Eileen Hull

Three dimensional art... with heart

Thoughts on deadlines…

I just finished a “rush” project and am very happy with how it came out. Not sure why I need a tight deadline to really get my creativity in gear but there you have it… I am curious how other people operate. I would like to say that I have everything all organized in my head and know exactly how I want to make something but most of the time, once I get started, the design just kind of comes out. Anyone else work that way?

Another weekend ahead… tomorrow we are driving off in the RV for an overnight adventure. At this time of year, it’s usually hard to get away, but we found ourselves with nothing planned this weekend so thought we should take advantage of it. The weather is not supposed to be great but we’ll be in our cozy camper listening to the rain pattering on the roof as we enjoy our traditional Scrabble game and then perhaps a DVD. There’s something about being away from home that inspires me to think in a different way. The first summer we had the RV, we camped a lot and I basically planned and wrote Matboard Magic while on the road. So who knows what will come to mind this trip! The funny thing is that I was NOT in favor of buying this RV in the first place. The way my husband got me to the dealer’s was to offer me the choice of working on taxes OR going to look at RV’s and lunch at Burger King. Well, of course you know what I chose… and as they say, the rest is history!

One of the many good things about a house on wheels (besides having our own bathroom) is when an interesting place is spotted, we just pull over. I always have a good book on hand and will read, maybe do a little work or have a nap. Same for my husband… and that bed is pretty comfy! All in all, it was a good investment. Plus it was on sale 🙂 I’ll let you know what I find.

Are you a self-taught crafter or did someone teach you? Check out the link to Fave Crafts and see my answer.

I hope you can stop by Cool2craft on Monday, June 7, where we’ll wrap up the ScoreBoards blog hop and see some of the amazing bow projects that the designers created all using the one die.

Have a great weekend!

Memorial Day

This day always gets me choked up. I am so grateful for the freedoms we enjoy, and even sometimes take for granted. I want to thank our military, past and present, for the sacrifices they and their families have made to keep us free.

Special thanks to my son, Chris, and daughter-in-law, Dawn, currently serving in the Army. Today is their seventh anniversary- they have been together for half of that time due to deployments and training. Their daughter Trinity is finally getting to know her dad. Thanks also to my Coast Guard daughter, Jessica, and her brand new fiance, Jason, who just graduated last week from the Coast Guard Academy. We are so proud of you all!

I would also like to thank my husband Hayward for the twenty years he served in the Army. Although it was not always easy on the family, I know that it had a profound effect on myself and our kids for the better and made us grateful for all we have.

Please remember to thank all of our military in whatever way you can, especially by remembering them in your prayers.

‘Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen.’

National Stationery Show and diamond rings!

Wow, the last two weeks have just flown by! First of all, the National Stationery Show was a blast! My friend Lorine and I chatted the whole 6 hour drive to NY. We enjoyed a delicious meal at Mom and Vince’s and then caught the train down to our room at the Marriott Marquis. Lorine’s partner Cyndi had set up their Surtex booth and we were ready for the show to begin. On Sunday, I spent most of the day in the Sizzix booth, helping to demo and answer questions. The booth was packed all day. 

Monday started early with a gathering of designers.We all kind of know each other from the Art of Licensing discussion group and it was fun to put a face to some of the names I see regularly on the list. I had several meetings, then spent some more time in the Sizzix booth. From there, we attempted to broadcast on Cool2Craft, a live web TV show, but the internet was not our friend that day 🙁 Many thanks to Tiffany Windsor for putting up with this and holding her Sizzix machine up to try and show people what we were talking about! She is truly amazing. Please visit the sites of the other guests on the show on the show that day:
Tiffany Windsor
Linda Peterson
Joan Fee
Elizabeth Diamond    

We enjoyed a subway ride and walk to dinner with Brandy and Julianna from Sizzix and the waiters and food at Borolo’s were delicious. Tuesday was a blur because we had a full day at the show, packed up the booth, took a train to my mom’s to get the car and then drove all the way home that night arriving at 3 AM.

 On Thursday, we got a call from our daughter telling us that she was engaged! So last weekend we took a drive up to Baltimore to congratulate the happy couple before they set out for CA and MI to pack up and move to their two new Coast Guard assignments.

I came home from the show re-energized and ready to work up some new concepts.This past week was spent getting the final ScoreBoard blog hop done- so sad… Although it was a lot of work to organize, I learned a lot, met some new friends and will miss the fun designer chat that we shared and seeing the great designs that came out every other week.

So that’s what has been happening with me. Stay tuned for an announcement about a fun site launching on June 3! What have you been up to? Hope you can tune in to the newest coolest craft TV show Cool2Craft on Monday, May 31 at noon EST!

I’m going to try and be a better blogger, I promise! Sometimes life gets crazy though- you know how it is…

Final Sizzix Blog Hop :-(

Welcome to the fifth and final blog hop of the season! I will miss chatting every two weeks with all of my designer buddies to see what their crafty minds have come up with of ways to use these dies. I want to thank each and every one of them for being so generous with their time and for their willingness to experiment with these new ScoreBoards. I hope that they might be up for another hop when the next collection comes out this summer! I will also miss hearing your fun and inspiring comments, but please keep them coming. I have lots to share as the summer goes on. New projects on the horizon!

And now for the featured die…actually, the Create-A-Bow is NOT a ScoreBoard, but a die designed for paper. This die really is very versatile which you are about to see when you follow the links to all of the other designers. Personally, I had lots of ideas but not enough time to execute them for this hop so I hope you will check back here to see lots of projects throughout the summer.

Don’t forget to comment here or on one of the partcipating designers’ blogs so you’ll be eligible for the chance to win a ScoreBoard die! Have ideas for this die? Let us know… OK, time to hop!

Ann Butler- Dressing Up with the Bow die
Bonnie Bruns
Craftside- a behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
Debra Quartermain
Einat Kessler
Jen Goode
Julie McGuffee
LollyChops
Madeline Arendt
Michelle Cummings
Marisa Pawelko- Modern Surrealist
Roxi Phillips
Sparkle Studio- Sparkle’s Bow Bracelet
Veronica Goff

Here’s a cute teacher gift- with a little help, your child could do it. In fall, create mini pumpkins by making them in orange paper and use as a centerpiece or placecard for Thanksgiving dinner.

You will need:
Sizzix Big Shot
Sizzix Create-A-Bow die
red cardstock- 3 sheets 8 1/2″ x 11″
brad
green scrap for leaves
floral wire- green
Blumenthal Lansing buttons
Zip Dry Paper Glue

Instructions for apple:

  • Cut paper in quarters. Run through Big Shot for a total of 12 strips of each size. Three sheets of paper will make a small, medium and large apple. Thread brad through hole in end of each strip. Fan strips out in a circle. Beand back into the middle and insert brad into other hole in paper strips. This will form an apple shape.
  • Cut out two free form leaves and punch a small hole at the end. Use these pieces as your gift tag and write “to” and “from” on leaves.
  • Cut 12″ of wire and bend in half. Insert leaves on wire. Loop wire around brad. Twirl ends of wire around a pencil or paint brush and pull off.
  • Glue buttons to leaf base to cover brads.


Here’s another way to use the paper strips just in time to make a Father’s Day card! Make a tie by trimming the hole part off one end of a bow strip. Pinch the top of the tie piece and wrap another short section of a strip in a triangular shape around the top and adhere both pieces together with double stick tape. I used a 8 1/2″ x 11″ piece of paper for the shirt and the proportion is almost perfect for the tie. Found the pattern by googling instructions for “origami shirt”.

Use all kinds of papers to make bows. I like to use old book pages for a fun vintage look. There are so many ways these strips can be used. Make a paper chain for the holidays or a special event. Connect the loops with decorative brads. Wire bow to a dowel and make a fairy wand for your little princess. Wrap with floral tape and add sheer ribbons. Fuse interfacing to fabric and run fabric and die through Big Shot. Add bows to headbands or make a cool pin. Buttons and lace give extra flair. And when there’s a really special present you are wrapping, show the love and add a handmade bow to the package.

Shame on me! I haven’t posted since the last hop 2 weeks ago! But hey, I have been busy… Spent 4 days last week in New York City for the National Stationery Show, helping out in the Sizzix booth, visiting with old and new friends, talking with some manufacturers about new projects and trying to stay out of trouble. Last weekend we got some exciting news- my daughter is engaged! So you will be seeing some wedding projects cropping up here and there.

Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to leave a comment! Hope we’ll see you back here. Before I forget, I wanted to let you know I had bitten the bullet and signed up for Constant Contact, a newsletter service, which means I will be sending a quarterly update with some info you may be interested in. Please sign up at the top of my blog if you want to be kept in the loop (like what I did there? bow- loop?) Just trying to “tie” this all up. Stopping now 🙂 Thanks everyone!

Sizzix ScoreBoard Blog Hop: Cake Die

Thanks for visiting! Today is the fourth hop- only one left in the series 🙁 I have had so much fun working with these talented designers to see what their crafty minds will think up next! Today we are looking at ways the ScoreBoard cake may be used. Our challenge this time was “My Favorite ___” and was suggested by Jen Goode (love this!). Each designer was to fill in the blank. To me, giving license to use my favorite things was freedom to create and have fun. As designers, we sometimes have to work within themes, seasons, and colors that may not be our “favorite”. Check out all of the links to the fabulous ScoreBoard designers and see if you can guess theirs. If you leave a comment here or on any of the partipating designers’ blogs, you may be selected as a “random commenter” and win a ScoreBoard die. Make sure to visit all of them!

Ann Butler
Bonnie Bruns
Candice Windham
Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
Debra Quartermain- Sew Cute Cake Basket
Einat Kessler
Jen Goode Designs
Julie McGuffee- Life in the Craft Lane
Karen Burniston
Laura Bray
Lisa Rojas
Madeline Arendt- Just a thought or two
Marisa Pawelko- Modern Surrealist
Michelle Cummings
Niki Meiners
Roann Mathias Calligraphy
Sandy Laipply
Veronica Goff

First of all, I LOVE cake! I have added several fun elements to this project. The delicious colors of blue, green, pink, yellow, purple and white are very clean and fresh to me. The bumpy seersucker fabric gives a cool texture and dimension to the design. I love vintage sewing supplies so I added the zipper flowers using zippers I found at the thrift shop (love recycling) for five or ten cents a piece. This cake is FULL of my favorite things! The overall effect is cheerful, which is something I strive to be.

I am so excited to show you a brand new beading component just out from my friend, the amazingly talented Katie Hacker. She sent me some to play with and here’s what I came up with. I have not done a ton of beading but they are easy to use and very versatile. While working on this, lots more ideas for projects popped into my head, so stay tuned…

As usually happens when I am working on a project, it starts out looking one way in my head and by the time I am done, it has totally taken on a life of its own and all I can do is try to keep up! My original thought was that a bride could make these decked out as wedding cakes in their colors and styles and use the box to give the necklaces they had made for their bridesmaids to wear in the wedding. Which I suppose this could be…if you are a bride with a love of vintage sewing supplies and fabric…

You will need:

Sizzix Big Shot
ScoreBoard Cake die
2 pieces of 6″ x 13″ matboard (I used pink)
fabric strips to cover all pieces
spray adhesive
strong artist tape
trims (zippers, mini rickrack, flowers, stray pearls)
green rattail cording
Zip Dry Paper Glue by Beacon
Katiedids Creative Components
head pin
Tulip Crystals

Instructions:
1. Cover wrong side of matboard with spray adhesive and add fabric making sure to smooth down as you apply. Run matboard through Big Shot with right side facing die- this will be the scored side of the project. Remember, to cut out three cake sections in order to make sides of cake. I also cut out an extra cake top and bottom circle.
2. Assemble cake by taping all three sides together and forming into a cylinder. Take smaller circle piece with tabs and ease down into center of cake. You can add double sided tape, glue dots or glue to tabs but it’s a fairly tight fit and not really necessary. This can either be the top or bottom of the cake depending on intended use.
3. Add trims. I made some rolled zipper flowers which were a little tricky. I used my glue gun to hold them together. I added green rattail to cover the seam between the top and sides of cake and then a green zipper as a kind of frosting. Mini rickrack in pink and pink flowers were also added. For the flowers, I adhered a pearl center to some of the roses along with some green rickrack for leaves.
4. Place necklace on extra round piece and cut off tabs. Cut notches to allow cording to slip in. The cake top will fit right over the necklace display piece. Set small round piece on extra scalloped cake piece.

Necklace:
1. Cut a piece of green rattail cord to desired length for a necklace (it will go over your head).
2. Add headpin to top of the of circle Creative Component. Fill inside the circle with turquoise crystals and glue in.
3. Create a loop from the head pin to hold the cording of the necklace. Thread cording through loop. Center pendant and make two knots in cording to keep element in place. Knot both ends together as closure.

I hope you can stop by Cool2Craft on Monday, May 17 at noon EST where I will bring you a live glimpse from the National Stationery Show in NY!

Join us on May 26 for a look at all the things that may be done with the bow die! Thanks for hopping by…