Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

These are the best for a little creative blast!

Ever sent a post to a list/chat and it wasn’t meant to go there? And you said really dumb things? Luckily your friends forgive you… AHHHHH! Technology is a mixed blessing.
“Matboard Magic” will be delivered to the CHA Show so no one (including the manufacturer that self-published it) will see it before it gets there. I can’t wait! Working away at Book #2 and it really is a lot of fun. I am displaying in the License and Design Section of the biggest Craft and Hobby convention in the world. It will be good to meet up with old friends and seeing all the new products and trends. More after the circus peanuts wear off… just had an idea… must make ..new mat pencil box…

https://www.eileenhull.com/2008/01/has-anyone-ever-sent-post-to-listchat.html

Happy Winter! It’s finally getting cold here… about time! Hey, I’m a NY girl. I miss the snow.

Wow- it’s been a while since I have posted. Not that it matters… no one ever reads this or leaves me comments anyway. sniff, sniff … except PA. (thanks PA).

Life is good- my son Chris returned from 15 months in Iraq on Nov. 7 and we spent Thanksgiving up at his place. Our family was all together for the first time in a year and a half.

What a relief to have him home. He called the other night and I was outside getting ready for the Barn Sale. Amy called me on my cell to say I missed his call. I was so upset. After 15 months of never knowing when I would get a call, I was trained to pick up at any time and hope it would be him. If I missed it, it could be another month before he could call again. But after getting upset, I realized that I could just call him back on his HOME PHONE and TALK to him! Yay!

Business is going well. Picking up jobs right and left. Of course when it rains it pours. Matboard Magic is done! Be looking for it on Amazon on February. And work has already begun on the second book… not sure but think it’s still a secret so can’t say what it’s about yet…

Our book group was honored to have Tanya Biank, author of Army Wives, (book that the successful TV show was based on) here at my place to talk about it. We really enjoyed her talk and wish her well in her next writing endeavor.

https://www.eileenhull.com/2007/12/happy-winter-its-finally-getting-cold.html

Trinity is one! Gotta love those little pigtails…

I am sitting down to work at 10:40 PM, my usual. Tonight I had a meeting here at the house… nothing fancy, a group from church that meets every other Wednesday night. But it was amazing how much cleaning you can do when someone might see how you live! The good thing about it now it will remain in this (clean) condition until one of the children comes home and puts their junk all around. Oh, that would be this weekend… oh well.

Confession time- I thought that this week would be the cleaning/purging of my studio. However, too many events to celebrate conspired against it happening… but there’s always next week. I recently have had some very cool card ideas and can’t wait to sit down and play with them. When I finish them, they’ll be posted…

https://www.eileenhull.com/2007/08/trinity-is-one-gotta-love-those-little.html

I am all alone! Maryanne has been successfully brought to college and left. I hear from my sources (2 other daughters) that she is alive and well. So my husband is off at a Boy Scout meeting (son that got him into this is now 26!) and I am in my studio and thinking about working. Have a pile of wedding invitations to work on upstairs, orders to fill and all kinds of ideas and projects to think up, but for the moment I am reveling in

s i l e n c e
It really is golden. In this time, anything is possible. All of the world can wait. It’s just you and your thoughts. OK, well that was enough for today….
Here’s the latest on the design front. Book #1 has been completed (except for one project which is being sent Monday). Now Connie will work her magic and make it look nice. Final edit should be 9/1. It will be out and ready for CHA Winter in February. Next news, Book #2 is in the works- looks like that will be out April 1! More info will follow, believe me! Everyone will need copies of these books-they are life changing 🙂
Mary was going through her stuff before she left and showed me this quote and said it reminded her of Chris, “A hero is one who hangs on one minute longer.” You da man, Chris.

https://www.eileenhull.com/2007/08/i-am-all-alone-maryanne-has-been.html

I’m not proud…

My friend Brenda is hosting a “Messiest Studio” contest and I can’t believe I am posting my horrible mess on the internet, but if you want to go look: http://brendapinnick.typepad.com/ Hey, I think I have a good chance to win!
I had a fun night playing with punches, glitter and spray adhesive. I wanted to make a birthday present for my friend Patty and was having performance anxiety. Only a week and a half ago, this same group of friends met for another person’s birthday (she will remain nameless).This person (let’s call her Sandy) has an interesting collection of animal skulls which she picked up on her family’s farm and in various other places. Anyway, I made her a cool box of cards with all different skull designs and a matching box! So now it’s Patty’s birthday tomorrow night…and the pressure is on. But I had had this idea floating around for a while and it worked out well- simple and really fun. Here’s a photo.

Punch out a shape (i.e. butterfly) from colored paper. Center this design within a larger punch (oval) and punch again. Punch yet another oval of white background paper. Lay on scrap paper and spray white oval with a heavy coat of spray adhesive. Place colored oval on top, matching corners. Sprinkle glitter in the punched out section. Mount on cardstock. These are so easy and fun…

I made a mat board box to match and used a dollar store stretchy headband to keep box closed.

Today is Chris’s birthday. I think of him in Iraq and wonder what he can possibly have done there to have a fun birthday. I passed out mailing labels to my friends in hopes they would send him cards.

https://www.eileenhull.com/2007/08/my-friend-brenda-is-having-messiest.html

Wow… it’s been a while. While Trinity was here I didn’t get much of anything done workwise, which was kind of a nice break. Had some great news a few days ago… my book proposal has been accepted. I have until September to come up with it. One chapter is pretty much done and I have lots of ideas for the projects. Very exciting!
Today is Maryanne’s senior prom and it is hard to believe that finally we are saying, “This is the last prom, HS graduation, etc!” She of course waited till the last possible minute to look for special prom dress underwear which she did find and prom shoes which she did not… so the old ones worked fine. And we had fun looking.
Apparently all went well- now it’s the next day. She looked beautiful and the flowers in the yard were so accommodating- the huge white peonies opened yesterday to serve as a perfect backdrop to her and her white dress. The rain held off all day and finally it sprinkled but not till after they left. Ahhh… Next milestone- graduation.

https://www.eileenhull.com/2007/04/wow.html

I went to a seminar tonight called “Blogging for Business”. It made me glad I started this. From what the expert was saying, it’s the new thing. It makes me wonder why I have a web site because it sounds like blogging will be replacing it. Wish I knew more about the internet- it’s so overwhelming and there’s SO much I don’t know. But I know more than I did before the seminar!
Also found out that for you guys (is that a New Yorky expression or what?) to leave comments, you need to have a Google account. But that only takes a few minutes to do. Please somebody leave me a comment. I am without friends 🙁
I’m psyched! Got an email this morning from the new editor of GiftMaker- she definitely wants one of the 3 designs. It was a last minute brainstorm. Yes! Will find out later about the others…
Here’s aphoto of me I don’t hate. Not too many of those around 🙂

https://www.eileenhull.com/2007/03/i-went-to-seminar-tonight-called.html

That last photo was part of my display at CHA in the Designer Showcase. Doesn’t it just make you hungry for cake? Too bad it’s paper…
Today it snowed 6 1/2″ and it was just beautiful. Hayward got to take out the snow blower we’ve had for 2 years and used only twice before. Church was cancelled so we all stayed home and had a fire. Fun day.
I am working on some submissions but my heart isn’t in it. I just want to still be up by the fire reading. The life of a designer is not always fun… The submissions are for a new magazine called “GiftMaker” formerly known as “PaperWorks”. I really think they have something with this one. There’s nothing else with this concept that I’ve seen anywhere. So I need to get my foot in the door with the editor 🙂 Of course the deadline is tomorrow….
Chris (son in Iraq) was just home for his 2 weeks R & R and sent us photos of Trinity from the airport. Poor guy is going to miss her so much- he’s seen her 4 weeks out of her 6 months of life. And Dawn too. But I get her next weekend for the month of March!

https://www.eileenhull.com/2007/02/that-last-photo-was-part-of-my-display.html

OK, think I am doing this backwards…

First of all, I should introduce myself! My name is Eileen Hull and I am a free-lance designer for the creative industry. I’ve lived in Virginia for the past 12 years. Before that we moved around a lot due to my husband’s military career. We have 4 kids. Well, not so much kids anymore… Chris is 25, married, with a baby Trinity, who is 6 months old. He and his wife Dawn are both in the army. He’s stationed in Iraq right now 🙁 Pam is 23, in nursing school in VA Beach. Jessica’s 20, and at the Coast Guard Academy in CT, and Maryanne, the baby, just turned 18 and will be heading off to college in the fall! Not that I’m excited or anything- she’s fun to have around and I’ll miss her. I have been fortunate enough to have been able to stay home with them while all of them were growing up. But now, I am looking forward to developing what I have been doing part time into a full time job. It’s exciting to me. I love being my own boss although at times, the self discipline is lacking. Just call and ask me to lunch!
Anyway, the previous post was referring to a huge show in Anaheim, CA. It is a trade show for the entire craft industry (Craft and Hobby Association). It was held this year at the end of January. I participated in several of the opportunities they had available for designers. My work was featured in the Accent on Home display located right in the front of the lobby of this huge Convention Center where the show was held, along with 40 or so other designers. The rooms really looked great due to the fact that Renee Sparks, who organized this event, had sent us the colors of each room ahead of time so we could coordinate. I also had press kits (brochures) in the Press Room. I was able to attend classes and lectures, like Martha’s 😉 I also participated in the Designer Showcase, a 2 hour event where each designer sets up a 2′ x 6′ table of their best work and manufacturers, publishers and editors can come and see what you do and talk to you about possible work. I think my display went well but it was in a really bad location. But last time I was in a great space, so you win some, you lose some. I got a lot of positive comments and feedback, which is always nice. But the best results come about when you get out on the show floor with photos and materials and talk to people about what you can do for them. This is the first time I felt like I knew what I wanted from the show. And got more than I could ever have imagined!

But I still feel like the contact with the designers was the most fun. They THINK like me! And I can’t say that about too many people around here… The people I talked to are so professional, fun, and generous in their information and advice, it makes you wish you could stay longer. Except that that you have stayed up for the 2 weeks before the event making everything for the display, printing materials, shopping for the family while you’re gone, etc. that when you get on the plane you are so tired. But a good tired 🙂

OK, that’s enough for now. Time to get back to work…

https://www.eileenhull.com/2007/02/ok-think-i-am-doing-this-backwards.html

Thoughts on CHA a few weeks after returning home….
For an overwhelmingly large show, I think it was a good one. The hardest thing for me to do before I left was to narrow down what my goals were. Once I did that, the next steps seemed fairly logical. Meet with the company/manufacturer/publisher/editor and basically introduce myself, ask if they needed anything, tell them of my new efforts…
Martha Stewart? Not too impressive. I know she has a magazine- I look at “Good Things” everytime I go to the grocery store. I learned nothing new in her lecture and the wine wasn’t even very good at the reception. Those shish-ke-bob things weren’t bad though…
Some cool new gadgets came out and hopefully I’ll get to try them out and see what I can do for the manufacturers of them.
I think the best thing was getting together with the other designers and seeing what they have been up to. The Designer Showcases were great and so inspiring. Honestly, you would think we would be more competitive but everyone is so encouraging and happy for the others when they get a book or make a great contact. I love that!
So I’m working away and that’s a “good thing” too 🙂

https://www.eileenhull.com/2007/02/thoughts-on-cha-few-weeks-after.html