Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

Sneak Peek!

I thought it might be fun to give my loyal viewers the first look at a finished ScoreBoard die project! I had a gift card for my niece Kate, who’s about to go back for her second year at James Madison University and just had a birthday. I used the business card box die (which also fits a gift card perfectly) some sunny yellow matboard and ribbon. It only took a couple of minutes to do. I ran it through the Big Shot to score and cut, folded the box up and added a couple of brads. I inserted the gift card with a scrap piece of matboard that I stamped Happy Birthday on, tied a length of ribbon around the box lacing it through the flower (included on the die), tied a knot and was out the door. If I had cut this by hand (which I used to do!), it would have taken me forever… I love my niece and she’s worth it… but now don’t have to 🙂

Thanks to Stephanie Girard who writes for CraftGossip She reviewed the recycling project of a Dove soap box I had done around Easter time. Stephanie works creating from recycled sweaters- her blog is called Sweater Surgery- love that. Also check out the blog of Carla Schauer, a fellow CHA designer who does some beautiful work and stopped by to see the Sizzix booth while I was there.

I will be posting more projects and will also be announcing a preview party in the barn… stay tuned sports fans…

Thank you my friends…

Does everyone use Google Alerts? They are the best! You just go to Google, enter the URL you’d like to track and every day you will get a message listing referring sites.

So just a little while ago, I got an alert. One was from a friend from way back, Korie, who is an amazing designer. She used to manage our local stamp store where I taught calligraphy and mat cutting. I still remember some really neat projects she did- my favorite was an altered Nancy Drew book. Check out her blog for local metro DC events and general cool stuff! Thanks Korie 🙂

The other alert was from my friend Ann Butler. Ann is a mixed media artist, she works full time and has 5 kids! And if I needed something to get done, I would go to Ann. Her secret must be that she never sleeps. I know when I’m on line at 2 AM, she oftens sends messages. I saw her and adorable 16 year old daughter Callie (yes, I am using adorable and 16 year old in the same sentence!) at CHA. We shared a cab to the hotel and discovered her older daughter was getting married the Saturday after the show which ended on Thursday! I’m telling you, this woman could rule the world… Thanks, Ann, for your nice photo and blog about the Scoreboards!

Too much email…

It’s crazy! I was gone for 2 weeks and it is talking me forever to get through everything that accumulated while I was away. Honestly, email does nothing to get my mojo going. I have a bunch of projects to do but can’t seem to get in the zone.

It could also be that I have given up my very good friend, diet Coke 🙁 as of Aug.1, the day Chris returned to Iraq. It seems to be a small thing in the grand scheme of life but it’s surprising how attached you get to the stuff. I am nervous that the magnet that I always thought was funny, “Without caffeine, I have no personality at all.” is true for me.

The good thing is no headache which I thought I would get for sure.

Guess it’s time for another light Minute Maid lemonade with no bubbles or taste…

Sizzix booth!

Here I am in the booth pointing to my logo on the Sizzix sign- such fun! Debbie did an amazing job demonstrating the Scoreboard dies and it was very rewarding to see people’s reactions to them.

I work alone in my basement studio. I make what I like. But to see my designs in a very cool booth at a major trade show and see other people liking them too is like a dream come true. Thanks, Sizzix, for giving me the chance to work with you all. What a great group of people- you can just feel the excitement and creativity in the air as you walk into the booth. These people love what they do and are very good at it. I can’t wait to see what’s ahead!

So now, back to work! It’s good to be home. After CHA, my husband and I were lucky enough to spend another week in Florida with our friends Lorine and Bill at their timeshare a few hours south of Orlando. The condo was beautiful and located right on the golf course, which Hayward and Bill took advantage of several times. We spent hours at the pool, beach and took a trip to Miami Beach, which was cool. But all good things must come to an end… I am ready to get back into life here at home.

CHA is over!

and wow- it was fun! I can finally tell you that my line of Sizzix dies has been released! I’ll post photos when I can. The dies are designed to cut and score thick material such as- MATBOARD and chipboard. There are eight designs available and they are called ScoreBoards. They are officially released in December so won’t be available for a little while yet. I’ll keep you posted 🙂

The show itself was actually somewhat small compared to other years. However the companies that were there were serious and doing quite a good business. There was a record crowd for the consumer SuperShow which was held immediately following the trade show. The booths were exciting and CROWDED. I didn’t even get to walk the whole show- the crowds were crazy. Anyway, more to come on this later… along with photos!

Bahamian flowers

I am a sucker for a deal. That’s why I found myself on a three day cruise to the Bahamas last Friday and not running around like a maniac getting ready for the Craft and Hobby Association’s Summer trade show which is now 6 days away! The cruise was on a converted ferry boat and was $158/person for 3 days. We went with 3 other couples and had basically no expectations. But it was great. We had a day in Nassau which was hot but really interesting. We explored the island a little and rented a jet ski.

So, now I am back… I am so excited to see my new product up in the Sizzix booth after 2 years of working on this. I have been testing the product at home and think people will like it- I hope so, anyway. Our seminar, “Licensing for Project Designers” seems to be under control and I had an email today from a CHA member who had some questions about something she is working on and how to proceed. She is attending the class so hopefully others will join her 🙂 My Designer Showcase display is getting done tonight. In fact I am on a Krylon high as we speak, after spraying my foamboard display pieces. The press kit is coming along too, slowly but surely.
I want to thank Violette for her enthusiam after winning my book, Matboard Magic, on the Inspired at Home radio show last week. I met Violette at CHA a year and a half ago. Her booth was next to ours and she was a lot of fun to talk to and hang around with. She is from Canada and has a new book out- check her web site to see it. I love her studio- it’s painted purple and she has some really cool projects she’s working on. I would love to be able to show you my studio but you would run away screaming! But good job, Violette!
OK, now back to work…

Heidi and the fringe

I told you a while back that my daughter Pam came by and we worked on a project together for her friend. I had found a little “Heidi” Golden Book somewhere in my travels and had to buy it. It was one of my favorite stories growing up. I can still remember the anticipation as a little kid-after we had our baths and gotten ready for bed, it would be time for my sisters and I to hop up on the couch and listen to our mom read to us.

Anyway, Pam happened to see this little book and ask if we could mat the title page and she could give it as a birthday gift to her friend Heidi. I love it anytime my kids (even when they are 25!) ask to work on something with me so we picked some colors out and cut the mat. Upon closer inspection of the book, we saw that the previous owner had taken scissors and snipped the bottom of the first few pages into fringe to make their own version of grass.
Happy Birthday, Heidi!

And we have a winner!

That would be Candace Jedrovitz! My daughter Maryanne picked a number and you were that number comment!

Thanks so much to all who took the time to listen to the show and leave me your kind comments! I hope you will continue to check in and see what’s new as the summer goes on. It’s easy to subscribe to this blog in a feed (little gold button right under my picture). When I put up a new post, you will be notified. Fun stuff is just around the corner…

Many thanks to Tiffany and the Inspired at Home family, that was a fun time!

Candace, please email me and let me know whether you would like MatBoard Magic or Foamboard Magic and also need your address.

Hi Maria!

There was some discussion of shaker cards on the Inspired at Home show the other night. I had heard of them but never made one. Maria Nerius was asking about the FoamWerks circle cutter. I was telling her that it cuts a perfect 1″- 6″ circle. So here is a card made using the circle cutter. If you click on the photo you can check out the perfect clean edges with no ragged edges or tears. This is one cool gadget. I may have to keep this out and fiddle around with it again…