new design team with eileen hull

Shortly after Eileen Hull and I met in 2012 and realized we were almost neighbors, we quickly concocted the lovely idea of teaching several classes together with her fabulous 3-D dies that she designs for Sizzix.  Our first class showcased her Sizzix Pro house die, perfect for making a holiday house or village.  With my first class sample, I had such fun painting and lettering the house that I was totally hooked on using Eileen's magical dies to build things I could use as an alternative canvas.

Today, I'm excited to be a member of Eileen's new Design Team for Sizzix, happily "tasked" with finding more ways to incorporate my style with her new dies.  To introduce ourselves, we designers are sharing some of our previous projects and style approaches.  For me, it's appropriate to start with another class project taught with Eileen using her heart box die.  My class samples included a painted candy box (above) and another deeper box that I built up from the same die and covered like a suitcase with a hinged top (below).  It's pretty amazing to me how much you can manipulate her dies, changing materials and adjusting for many uses.  Oh, and the paper flowers on both boxes were made from another Eileen Hull die called flower layers w/heart petals.

Since I love to doodle and letter (including in my art journals), I'll be looking for more ways to do so on my Design Team projects for Eileen.  Below are samples from my doodling class "Doodle Ink" taught at Handmade U in Omaha (next semester is coming up), another sample from my lettering class "Doodle Amour" taught at French General in LA, followed by some doodled song lyrics.

More of my doodling efforts are included in Jenny Doh's Craft-a-Doodle book and in Amy Powers' many crafty Inspired Ideas ezines.  

Right now, but hopefully for not much longer, all of my painting and journaling and die-cutting supplies are stacked in teetering piles in my dining room while my new studio is being built.  It will be a dream made real for me to finally have a place to paint and create without stealing time and space, often running out of both.  And what fun to be on Eileen's Design Team to start things rolling, just in time for this long-awaited spring!

Journal page in progress

You, too, can share your favorite projects and join the monthly "Art with Heart" kickoff challenge hosted by Sizzix Designer Eileen Hull and Design Team coordinator Amy Bowerman.  Just link your blog post to Eileen's site for a chance to win!