Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

New Arrival and Fourth of July

Life has been so much fun! Last week, my husband, two daughters and I drove our RV down to FL to be with my other daughter due with her first baby. My husband’s 92 year old stepdad Ray is living with us so my sister Marie, a nurse, had graciously agreed to come up to stay with him while we were gone. Unfortunately, the same day we left, a record breaking heat wave started in VA leaving Marie and Ray without power/AC for three days.  But Marie is amazing and has managed just fine (so far). I am so glad I bought the little pool before I left in case it got hot…


We arrived just in time. Our new grandson, Daniel Benjamin, arrived on July 2. He is just perfect and he wants to wish you all a Happy Fourth of July! 

In the midst of all of this, I am finishing up my art for Sizzix dies for next summer and getting ready for CHA. Life is good! 

CHAS 12 Sneak Peek

Just a quick look at two of my new dies coming out in a few weeks! Can you guess what the theme of this collection is?


Here’s how I used the seam binding I made here.

Visitors and a quick tip

For the past week, I have had some clients and friends visiting from out of town. I loved seeing everyone- but it reminded me how lucky I am to work from home and not have to commute into DC every day!


A while back, I saw something on a video or blog about dying your own seam binding. I decided this would be handy because you could buy a package of white and then make whatever color you need. So I went into my JoAnn’s to buy some packaged seam binding to give it a whirl. To my surprise, JoAnn’s no longer carries it- there’s hem tape, quilt binding, piping, twill, etc. but not plain old seam binding! So I went on eBay and found a 100 yard roll of it for $8.50 and bought it. It arrived yesterday and I went to town. What fun and so easy!
All you need are some spray mists, a ZipLock bag, and the seam binding. 
  1. Cut seam binding to desired length and put it in the plastic bag. 
  2. Spray mist in the bag. How much you add depends on how dark or light you want your seam binding. It dried a little lighter. The first two I just added one color- the third one I got crazy and sprayed green first, then brown which toned down the green a little. The colors bleed into each other for a cool ombre effect.
  3. Hang seam binding somewhere to dry. (the shower rod works great)
  4. The crumpling process also adds a crinkly textured effect to the seam binding. If you want it smooth, you can use an old curling iron or straightener (instead of getting out the iron) to get the wrinkles out.
Tips: 
  • if the seam binding is totally saturated, blot with a rag and then hang to dry so prevent a big mess.
  • experiment with different dyes and inks. One color I used was Radiant Rain Key Lime from Luminarte and it had a nice shimmer to it. 
  • the seam binding is so inexpensive on the roll! Use it to wrap gifts, as accents on layouts and cards and for jewelry cording.
Next post will show what I did with the seam binding- and you might get a sneak peek of my CHA Summer release!

Vote for Jo Packham!

No, she is not running for President… yet… 

Is there anyone who has not heard of the incredibly talented and well- connected Jo Packham of Where Women Create, Chapelle Publishing, and The Creative Connection? I have had the honor and pleasure of spending some time with her recently and find her to be a delight- a humble and amazing woman with so much passion for what she does. This lady has done it ALL!

But wait- there’s more! Jo is now looking for help. She needs your vote to win a $250,000 grant from Chase. Would you please go vote for her here?


Where Women Create would love your support in our quest for the Mission: Small Business grant. Go to https://www.missionsmallbusiness.com/ click on “Log in and support” search for “Where Women Create Business” and click vote. We realize it is a number of steps and appreciate your help.

It only takes a minute- I just did it. 

I can’t think of a more deserving entrepreneur than Jo and look forward to seeing what she will do if she gets the grant! Please help her by casting your vote now so we can all find out what’s next! I can only imagine… the White House?

It’s Summer…

… and our yard is in bloom! Don’t these cherry blossoms look real?


I never showed you the unbelievable cherry blossom centerpieces created by my talented (and patient!) friend Sandy Oujiri for the military wives club we both belong to. 

Sandy’s job was to create centerpieces for our “Cherry Blossom Luncheon”. 200 people had signed up to attend, which meant she had to make 20 of these arrangements, and she was working with a very small budget. Luckily, to Sandy, that is not a problem! 

Sandy used my Sizzix Flower, Layers #9 die to make the blossoms. She alternated stacking light pink, dark pink and white tissue paper and then die cut thousands? from the smallest flower on the die. She punched a hole in the middle of each flower and then added a drop of hot glue in the center, which kept them all in one piece, then scrunched the petals into the middle of the flower and fluffed out. Each blossom was glued to budding branches she cut from her yard.  She made a stand for them so they fit on the table- that girl is just so full of ideas- but I put the ones she gave me in a vase and plan on setting them out at Easter each year. I’m not kidding- the people at the luncheon thought the arrangements were real and she had compliments galore!


Here’s a project I made that’s up on the Sizzix blog using the Bigz Borders and Hydrangeas die from the new Sweet Treats collection. 

I even did a video to show how I made it. This was a labor of love, let me tell you… probably each minute of film took 2 hours to do! It has got to get easier… right??? There are a lot of mistakes but it’s better than the last one.

Long Live the Queen!

It all started when I turned on the TV the other night and watched Katie Couric interviewing Prince William about his grandmother, the Queen, and what it was like growing up in the royal household. I was inspired to create a tribute to the good Queen for 60 years of service to her people and her country.

I used a page from a cool vintage atlas from the early 1900’s as a photo backdrop.

The crown was made using my ScoreBoard Cupcake Holder die and the royal Crown Stand was made from my new Sweet Treats Cupcake Stand & Pennant.


Today is first Monday so don’t forget to check out other cool projects by the Designer Connection- click on the blue icon on my sidebar and you will be taken through the webring!


Visit the Sizzix blog today for instructions on how to make this project. Thanks for stopping by- tata!