Tuesday 31 July 2018

Mermaid at Heart Layout using Glitter Sticker Paper | Niki Rowland




Hey there Silhouette Fans, Niki here with you today using Glitter Sticker Paper and two designs from the store. 

I started off by creating the design I wanted to cut. I began with the Mermaid at Heart cut file (linked below) which I ungrouped. I wanted to use the heart shape. I then opened the Scalloped Border Background.


I used the Offset menu to create a second heart to outline the first.

I then selected both hearts (the original and the outline) and went to the Object Menu , Arrange, Send to Back. This means the two hearts are behind the scalloped background.

I then positioned the Scalloped background over the hearts.

I then selected the internal heart and the background,  and went to the Modify window, then clicked 'subtract'. This left me with the scalloped background pattern inside the hearts.


I then tidied up the cut file slightly by removing all the teeny tiny little bits that I didn't want to cut.

At this point all the pieces of the scalloped pattern are separate, so I dragged a box over the whole thing and hit Group. This was so I could easily move the heart around.


I then went back to the original 'Mermaid at Heart' design and posiitoned it together with the big heart onto my virtual cutting mat. I did this so I could see how I wanted my design to look once cut.

I wanted to cut the heart from Glitter Sticker Paper, so copied it onto another cutting mat which I set up as 8.5x11" as that is the size of the glitter paper. I then cut that using the default cut settings for the Glitter Sticker Paper (having tried a test cut first).

I cut 'Mermaid' and 'at' out of a separate sheet of white card but I wanted to cut those little hearts out of my background sheet, so I selected the parts of the design I didn't want to cut and clicked 'no cut'. It then just cut out the tiny hearts.

So all parts of the design were then cut. I painted 'Mermaid' and 'at' with some Jane Davenport Mermaid Markers. I also positioned the heart onto the background and drew around it very lightly with a pencil, then painted all the 'scales' with the Mermaid Markers too.

Once painted and dry I then stuck the Glitter Sticker Paper over the top, added 'Mermaid' and 'at' and also backfilled the little hearts with the off cuts of the Silver Glitter Sticker paper.


I then embellished the layout with all the mermaids and sea themed things I could find, and added lots of sparkles with sequins and gems.



I was really pleased with how the layout turned out!


Thank you so much for joining me today and I hope you found this tutorial useful. 
Happy scrapping xx 



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Monday 30 July 2018

Finishing touches to wrapping presents - Glitter stickers




Hi everyone. It's Verity here from Pretty Little Button bringing you another project. Today I've created a some glitter stickers using the Glitter Sticker sheets from SIlhouette to add as a finishing touch to a wrapped present. It certainly looks better then using sellotape all the time!

Finishing touches to wrapping presents - Glitter stickers detail:


To start, decide on the shape of your sticker - I kept it simple by using a circle for the base shape. Decided on the design elements you want to add to your sticker. I add 'For you' and two presents from the design store and positioned them as seen below. 

In order for the circle line to not overlap the presents I select the presents and circle, and pressed 'Subtract all' in the modify window. 


I then decided I wanted another line within the circle - I tried internal offset, but this also did internal offset within the presents. Instead I used the arc tool. This worked out perfectly. 


Now I had the sticker design complete, I added an offset to the group design - this will be the cut line for the stickers. I kept the cut line red and the lines of the design black. This will make it easy when your come to cutting your stickers later on. 

Make sure you have your print & registration marks loaded into your design space. For ease, I used the replicate tool  to duplicate by sticker horizontally and vertically. 

To ensure my stickers were evenly space apart I used the spacing option in the transform window, and spaced these out evenly both horizontally and vertically. 


When I was happy with the layout, I printed this out on to a Glitter sticker sheet from SIlhouette and loaded the printed version onto my cutting mat. 

Here is where the coloured cut lines come in handy. In the send to machine window, select the 'Line' action by tab. As you can see below, I have three line colours. As I set my offset lines to red and the red lines are the only lines I am interested in cutting, I can untick the black lines.


Now when the machine cuts the file, it will only cut my red offset lines around the stickers. Remember to do a test cut for the material before your send the whole design to cut. If you are struggling within your machine registering your registration marks, make sure your blade area is well lit. You may find it easier to manual align your blade over the top of the right top black square and ask the software to manual register the mat. 



Finishing touches to wrapping presents - Glitter stickers photos:





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

Until next time,

Verity




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Present by Rivka Wilkins - Design ID #6345
For you by Tanya Batrak - Design ID #124382

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Saturday 28 July 2018

Giant 3D Paper Pinwheel

Make Lori Whitlock's Giant 3D Pinwheels with 12" x 12" paper. Tutorial by Janet Packer https://craftingquine.blogspot.co.uk for SilhouetteUK Graphtec GB.


Hi, Janet here with a fun project using some bright and lovely papers from the All Occasions paper pad from GraphtecGB. The papers are double-sided, so perfect for making windmills (or pinwheels, as our friends across the Atlantic call them). They are 180 gsm too, so a great weight for sturdier paper crafting projects. The file, the 3D Double Pinwheel, is designed by Lori Whitlock (#81178), and is available from the Silhouette Design Store.


Make Lori Whitlock's Giant 3D Pinwheels with 12" x 12" paper. Tutorial by Janet Packer https://craftingquine.blogspot.co.uk for SilhouetteUK Graphtec GB.


Cutting the File

I cut the file pieces at the original size. This made a windmill measuring 28 cm (about 11-inches) across. This is a tad surprising, as the pieces only measure about 21 cm square (just over 8-inches), but by folding the edges to the centre it creates 'sails' that use the paper on the diagonal. The paper pad is 12" x 12", so it is possible to make the pinwheel even bigger. However, I used the extra paper to cut duplicate centre pieces.

The cut pieces are shown here along with some of the materials needed: paper straws, and a brad, or paper fastener. Use a brad with long prongs. I found that the brads in this picture weren't long enough and I had to change them out for something longer.

Make Lori Whitlock's Giant 3D Pinwheels with 12" x 12" paper. Tutorial by Janet Packer https://craftingquine.blogspot.co.uk for SilhouetteUK Graphtec GB.


Assembling the Pinwheel

Place one of the main pieces directly on top of the other, ensuring that the patterns that you want to be dominant are facing upward. Bring each of the corners with a hole into the centre, to line up with the centre hole, with the centre pieces aligned on top. Temporarily place a brad through all the holes, open out the prongs, and fold them open lightly. Now rotate the top main piece until it stops against the bottom one. When viewed from behind there shouldn't be any gaps between the 'sails'. Leave the pinwheel to one side and prepare the stick.


Making the Stick

One straw alone isn't long enough for this pinwheel, so it is necessary to join two straws together.
Flatten the end of one of the straws and then pinch the sides together (like the top straw shown below). This then easily slides inside another straw, resulting in a stick of better proportions for the size of the pinwheel.

Make Lori Whitlock's Giant 3D Pinwheels with 12" x 12" paper. Tutorial by Janet Packer https://craftingquine.blogspot.co.uk for SilhouetteUK Graphtec GB.



Mounting the Pinwheel on the Stick

Flatten one end of the straw/stick and make a hole. I used a small hole-punch and an eyelet, but this  is optional (see the lower straw in the picture above).

Now, while holding the pinwheel pieces in place with one hand, ease open the prongs of the brad, squeeze them together, and push them through the hole in the stick. Then open up the prongs once more and secure them at the back of the stick. Don't fold back the prongs too tightly or the pinwheel won't be able to rotate.

N.B. If you want the pinwheel to turn freely in the breeze, you'll need an even longer brad and a spacer of some kind (my pinwheel will turn by hand, but won't spin).  A smooth bead should work if you can find a brad long enough to pass through the pinwheel, the stick, AND the bead.


Additional Decorations

You might have noticed that my pinwheel has a flower in the centre. I fussy cut one of the flowers from the paper scraps and used that in place of the centre pieces provided. I used those to make some additional hanging decorations.

I paired them up, then pushed a eyelet through the centre hole. Before flattening the eyelet, I threaded a piece of embroidery thread around the centre, between the pieces. The thread was then trapped once the eyelet was attached. I then hung three of these from pinwheel centre, wrapped around the pinwheel centre where it is joined to the stick.

Make Lori Whitlock's Giant 3D Pinwheels with 12" x 12" paper. Tutorial by Janet Packer https://craftingquine.blogspot.co.uk for SilhouetteUK Graphtec GB.



Make Lori Whitlock's Giant 3D Pinwheels with 12" x 12" paper. Tutorial by Janet Packer https://craftingquine.blogspot.co.uk for SilhouetteUK Graphtec GB.


The finished pinwheel would make an impressive centre-piece on a party table, or a number would be great as decorations around a party room, or in the garden for an outdoor party.

Make Lori Whitlock's Giant 3D Pinwheels with 12" x 12" paper. Tutorial by Janet Packer https://craftingquine.blogspot.co.uk for SilhouetteUK Graphtec GB.


I'm sure they could be used in many other ways too. I'd love to hear your ideas, so do share them on any of Silhouette UK's social media locations.

Bye for now,

  Crafting Quine BlogInstagram @CraftingQuine



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Friday 27 July 2018

Using the All Occasions Patterned Paper Pad

Welcome back Silhouette buddies!

This week we are using the fabulous All Occasions Patterned Paper Pad. Packed full of double sided pages with so many different designs, definitely something for everyone.

I tend to use mostly plain white cardstock in my Silhouette Cameo but this week I decided to embrace patterns...

For my first page I used the gorgeous Lion Papercut


I used the yellow/orange sheet of paper, which cut perfectly on the plain cardstock setting. It was so striking against a white background but I wanted to add some extra interest so used some shimmery paint just behind the cutfile. 


Then I simply added in the 'cheeks' on pop dots, black enamel dots for the eyes and a black enamel triangle shape on the nose. I mounted the white cardstock on the left over patterned paper...


I raided my stash for coordinating embellishments and my page was finished...


Heart circles was my choice for the second layout


I used the striped pink sheet from the pad, which had a pink/grey pattern on the reverse, so the cut created lots of double sided hearts. The heart circles piece was stuck to grey cardstock and then randomly added hearts were adhered with pop dots...


 A few stickers, a title and other ephemera completed my page (which is not as wonky as it looks in my photo!)


I also made a page last week using the star paper and fussy cutting lots of stars out to add to my space themed page...this has already been shown on the internet but just adding it here to show how versatile the papers are...


The astronaut cutfile can be found here

As you can see I have had a fantastic time playing with these papers and  cutfiles and can't wait to see what you create

Happy crafting

Ruth 
xxx