Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

Designer Crafts Connection Hop

Today’s hop day! Click on the blue icon on my sidebar to see all of the fun Halloween and fall projects created by my crafty designer friends. 

My Halloween project is a candle screen. Instructions for the project can be found here.I used an orange battery operated tealight that I found at Michael’s… a good alternative to fire when you are making a candle screen from paper :-).

SPECIAL GIVEAWAY! 
If you leave a comment below by 7 PM tonight, you will be eligible to win the Sizzix ScoreBoard Candy Jar die, which I used to make the project.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy October to all!

All Things Altered Blog Hop

Time for another fun blog hop put on by Pam Bray of Scrapbook Flair! Take a look at all of these cool fall projects:

Cut four jar dies from Crescent Bright Core orange/black matboard. (I love this and use it every Halloween. It’s orange on one side and black on the other. The core is orange instead of the usual white. It’s a little thicker than regular matboard which makes it nice and sturdy.)
Stamp a distressed pattern on the jar with black ink. Cut 4 jar lids from black paper and adhere them to the jars. Brush over the lids with silver metallic ink.
Adhere a piece of orange cardstock to black cardstock. Cut four pieces 2 1/2″ x 1″. Score in half down each long side- these pieces will be used to hinge the box together.
 
Fold paper on score lines and add adhesive to the orange side. Place in each corner of the jars until you have a box shape. Distress corners with black ink pad.

Cut the square piece of the Cupcake Stand die from the same matboard. Stamp the orange side as you did the outside of the jars. If you don’t want orange edges, color them in with a Sharpie marker. I also Sharpie’d the sides of the jars where they connect to give depth.


Add spooky embellishments. (I used Jolee’s glitter spiders) On the back jar section, cut a piece of clear packaging and add a spider partway up so it shows through when you look at the candle. What does the key unlock? Find out… if you dare!


Tie jute around the box of the jar lids.


The candle is decorated with a rub-on bat and then inked with black.


The square cupcake stand is used for the base of the project. I added kraft paper krinkle stuff to the inside of the box to raise the candle up a little.
Happy Haunting!
To make this blog hop even more fun, I have a giveaway! Some lucky person who leaves a comment below will receive one of the Sizzix Candy Jars die used in the project!

 Make sure to go all the way through the hop because there are other great prizes all along the way…


Don’t forget to leave a comment- let me know what you would make with the Candy Jar die. You could be the winner 🙂

Work Smart with Duetica

I am back home after two weeks in the Caribbean celebrating our thirty-second anniversary! I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband… and good friends.
But now it’s time to get back to work. My friend Lorine Mason (also seen above) and I talk almost every day about various projects we are working on and she will sometimes end our calls with, “Work smart!” That is a reminder worthy of posting somewhere conspicuous. Work or Pinterest- help me! This is going right next to my computer…

I did something I’ve been wanting to try for a while… and that is cutting vinyl on my Sizzix eclips machine using two of my favorite Duetica fonts- Mandolyn and Woodwynde.
  • First lay out your text in your software editing program using the Duetica Lettering Arts Studio fonts.(I used both a script and traditional font for interest and tried several versions of the phrase until I got it just the way I wanted.) 
  • Create an outline of the text and save it as an .svg file

  • Open the ECAL software on the Sizzix eclips cutter and insert the text. 
  • Lay a piece of aqua vinyl adhesive side down on cutting mat and cut with eclips. (You may have to play around with the settings- you want to cut the vinyl but not through to the backing paper.) 

  • Cut a piece of transfer paper (or contact paper) a little bigger than the size of your text. Remove the backing so you have a piece of sticky film. Place the film over the text. 
  • Burnish the phrase on the front of the contact paper so the letters peel off easily.    NOTE: I forgot to order transfer tape with the vinyl but I wound up using contact paper which worked fine.
adhesive side up

  • Position cut out vinyl text on the wall or where desired. Burnish into place using your fingernails.
  • I picked up an 8″ x 10″ frame at The Closet for $.50- it was missing the glass, but I don’t need it for this anyway…
  • Cut a coordinating mat with an inside window large enough to fit your text. Glue mat to the inside of the frame.
  • Center frame and mat over text. Hang frame on wall!  
Look at the great detail that the eclips was able to cut. And don’t you just love these Duetica fonts? I can’t wait to add vinyl to other areas of my house! And wouldn’t it be great to put up sayings for special occasions? The possibilities are very exciting! 

Vinyl is fairly inexpensive and the fact that you can cut your own sayings is super cool! I ordered mine from Oh My Crafts. 
 
I can’t wait to try more! Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend…

Industrial Chic Composition Book

I was so excited to be invited to join the Susan Lenart Kazmer Industrial Chic Blog Hop. The display of this product in Michael’s caught my eye and the cool metal jewelry pieces and findings intrigued me. So of course I said yes! Now, you know me, I love my paper. I wanted to come up with an idea combining the metal elements and paper. 
A couple of weeks ago, I lucked out and found composition books for $.39 at Big Lots. (why did I only buy 3???) I decided to use the book as a base for my project- an inspiration journal. I am always tearing things out of magazines to inspire me when I get in a rut. But they sit in a huge pile and I never look at them because it is too overwhelming. So I decided to tape them into this book. Since I am the only one who will be looking, I don’t need to line anything up or be neat about it. Love using washi tape for this!

  1. Cover front and back of notebook with an old atlas or dictionary page using spray adhesive. (I got this atlas at an auction in a big box of junk for $1!) Trim the excess paper with a craft knife and distress the edges with brown ink.
  2. Choose three colors of Viva Decor Inka Gold and blend them on a scrap of glossy paper so the colors meet and overlap. Spray a little water on top and then blot off. Trim to size. I love this product because it dries almost immediately and contains beeswax. Once it dries you can buff it up and wow- really nice effect… the colors are beautiful! 
  3. Stamp an image on top of the inked paper- I used a Unity stamp set from my friend Susan Weckesser called “Sing your song”– love it! Color images in with Copic markers and add a little glitz accent on the leaves and sun with Stickles.
  4. Trim stamped image to size for the front of the book. Outline edges with stitching lines using a permanent marker.
  5. Create a banner with the phrase, “East, west, home is best” (or whatever you want to title your book) using the Duetica Mandolyn font. (In the top corner of the map of Kansas is Ft. Leavenworth, where we lived for a year.) I love using the Duetica Lettering Arts Studio. For one thing they have beautiful fonts! And each font comes with 10-20 versions of each letter. So if you want to add a swash at the end of the sentence you can do it- it gives a customized handwritten look to your text. 
  6. Make creases in two sides of the banner to make it pop up and add glue dots under the tail sections. If you do not want a cover that is so dimensional, then fold banner flat under and adhere. 
  7. Cut dimensional flowers from brown coffee filters from Flowers, Layers #9 and ink edges with Copic markers.
  8. Cut grass strip from Flowers, 3D #2 and Leaves using shopping bag fabric.  Cut butterflies from Bazzill paper using the Bird & Butterflies set and lightly distress with brown ink. Position elements on book and adhere with glue dots.
  9. Finally, position your cool metal Industrial Chic embellishments where desired and adhere to book. I didn’t have the right color brads so I inked colored ones with silver alcohol inks so they blended in. 

Holy cow- look at this list of artists that are participating! Check out their projects here:

10           Barbe St. John 
11           Cheryl Bodkin Waters 
12           Cindi Bisson 
13           Gretchen McHale 
14           Jenny Barnet Rohrs
15           Kari McKnight
16           Lindsay Obermeyer
17           Seth Apter
18           Suze Weinberg 
19           Tami Bayer
20           Theresa Cifali
21           Tracie Stivers Lampe 
22           Traci Bautista
23           Jen Crossley 
24           Eileen Hull– you are here!
25           Pam Carriker 

26           Sandy Martin  

Thanks for stopping by!

Drawer or Box? You decide…

On the Sizzix blog, I showed this Stacking Drawers project I created using the new Candy Drawer die from the Sweet Treats collection.

I promised to show you another way the die can be configured to make a box with a lid- yes- all from the same die… It’s all in how you tape it up. 

The drawer part goes together the same either way. Add strong double sided tape to all tabbed areas. Fold the drawer up and center the square piece on the bottom of the tabs. Press into place.


I also decided to emboss the frame section of the drawer so I ran it through the Big Shot with a Textured Impressions folder.

Add tape to the two segments of the box nearest the notched end. Place the drawer section on top of the second segment and fold and press the notched end up to the edge of the drawer. This forms a fun little box that opens and closes. I love that this box may be used in different ways!

I couldn’t resist adding some glitter. Take your Versamark Watermark stamp pad and run it over the raised areas of the embossing. Pour glitter on top and shake off excess. I love these new Momenta metal stickers and this one was just what I was looking for. Add sticker first, then glitter.

Wishing a Happy Birthday to my son Chris who is in Afghanistan. Can’t wait to give him a huge hug…


Thanks for stopping by!

My Craft Celebrity Friend, Tiffany Windsor

Ever wonder what makes craft celebrities tick? Let me introduce you to Tiffany Windsor, whose innovative new craft product, Cool2Cast, won second place out of over one hundred entries in the Innovations Showcase at CHA Winter 2012.
Tiffany wears many hats- she is the host of the popular web TV show, Cool2Craft, which airs on Mondays at noon (and also may be seen on demand at her site). She and her sister, Eco Heidi Borchers, demonstrate all kinds of inventive techniques on the show- many of them developed by their mother, Aleene Jackson (yes, THAT Aleene!), years ago. These techniques are classic- the colors and supplies may have changed, but bread dough roses are still amazing! Tiffany also consults for manufacturers and chains, does speaking engagements, designs product, and gives back to the craft community by serving as a member of the CHA Designer Council and as head of the PR Team. She is always there to help promote her fellow designers and is well-respected and admired for her dedication and professionalism.

Tiffany is no stranger to crafting- it’s a family affair! Here is our interview with her; read on to hear of her inspiring journey and all that she has accomplished in our industry…

Hi Tiffany! What is your favorite craft?

That’s way too difficult for me to decide! I am a self-proclaimed hard-core crafter which means that anything goes! I’ll try just about any craft product and technique and put my own twist to it. I am definitely most excited about my new product launch for Cool2Cast. It can be used in so many ways in so many creative categories so, OK… if I have to pick a favorite – it would be Cool2Cast! I have been developing the launch of this product for the past 3 years and I never grow tired of it and find new ways of using it every day.

How long have you been crafting? 
My first memory of a crafting project is at the age of 3 when I crafted an Easter basket with Styrofoam, chenille stems and ribbon. I have always been enchanted with ribbons and I remember how much I loved weaving the ribbons in and out of the chenille stems to make a basket.

Why did you start crafting?
In my family there was no choice 🙂 My mother’s business was in a major growth spurt when I was a young child, so the crafting business was a part of our everyday life. With 5 active kids, Mom gave us crafting supplies from her retail store to keep us busy. Fast forward to my adult years when I really embraced crafting for myself, I find crafting to be totally relaxing. Crafting is like a moving meditation for me. It’s my zen time.

Why do you keep crafting? 
About 10 years ago, I decided I was finished with crafting. Kaput, stop, end, no more. I was on total overload after having hosted and produced over 2,000 episodes of the Aleene’s Creative Living TV show for 6 years without a vacation. I thought I never wanted to see another craft again. I stepped away for about a year and in that time of soul searching I realized that crafting was really a passion for me. And sharing my love for crafting is a passion for me! So many people over the past 60 years have been enjoying the wealth of ideas in the Aleene’s vintage archives, I knew that I wanted to keep that heritage alive. That’s why in 2009, I started the Cool2Craft Community and TV show in an on-line format. It is the perfect way for me to keep connecting and sharing with the creative community.

What is your favorite crafty brand and why?
Aleene’s of course! Since I use glue in almost all my projects, I love that there is a glue for EVERY creative need. From basic all-purpose glues, to industrial strength and dry adhesives, to specific use, it is glue heaven in my studio.

Have you ever injured yourself crafting?
Thankfully no. But I do have an aloe plant handy in the studio whenever I try to use a glue gun. It’s excellent for glue gun burns.

What is your favorite crafty word? 
How about a crafty quote – “Get creative. Get inspired. Be cool!”

Tell us about your crafting space…
Since moving back to the west coast last year, I was able to set up my dream studio at my sister Heidi’s house. She had an enclosed patio area that was just being used to collect stuff so we cleared it out and I set up 6 crafting tables utilizing doors from the local ReStore (Habitat for Humanity) and set them on 3-shelf bookcases from WalMart.  Now I have lots of tabletop space to create on, and lots of underneath storage. And, it is a rare day that any of the tabletops are empty!  

Did your parents or grandparents craft?  Was your love of craft inherited? 
For anyone who doesn’t know, my Mom is THE tacky lady. Yes, Aleene of Aleene’s Tacky Glue, pioneer of the modern day craft industry. My sisters and I have often had the discussion of would we have been crafty if our Mom was not Aleene?  The rich creative environment in which I was raised definitely had to influence my love of crafting. I did work outside the craft industry for about 10 years so I have experienced my creative side both inside and outside the industry. Many people don’t realize that Aleene was not really a hands-on crafter. She had a natural talent for marketing and brought together design teams. I really inherited my crafting talent from my dad who is a very talented artist and craftsman. From my mom, I inherited the gift of visioning and perseverance. Mom forged paths that no one else even envisioned.  

What trends are you noticing in the Craft Industry? 
What I love about watching the craft industry right now is to see it re-awakening to general crafts. For so many years, the focus was totally on scrapbooking and papercrafting, so many general crafts and craft basics were overlooked. Now is the time that everyone seems open and ripe to get their hands onto products that have been ignored for so many years. I really salute the mixed media artists for showing the consumers that it’s OK to create and play and layer and glue and glob and sprinkle and have fun trying new techniques.

Can you give us a list any blogs or websites you write for, or that display your work – www.cool2craft.com, www.ilovetocreate.com, www.favecrafts.com



Thanks so much for your time, Tiffany!  Wasn’t it interesting to hear about growing up as part of a craft dynasty?