Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

Gelli Plate Fever

I saw a Gelli plate demo’d at an event I went to the other night and went home without it. And then kept thinking about the different things that could be done with it. Finally caved and went back and bought it. I had time to experiment the other night- just stood there and made paper using all kinds of interesting ingredients- really fun!

Here’s an album I did tonight for the Sizzix UK blog– go there for the instructions and pictures, but wanted to share just a glimpse of it here too. The flower and inside pages are made with the Gelli plate and paint.
Have a great weekend!

Crafting with Kids

Happy Grandparent’s Day to all of the grandmas, grandpas, mimis, pop pops, gigis, granddaddies, nanas, pops, or whatever name you are called by your little angels 🙂 

 
Today the Herndon Rotary Club partnered with AARP to put on the Classic Car Show on the village green. Grandparent’s Day was part of the celebration. I volunteered at the arts and crafts table because it is so much fun to watch how kids create. 


Have you heard of the cre8time movement? It’s about taking time each month, week, day to do something creative to recharge yourself. There’s a good video that describes the idea here. 


I admit it. I am partial to die cutting… so out came the Sizzix Big Shots and dies. Boy was that a blast! Those kids (and some parents!) just went to town… we had kids making butterflies and flowers, coloring them, decorating with stickers, markers, stamps and ink- some kids made boxes, until we ran out of matboard… 


Turns out we had record attendance and there were way more kids than anticipated. Luckily, we had enough paper and other supplies to allow everyone that stopped by to leave with a fun finished project. 


I am happy to report that my husband Hayward was one of the volunteers in the booth so I was able to educate him on how to operate a Big Shot (how is it possible that he does not know this after me blabbing about dies for FOUR YEARS?) Could be he was totally yanking my chain, but whatever.

Here he is, busily cutting down paper using my handy dandy 
Westcott paper trimmer before the crowds arrive.
And then they arrived… and kept arriving!

 

Bob Packard of EmbroidMe was a quick study and showed everyone how to make 3D flowers using the Trinity’s Flower die. Many thanks to ThermoWeb for the icraft tape that you donated to the cause- we used it to hold all of the flowers and boxes together! 

Did I mention it was about 90 degrees? Note to self- next time wear shorts.
 
Elsa was to our left and she was running the butterfly and card section- sorry did not get any pics of that- too busy. Hayward wound up at the bracelet station- he gets the sunburn award 🙁
 
We were right next to a portable stage and it was cool to watch them just fold it up and drive away.

Rotarians rolling an antique hearse up the bike path and across the street to the Adams-Green Funeral Home… getting their exercise.


It was a great event. But I must admit after it was over we were quite ready to pack it in and head home for naps… ahhhh.

I hope you were able to do something cre8tive this weekend! 

Crafty Sightings

Getting back in the loop after vacation has not been easy. Can’t the summer last a little longer? The weather has been in the 70’s the past few weeks… just perfect!
 
FYI, one of my husband’s dream has come true- we have a hot tub! We found a reconditioned one and have just the perfect spot for it. He has been busy getting the chemicals right, testing pH balance, regulating heat and jets, etc. Last weekend he built a little mini deck so we can get in and out without using a step ladder. I was impressed with how fast he put it together. Lucky we live right down the street from Home Depot- it was a three trip project 🙂


I was grocery shopping the other night and had to check out the Fall issue of Crafts ‘N Things. The page opened to a set of fall projects created by designer friend Melony Bradley. What a fun surprise to see her project made using my Sizzix Caddy die! Wouldn’t this be a cute teacher’s gift or a nice way to customize a birthday present? Melony always designs with recycled materials and I love that about her work. That brown paper flower is probably made with packing paper… just a guess.


Thanks to all who are working with my ScoreBoard dies- I love seeing what you do with them! 

Baby Shower Flower Wishes

Here is a pic sent to me by Lorraine Fletcher, who took the Cutting Flower Garden class that Pam Keravuori and I taught in June at Angela’s Happy Stamper. What a fun group of ladies we had that night!

Lorraine said she “made this bucket of flowers for a friend’s baby shower (it was a girl), then attached leaves and had the ladies at the shower write Bible verses on to encourage the new mum.” Lorraine is Australian- I want her accent so bad!
 
Thanks for sharing what you create with my dies- it’s so much fun to see what you do with them! 

Hanging Desk Organizer

Here’s another handy dandy desk organizer below which was originally shared in Bella Crafts Quarterly and created by Lisa Rojas. Have you seen this e-zine? Tons of projects, tips and techniques from the experts and features. Get your FREE issue here! 
Floral_Memo_Board

Lisa used my Sizzix Window Box die, Vine #2, and Clay Pot to create this pretty project. The colors are so soft and I love how she made pencils with flowers on the top- they are so easy to grab that way… and the post-it notes fit just right in the well of the windowbox… You could also tuck a photo behind the window.
Thanks for stopping by!

 

Felt and Burlap Birthday Cake

Linking up today with tatertotsandjello for one GIGANTIC link party! Go here if you want LOTS of inspiration.




I have always loved making paper cakes because it combines two of my favorite things- cake and crafts. 


 I used my Sizzix flower dies, wool felt and something I received yesterday- a box of matboard from my friend. Connie edited my first book, Matboard Magic, and now works at Crescent Cardboard. Lucky for me, Connie was cleaning out her office and asked if I would like a box of matboard samples. Um- yeah! It arrived a couple of days ago… 
Guess which one is my favorite? Yes, right there in front- burlap matboard! Wow! I really wanted to try it out right away so I decided to make a burlap cake topped with yummy felt flowers.
First I designed and created the cake, then started die cutting a bunch of flowers using my Sizzix flower dies. I had so much fun! I like to cut out each flower in several colors and then start mixing and matching shapes from different flowers and combining them so each one is unique. Once they were cut and stitched together (OK some might be glued), I started arranging the flowers on top of the cake. I also used the Borders and Hydrangeas die as borders on the cake. I really like how the nice bright colors pop on the burlap. 
 
Die cutting wool felt is one of my favorite thing these days. The felt has a nice body and holds it shape but the best thing about it is NO FRAYING! It’s also fun to add decorative stitches.
 
Finally, I arranged the flowers on top of the cake and adhered them with glue.
 
Ta-da! Turn off the lights and light the candles…