Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

Matboard covered cigar boxes

Today I had a whole list of things to do. Did I do them? No. Because as I was looking for something in my cigar box stash, it was making me crazy. I love cigar boxes for their size, sturdiness, availability and general cuteness. I buy them at Total Wine for .49 and use them to store all my little doodads. However, the paper that covers them is really ugly- very busy, yucky colors and labels sticking out all over the place- what are they thinking? The labels I printed with my labelmaker are unreadable amidst everything else going on there.

So this morning I decided to give my boxes a face lift. I used scrap matboard in pretty colors and cut it to fit the side panel of the box. I laid out some labels in Publisher and inserted the different categories I needed, printed and trimmed them. Used the tape gun to adhere the panel to the box.
A few recommendations: do not cover the front panel of the box- it’s very hard to open if you cover that part. The side panel is much easier to access. Also consider putting a rubber band around the middle of the box to prevent contents from spilling when you go to take it out, especially if there’s stacking going on.
I know I could really have gone crazy embellishing these but I still had that list of work to do. But now when I look at the boxes, I am soothed by the pretty colors and not distracted. This also gave me the benefit of looking all through my fun stuff again. This is a quick easy way to reorganize your crafty stash.

IndyCars and Christmas shopping

This weekend we journeyed up to Watkins Glen, NY for the races. Honestly, there were a lot of cars and noise but I couldn’t tell you much about who won or what happened. What I can say is the weather was beautiful and my sister-in-law Allison and I got an afternoon to ourselves to spend in Corning, home of Corning Glass. The photo is a glass sculpture seen in the lobby. There was a museum, which we intended to tour, but never made it due to all of the glittering glassware tempting us in the gift shop. Several hundred dollars lighter, we emerged with bags of Christmas and birthday gifts and so proud that we had shopped ahead. Did I mention everything in the store was 30% off? So we returned to the races in a great frame of mind. Watkins Glen is located right at the end of Seneca Lake (one of the Finger Lakes) and is spectacular. We went down to town for dinner. Although they gave the table we had reserved overlooking the water to Eric Estrada (of CHiPS fame), the dinner was delicious and we forgave them. Made it back just in time for the best fireworks display I have ever seen. The camping crowd was definitely in a party mood- we took the RV and stayed right along the back stretch along with many others- and it was fun to see all of the cool set-ups: campfires, flags, viewing stands, etc. that people had constructed.

However, it’s great to be home and back into work mode. I’m busy trying to get a book proposal out before I leave again. Today I did a custom order and caught up on email. Tonight I get into gear for CHA– have to create for the Designer Showcase. Come see me at lucky table #13 🙂 Wednesday, July 29 in Room W204 from 12-5 and then stay for the Meet the Designer event from 5-7.

What does the Fourth of July mean to you?

Sorry, we were away over the weekend and I was trying my hand at a scheduled post. Not sure why it did not go up on the Fourth, but still want to post this:

I love America. I love the people, the diversity, the beautiful land we occupy. I would never want to live anywhere else.

I feel so blessed to be able to have the life we have and enjoy freedoms that so many others will never know. I am happy living in this country. This FREE country. Yes, we have our problems, but we will figure out how to fix them because we Americans are nothing if not ingenious.

Two of my four children are in the military. My son is in the army and currently serving in Iraq and my daughter is at sea for three months on a Coast Guard mission. I am so proud of both of them for stepping up and protecting this precious freedom that we so often take for granted. Today I say thanks, and continue to pray for their safe returns. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers too.

Listen to Inspired At Home Radio July 12!

“Inspired at Home is hosted by creativity expert Tiffany Windsor. This lifestyle program treats listeners to interviews with featured guests and reporters who offer tips, project ideas, product reviews and creative lifestyle features. Inspired at Home radio airs on BlogTalkRadio.com on Sunday nights from 7-8:30 pm. Archived shows can be streamed directly from the website or downloaded for free through iTunes.”

I just got the word tonight that I’ll have a 10 minute segment to talk about my book, Matboard Magic, and love of all things matboard! Hope you can tune in and check out the show.

Today was spent matting and framing 5 graduation gifts I had put off for too long. Normally I am not a fan of red, black and white- it just seems very cold and stark to me. But the colors are very sharp. The school announcements were black text on white. I matted them in red and then framed in black- really sharp- so those were done for three of them. I had designed announcements and party invitations for two of the girls so matted those also which were even more fun. Tonight I had dinner with three of the graduate’s moms so I was able to deliver 3 of 5 in one stop. Best wishes, Kelsie, Alix, Adriana, Greg and Conor! Make your parents proud…

Great American Scrapbook Convention, Chantilly, VA

Every June, the Great American Scrapbook Convention comes to Chantilly, VA, a 15 minute drive from my house. For the past few years, I have been fortunate enough to have had my daughter Jess with me. But now she is an Ensign in the Coast Guard and they are out sailing the high seas so I was flying solo today (and still managed to drop way too much money).
I checked out the classes going on and there are a LOT! I have never taken one there but noticed a few that looked tempting. Down the first aisle, I saw a Sizzix Outlet store called Scrapperz Outlet that had a great assortment of dies at amazing prices, even the new pop-up ones by Karen Burniston, so if you are going, definitely stop by there. I dropped in the Melissa Frances booth to say hi but Melissa was teaching class. I chatted with her daughters for a bit, who are lovely and look just like their mom! Bought a very cool (and only $4!) 4″ x 6″ album made from MDF? Her display with the tiny crystal chandeliers, as always, was beautiful.I also spent a good bit of time in Accent Scrapbooking which carries some very interesting products, including a lot of acrylic albums and shapes. This product offers a lot of possibilities…
I noticed there were quite a few more booths selling deeply discounted merchandise. A sad comment on the state of our economy… but I’ll admit I did my best to help them out. Just doing my part. There were also 2 wire grid racks for paper which each hold 30 stacks which I purchased because up till now I have been using milk crates. They hold a lot of paper but are heavy and you have to look through the entire bin to find the one piece you are looking for. Part of the problem is they started out in color order but, over time, have become unruly. Now to find room for them- they do stack on top of each other which is good.
And when I got home, I received a preview of my product which will be coming out at the summer CHA show- it’s so exciting! What a fun day. I am so blessed to be able to work doing what I love. Thanks Hayward 🙂

Gift boxes for tiny hand sanitizers

It’s a sickness… I often try to figure out why I have this obsession with boxes. Is it that the boxes are a symbol for my deep seated yet unfulfilled desire for organization? Or is it just because they are so darn cute? I prefer to think it is the latter.

Tonight I went to the mall with Mary because she wanted to get some sneakers. I needed to price a new washer. So we separated and agreed to meet at the shoe store. After hanging out out the shoe store for a while, I remembered she said she was going to Dick’s first. So I wandered down to see if I could find her there. As I was going down the escalator, I saw her on the other side. For some reason, I turned around and attempted to run up three (moving) escalator steps in my flip-flops. Something went terribly wrong and I found myself with a cut toe, bruised other foot and a hole in my favorite black capris sitting on a step going down. Oh and also, I was humiliated. I had dropped my bag and an off duty Dick’s employee who was 5 steps behind me handed it to me in disbelief. I wanted to say, “What? You have never done something totally ridiculous and idiotic in your life? Just wait honey…”

To give Maryanne credit, she did acknowledge me (OK, she was laughing her head off) and we sailed out of Dick’s. By then I was laughing too. The blood coming out of my toe and all over my flip-flops was another matter. So we stopped in a Bath & Body Works where she suggested I buy some hand sanitizer and wipe off the cut. That’s when I saw these adorable little bottles. I’m going to a lunch tomorrow with some friends and thought, “Everyone should have one of these with them at all times just in case…” and purchased one for each friend (and myself!).

As we all know, presentation is everything! So I took some scrap matboard, a couple of stamps and ink, ribbon and plastic rubber bands and fashioned some tiny gift boxes for them. I measured the bottle and calculated how big I wanted the box. Then I stamped the matboard, scored the sides, and trimmed off the edges. I punched holes on both sides of the box and threaded ribbon through and knotted it inside for the handle. And that’s it! I didn’t even glue these as I usually would (it’s now 3:30 AM for heaven’s sake!) but instead used the plastic bands to hold all the sides together.

Now I need a trip to the mall for black capris…