Blog Hop Wednesday!

It's that time again. Eileen Hull's Scoreboard designs are getting rave reviews all over the designer community. The ability to cut mat board makes them unique and gives your projects an unprecedented sturdiness.
Just in time for the holidays and the busy family on the go, this project will keep you a little more organized. There are slots for up to four message centers. I know we all have our electronic reminders, but this keeps things a little more personal. They are also perfect for leaving little I-love-you notes!
I used the notepad die and cut four notepads. I assembled each one using red liner tape and then put the four together to create the box. I cut another rectangle to fit the base of the box and attached it with Beacon 3-in-1 adhesive.
The box was sprayed with Krylon Ivy Leaf paint just to make sure all edges were colored. I used Bohemia paper to cover all the surfaces and make the belly band. Scrap paper was cut to fit and stamped for the note pages. Trims and metal holders were added all around for the names.
Add a flower-topped RSVP pen and you're set.
Go to www.eileenhull.blogspot.com to link into the blog hop and see some other great projects!
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Now, go hug someone you love and tell them how thankful you are for them!

Another Sizzix Scoreboard Preview

This is another sample made with the new Sizzix Scoreboard matboard-cutting dies designed by artist-extraordinaire and dear friend Eileen Hull. I love the way these dies score and cut right through the heavy matboard, giving the project bases great stability and substance.

Today's example is actually a checkbook cover. I just substituted blank pages inside to keep those Christmas wish lists handy. This die comes with the punched covers, scalloped, punched and scored binding and scored clasp.

Directions:
The front, back and both insides were covered with one of my all-time favorite papers, Basic Grey's Boxer Wing-tip. The edges were sponged with Stampin'Up!® Old Olive dye ink. I painted the binding edge and closing clasp with Plaid Folk Art rust paint. I used the Cropadile to re-punch the covers, then the inside pages, lining up the bookcovers to mark the holes. The binding, covers and pages were assembled and tied with black stretchy vinyl beading cord. The ends of each piece of vinyl were pulled through the bead and tied off. A tiny drop of Beacon Quick Grip keeps the tie from coming loose. I used a tapestry needle to pull silk fiber up through the vinyl ties on both front and back edges and tied it off at the top. The clasp was attached with Beacon Quick Grip, although you could use long-shank brads just as easily. Add the sentiment to the tag with a white pen and attach to the clasp.

Slip this baby in your purse and you're all ready to shop 'til you drop!

Silk fiber, clasp and hand-dyed tags are available at www.rockcandystudios.com.

Be sure to check out Eileen's blog at www.eileenhull.blogspot.com

You can see more samples made with this die by following the blog-hop from there.

Mark your calendar to check back the Wednesday before Thanksgiving for another great Scoreboard project!

Now, go hug someone you love and ask them for their Christmas list!

Coming Soon from Sizzix

Eileen Hull, designer, author and self-confessed dumpster diver, has designed a series of Scoreboards® for Sizzix. The great thing about these dies is that they will cut through mat board, so your projects will have a sturdy base that can be painted, papered or textured with just about any medium. Be sure to check back for new projects for the next few weeks.

This great cupcake holder inspired me to create a gift that will last long after it is given. Here's how I made it:

Supplies
Scoreboard Cupcake die cut
3 long-shank gold brads
Adirondack Acrylic Paint Daubers (Stream, Gold and Willow)
Krylon Marker (Gold)
Prima Flowers
Straight pins with multi-colored heads
4" Styrofoam® ball
8" Gold Cord
Teal paper scrap for tag
White pen

1. Paint cupcake holder, candle and base with Stream paint. Allow to dry.
Cupcake: Lightly brush Willow from the bottom up, fading the color as you go. Allow to dry. Lightly dab Gold paint randomly over the entire surface. Edge base of cupcake holder with Krylon Leafing Pen. When dry, place base in cup and join edges with brads.
Candle: Paint flame with Krylon Leafing Pen.
2. Place Styrofoam® ball in holder. Attach flowers randomly with pins. Place a tiny gold dot on each pin head with Krylon Leafing Pen.
3. Tie bow and write sentiment on tag. Color entire head of a pin with Krylon Leafing Pen. Push pin through bow and tag and attach to ball with pin.

I can hardly wait for these dies to come on the market. I have to have them all!

Check out the work of these talented designers using this great die!

Jenn Ellefson
www.createdfrompaper.blogspot.com

Laura Bray
www.katydiddys.blogspot.com

Fabrizio Martellucci
www.brendapinnickfanaticscardscrapbooking.blogspot.com

Bonnie Bruns
www.bonniebruns.tumblr.com

Barbara Mattheisson
www.artofgreenrecycling.blogspot.com

Denise Clason
www.deniseclason.com/blog

Lorine Mason
www.mycraftivity.com/lorinemason/blog


Gabriela Delworth
http://gabrieladelworth.com/blog/


Ann Butler
www.creativitystirsthesoul.com

Eileen Hull
www.eileenhull.blogspot.com

Niki Meiners
http://nikimeiners.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/cupcake-olishish


Go hug someone you love.

Just in time for spooky stuff!

Here is a sample of the RockCandy Studios new Haunted House Kit.

I had so much fun making this! The kit includes assorted double-sided papers, Dresden foil borders, witches and spiderwebs, a sheet of collage images, hand-dyed tags, tiny glass bottles, an antique pen nib, tickets, bottle caps, Cuttlebugged cardstock "shingles" plus a great little wooden house to hold it all. You even get walnut ink crystals to stain the house base and step-by-step instructions. The size is approximately 9 3/4" X 9 3/4" X 1 3/4".

The only tools I used besides what is in the kit were a sponge brush, yellow, orange, brown and black dye ink pads, a 1" circle punch, liquid adhesive, pop dots and a Krylon leafing pen.

These will be on the website Monday, September 28, at www.rockcandystudios.com, and the price is $16.

Go hug someone you love!

Blog Update (Y'all know I try to update at least once a quarter, whether I have anything to say or not.)

It's 4:55 a.m. I've been awake since 2:30 and didn't go to bed until 1 or so. My internal clock is really screwed up. Fortunately, Larry's is as well. He's in the living room, plunking on the guitar and watching an old western.

I spent most of yesterday trying to figure out what projects I had due (after a week of aches and fever) and whether I needed to make a trip to the big city to buy any supplies. I think I just about thought myself to death. I'm trying to think and plan before I alter, cut, paint or ink anything, which is a very different style from my usual fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants art.

I will post a project I finished in the wee hours this morning after running it by my friend and business partner, Roxi Phillips. It's a great project, just in time for Halloween. This will be available from RockCandy Studios in the next week or so, so be sure to check us out at www.rockcandystudios.com. If you aren't on our newsletter mailing list, send us a note at rockcandy@bigriver.net and we'll add you. The newsletter comes out once a month or so and includes tips as well as specials and new merchandise notifications.

Here's another pic from our last trip. It is from the ceiling of the Jefferson Davis home in Biloxi, Mississippi. The artists actually scraped away all the paint layers to get the true colors during the restoration after Katrina. The work is phenomenal. The house was built before the Civil War and sits right on the Gulf, facing the water. I'm amazed that it has withstood all the storms, including Camille, which I was almost in in the late '60s. A friend and I were on our way down for a vacation. We got as far as Hattiesburg before we turned back. One of the smartest moves I ever made.

Go hug someone you love.

Check out my video...and a great ATC Shrine!

While I was at the CHA Consumer show in Orlando, I auditioned for a TV spot on Scrappy TV. You can view it at http://www.scrappytv.com/channel/video/14?video=39

On my computer, it starts with echos which only serve to stress my drawl, but please let it play on. It will stop eventually. (The echoes. Not the drawl. Sorry.)

If my video gets a lots of viewers, I could win a six-show series. If you can stand to watch it more than once, please do. Y'all know I'm all about shameless self-promotion.

On another note, here is a sample of work by the multi-talented Barbara Rankin of Germantown, Tennessee, a member of the talented RockCandy Studios design team.

Barbara used one of our Coffee Break ATC shrines, some of our Dresden Foil Trims and an image from our Girly Girls image cd for this piece. You can see more of Barbara's work, as well as more projects from our design team at www.rockcandystudios.typepad.com.

Now, go hug someone you love!

Why is it....

...that when I have to get up at a reasonable hour, I can't seem to fall asleep?

I have errands to run all over Memphis tomorrow ...actually today...and meet my friends from MLGW for lunch and here I am, punching away on the computer at 1:59 a.m. I'm wide awake. I know I have to go to sleep. I know I'll look like crap tomorrow. I am not one bit sleepy.

Guess I'll go watch some old black and white movies on TCM. That should do the trick.

Go hug someone you love, but not too tightly. They might wake up and get really mad at you.