eileen, Author at Eileen Hull

Wedding Bell BLUES

14 Apr

Don’t worry- the wedding bell blues are a good thing! Those are the colors my daughter chose for her wedding this past Saturday. It was just about as perfect a day as anyone could hope for. No rain, good food, great family and friends and lots of fun!

Here’s a picture of the seating chart I made from an old window.

You will need:

vintage window
old book pages
Mod Podge
ribbon
calligraphy marker
Sizzix Fresh Vintage flower dies by Eileen Hull (coming soon)
blue and white crepe paper
white tissue paper
brads
silver pipe cleaners
Sizzix Eclips machine
Starter & Rockin Janie Cartridge

blue paper in varying shades
silver pen

Instructions:

Clean and sand edges of windows. Rub stain or ink over sanded edges for shabby look.
Tear out pages from an old wedding etiquette book. Mod Podge pages to back side of glass, varying position of pages for interest. Tear strips if necessary to cover all areas of the glass. Use a brayer to work bubbles out and make paper smooth.
Write message on ribbon with calligraphy marker. Embellish ribbon with Fresh Vintage flowers cut from crepe paper and tissue paper in various colors. Add bling, silver leaves and stacked book page hearts. Hot glue flowers and other embellishments to ribbon.
Cut out desired heart shapes using Eclips die cut machine. Cut a slit in each heart from the bottom point to the middle of the heart. Put a piece of double sided tape on the bottom left side of the point. Fold flaps into center and trim off extra pieces to form a 3D heart.
With a silver pen, write the name of each guest and their table number. Adhere to window with glue dots.
Arrange hearts in alphabetical order leaving the names visible at the bottom of the heart.
Enjoy the event! We sure did. 🙂

I messed up! My brain is still in wedding mode- I was supposed to post an Easter project today (not wedding), as part of the Designer Connection blog hop. Luckily, I happen to have this little basket made from a Dove soap box in the archives. For some other cool Easter projects, click forward or back on the Designer Connection button on the sidebar for a trip around our webring to see what this fabulous group has to show!

Ready?

3 Apr

Practicing my copperplate calligraphy- it’s been a while… and rocks are probably not the best surface to start with. But still, these came out not too bad.

You will need:

rocks

oblique calligraphy nib

black permanent ink

Instructions:

Clean and dry rocks. You can buy them in craft stores, gardening departments of home improvement centers and sometimes dollar stores. Or you can find them outside in nature. Select them for color or shape. Rocks much be fairly smooth so your pen can move as you write and not get stuck in irregularities of rock.
Write words in calligraphy conforming to size and shape of rock.
Use as favors with the couples’ initial and date of wedding or as name place settings.
If desired, spray rocks with sealer to protect them.

This is an easy and inexpensive way to add a special feel to your event!

Coming Soon!

30 Mar

Here’s a sample of one of my new dies that will be coming out in the Sizzix Fresh Vintage collection this June!

You will need:
Sizzix Big Shot
Sizzix Fringed Flower by Eileen Hull (almost here!)
Sizzix Leaves by Eileen Hull (shipping in May)
small white frame
Extreme Glitter Paint– Plaid
matboard scrap for background
tissue paper
spray mist- yellow
glitter brad
sentiment with white distress ink
glue dots

Instructions:

Paint frame with glitter paint using random strokes. Feel free to leave more glitter in the folds and creases. Let dry. (Oh this is fun stuff- doesn’t show up in this pic so well but quite glittericious)

Print or stamp sentiment and snip ends for a banner effect. Ink edges with white.
Layer 20 pieces of tissue paper on top of smallest fringed flower on Bigz Fringed Flower die. I used the packaging from the tissue paper and folded it to size. Die-cut flowers.
Assemble flower by securing brad in center hole. Spray with desired color mist. Allow to dry. Ruffle up edges using a pencil eraser.
Cut 2 leaves and draw in details if desired. Assemble flower and banner on frame with glue dots.

Happy Spring everyone! 11 days till wedding 🙂

Countdown

25 Mar

I am still alive. Just a little crazy. Jess’s wedding is coming up FAST and there’s still so much to do. Where would I be without my generous friends that are always so happy to help me? In big trouble- that’s where…

Promise to write more later. Lots going on behind the scenes including: fun ideas for my Fresh Vintage dies available in June, info on CHA Summer Workshop, new design teams I’m working with and (trust me) lots more… but now, time for bed! Tomorrow I go see the florist about centerpieces, pick up paper for table favors, doctor’s appt… etc.

Wedding Invitations

14 Mar

Today we hop! Click on the blue Designer Connection logo and take a trip around the webring to see what our talented group has come up with today. The theme is wedding projects. And how convenient for me- we have a wedding coming up within the month 🙂 Here’s a peek at the invitations I designed for my daughter’s wedding dress.

She really liked how they came out. I love the colors she picked (although I was pushing for aqua…) and her theme is hearts. So I created some heart flowers in Illustrator and laid everything out.

Normally I would have printed them myself but because these were a very important job, I sent them to a Signature Printing to be printed on nice heavy cardstock. When I got them back, they looked pretty plain. Jess happened to be home that weekend so we went to town with some adhesive backed half pearls which we added to some of the flower centers for a 3D effect. We also decided to use a bellyband to hold the packet together. Their wedding logo was printed and punched from a scalloped circle.

If you look closely at the logo, you will see that the cakestand base is two J’s back to back (one is reversed). I used the Mandolyn font from Duetica. This is my fave font! So elegant and flowing but still readable. This font system is amazing because you can select from 10-20 options of each letter in a font family so that no two are alike- so many options to customize your layout and make it just the way you want it.

When I think about it, the stand is a cool metaphor for marriage. Two individuals working to support what they will build together- their life, family and dreams. sniff sniff. Hard to believe I will have a married daughter in less than a month! Will be posting more as the day draws closer…

Craft Critique

12 Mar

This week was pretty crazy. Ray is still getting acclimated to living here at the house. And I am painting like a madwoman, trying to get everything looking good before the wedding which a little less than a month away! Today we got the living room all put back together. One day at a time…

Here’s a photo of the necklace that my daughter Pam designed and is making for all the bridesmaids for Jess’s wedding. I think the blue, silver and pearl combo is so elegant! Pam has always loved beading and has been designing her own pieces for years. I still have a pair of Santa Claus earrings she made for me when she was about 10- she got tons of orders when people saw mine. She also just opened a shop on Etsy- I’ll pass her info along when I get the URL.

I had a nice chat at CHA with Sarah Moore, editor-in-chief of Craft Critique. If you don’t already subscribe, you’ll want to sign up! Once you are on the list, you will receive their daily email where you will see reviews of craft products, special events, contests, and blog carnivals. I love it- I don’t know how anyone can keep up with all of the new crafty products out there! If I am considering buying a new tool or product, first I go to the archives and read the reviews of what other crafters thought of it before I purchase it. All reviews contain 3 pros and 3 cons about the product. And if someone doesn’t like the product, they will tell you! I appreciate the advice- hate wasting money a product that won’t work.

Anyway, I am excited to tell you I am now a Special Reporter for Craft Critique! I’ll let you know when my first article comes out.