Silhouette UK: Dog Birthday Card using Faux Leather Paper

Friday 4 March 2016

Dog Birthday Card using Faux Leather Paper

Looking for a fun birthday card for a dog lover? I made this one for my daughter as he SO resembles our family pet!

For this project I tried out the Silhouette Faux Leather Paper for the first time. I used it in a very basic way, just touching on the possibilities for using this intriguing product.

Supplies Needed:

Silhouette Cameo or Portrait, and Curio (optional, for the tag)
Silhouette Faux Leather Paper (black)
Kraft Card
Silver Mirror Card
Metal Jump Ring (to attach tag)
Coloured Paper (red and cream)
Silhouette 16ss Rhinestones (metallic)
Silhouette Rhinestone Setter
Brown Ink Pad
Silhouette Sketch Pen (red)

The designer has helpfully provided a link to the assembly tutorial for the card which I followed as far as assembling the head, but initially omitting the nose and collar.

I used a single colour of Kraft card and distressed the edges of the card pieces with stamping ink, and added some custom paws. The bone, cut from cream card, had a sentiment added with the red sketch pen in place of the cutting blade. I made the shaped card by making an offset of all the elements together, which I cut in red, and then welding a pair of further offsets in Kraft made the shaped card base. I love to make shaped cards and will post a tutorial on how to designed shaped cards for yourself. Meantime, it would be equally attractive to make and mount the dog's head onto the card base included with the design.

Here's what I did to make the tagged and bejewelled collar from faux leather.

Step 1 - Preparing the collar

In the software I placed the collar piece on the mat and using the Ellipse shape drew a small oval just big enough to accommodate my jump ring (which you'll use to attach a tag, if you choose to make one).

I coloured the oval white so that I could see it better, and then moved it into position on the collar (selected both shapes and in Align Window, choose Align Centre).

Then I made a second copy of the collar (selected collar, opened Replicate Window, selected Duplicate Below).

I then made some holes the exact size for the 16ss rhinestones. If you have the Designer Edition of the software, open the Rhinestone Window, set rhinestone size to 16ss, and Spacing to Single Click. Simply click where you want your rhinestones to be. If you don't have DE, then just draw a circle of diameter 0.13"/3.31mm, and make 3 more copies, placing them as shown in the picture below.

Next I chose the default settings for Faux Leather Paper in the Cut Settings Window. The test cut didn't quite cut through, so I increased the blade depth by one (my mat has lost some stickiness). You may not need to, so use the test cut function on any new material you try.

Step 2 - Preparing and Cutting the Faux Leather Paper

I attached a piece of faux leather a little larger than I needed to cut the pieces together and attached it to the mat with decorator's tape.

The faux leather cut cleanly and the pieces removed easily

Step 3 - Finishing the Collar

I stuck the two collar pieces together with the one with the extra holes on the top.

I attached 4 of the metallic rhinestones into the holes with the Rhinestone Setter. I allowed the setter to heat up for a few seconds in the 'on' position and then held it lightly to each individual stone until they adhered.

This left the stones inset into the collar a little, reducing the likelihood of small fingers picking them off. (warning: young relatives love playing with these cards)!

Then, using the jump ring, I attached a small tag that I'd cut and embossed with my Curio from mirror card, bearing our dog's initial. If you don't have a Curio you can just cut a circle of mirror card of about 0.7"/17mm on your cutting machine and customise it as you choose.