Hello again, Janet here with a maze birthday card I made for a friend who is an a-MAZE-ing baker. I've seen a number of kits and metal dies for making a maze like this, but I knew I could make one with my Silhouette® Cameo at a fraction of the cost. So, it was off to the Silhouette Design Store to see if there was a suitable file.
A search for 'maze' returned several options. I chose the Heart Maze file by Tanya Batrak because it had an open space in the centre.
This is a variation on a shaker card - you may already have realised that I'm a huge fan of shaker cards. Other shaker card tutorials I've written for the blog are Making Shaker Cards - Pt 1 The Basics. Making Shaker Cards Pt 2 The Cards, and Anchored Shaker Elements. It is of the type which I've named a 'Hidden Behind' shaker card, described in the first linked post. The construction is similar with the shaker layers and shaker window being 'maze-shaped'. This type of project is ideal to cut from the Silhouette Adhesive Cardstock as it is so much quicker to build the layers with no danger of liquid glue getting onto the acetate.
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| Image from Making Shaker Cards - Part 1 - The Basics |
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
Silhouette Adhesive Cardstock in White
Coloured Silhouette Adhesive Cardstock
(alternative) Coloured Cardstock backed with a Double-sided Adhesive Sheet
Acetate Sheet or Clear Packaging
Assorted Small Bugle Beads (I used 3 colours)
6 in. x 6 in. Heavyweight Card Base (300gsm plus)
Strong Double-Sided Adhesive Tape
Dimensional Double-Sided Foam Tape
Printer
Silhouette Cameo®
Downloaded Files:
Heart Maze file by Tanya Batrak (#172861)
Cupcake file by PattyYoung Designs (#34751)
Yellow Daisy font by Rivka Wilkins (#106927)
STEP 1: PREPARING THE LAYERS
a. Open the Heart Maze file in the Silhouette® Studio software. Ungroup the file and move the heart aside.
b. Either (1) remove the inner ring of the maze where shown (I used point editing), (2) remove with the Knife, or (3) be prepared to manually snip off these pieces before assembly.
c. Adjust the size of the maze to suit your card size. My card is a 6 inch square and my maze approximately 3.75 in. across (about 90 cm).
d. Change the page settings to 12 in. x 12 in. for the adhesive sheets and replicate the piece to make sufficient layers to allow your beads to move around. I used 6 stacked layers (about 2 mm deep) plus decorative layers. The beads were roughly 1.88mm deep.
e. Cut out the layers, fitting as many on a sheet as possible. You may need to use more than one sheet. Use the test cut function to ensure you cut through the card layer, but not the backing sheet. I needed to reduce my thickness from the suggested setting for Adhesive Cardstock by 3.
f. Chose one layer and align each of the other layers on top, leaving the first in position until you are ready to assemble the card.
STEP 2: PREPARING CUPCAKE & SENTIMENT (Print & Cut)
a. Open the Cupcake file in the Silhouette Studio® software. Assemble the pieces, colouring each element to match your beads.
b. (Optional) Open the Shadow Window and using the Shadow feature add a small shadow to each piece. Position the shadow to your liking by clicking on Pan Shadow and adjusting the X and Y amounts or manually placing it having first detached the shadow by clicking on Release Shadow. Adjust Shadow Colour and Transparency until you achieve a look you like. Group the entire cupcake and set the cut settings to No Cut.
b. Draw a small rounded rectangle slightly larger than one of your beads. Replicate it ten times and rotate each one and arrange over the icing part of your cake. Group all the bead holes and set to Cut in Cut Settings. Group the cake and holes together.
c. Draw a circle around your cupcake to match the outside of the layers. Centre the cupcake and adjust the size to fit within the maze. Adjust your virtual paper size and trim your adhesive paper to a size that will fit in your printer. Add another maze layer for the decorative top layer if you haven't already cut one, and made a sentiment label for your card. I included several different options, being unsure which I would use. Turn on the Registration Marks and arrange your pieces to fit within the cut border. Print out the sheet and then add to a cutting mat and cut using the Print & Cut function.
d. Draw a square of a size to fit the front of your card and, in the software, move a maze layer piece into the position where the maze will be, leaving sufficient room for a sentiment. Ungroup the maze and remove the outer circle. Make the remaining maze and the square into a compound path. Cut this from a piece of coloured adhesive cardstock. A piece of coloured card backed with a sheet of Double-sided Adhesive Sheet will suffice if you don't have a suitable piece of coloured adhesive sheet.
e. Finally cut a square of acetate lightly larger than the circumference of the maze.
STEP 3: ASSEMBLING THE CARD
a. Mark the card base with the location of the maze using the coloured card front piece (I added an extra large circle around the markings using a compass) and adhere the cupcake circle to the card base.
b. Adhere the decorative maze to the coloured square maze and add the acetate behind. Now add double sided adhesive tape to the outside circle of the top of the stack of layers and align the card top with the maze stack. Carefully place beads in the centre of the cupcake and adhere a few into the holes (I forgot but I would add them another time). Now remove the complete stack from the backing paper and align it with the card edges.
c. Add your sentiment and the card is complete.
a. Open the Heart Maze file in the Silhouette® Studio software. Ungroup the file and move the heart aside.
b. Either (1) remove the inner ring of the maze where shown (I used point editing), (2) remove with the Knife, or (3) be prepared to manually snip off these pieces before assembly.
c. Adjust the size of the maze to suit your card size. My card is a 6 inch square and my maze approximately 3.75 in. across (about 90 cm).
d. Change the page settings to 12 in. x 12 in. for the adhesive sheets and replicate the piece to make sufficient layers to allow your beads to move around. I used 6 stacked layers (about 2 mm deep) plus decorative layers. The beads were roughly 1.88mm deep.
e. Cut out the layers, fitting as many on a sheet as possible. You may need to use more than one sheet. Use the test cut function to ensure you cut through the card layer, but not the backing sheet. I needed to reduce my thickness from the suggested setting for Adhesive Cardstock by 3.
f. Chose one layer and align each of the other layers on top, leaving the first in position until you are ready to assemble the card.
STEP 2: PREPARING CUPCAKE & SENTIMENT (Print & Cut)
a. Open the Cupcake file in the Silhouette Studio® software. Assemble the pieces, colouring each element to match your beads.
b. (Optional) Open the Shadow Window and using the Shadow feature add a small shadow to each piece. Position the shadow to your liking by clicking on Pan Shadow and adjusting the X and Y amounts or manually placing it having first detached the shadow by clicking on Release Shadow. Adjust Shadow Colour and Transparency until you achieve a look you like. Group the entire cupcake and set the cut settings to No Cut.
b. Draw a small rounded rectangle slightly larger than one of your beads. Replicate it ten times and rotate each one and arrange over the icing part of your cake. Group all the bead holes and set to Cut in Cut Settings. Group the cake and holes together.
c. Draw a circle around your cupcake to match the outside of the layers. Centre the cupcake and adjust the size to fit within the maze. Adjust your virtual paper size and trim your adhesive paper to a size that will fit in your printer. Add another maze layer for the decorative top layer if you haven't already cut one, and made a sentiment label for your card. I included several different options, being unsure which I would use. Turn on the Registration Marks and arrange your pieces to fit within the cut border. Print out the sheet and then add to a cutting mat and cut using the Print & Cut function.
e. Finally cut a square of acetate lightly larger than the circumference of the maze.
STEP 3: ASSEMBLING THE CARD
a. Mark the card base with the location of the maze using the coloured card front piece (I added an extra large circle around the markings using a compass) and adhere the cupcake circle to the card base.
b. Adhere the decorative maze to the coloured square maze and add the acetate behind. Now add double sided adhesive tape to the outside circle of the top of the stack of layers and align the card top with the maze stack. Carefully place beads in the centre of the cupcake and adhere a few into the holes (I forgot but I would add them another time). Now remove the complete stack from the backing paper and align it with the card edges.
c. Add your sentiment and the card is complete.
With shaker cards it can get a little complicated working out the order of the layers, so I hope these rather lengthy instructions will make the process a little easier. I made a prototype first (shown at the bottom right of this picture). You could do a similar practise run if you feel unsure about the process.
I hope you have as much fun making a maze shaker as I did.
Bye for now,
DESIGNS USED:
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Absolutely stunning! I love it Janet! I must give it a go sometime :)
ReplyDeleteYou should! It's much quicker (and less messy) if you use the adhesive cardstock.
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