Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

New Year’s Eve!

We bought some chocolates last year after Christmas in Maine at a very fun outlet store called Marden’s. We have long since eaten the candy but I hung on to the boxes which are little drawers- so cute!

In my cleaning frenzy I’ve been unearthing all kinds of fun stuff… I had one last gift card to give and amazingly, it fit perfectly in the drawer. I covered the outside with some scrapbook paper (using double sided tape to adhere paper to the box) and tied a ribbon around it and attached a Sizzix matboard heart tag that’s wired on with a pipe cleaner. Lately I have been loving working with (OK, let’s take a poll… do you call them pipe cleaners or chenille stems?)them 🙂 Nice and fuzzy, wired so they stay where placed and no fraying or finishing required! I also like working with wired ribbon for the same reasons.

And that’s all there is to it… Health and happiness in 2010! Thanks for reading.

Don’t Throw Out the End of the Roll!

I am in the middle of cleaning for the kids arrivals on Wednesday but had to share this project with you made from gift wrap scraps. For full instructions, visit the new blog on the Sizzix website. I will be a regular blogger every Monday and feature projects, techniques and ideas using ScoreBoards dies.

How was your Christmas? Did anything get an especially cool present or gadget? I am all ears… 🙂

Happy New Year everyone!

Sizzix ScoreBoard Blog Hop #6

Welcome everyone and happy holidays to all! So glad you could stop by to check out our sixth Blog Hop. Today’s die is the Easel Frame. There are many ways this die can be used, as you will see when you check out the links to the amazing designers’ blogs listed below.

When I designed this die, I wanted a frame that would mail easily. It holds a wallet size photo and folds flat to mail. The frame is easily assembled by adding three brads (or just a strip of double sided tape).

In the past, I have always used matboard as a base for the dies, but got curious about what other materials might work with the ScoreBoard dies. Turns out foamboard works fine! Consider starting a new tradition at the holidays of sending an updated school picture of your children to grandparents and other relatives that you may not see often.

I spray adhesived a piece of BasicGrey paper to one side of a strip of foamboard and then ran it through the Big Shot. The machine will resist a little and does compress the foamboard but all of the pieces popped out without a problem. I cut off the bottom easel section, leaving a mat with a window and back piece the same size. I also added a matboard “J” cut out using my Serif Essentials alphabet, some baby rickrack, red glitter snowflake and a beaded handle.

For more detailed instructions for this project, check out the latest issue of Totally-Creative, a beautiful e-magazine that contains 60 pages of unique holiday projects, complete instructions and interesting articles. Click here to sign up for a free trial issue! Need a last minute gift for a crafter friend? You have till Dec. 31 to get 2 subscriptions for the price of one!


I love how my friend Kim added the middle heart shaped mat inside inside the frame. The red and white color scheme is so nice and crisp! The tiny ornament punches are adorable and I’m guessing here that they are Martha Stewart’s. Am I right?

One more item of interest and invitation. The Sizzix blog is up and running! You will see projects and ideas from Sizzix designers including Karen Burniston and Brenda Pinnick, who you have seen on our Hops, along with me.

Many thanks to my great designer friends who took time out of their holiday preparations to bring you inspiration. Merry Christmas everyone!

Ann Butler
Fabrizio Martellucci
Brenda Pinnick
Jenn Ellefson
Candice Windham
Niki Meiners
Violette Clark
Cindi Bisson

Snowed in!

What a cozy day! The snow started Friday night as we were buying our tree. The local churches co-sponsor a holiday food drive and then families come and “shop” for a week’s worth of food. The decision was made, with the snow coming, to open on Friday night instead of waiting for Saturday so Hayward and I went over to give a hand. Wow- what an operation! So well run… By the time we left at 10:30, the snow was coming down pretty well.

When we got up yesterday, there was an impressive accumulation and it continued all day. I cleared the cars and shook as much snow as I could reach off our trees and shrubs. We did lose one tree- there was just too much snow for the branches to hold and it just kind of leaned over and kept going… Hayward got good use out of the snowblower and came in after three hours hungry and aching. It looks so clean and pretty out back.

For dinner I made spaghetti and we watched “Hidalgo”. Mary and I baked some cookies (check back on Christmas to see what we made!) and toffee. Right now I am finishing up some last minute projects (for other people). I haven’t started on mine yet but there’s still plenty of time 🙂

Deck the halls…

It usually takes till about now for me to get in the holiday spirit. Today my friends Tina and Lorine and I went up to a historical wheat plantation in Leesburg where they featured wedding dresses of women who had lived there. It was beautiful weather and a great day to be there. Then we went on to lunch. We decided to go somewhere together instead of giving gifts this year. I am so blessed to have several circles of great friends and I don’t tell them enough how much I love them.

But now, back to a depressing topic… I am cleaning the basement/studio and wonder why in the world I let it get like this. I’m on a roll right now though… just in time for CHA coming up when another disaster will be created!

A couple of things… I appeared on Inspired at Home: Spotlight on Creativity Dec. 7. The show archives are up if you want to see the show.

The Sizzix blog was supposed to go live today but due to a tech problem it was delayed… hopefully tomorrow it will go up.

Last thing. I was going through some stuff and found this little angel I had gotten at a thrift store somewhere. Is it my imagination or does she look faintly annoyed? Something about the way she’s clutching that harp reminds me of my mom’s expression in the rearview mirror as she is driving my sisters and I to piano lessons as we were goofing around and being obnoxious in the back seat and generally getting on her nerves… good times…

Tomorrow night is Book Club so I will be baking today for the cookie exchange and family members that will soon be arriving. Christmas is coming!