. For the pen geeks reading- you know how hard it is to find a nice pen with a nib that fine! I love these and keep doodling away when there are way too many other things I should be doing… 
Looks like they have an online catalog. Here’s what I bought but now I am kicking myself for what I didn’t get… luckily they have an online catalog.

 I think I need another trip.