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!)

Winter Time

Hello everyone, I'm here today to share a winter themed decor project that I made for the DecoArt Media Winter Wonderland Challenge! My entryway has been feeling rather sad since I put all my Christmas decorations away so I wanted to dress it up again with a project that is wintry but not necessarily Christmassy. I think this fits the bill!

I used loads of DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics and other DecoArt products. I'll give you a run down and some closeups:

The arches are shapes I cut out of foam core board. (Tip: always use a super sharp X-acto blade when cutting foam core!) I base coated them with Prussian Blue Hue and then covered them with Crackle Paint. Remember thicker paint makes bigger crackles, so I tried to vary the thickness a bit for variety. When the paint was dry I gave the frames a light wash of Medium Grey to bring out the cracks and textures.

The deer were painted with Burnt Umber with a bit of Titan Buff mixed in (plus Gold for the antlers). When dry, I coated them with Glue 'n Seal and sprinkled on dry Rock Candy Distress Glitter.

The blue background in the arches is the result of a little experiment I did. I used illustration board as a substrate, wet it first and loosely applied watered down Cobalt Blue Hue, Cerulean Blue, and few splatters of Paynes Grey. I wanted it to look blotchy so I didn't overwork the colors. I was wondering what would happen if I sprinkled salt all over it while it was still wet. This is a tried and true technique when watercoloring – you get a gorgeous, feathery pattern when it all dries. I wasn't sure how it would react with acrylics. I sprinkled the table salt on and let it sit until the board dried. It didn't react like watercolor paint does at all but I was very pleased with the speckle pattern it left. I think it's perfect for a snowy background!

The full board of the sky background. I also splattered some White Shimmer Mist here and there.

 After cutting out the arch shapes to go behind the frames, I stamped the treelines and stamped and embossed the snowflakes.

I also similarly used Fluid Acrylics to create a sheet of paper to cut up for the trees.

The full sheet of "tree" paper.

I used smooth bristol board and Sap Green and Veridian to make the mottled texture. I splattered on lots of paint as it was drying so it was more speckled and textured looking. Once my trees were constructed, I dry brushed on Interference Green paint to highlight the branches and add a surprising glimmer.

If you are still here I'm almost done lol. The snowflakes were die cut out of scrap packaging plastic and embossed with the folder that comes with the die (Snowflake Duo by Sizzix) I dabbed one side with watered down Silver paint and then applied Crackle Glaze to the opposite side once it was dry. While the glaze was wet I sprinkled on a touch of Ultra-fine Art Sugar glitter. Last but not least, the base of the project is covered with Snow Tex paint with Rock Candy glitter sprinkled on while the paint was wet. You can see I am a fan of sparkle.

Whew that was long! I hope you've been inspired and maybe picked up a few things to try yourself. For even more inspiration, head on over to The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge Blog and check out our current challenge, Time Flies. (You can see my original post and more details HERE.) You have until the end of the month to join in and link up your projects!

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

Deco Art Media Crackle Paint, 4-Ounce, White	Deco Art Media Crackle Glaze, 4-Ounce, Clear	DecoArt Snow-Tex Paint, 2-Ounce	Deco Art Media Fluid Acrylic Paint, 1-Ounce, Payne's Grey	Deco Art Media Fluid Acrylic Paint, 1-Ounce, Green	Deco Art Media Fluid Acrylic Paint, 1-Ounce
Deco Art Media Fluid Acrylic Paint, 1-Ounce, Cobalt Blue Hue	Media Fluid Acrylic Paint 1oz-Silver (Series 2)	Deco Art Media Fluid Acrylic Paint, 1-Ounce, Titan Buff	Deco Art Media Fluid Acrylic Paint, 1-Ounce, Cerulean Blue	Deco Art Media Fluid Acrylic Paint, 1-Ounce, Prussian Blue Hue	Deco Art Media Fluid Acrylic Paint, 1-Ounce, Burnt Umber
Deco Art Media Fluid Acrylic Paint, 1-Ounce, Viridian	Deco Art Media Fluid Acrylic Paint, 1-Ounce, Medium Grey	Prancing Deer	Holiday Words: Script	Holiday Greens	Reindeer Flight
Evergreen	Die w/Texture Fades - Snowflake Duo	Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps 2015 TREE LINE CMS244	Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps GRUNGE FLAKES cms098 Snowflakes	*Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps REINDEER FLIGHT Stampers Anonymous	*Tim Holtz Ranger Clear DISTRESS EMBOSSING INK PAD Ranger Clear
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad GROUND ESPRESSO Ranger TIM43270	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad VINTAGE PHOTO Ranger TIM19527	*Tim Holtz Idea-ology GRUNGEBOARD BASICS PLAIN Altered Art	*Tim Holtz Idea-ology 1088 CHITCHAT STICKERS TH92998	Tim Holtz Distress Stickles Dry Glitter ROCK CANDY Ranger TDR35879	Tim Holtz Idea-ology HINGES TH93075
Ranger Embossing Powder WHITE EPJ36685	Prima Flowers ANTIQUE SILVER Art Sugar Ultra Fine Glitter 961787

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Mixed Media Madness – ATC binder cover

Hello everyone! I finally got to a project I've had in mind for a few months now. I've been trading a lot of ATCs over the past six months and they are just filling up a box. I've been wanting to get them organized into a binder but I knew it couldn't just be an ordinary binder. What fun is that? I found a three-ring binder at the thrift store that had a paper instead of plastic covered cover and knew that would be the perfect surface to practice some mixed media madness on. I probably should have taken some in-progress photos but I was having too much fun to stop in the middle. ;-)

It was a black binder so I first coated the raw cover with black gesso as a primary layer. Once dry, I adhered a linen doily misted blue to it and used a stencil with black modeling paste to add texture over it all. I also added some misting with the DecoArt Media Acrylic Misters (which are permanent) and a wash of Phthalo Green Blue in places. Then the fun of adding the graphics and embellishments began! The lily and frog images are from The Graphics Fairy. I printed them out with my Epson ink jet printer and gave them a coat of Ultra Matte Varnish to seal them before I glued them onto the cover. I glued on lace, diecuts, and metal embellishments and gave them a coat of white gesso before blending on various colors of Fluid Acrylics and Silks Acrylic Glazes. I also added clear glass micro beads for more shimmery texture.

Detail 1

Detail 2

Thanks for stopping by to see my new project! I hope you find it inspirational. =) The supplies I used for this project can be found at Inspiration Emporium or Amazon. Follow the links below and use my code JUICE at Inspiration Emporium to save 10% if you go shopping there. I will also point out that US shipping is always $5 and international shipping is just $10 at IE. ;-)

Sizzix - Bigz Die XL - Vintage Market	Sizzix Bigz Die w/Texture Fades - Layered Dragonfly by Tim Holtz	Prima Marketing - Sunrise Sunset - Mechanicals - Flower Shapes	Tim Holtz - Idea-ology - Foliage	Prima Marketing Elementals Stencil -Lace, 6.5-Inch by 10.25-Inch	Prima Marketing Art Basics Heavy Gesso, 8.5-Ounce, Black
Prima Marketing Art Basics 3D Matte Gel, 8-Ounce, Transparent	Art Ingredients Glass Beads 2Oz-Crystal	Deco Art Media Modeling Paste, 4-Ounce, Black	Deco Art Media Acrylic Shimmer Mister, 2-Ounce, Violet	Deco Art Media Acrylic Shimmer Mister, 2-Ounce, Turquoise	Deco Art Media Acrylic Mister, 2-Ounce, Primary Cyan
Deco Art Media Acrylic Mister, 2-Ounce, Titanium White	Deco Art Media Varnish, 4-Ounce, Ultra Matte	Deco Art Media Gesso, 4-Ounce, White	Deco Art Media Fluid Acrylic Paint, 1-Ounce, Cobalt Turquoise	Deco Art Media Fluid Acrylic Paint, 1-Ounce, Quinacridone Magenta	Deco Art Media Fluid Acrylic Paint, 1-Ounce, Diarylide Yellow
Deco Art Media Fluid Acrylic Paint, 1-Ounce, Quinacridone Violet	Deco Art Media Fluid Acrylic Paint, 1-Ounce, Phthalo Green-Blue	Deco Art Media Fluid Acrylic Paint, 1-Ounce, Blue Green Light	Luminarte Silks Acrylic Glaze Jar 1oz Vavoom Red-deep Wine Pink in Red and Lilac Pearl	Luminarte Silks Acrylic Glaze Jar, 1-Ounce, Ice	Luminarte Silks Acrylic Glaze Jar, 1-Ounce, Bolivian Blue
Luminarte Silks Acrylic Glaze Jar, 1-Ounce, Forest Green

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