Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

Crunch time

First of all, Happy Birthday to my youngest daughter Maryanne! Have to run out to get a cake mix for the traditional yellow cake and blue buttercream icing… 
It’s so much fun to be able to make a card using dies that I designed! The flower was die cut from a sheet of pretty pink gingham tissue paper and the leaves I cut from this cool grocery bag type fabric found at JoAnn’s which I have not been able to find again and am kicking myself that I didn’t get more. 
Blessings, love and hope for a great year to my beautiful daughter!
This week I have been hard at work in my studio brainstorming and drawing die designs for 2013. It’s hard to imagine working that far out but it takes a long time for the finished product to be designed, tested, produced and on the shelf.
I also received a box of sample dies that will come out at the CHA Summer 12 show. Thankfully they all work- I am always nervous that they won’t, even though I test them several times before sending the artwork.

I’ll be back blogging more often once these dies are finished and on their way! Hope you all have a nice long weekend!

LOVE using Metal Stamps

Since Valentine’s Day is coming up, I wanted to share a project I did for the ImpressArt booth at CHA. I used their awesome metal stamps to stamp into matboard- crazy, huh? But look at it! These stamps are so much fun…

According to Suzann Sladcik Wilson‘s CHA Jewelry Trends Report on Mixed Media and Cross Crafting, metal stamping will be hot for 2012, and not just for jewelry. I may be a little biased here but I think matboard is the perfect material to use with metal stamps. There is some give to it, but it’s also thick enough that the stamp does not go through it, as it could with lighter paper.

I will admit it takes a little practice to get the hang of metal stamping, but once you get going, it’s hard to stop. FYI, it’s best to do this in daytime hours as the banging gets the non-night owl people kind of cranky…

I used black pigment ink on my stamp before applying it to the matboard. I did this because it was going on a wall in the trade show booth and I wanted it to stand out. But the impression looks great even without ink. It’s subtle and has a letterpress look to it. Believe me, this is something you will want to try! So easy to make tags, title blocks and accents- then ink, distress, chalk, etc. I hope you will check out ImpressArt and give this craft a try!

Head over to the Tip Junkie to see lots of other fun Valentine ideas…
Tip Junkie handmade projects
Also make sure to check out the FaveCrafts blog hop!
Blog Hop Button February Blog Hop: Paper Crafts + Giveaway!

CHAW 2012

Hi everyone! I returned from CHA last Thursday and am finally getting back to normal. Wow- what a fun busy week it was! Next time remind me not to schedule every minute though… because sadly, I did not get to walk the show and see all of the new stuff 🙁 

Today is first Monday and time to check in with the Designer Connection! Everyone is reporting in on their CHA experiences. Click on the blue icon on the sidebar to see what the members of the group were up to at the show. Did I mention I was part of a flash mob?

I spent a good bit of time in the Sizzix booth, demoing my new line of ScoreBoard dies, Sweet Treats. People seemed to enjoy building the boxes and I loved meeting everyone. 

Here’s a picture of Cara and Tammy standing in front of the display. It looked super cute and bright and fun! Cara is the Art Director and is so very good at what she does- including making my stuff look fabulous. Thank you Cara!

Tammy Tutterow, a talented designer and blogger extroardinaire, is new to the Sizzix team and will be the Design Team and Community Coordinator. So excited to be working with her! 

Here’s a quick video clip showing a few of my new samples in the booth done by the multi-talented Stephanie Barnard, our Sizzix Spokesperson, who also happens to be the owner of the Stamps of Life. 

Karen Burniston and I had a great time teaching our sold-out Sizzix Workshop, Love is in the Air. We were so busy teaching I didn’t get a pic of us!

In fact, I looked on my phone and camera and realized I hardly took any. If you have any photos you could share, could you email them to me? I told you… too busy! Next time… 🙂 It was great seeing you all!


Check out some other attendees’s experiences (with much better photos!) here at the FaveCrafts CHA Roundup.

http://www.favecraftsblog.com/cha-recap-blog-roundup/


I will be posting my portion of the Designer Section Trends Report soon. What a pleasure working on that committee. Check back… 

ImpressArt Metal Stamps

Are you sick of hearing about CHA yet? It’s almost here! I always say I will blog about it while I’m there every year and never do. It’s hard to describe the energy and excitement but by the time I get back to the hotel every night I can barely keep my eyes open to get on line to describe the events of the day. I need to recharge! But who knows, I could surprise us all 🙂 

I’d like to invite you all to stop by the ImpressArt booth (#2719) and check out their cool metal stamps. I had the pleasure of creating some samples for their booth and discovered that these stamps work just great with my favorite material- yes, it’s matboard! Here’s a look at one of the projects I did for them…

Stop by and do a Make and Take! I’ll be in the booth on Tuesday from 2-4 and Wednesday from 10-12. My designer buddies Theresa Cifali, Ann Butler, and Jen Goode will be demo-ing there as well and I can’t wait to see what they have come up with using the stamps! 

Categories:
CHA

Getting ready for CHA!

All my designer buddies are busy in their studios finishing up final preparations for CHA. I thought you might like a look at what Karen Burniston, designer of the fabulous Sizzix pop-up dies, and I have been cooking up for a Sizzix workshop. We will both be working with our latest dies. Karen has a brand new system coming out that is SO cool called Pop ‘n Cuts– (click to see how they work)! Here are the cards she is teaching. Just wait till you see how quickly these come together! So much fun…

My release for CHAW 12 is called Sweet Treats. It combines all of my favorite things- sweets, treats, matboard and ScoreBoard dies! With so many beautiful papers, stamps, and embellishments out there, these dies are a lot of fun to decorate. And they’re actually practical too! What more could you want in a project? They go together really quickly so you can make lots in one sitting, making them great favors. Easy to personalize and embellish too. I’m loving these papers from Creative Imaginations– so romantic and pretty!

Stop by the Sizzix booth #949 at the show. I’ll be there demoing all of the Sweet Treats dies:
Sunday         10-12
Monday        2-6
Tuesday       10-12
Wednesday  12-2 
Here’s a look at what’s on my table…
See you in Anaheim! 
If you are not able to be there, come virtually through the Live from CHA site! I’m giving away a free ticket to see what’s going on at the show through streaming video. The winner will be picked tomorrow so you still have a chance- leave a comment here before midnight tonight!

EDITOR’S UPDATE: Congrats! The winner of the Live from CHA craft kit and event ticket is Monika! Please contact me so I can get you the prize- EileenHull@aol.com. Thanks- hope you enjoy it 🙂 See you there…

LIVE from CHA

CHA is the Craft and Hobby Association Trade Show, which is held twice a year. This is where you will see all of the new craft products coming out, learn how to use it and where to get it! The Winter Show starts on January 28 and goes till February 1.
Charity Wings is an organization that donates money or supplies to different charities. LIVE from CHA is a live event where you can watch streaming video from the show and complete a progressive 6″ x 6″ mini book/art journal with amazing manufacturers and designers. When you sign up, a kit will be mailed to you so you can be crafting along with the attendees! How cool is that?
I am honored to have been invited to be a guest on the show. AND Elena gave me ONE TICKET to the event to give away! This gift bag is full of crafty goodness worth over $50! You will also have the chance to win other great raffle prizes over the course of the show.
HOW TO ENTER:
You have until Thursday January 19. Do one of the following three things…
1. Tweet a link to this blog post on Twitter with @EileenHull in the post or…
2. Leaving a comment on my BLOG.
3. Leaving a comment on my Facebook Page.
The winner of the ticket will be announced here on my blog on Friday, January 20, 2012. Here are links to other designers that are giving away tickets this week:
Good Luck everyone!
If you’ll be at the show and feel like putting your dance moves to good use, 
She’s Crafty and Charity Wings are sponsoring a Craft Flash Mob! Anyone 
can participate if you are interested make sure to check it out.
If you want a good laugh, stand next to me 🙂

Categories:
CHA

CHA Sizzix Sneak Peek

Hi everyone- I am very excited! I get to give you a peek at my newest line of Sizzix dies being released at at CHA in a couple of weeks! I have been holed up in my studio all week making samples and just love what’s happening here.

First of all, I am working with papers from Creative Imaginations in the IOD line called Devotion. They are just beautiful. The only thing I don’t like is when I have to pick which side to use because I really like all of them! That almost never happens with double sided paper. 
OK so here’s a look at the new Bigz Borders & Hydrangeas…. 
some Sizzlit Swirls…
… and the XL ScoreBoard Box with Lid, Cake Slice. …
I can think of so many ways to use these! What a fun party favor for any occasion where cake is served. You could even coordinate them with the colors/papers from the event. Stop by the Sizzix booth for a demo!
I think these dies are a lot of fun and hope you will too. OK, back to work!

Punch needle

It’s the Designer Crafts Connection monthly posting day! Make sure to stop by all of the designer’s blogs for a look at some great projects. Click on the blue button on the sidebar for a look. The topic today is journaling but my crafty adventures took me in a different direction. I have always loved stitching and last week I discovered a new craft (to me, anyway).


I went to Michael’s the other day with my daughter. She was looking for a cross stitch sampler design that she could work on for her baby due in June. Being the helpful mother I am, I was diligently rooting through all of the books and kits that I thought Jess might like. I happened to come across a book on Punch Needle Embroidery. The projects fascinated me but the technique sounded fairly simple to do. After combing three aisles looking for a the required punch needle tool, I came up empty handed… so I came home and found supplies on line and ordered a kit and tools.

It arrived on Friday and by Saturday night I had finished it. It’s addicting. Here’s a pic of my first project (which I did when I was supposed to be making samples for CHA). There are some mistakes but overall I love the colors and fun bumpy texture of it. And no, you may not see the back of it!

I meet with a group of creative friends every month including Pat Sloan (I was a guest on her radio show and we discovered we live in the same town. She generously invited me into the group!), Patty Symkowitz, Amy Powers, Lorine Mason and Ann Weber (who are the bloggers in the group- hi guys!) along with a dozen or so other amazingly talented women. We grab tables at Wegman’s and check out everyone’s Show and Tell, catch up with each other, laugh a lot, quilt, sew and stitch. I’m happy I will have handwork to bring with me!

Now to figure out how to finish it... any suggestions?

Monogrammed Mirror

Happy New Year everyone! We had a great break and now I am getting back to work. Lots to do before I leave for CHA.

My youngest has gotten a real job! Soon she will be moving out on her own 🙁 I decided to make her something for her new place. She loves bling- her screen name has been Glttergirl since she was in middle school.

You will need:

one clean 12″ x 12″ mirror tile 
frosted contact paper
flat Swarovski crystals in 3 sizes
craft knife
transparency sheet
Copic markers
12″ x 12″ frame without glass

  1. Go to the Duetica site and create your monogram. (mine was sized at 215 pts) 
  2. Import the letter to Illustrator. Highlight letter and click Type> Create outlines. Print sheet.
  3. Place transparency sheet over printed paper. Cut a piece of frosted contact paper about 5″ x 5″. Remove backing and adhere to transparency sheet, lining up with letter printout. 
  4. Run transparency and contact paper through printer.
  5. Cut out letter with craft knife. Do not cut through the transparency, just the contact paper. When letter is all cut out, remove the background contact paper. Letter will remain. Carefully peel from transparency and place in position on mirror tile.
  6. If desired, color in letter with Copic markers.
  7. Add Swarovski crystals to letter if desired. Adhere crystals with Zip Dry glue.
  8. Place in frame and hang!

Another (and much easier) option would be to cut the letter from vinyl on your Sizzix eClips machine. Unfortunately, I had some technical problems and was not able to do it. Instead of crystals, you could substitute with dots of Stickles.

Once you cut the letter, this project goes really quickly. I love how it turned out and hope Maryanne will too! 

Recycled Zip Drive Cases

My husband was going through a bunch of his computer stuff the other day. What a mess! I thought the shredder was going to explode. But I happened to spy some cute little cases in the trash which I snuck out.

We usually give gift cards to my nieces and nephews for Christmas so I thought these were the perfect size to doctor up and give them in. I decided to use an old book of sheet music as the background paper. 

  1. Use the insert that came with the case as a template, cut pieces of sheet music to size and score folds on a scoring tool
  2. Cut a piece of foamboard to fit exactly inside the case.
  3. Decorate foamboard and sheet music with stamps.
  4. Add double sided tape to the back of the gift card and place on foamboard.
  5. Insert into case- you are done!
  6. I added a label designed and printed on the computer. 

You could also use ribbon and lots of other embellishments to pretty this up. My time is tight right now so I went simple. You could also use old CD cases in the same way.

I am flying to Miami on Friday to drive back to VA Saturday with my newly expectant daughter, her puppy and bunny. Woohoo, road trip! Merry Christmas everyone!