Monday 31 December 2018

Thank you cards with simple offset background - Metallic Sketch Pens


Hi everyone. It's Verity here from Pretty Little Button bringing you another project. As Christmas is over, you might be needing to send out a few Thank you cards, so I have a card that is very easy to make and uses your metallic sketch pens to create a simple offset background.  

Thank you cards with simple offset background details: 

To start, write your sentiment in your chosen font. I used Parisian solid font from the Silhouette store.  Next, using the offset tool and create multiple offsets at around 0.09.

Keep continuing the offset until your card panel is filled. You might find it easier to add a square representing the size of you card panel. 


Once you offset completely fill the square, you need to crop the offset to the square pane. You could leave it as is, you can cut the square panel out of all the offsets, but why waste the ink of you pens when you don't need too!


Highlight all the offsets - if you use your mouse to drag and highlight over the area, make sure you deselect the square the sentiment before the next step. With all the offsets highlighted, right click and select make a compound path. Now all the offsets are one item/ 'path'. These are not a group, and grouping these will not work in the next step. 


With the new 'path' of offsets and the square selected, use the modify panel and select crop. This will crop your 'path' of offsets to the square shape selected. Make sure you add a square panel around the edge of your design again, in order to cut the card panel out.


In your send panel, you may find it easier to cut/sketch your panel by line colour as you can set each line colour to the cut or sketch properties.

To assemble the cards, the panel was foam mounted onto a white card base. Behind the open window sentiment, gold or silver mirror card was added for a touch of glam. Lastly, colour corresponding sequins were added to finish the cards off. 





If this has inspired you to try this out, please post below. I would love to see it!

Until next time,

Verity




Profile Pretty Little Button Blog | Instagram | Facebook

FONTS USED:

PN Parisian solid by ScrapNfonts, Design ID#135791

PRODUCTS USED:

      

Sunday 30 December 2018

Sunday's with Steph - Deer Shadow Frame





Hello crafters!!

I trust you have all had an enjoyable holiday season!  I can't believe how quickly it's gone and the children are already talking about their birthdays in June which I'm sure will be with us before we know it!

Anyway I did manage to get a bit of crafting in and made a shadow frame.  I started off with this cutfile from the Silhouette store: https://www.silhouettedesignstore.com/designs/256633?search=deer+shadow+frame&sortby=relevance&submitted_search=true I used Bazzill black textured card and set my machine to the card stock textured heavy setting and to pass through twice.  I also didn't cut all of the pieces out as I had decided to use a box frame (15cm square)I had picked up from my local craft store for a few pounds.  These are the pieces I cut (and in the end I only used two ferns but it's up to you if you'd like to use more.




The assembly was quite easy.  The duplicated does and stags I attached to the front of the design to give it more depth and stability.   Then I folded up the corners of the boxes and stuck with some glossy accent.    I attached the extra grass to the front box (the one with the two does) using some foam raisers.  I then stuck the silver birch tree to the front right hand corner also using some foam risers and securing the front of the tree to the top edge of the page.



I turned the box over and affixed the sloping edge piece to the opposite side to the silver birch also using some foam risers.  I put this piece aside and then worked on the box featuring the buck.  I used two pieces of fern one straight one slightly off centre to the far right hand side of the box.  I stuck the big fir tree to the inside left (using foam raisers) and the double fir tree piece to the inside right.  To create the background I used some soft peach paper from Cocoa Vanilla's 'More Than Words' collection which I thought looked like a sunset and attached the last piece of black card just above the centre to the left hand side of the page.  Once that was done I popped the two does into the frame first, then the buck and then the background.  I popped the back onto the frame and ta-da it was done!





I hope you have enjoyed this latest blog post and I'll see you next year - Happy New Year everyone!!

Steph xx

Saturday 29 December 2018

Blade and Sketch Pen Organisation Box with FREE Accessory Tray file


Hello.
Janet here from the Crafting Quine blog, with a project to help organise all those invaluable Silhouette bits and pieces that accumulate when you use your machine.  I've used the Two Compartment Candy Box by Lori Whitlock, added some custom-designed accessory trays, and decorated the outside with panels cut from Silhouette Wood Effect Vinyl. The lid is also decorated with a vinyl design. I'll show you how to do all this and have included a FREE accessory tray file too.





The wood effect vinyl comes on a roll in one of three colours: Ebony, Maple and Walnut. The rolls  measure 9 in. x 6 ft. (229 mm x 1.80 m).  They have a matte wood texture and appearance and have a strong self adhesive backing. They cut like other premium vinyl although the vinyl feels a little thicker.

I used the maple colour vinyl on the base and for the decoration, and the walnut colour on the lid. The lid is decorated with a design made by welding a split design (#67270, Split Tulip Damask by Emily Dyer) to some custom wording using a decorative font (#239683, CG Bon Bon Font by Carina Gardner). The box itself is made up in dark brown cardstock.


SUPPLIES REQUIRED:
Silhouette Wood Effect Vinyl in Maple and Walnut
Dark Brown Cardstock
Weeding/Hook Tool
Scraper or Burnishing Tool
Strong Liquid Craft Adhesive
Silhouette Cameo® 3


HOW TO MAKE THE BOX


Step 1: Prepare the Files
Open the file for the box in the Silhouette Studio software. Ungroup the pieces and arrange them into cut groups for the types and colours of media.

Step 2: Cut the Cardstock 
Place all the cardstock pieces (all parts except the panels) onto the virtual mat and cut them out. Remove them from the mat and fold along the crease lines then flatten the pieces out again.

Step 3: Cut the Vinyl
Separate the pieces to be cut from each colour of vinyl. Place pieces for each colour onto the virtual mat in turn.  Click the Send tab and choose the default setting "Vinyl, Wood" as a starting point. Load your Vinyl into the cutter, either on a mat, or directly into the machine. If you do not use a mat you'll need to adjust the right hand roller inwards as the media is 9-inches wide. I find it easier to use a cutting mat, but this vinyl is quite springy and may require some extra tape at the edges to hold it flat. Carry out a test cut and reduce the Force to where it will still cut through the vinyl. The ideal is to achieve a 'Kiss-cut'; cutting through the vinyl but not the backing sheet.



Step 4: Prepare the Media
Remove (weed) the excess vinyl from around the cut pieces.  The vinyl will easily pull away from around the panels. Ease the vinyl gently from around the decorative elements and use a weeding tool to remove the small interior pieces.

Step 5: Part Construct the Box


Construct the box following the designer's instructions. Follow the link on the design's entry in the Silhouette Design Store to the tutorial page on the designer's website. Lori Whitlock has video instructions for a similar box which can be accessed by clinking on the "2 Compartment Cookie Box" link.

Step 6: Apply the Vinyl
Where possible, apply the vinyl before adhering their backing pieces to the box. Peel the panels away from the backing paper and align them carefully onto the cardstock pieces. Press them into position. Protect the vinyl with a scrap of backing paper, or clean copy paper, and rub firmly with a scraper/burnishing tool.



See details below on designing the decorative elements*. Once cut from maple vinyl, peel the backing paper away from the top third of one of the designs and place it in position on the vinyl covered lid. Peel away the remainder of the backing paper. Repeat for the other design.



Step 7: Complete Construction

Adhere the outside panels and construct the lid. Cut out and assemble the accessory trays** and place them inside the box.



The lid just drops on to the box and your storage box is complete.




*CUSTOMISE THE DECORATION

Open the Split Tulip design and resize it to fit the lid (select design, grab one of the corner sizing handles, hold down Shift, and move the handle toward the centre of the design until the desired size is reached). Type the words in CG Bonbon Font and resize them to fit too (click the Text tool, type a word, click away from the word, reselect it, open the text Style Panel, select your chosen font, select 72pt, resize the width only, if necessary, using the side handle). Make the design become one piece (select all three parts, right mouse click, and select weld).



**USE THE FREE ACCESSORY TRAYS

Download the FREE Accessory Trays cut file. The file is in .GSD format which can be opened with any edition of the Silhouette Studio software. From the Silhouette program select File > Open, then navigate to the downloaded file and click OK. There are two versions. You can mix and match the holes, just Ungroup each version, and duplicate or swap the sets of holes.

Download the FREE file here



I used the Wood Effect Vinyl to make these cute decorative gift boxes in an earlier post. You can read about how to make them here. They use some of Lori Whitlock's fabulous Polygon boxes.

Rustic wood effect gift boxes made with Silhouette Wood Effect Vinyl. Designer Janet Packer (Crafting Quine) for Silhouette UK. Polygon boxes by Lori Whitlock.



You can get great results by adding vinyl to cardboard. The wood effect vinyl gives a great wood look finish, and intricate decorative designs are easy to cut from the vinyl. I hope you'll try it.


Bye for now,



   Profile | Crafting Quine BlogInstagram @CraftingQuine




DESIGNS USED:



PRODUCTS USED:

Thursday 27 December 2018

Wood effect jigsaw birthday card


Hello everyone! Today I am making this lovely jigsaw card using the Silhouette Wood Effect vinyl and some card stock that I already had. Its a great card for any of the men in your life as we know they are all really hard to craft for :)

Materials 

Step one

The first thing that I did was open both files in Silhouette Studio and resize them. I wanted them to fit onto a A5 size card so I resized the back ground jigsaw file to 19x16cms so that it would fit onto an A5 card. I then cut the jigsaw design in the dark and medium coloured vinyl. I wanted used two colours of vinyl so that I can alternate the colours in the jigsaw pattern. I used the cut settings for the 'Wood effect vinyl' in the 'send' menu.

Step two

For the 'happy birthday' part of the card I used three pieces from file 89926. To do this I selected the file and then 'ungrouped' all of the elements. I chose the happy birthday circle and the two scalloped circle to back the happy birthday sentiment. I enlarged these to 9.8cm for the sentiment and 10.5cm and 11cms for the two scalloped circles. The sentiment I cut from the lightest vinyl using the same settings and I cut the circles from the dark brown and teal coloured card stock. I also cut an 20cmx13.8cm card out of the teal to assemble the design on.

Step three


After I had cut all of the pieces out I weeded the vinyl and was then ready to assemble the card. I pealed of the vinyl jigsaw pieces and stuck them onto the teal card alternating the colours of the jigsaw pieces for added interest. I then stuck the sentiment on the teal circle and then mounted the teal circle onto the dark brown one. The sentiment piece was then stuck onto the main card. I finished off the card by mounting it all onto an A5 card made from dark brown card stock.
Thank you for reading the blog. I'd love to read any comments you have below! 
Helen x

 

Monday 24 December 2018

last minute Holiday makes

Wow Christmas Day is almost here, I think I am finally ready, but I always like to have a couple of little gifts for the table, a spare party gift or an extra stocking filler.

I have received some Silhouette designed Christmas goodies and this year I have made a couple of different festive treat boxes...all of which I will share with you...


the Christmas Ornament Favour Box is on the left and the 3d cone box on the right


Made by my friend Sue, this lovely filigree design contained a small candle (battery operated of course!)


Sheila made this lovely hanging decoration full of festive goodies



this Holly Pillow Gift box was given to me with some other little gifts so I cannot credit the maker,but the original gifts are gone but I have replaced them with some little chocolate balls (disguised as Christmas puds)


 For my 3d large candy box (or cracker!) I used more chocolate balls, but I filled it with the Brussel  Sprouts version (they just make me smile as I am not a fan of real Brussels!)


For slightly larger gifts these 3d winter snowflake boxes are perfect


really simple to put together and I even added an extra bit of cardstock behind the snowflake so there is no peeking inside at the contents!


So with a Silhouette Cameo is really easy to make individual boxes for all your last minute Holiday gifting... 


Wishing you all  Happy Holidays (cutfile found here)


Look forward to seeing you again in 2019 

Lotsa Love

Ruth xxx