Eileen Hull

Surprise Baby Shower for Anna-Karin!

31 Mar

Anna-Karin Evaldsson is a very special member of the Eileen Hull Inspiration Team. You can see her work on her blog Layers of Ink. Last year there were a lot of changes in her life, including a move from one continent to another and just a few months later, a new baby! Leo arrived weeks ahead of schedule (and just 20 minutes after reaching the hospital!) but thankfully he and Anna-Karin are both doing well.

I first met Anna- Karin several years ago. It seems she can do it all- she is not only a super-talented designer, she creates amazing projects, takes beautiful photographs and writes great tutorials. She is always on top of deadlines and every project is more amazing and detailed as the next!

Here’s how dedicated she is… a few weeks ago, the team was doing a collaboration with our friends at Stampendous! on the blog and Amy Bowerman (our fabulous Inspiration Team Coordinator) and I received an email from Anna-Karin saying that she might be a little late with her project because she was having contractions but that she would post the project as soon as she could. That night Leo was born! Doesn’t that make us all his aunts?

Baby Shower Sizzix Projects | Eileenhull.com

We want to show Anna-Karin how special she is to us, so we are giving her a virtual baby shower today to celebrate Leo’s birth! Even though we can’t be with her, we send our love and a special crafty surprise. We invite you to visit each team member/shower guest’s blog to see what they created for this new little guy.

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If you have a message for Anna-Karin, please leave your well wishes in the comments- then she can read them all at once. Thanks for being part of our celebration!

Here’s a list of the “shower” participants. You can click on each link and hop from blog to blog to see all of the projects:

My project is a mini-album. Anna-Karin can use this for whatever she would like- it would work for photos, his first words, funny things he says as he gets older, or a mom journal. I wish I had written more down when my kids were little.

This was a fun album to make because I used the new Homemade Thinlits alphabet to emboss the cover of the book. Such a fun feature of the Thinlits dies when used on matboard- if it were paper, it would cut through, but on matboard it just leaves a nice crisp impression. I inked over the front and back albums covers using Clearsnap ColorBox Blends in soft pastel colors (in honor of Anna-Karin’s fondness for ink) I put twenty-four pages in the book and used the Sizzix Mini-Album die to cut the pages. It’s so easy! Fold a sheet of 12″ x 12′ paper in half, then in quarters. Place the big fold just shy of the first score line on the die and roll through your Big Shot. You will get two double fold page signatures and each page fits perfectly inside the album. Tie the pages into the book spine with green and white twine.

The baby’s name was spelled out with letters die cut from matboard and popped up with foam squares. I also added a tiny layered lion (Leo the Lion) from my Cherished collection using burlap to cut the mane and background.

Please feel free to leave some comments for Anna-Karin. Any advice for a mom going from one baby to two?

Anna-Karin, we wish you and your family health and happiness always in your new home!

Thanks so much, friends, for joining our online shower…

More “Go Green” Sizzix Projects

24 Mar

Hey there! It’s Inspiration Team Tuesday and you know what that means? The IT is back to share MORE “Go Green” Sizzix Projects to inspire you to create with us in the Art with Heart Challenge! Let’s have a look at what the girls have in store for you this week…

Oxana Moupasiridou has a Rustic Recycled Recipe Card Box project to share with you today. This little lovely is all decked out in Distress Paint, recycled cardboard, wood elements and Oxana’s touch of Mixed Media magic!

Stop by Oxana’s blog for more details on this Rustic Recycled Recipe Card Box!

Lisa Hoel is packing more than a “pinch” of green with this crazy creative Leprechaun House creation! I love how Lisa has stacked Loaf Pans from Vintage Kitchen to create her base…talk about “Go Green” inspiration!

Feeling Lucky? Stop by Lisa’s blog for more delightful details on this darling Leprechaun Dwelling.

Tracy Evans has a fun and festive Easter themed ATB project featuring Tim Holtz’s “Bird Crazy” stamps and Wendy Vecchi’s new embossing powders!

Bunny Hop on over to Tracy’s blog for more on this adorable Easter ATB!

Hope you will join in on the “Go Green” fun. There’s still time to enter your “Go Green” projects HERE.

See you soon!

Eileen

Featured Fan: Jean Bullock

20 Mar

I had the pleasure of meeting our Featured Fan, Jean Bullock, in person at CHA this year. Jean was gracious enough to do a Make and Take for a lady asking to see the new Big Shot Plus machine. It was so much fun to meet her because we had been chatting on line for so long, it was almost like I already knew her. I sent Jean my Sizzix Canister die to thank her for letting me video tape and share her demo and she made and shared this beautiful project!

I asked Jean if she would like to share another project or two with you and HOLY COW did she deliver! Wait until you see these delicate luminaries she created!

And now…. heeere’s Jean!

More Fun With Eileen Hull Designs Canister Die

I am having so much fun using Eileen Hull Designs amazing Canister Die. One of the things I love about Eileen’s dies is that they are so versatile. As I was working with the Canister Die, I started getting ideas for other projects. One of the projects I wanted to try making was a luminary.

The Kit N Clowder Facebook group was having a Fantasy Challenge, sponsored by the Flying Unicorn. The challenge was to create a Fantasy project and if we included a unicorn in our project, we could get an additional entry.

Here is what I came up with:

I used Kelly Papers 100 lb white cover stock for the paper. Because the cover stock was rather thick, knew I needed to create some openings for the light to shine through, so I used Sue Wilson’s Eternal Rings striplet to acheive that. The striplet die was narrow enough to use with the panel parts of Eileen’s cannister die. I got a wonderful public domain unicorn image from Wikipedia and fussy cut it and adhered it to the front of the luminary.

The flowers were created with a Martha Stewart Hydrangea punch. I used an embossing tool to give the flowers more dimension and added tiny self-adhesive half pearls to the centers and also to the pattern created by the Eternal Rings die and on the corners of the top and bottom of the luminary.

If you look closely at the photo above you can see the battery operated tea light I added. The tea light is from Walmart. Rather than open the luminary from the top, I created it to open from the bottom, so the tea light could be easily accessed.

For the top of the luminary, I used a beautiful filigree flower adornment from the Flying Unicorn and added a flower and pearl to the middle. The lid is glued to the top of the luminary, which is really the bottom turned upside down.

I love the effect of the lighted luminary.

I showed it to a colleague at work who asked me if I could make a night light for her new granddaughter. And so … I did! Unfortunately, I got the name wrong on the panel I added, so I will be making another one this weekend.

In a few days, I shall share photos showing how I created these.

In closing, I would like to share how I met Eileen Hull. We have been Facebook friends for several years. This year I was able to attend the CHA convention in Anaheim, and while I was there, I wanted to say hello to Eileen, so I went to one of her make and take demonstrations. After the demonstration, I went behind the counter to get my picture taken with Eileen. We were having a fun chat, and a very nice lady approached the counter, and being in a jolly mood, I asked her if she would like to do a make and take. Eileen let me show the lady how to do the project. I had so much fun. Eileen videotaped it with her phone and shared it on Facebook. Click HERE if you would like to see the video.

Please check back in a few days and visit Jean’s blog to see how she made the luminaries.

If you would like to try your hand at creating a Canister, you can buy the die here (and it’s even on sale!):

Sizzix Canister die

Cutting Pad – Extended, 1 Pair

Big Shot

InLinkz.com

Thanks Jean for sharing your art with us!

See you on Tuesday with another amazing selection of awesomeness from our super talented Inspiration Team!

And we have a Paper Trail update coming soon with details about the Paper Trail 4 Tour in April so check back! I would love for you to follow Scotty and I for an up-close and personal look at travel teaching in a vintage camper- follow me here on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!

St. Patrick’s Day “Go Green” Sizzix Projects

17 Mar

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Today is your lucky day…the Inspiration Team is back once again to share some “Go Green” Sizzix Projects with you. Come along and follow the creative rainbow. I can assure you there is a pot of inspirational gold at the end.

Diana Hetherington has a fabulous upcycling project to “Go Green” with this St. Patty’s day. This Fenced Storage Box created from recycled StencilGirl packaging is environmentally friendly and too cute to boot!

Visit Diana’s Blog for a full tutorial on how to turn packaging into an adorable Fenced Storage Box.

Michelle Zerull has a sensational “Go Green” project that will have your creativity blossoming in no time! This darling Flower Arrangement created with recycled newsprint and nestled into my soon to be released Train Case Die is the perfect project to welcome spring.

Head to Michelle’s Blog for a fun tutorial featuring DecoArt Media and some of my new and old Sizzix dies!

The Bird’s the word when it comes to Nicole Wright’s “Go Green” ATB contribution! Her Bird Crazy Artist Trading Block is too cute for words! I love the look of the new Distress Color “Cracked Pistachio” coupled with Tim Holtz’s “Bird Crazy” stamp set from Stampers Anonymous don’t you?

Tweet all about this Bird Crazy ATB at Nicole’s Blog.

Pam Bray is also “Going Green” with an ATB. This Dance in the Rain ATB complete with Wendy Vecchi Crackle paste and paper pieced, stamped flowers is a real stunner indeed!

Dance in the creative rain with Pam as she shows you some neat ways to use Crackle Paste and Copic Colored stamping to add serious dimension to your “Go Green” projects.

Everyone sure brought out their best “Go Green” inspiration today. Are you ready to “Go Green” with us? Link up your “Go Green” projects HERE.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Eileen

Go Green with Sizzix

10 Mar

Hey everyone! It seems we are finally experiencing warmer days here in the North East and beginning to see some “greenery”…a sure sign of spring! The inspiration team is back again to share creative “greenery” with their “Go Green” projects! Today you’ll see “green” ideas to craft with your scraps, stash, and fun products from Sizzix, DecoArt, and Graphic 45.

Lisa Hoel has a fun ATC project to help you “Go Green” and use up fabric scraps! Lisa’s Quilted ATC’s are artful AND environmentally friendly. What a great way to get creative with fabric scraps!

Stop by Lisa’s blog and see how to stitch your way to green crafting!

Shelly Hickox has a fabulous Easel Card and Candy Drawer project that will have you longing for fresh produce from the farmer’s market! Coupled with Graphic 45 Home Sweet Home collection this project will leave you with the sweet taste of creative magic.

Visit Shelly’s blog to check out the equally fabulous tutorial she’s cooked up for you. You’ll want to eat your “greens” once you see this clever creation.

Anne Redfern goes green with a handcrafted coaster caddy all decked out with DecoArt Media! She’ll even show you how to double up on the Sizzix Caddy die fun!

Get “crackin'” over to Anne’s Blog for more DecoArt Media goodness using my Sizzix dies!

Pam Bray puts the green in creative green thumb with her gorgeous Garden Box creation featuring several of my Sizzix dies! I love how Pam has used dies new and old to create this stunning garden box complete with garden gnomes and DecoArt Media!

Go Green with Pam on her blog and learn creative Sizzix die techniques and more with DecoArt Media!

Tracy Evans is sharing a second gorgeous green project with us today. Tracy’s high-flying Artist Trading Block will take your go green inspiration to new heights!

Stop by Tracy’s blog for cool blue and green mixed media techniques and a closer look at this beautiful ATB sure to make your creativity fly!

Hope you have been inspired to “Go Green” with us here at Art with Heart today! We can’t wait to see how you interpret the “Go Green” theme…link your projects up HERE.

See you soon!

Eileen

Stop Hunger Now

8 Mar

Yesterday was busy!

I started the morning at a really cool event put on by Stop Hunger Now. It was held at my church and co-sponsored by the ADAMS Center, a mosque located around the corner from Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church. 175 people from our community gathered from 9:30-11:30 with the goal of packaging meals for 35,000 people! I have to say I was motivated not only by the desire to be part of this great mission, but also because I didn’t see how it was possible to do so much in such a small amount of time and wanted to see for myself. [Read more…]