Design of the Week - Banner With Flowers - 7th May 2019

Hello, hello Karen here with this week's free design - Banner with flowers.

As the DT are focussing on makes for weddings, this week, I thought it would look really pretty as part of a place card and so set to work designing one.

I used this design as the basis of my project.

I started by reducing the size of the bracket to 3ins wide, resizing and adding the Banner to the top of the bracket. I also added a 0.05 offset to the banner.

I needed to release the compound path of the bracket so that I could remove the white line. I then removed the flowers and banner and welded the bracket and offset together. 

I then replaced the white line, after removing the top section and added some text using Sister Sketch font.  

The final step was to cut the banner out from white vinyl and add to the top of the bracket.  

How to create a back to school white board with vinyl

Hi everybody. So I know its only May but it never too early for us small business owners to be thinking about our back to school products. Today I've been working with the beautiful bumper vinyl pack from Silhouette UK. I was really impressed with the vinyl pack as there were 32 sheets of 12 x 12 vinyl and it was really easy to cut on the Silhouette preloaded settings. Its great if you want to use a lot of colours for a project like this one.

Materials Needed

• Bumper vinyl pack
• White board (I got a cheap one from B&M)
• Trimcraft space themed washi tape
• First day of school file

Step one - cutting the file

Firstly I opened the file in Silhouette Studio. I then wanted to resize my canvas to match the size of my white board. To do this I used the page setup menu and used the 'custom size' option on the drop down menu. 

Once I had resized the canvas I resized the file by clicking and dragging on the corner of the file until it filled the canvas. Once I was happy with how the file fitted on the canvas I resized the canvas again so that it was the same size as the 12 x 12 vinyl sheets. I wanted the different parts of the file to cut out separately in different colours. To do this I needed to separate the file into individual pieces. For some reason the file didn't separate when I used the ungroup button so I had to ungroup it using a slightly different method. To do this I right clicked on the file and this opened up the selection menu, I then selected 'release compound path' this ungrouped the elements of the file. 

Once I had the file ungrouped I regrouped elements together such as the titles and frames together and the dotted lines together. I did this by selecting the parts I wanted to be grouped and then using the 'group' button the top tool bar. I arranged the different elements to cut out in different coloured vinyl to make the finished product colourful and interesting. You could also further personalise it by adding a name into the top banner. I haven't done this for this project as I have two kids and will use this board for both. I cut the vinyl using the preloaded vinyl settings and it cut really well first time. 

Step two - Assembling the board

Once I had cut all the vinyl pieces out I weeded them and transferred them onto the transfer tape. I then used the transfer tape to position the vinyl on the white board. I put the blue dotted lines on first so that I could then use them as a guide to position other elements of the design. 

Once I had applied the vinyl to the white board I then decorated the frame of the white board using some washi tape. 

I was really happy with the finished project and I'm really excited about using it when the kids start their new schools next year! 

Thanks for reading the blog 

Helen :) 

  

Faux Pearlised metal bear cushion

Hello, it's Verity here from Pretty Little Button. This week the design team is using reflective heat transfer vinyl. This vinyl is great to use on clothing to increase your visibility in low light conditions. However, I love the look of it normally. It has a pearlized look to it as though it is burnished metal and thought it would look great as a modern style cushion. Even when it does catch the light, it still looks really amazing and such an interesting cushion and currently takes pride and place on my craft room chair!

Faux Pearlised metal bear cushion process: 

Insert your design into your design space, for this design see the end of the post of the design ID.

Now the reflective HTV comes in rolls of 9"wide by 12" and you can cut this without your Silhouette mat.  To ensure your position is correct, open up the page set up window and adjust the page size using the width and height settings. 

Next, open up the transform window. In there, select the rotate tab.

You can either use the green button on the design to rotate the design freely, or you can use some of the pre-programmed rotate options with the rotate tab. This allows you quick and straight rotation to align with your media. 

If you still want to work with your design, but the orientation of it is a bit confusing, you can orientate the viewpoint of your design space to continue working with your design. In the page setup window, select the best suit option in the 'Rotate view' section.

Lastly, when you are ready to send, remember you are working with HTV. The software comes up with a friendly reminder asking whether you wish to mirror. If you have already flipped your design prior to this, press send-ad. As I hadn't flipped my design, I selected send mirrored. Remember, if you select this option it will mirror your design, but it will the flip design to cut from the opposite side of the mat, so you need to be aware of where it will cut in relation to where your media will be in the machine.

Once cut, weed all the excess vinyl to leave the bears on the backing sheet. I used a hot iron on cotton setting to heat set the vinyl. I didn't end up using the writing in the end as I loved it just with the bears. 

Faux Pearlised metal bear cushion 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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DESIGNS USED:

MAMA BEAR by Tommy and Tilly Paper Design, Design ID #289771

PRODUCTS USED:
    

Using Reflective HTV on Card - Coming to America cake topper.

Hello, hello - Karen here with my Wednesday post but this time I am not using the DOTW.  It is a 3D Delphinium design and not something I would normally make so I will show you the design but have opted to do something different this week. 

Now, on to what I have made this week.  Previously I have seen the DT using HTV on cards and I thought I would have a go.  I was sent some really lovely red reflective HTV.  This comes in a roll 9ins wide and 3feet long.  I only used a tiny bit so have loads left, after making my project, I am soooo pleased as I absolutely love it and will be using it to make a summer t-shirt!

One of the men, where I work, is going on a three month road trip around America and as today is his last day.  As I am the resident cake maker in the office, I decided to make him a cake and needed an appropriate cake topper.

I looked in the Silhouette Design Store and found this one - perfect as he loves music and he is 'Coming To America'

I rearranged the words and added a musical note at the beginning and end of the phrase. 

Finally, I added three stars with the American flag on them.

I used the colour picker to colour the notes and 'Coming to' the same colour blue as the stars and then changed the cut line to 'no cut' in the Send window.   Next I added an offset to the whole design and removed the word America.  I sent it to print and then cut out the design. 

I cut just the word 'America' from the red reflective HTV, remembering to flip the design horizontally before sending to cut.

I aligned the red letters onto the card and popped it under my heat press for 16 seconds.  I was absolutely thrilled with the result.  I just needed to add a couple of sticks and it was ready for my cake!

Just look how lovely that HTV is, shimmering in the sunlight!

When I took a photo with my flash on I realised how reflective the HTV is.

PRODUCTS USED: