Get a Holiday Jump Start with Eileen Hull!

Don’t look now but the holidays are fast approaching but Eileen Hull and crew are here to help! This month the theme is “Holiday Jump Start” and we’d like to inspire you with all sorts of fall and Christmas holiday projects. Grab a pumpkin spiced latte in one hand and a cup of hot chocolate in the other other and let’s get started!

First things first, Halloween will reach us soonest so I chose to create a cute little Halloween themed bouquet that fits perfectly in Eileen’s 3-D Vase.

A while ago Shelly Hickox shared a technique for faux galvanized metal and I’ve been wanting to try it. (See her original tutorial here.) I cut the vase out of Sizzles matboard and base coated it with black gesso. When it was dry I embossed it in the Honeycomb folder.

I glued it together according to the directions on the die package and then gave it a coat of DecoArt Media medium grey Antiquing Cream. Antiquing Cream is still reactive to water once it’s dry. You take a damp cloth and wipe away the excess, leaving traces of color in the textured parts. I did that with the grey and added a few accents with the carbon black Cream. When the finish is to your liking you need to seal it, so I coated the whole vase with DecoArt Media Ultra Matte Varnish.

(I also cut a scalloped circle (the top of the Cookie Box) out to use as a base to glue the vase onto to give it more stability.)

Next up was cutting out flower parts! Sizzix Bigz dies easily cut all sorts of materials. I gathered together some fabric, tulle, wide ribbon and white coffee filters. I made plenty of cuts from each material so I would have lots of flower parts to work with as I mixed and matched them when building the blossoms.

To make the stems I used Eileen’s Twist & Style tool, which makes it an easy task. I cut several lengths of 24 gauge black wire (about 15 inches or so) and bent them in half. From my button stash I selected several that would make good flower centers. I looped the wires through the button holes or shanks and fastened the ends of the wire into the end of the tool with the screw mount (second photo).

The button end goes over the center post in the clamp. Some of the bigger buttons kept popping off so I taped them in place with washi tape. Helpful children make good button holder downers too. ;-) Holding the wire taut, twist the tool and in moments you have a perfect flower stem. Thread the stem through your stack of flower parts and add some glue to the back to hold them all in place.

I twisted up some lighter 20 gauge wire to glue to the bats. I also cut the fluttery ghosts out of white Clearly For Art plastic and glued them to a twisted wire. (Clearly For Art plastic is moldable plastic. Heat it with a heat gun and you can bend and form it while it’s warm. When it cools, it holds the shape!)

the flower making possibilities are endless!

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to head on over to Eileen’s blog and check out all the holiday inspiration. The team has been sharing all month long. We’d love to have you share your projects on Eileen's Facebook page too. Have a great week!

Dies:

Eileen Hull 3-D Vase - ( Sizzix )
Eileen Hull Cookie Box - retired
Eileen Hull Romance Flower - retired but still available at Scrapbook.com
Eileen Hull Twist & Style Tool - ( Sizzix / SB )
Tim Holtz Hocus Pocus - retired
Tim Holtz Ghosts - retired

Sizzix & Scrapbook.com links in this post are affiliate links which do not affect the price you pay but allow me to earn a small percentage of a sale. Thanks! (My husband also thanks you!)

Mixed Media Monthly September Challenge!

Here we are with a mid month look at the Mixed Media Monthly September challenge! The theme this month is “Rustic” and our generous sponsor is Canvas Corp Brands. They very kindly sent us each a box of goodies and I made a rustic fall garland with mine. I love decorating for this time of year! Also, be sure to check out our fabulous guest designer, Lynne Forsythe, and see what visual treats she has for you.

detail of the garland parts!

 

The Canvas Corp Brands burlap and canvas shapes are the perfect canvas to transform with mixed media supplies. Let’s take a look!

I used Antique Linen Distress paint and a stencil to sponge a pattern on the canvas pennant shapes. The acrylic paint forms a resist when it’s dry so the Tattered Angel mists reacted differently than on the plain canvas. It added a great subtle texture.

To make the top layer tag on the pennants, I cut the Diamond canvas shapes into triangles and used a stencil and gold embossing paste to create a texture.

I also inked the edges of the triangles with Ground Espresso Distress Ink and spritzed them with wather to make the ink wick into the canvas.

I wanted to cut accent leaves out of the fall colored burlap, but I knew that I needed to stabilize it first or they would just fray apart after die cutting. I used Soft Matte Gel to glue the burlap onto the cardstock. Sizzix Bigz dies (Tattered Leaves in this case) will make short work of thicker materials and cut through the burlap and paper easily.

Canvas Corp Brands had sent a roll of orange jute twine along and it was the perfect color but I needed something a little heavier for the garland. The Twist and Style Tool came to my rescue. It makes it easy to create your own cording out of fibers or wire. (Check out a demo HERE.)

Thin twine and with a little twisting action – voila! – thicker cording ready to go.

Last but not least, I used the Garland die to cut paper chain links out of the colorful fall Canvas Corp cardstock sheets. It’s really easy to put together. Just make a big pile of links and then loop them together. The ends have little tabs in them that lock together. No glue or tape needed!

Together the two parts make for a festive fall look sure to dress up your home for the season. I need to go buy some pumpkins now. ;-)

Be sure to head on over to the MMM blog and check out what all my teammates have been up to with their goodie boxes. Join in the challenge (you have until the end of the month) and you can have a chance to win a $25 gift certificate from Canvas Corp Brands!

The supplies I used for this project can be found at Sizzix or Simon Says Stamp. Follow the links below and a shopping you may go. ;-)

Twist & Style Craft Tool	Tim Holtz Sizzix Die TATTERED LEAVES Bigz Alterations 656927	Sizzix - Bigz L Die - Garland by Eileen Hull	Tattered Leaves	*Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps PSYCHEDELIC GRUNGE Stampers Anonymous	Prima Flowers NETTING 6.5 x 10.25 Elementals Stencil 961275
Tim Holtz Layering Stencil RAYS THS003	Prima Flowers SOFT GEL IN MATTE 8.5 OZ. Art Basics 961428	Tim Holtz Flip Top Distress Paint ANTIQUE LINEN Ranger TDF52906	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad GROUND ESPRESSO Ranger TIM43270	*Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste METALLIC GOLD Studio 490 WVPASTEGLD	*Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival POTTING SOIL Ink Pad AID38979

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