Favourite Eileen Hull die.....

Hello Friends and New Followers!

This month, Eileen's Inspiration Team are sharing their favourite of Eileen's dies - that is a difficult ask for me because anyone who knows me knows that I love ALL of Eileen's dies, her Scoreboard dies have been a revolution in die cutting and a pure joy for those of us who love 3D crafting!

In the end, after much deliberation, I went for Eileen's Cantilever Sewing Box die (660768) and her beautiful Flower, Pansy die for my creation, I hope you like it!

I made this as a thank you gift for a friend I am visiting, I am away at the moment, if I missed a post, I apologise!

I die cut all the elements for the sewing box, using Sizzix Matboard.

To construct the boxes I used a strong wet glue and wrapped an elastic band around the box until dry.  I then applied strong tape to add my paper.  You could attach your design paper first (or paint the board) and then die cut, but I just prefer to do it this way.  Once dry, I assembled the sewing box according to the instructions.  You can download the instructions by clicking download, HERE.

I lined the insides of the box with the reverse side of the same beautiful Maja Design papers I used for the outside.  I painted the box struts with PaperArtsy paint in Cherry Blossom and added some knobs to the top, after painting them with the same colour of paint.

The flowers were die cut using Eileen's Flower Pansy die (661109) and using a product called Flower Making Foam, after seeing my lovely blog friend Lisa use it so beautifully... here.  I had so much fun making my flowers!  After die cutting and giving them a little touch of Eileen's Color Box Blend Ink in Tutu, I pressed the petals onto my hot craft iron and let them 'curl' into shape and assembled them, adding some stamens to the centre.

I hand dyed some seam binding, colouring it with Picked Raspberry Distress Spray Stain and assembled my little floral decoration.

A final look at the finished sewing box, these wonderful little boxes are ideal for storing lots of bits and pieces and/or sewing items.

All month long, my teamies on Eileen's Inspiration Team will be sharing their favourite Eileen dies.  If you do have time I hope you will pop over HERE each week for some wonderful inspiration!

Thanks so much for your visit, I hope to see you again soon!

Hugs, Anne  xxx

Secret Santa at Anything But Cute

Hello Friends

Is there anything nicer for a crafter, than getting a handmade gift from a crafty friend at Christmas?!

This year at Anything But Cute we decided to do a Secret Santa and I got to make a gift
for the uber talented Pamellia of  My Little Craft Things. So, what to make for such a talented crafter?  It had to be a 3D project using one of Eileen Hull's fabulous dies!  I used the Cantilever Sewing Box die to make Pamellia a little box to store some of her crafty bits and bobs.  I am happy to report that Pamellia loved her gift....

I added a flower to the top using Tim Holtz's fabulous Poinsettia die.  The flower is removable so that the box will look a little less Christmassy....

The box opens up and there are lots of little compartments to store crafty things.

I used some beautiful Maja Design papers for the inside and outside of the box.  The struts and insides of the trays are painted with IndigoBlu English Cottage Acrylic paint - Grandma's Teacup, it matched the papers so beautifully.

I also made a tag and included one of Tim Holtz's Idea-ology watches, decorated inside with the words 'Remember the Now'.  The little knobs on the top of the box are also from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology range.

Finally, I sent Pamellia quite a simple card.  Those who know Pamellia well will know how much love she has for the neighbourhood woodland creatures, particularly the squirrels.  When I saw this delightful image I knew it just had to go on Pamellia's card and I wanted it to be the centre of attention.

I was so lucky to receive my gift from my lovely and talented friend, Sara Emily of  Sara's Closet.  Here is a sneak peek of what Sara sent me, you will never guess what it is!

 I hope you will find the time to go over THERE and have a look, it is quite exquisite.  About a year or so ago Sara did a tag with a similar technique and I lusted after it for ages, the tag has been shared over a 1,000 times on Pinterest, so I think a lot of others were lusting after it too!  Sara, I LOVE MY GORGEOUS GIFT, it will be so incredibly useful, particularly over Christmas!

It has been such a pleasure participating in the Secret Santa with my lovely teamies at Anything But Cute this year!  It has been great fun ladies!!  We are taking a little break during December at Anything But Cute but we will be back with our Winners Post on 12th December and with a new challenge in January!

I am adding this to Country View Challenges where the challenge theme is - Christmas
I am also adding my little sewing box to Simon Says Monday Challenge where the challenge theme is Christmas Gifts.

Thank you for looking, hope to see you again soon.

Big hugs,  Anne xxx

Eileen Hull and DCWV - Winter Wonderland Part 3

Hello Friends

I have enjoyed Eileen Hull's collaboration with DCWV so much I decided to make another

project and I think this might be my favourite so far....  For the whole month of November, my

teamies have been making the most fantastic projects and I hope you will find some time to visit Eileen's blog.

I used Eileen's Cantilever Sewing Box die (Sizzix 660768) and DCWV Cranberry Christmas papers to make my project.

As you can see I used some of the softer colour tone papers from the pack.  I constructed the box, following the instructions on the package and used the papers to cover the outside.

The struts, feet, brads and knobs were coloured with IndigoBlu Pantry White acrylic paint, it is rich in pigment and only one coat was required.

I made the flower, for the top, first.

After cutting three each of the flower petals using Eileen Hull's Pansy Flower die (Sizzix 661109), I spritzed them well with water and scrunched them up.  I carefully unraveled the wet petals and layered them up and left them to dry.  Once dry, the flowers are very strong and they will keep their shape really well.

The tag was cut from the paper pack too, I just added the word and also some ribbon.

I lined each of the sections with some co-ordinating paper from the pack.

I used the same papers and one of the labels from the paper pack to make a matching card.  To finish off I added some cream vintage seam binding and a fabric brad from my stash.  I love that I can make simple cards entirely from the paper pack.

I hope you like my final project for November using Eileen Hull dies and these beautiful papers!

My apologies if I have not been to visit you in the last few days, I have been away, attending a fabulous group of workshops by the amazing artists - Andy Skinner, Brenda Brown and Mark Gould, held by Tando Creative.  If you ever get the opportunity to take a workshop with any of these artists please take it, you will not be disappointed!

Thanks so much, as always, for looking!

Hugs, Anne xxx