Chipboard Favour Boxes

Hi everyone, 😊 My name is Jordy, and this is my first ever blog post for Silhouette UK. 

May is a one of the best times for wedding season and nothing says wedding like gift boxes for your guests.

Materials Used:

Silhouette UK chipboard.

Your favourite type of adhesive, I like my tape roller as it’s easy to use.

Paper of your choice, I used white paper.

Silhouette CAMEO® 3 machine

Adhesive pearls for decoration.

Silhouette files:

Cage Box #89363.

Now onto the design...

Step 1: Open the file in Silhouette Studio: 

Once I decided on the designs I wanted to make, and purchased from the Silhouette Design Store. I opened then up. I did also make the box a little bit bigger, but not too big that it goes outside of the red cutting line.

Step 2: Cutting the design:

I don't want to do anything fancy with my design, as I love the rustic look of the kraft colour chipboard. I will be adding some accents once the design is cut, but I'm not going to do anything fancy within the software.

Now the best thing about this design is its super easy to cut on the chipboard. Load the chipboard onto the strong hold mat and run the designs through. I tweaked my cut setting in the software, because I know my machine cuts better with a little bit force. But as with everything, it is best that you start with the Silhouette Studio softwares default settings and find what works best for you! Because Chipboard cuts on a speed of 1, its best you grab a cup of tea coz we're gonna be here a while. (It's totally worth it though!)

Step 3: Put the design together:

Now all your parts are cut – we can put them together and have fun. I used a bone folder to get a smooth crisp fold on the chipboard. I used some tacky glue to glue it all down, usually I would opt for a tape gun but sadly my tape gun is out of tape! One little tip I have for using glue on projects, use mini pegs to hold the bits in place whilst they dry.

 I felt the design still looked a little bit boring - which is one of my biggest problems with crafting. I always feel projects need that little extra something. 

I cut a little bit of  vellum that would fit behind the cage bars and adhered it on the back. It just adds a little extra to the box.  Now the fun part (in my opinion) the adhesive pearls and crystals! I opted for a mix of both crystals and pearls, because it just made the box look so pretty.

And now, to put all the pieces together. I used coordinating yellow ribbon to match the theme of the box. I also decided not to use the heart, it didn't look right when I put it on but that is down to personal preference.  Obviously if it looks a little plain, you can jazz it up with some ink but I don't have access to any of that so I left mine as it is. Sometimes I love the look of items with no fancy extras.

I hope you all enjoyed this tutorial and I can’t wait until the next one. Happy crafting.

Xo Jordy

Custom Two-Step Cutting - for thicker or coated cardstock

Hello, Janet here from the Crafting Quine blog. This week the Silhouette UK Design Team have been experimenting with the Silhouette Chipboard sheets. I have used these sheets a lot and have found that they are fantastic where thicker card is needed, and layer beautifully to make strong embellishments.

One of my favourite Silhouette makes ever are these chipboard arrows. This link to the original post contains lots of information on using the chipboard, and also on different finishes that can be applied to layered chipboard shapes.

This time around I did encounter a small problem with cutting the sheets though. My mat was getting a little old and had lost some of it's tack. When I sent it to cut it moved around on the mat, and I had to cancel the cutting operation. Next time around I added some masking tape to the top and bottom of the sheet, and also made and saved a two-step custom cut setting to improve my cut and to help me remember how to cut it on future occasions. The first cut, cuts about half way through the media, and the second follows the first and cuts all the way through. This allows the pressure on the first cut to be lower so movement of the media is less likely, and the second cut ensures that the surface is cut more cleanly. It works for thicker and more difficult to cut materials, and also coated media such as metallic card and specialist printing cardstock.

My project is a set of fairy wings (Lori Whitlock's Butterfly, Design #9794) cut from the Silhouette Chipboard, part of a mixed media project which I've yet to complete. I took a butterfly design, and erased the tail and antennae, and then duplicated it to fit four copies on to the 12" square sheet of chipboard.

To prepare the design for cutting it is necessary to have two copies of the design, one exactly on top of the other. To do this use the right mouse click, select Copy, then select Paste in Front.

While the new copy is still selected, select a new colour for this one set of lines (Line style panel, Fill Colour tab). If you were to move this new copy away, you'd see that they are two copies, one on top of the other. However, don't move either, or if you do, re-align them (Transform panel, Align tab, click Centre [NOT Centre to Page]). I made the new set purple.

When you go to cut the chipboard, select the Cut by Line tab, and you should see both line colours (the new one, and the original red set).

I find that the default force is too high anyway, and reduced it to 29 or 30 anyway. I then created two custom settings. Click here to find out how to save the save the custom settings. I named one Chipboard Step 1 of 2, and Chipboard Step 2 of 2. Drag step one to the top so it cuts first if it isn't there already.

You can see in the pictures below the settings I used for both steps. Your settings may differ depending on the age and use on your mat and blade. Do carry out test cuts to ascertain your perfect setting.

Here are the butterflies that I cut out - ready to layer together to make my fairy wings.

I'd love to hear if you find this useful. You can comment below or upload a pic to the Silhouette UK Facebook page. 

Bye for now,

  Crafting Quine Blog | Instagram @CraftingQuine

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Ink Pad storage with Chipboard Sheets!

Hi everyone. It's Verity here from Pretty Little Button bringing you another project. Today's project came as a need for me -I have a selection of inks that are too big for my current ink storage, as it is for square ink pads. I wanted to try out the Silhouette Chipboard sheets and thought this would be perfect for some additional Ink Storage. I used a great design from the design store, which made the process even quicker!

Ink Pad storage with Chipboard Sheets detail:

To start, download the ink page storage file by Jamie Cripps from the Silhouette Store. This designer has really thought about the maker, as they have also created a file so it could be cut on a Portrait as well as a Cameo machine. 

For the shelving units, I cut only two boxes - you can cut four out, but if space apart correctly within the box, 2 would be enough. I used the Chipboard settings below to cut the design. I have to admitt, I forgot to do a test cut - I got lucky, but make sure you do one just in case!

As you can see the designer has input all the cut and score lines, so it makes it easy to assemble.

However, the designer has also provided a step by step tutorial in assembling the box. Instead of repeating myself, I will link you to that here!

I used chipboard for the outside box and the two inner shelves to give stability, as I knew paper may buckle over time. However, I am not a fan of the dreary grey look, so I cut out the design in the patterned paper too. I adhered this to the initial chipboard cut out with glue, before scoring and assembling. 

For the tab pull out shelves, I cut these out of just patterned paper only, as they are not bearing the weight of the ink pad as much because the shelve is supporting them. 

As you can see if fits nicely on top of my other current ink storage. Definitely will be making more of these, as I have a few more ink pads to the side that need storing! 

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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DESIGNS USED:

3D Ink holder by Jamie Cripps, Design ID #44648

PRODUCTS USED:


     

Kids Artwork Jigsaw Puzzle

Hello again.  Janet here with a fun idea for preserving your child's art work. I've included a tutorial for making a jigsaw puzzle from a hand drawn picture, one that's been photographed or scanned, and then saved on your computer.  This drawing was made by my daughter when she was at primary school and we love how it includes a beloved family pet.  It is a great way to preserve fond memories. The same method can be used for favourite photos too.

What You'll Need

Silhouette Chipboard
Quality Printer Paper
Spray Adhesive
Strong Liquid Adhesive
Printer



How to Make a  Jigsaw Puzzle


STEP 1: Prepare the File

Open the puzzle file onto a new tab in the Silhouette software and group it (select all, right mouse click, Group).

Shrink it to 200mm square (open Transform panel, in Scale tab change the dimensions, and click apply).

Step 2: Bring in the Image

Select Merge, navigate to your saved image and select Open. Merging the file ensures the image opens in the same tab (File > Merge > navigate to picture > click Open).

Select the image and, using the same Scale tab again, reduce the size of the picture to a little bigger than the puzzle and send it to the back (select, right mouse click, click Send To Back).

Fine tune the sizing (select one of the corner grab handles, and holding down the shift key, move the handle in or out until the picture is the size that you want it).



Step 3: Crop the Image 

Draw a rectangle of the exact dimensions of the puzzle, centre it on the puzzle, then move the puzzle away. Select the square, and the picture, and select Intersect.

Bring back the puzzle and centre it with the cropped picture (select both, open the Transform panel, Align tab, click on the Centre icon).

(Optional) Add text ensuring that the line colour is anything but red.


 Step 4: Prepare the Print & Cut

The Page Settings will depend on the size you have chosen for your puzzle, mine required A3 paper and an A3+ printer. If yours is smaller it will fit on A4 paper and can be printed on a regular-sized  printer. To find out about large sized Print & Cut refer to my earlier post.

Step 5: Print the Puzzle

Print the puzzle onto printer paper and adhere the paper to a sheet of chipboard using spray adhesive (this ensures that there is glue over the entire back side of the image.


Step 6: Cut the Puzzle

Attach the the chipboard-backed image to a cutting mat and cut out the puzzle pieces, selecting Cut by Line, and choose to cut just the red lines.

Select the Chipboard cut settings, but do carry out a test cut first. I was able to reduce both the blade setting and force although I did have to carry out additional passes for the pieces to cut all the way through.

Step 7: (Optional) Strengthen the Puzzle Pieces

If you would like a stronger puzzle, cut a second set of puzzle pieces from a blank piece of chipboard, and adhere the individual pieces from two sets together with strong liquid adhesive.



Step 8: (Optional) Make a Backboard and Frame

Design a frame to fit around the exterior of the puzzle (I used part of the Love Doodle Square Borders by Rivka Wilkins to decorate it). Insert an outline of the puzzle pieces in the interior. Carry out a Print & Cut, cutting the interior as well as the exterior of the frame. Cut a piece of backing board the same size as the exterior of the frame. Adhere the outline puzzle directly to the backing. Adhere the frame to a piece of chipboard cut to the same dimensions.

This is a really fun way of preserving your child's artwork and fun activity to do with the kids, or as a gift for a child, or for grandparents. You could use the same technique to make the puzzle into a large-sized fridge magnet using Silhouette Printable Magnetic Paper.



Bye for now,

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