Thank You Card with the Silhouette

The holidays are over and now it's time to thank all those wonderful people who blessed you.  This is just a very simple card I made with the Silhouette.  The sentiment was made using the Silhouette's print feature.  I embossed the top and bottom of the card while leaving the sentiment area smooth for an added bit of interest.  Great card to mass produce for my thank you cards.

Hope you enjoy and have a wonderful New Year Holiday!!

Christmas T-shirt with the Silhouette Cameo!

See my fun shirt I wore for Christmas Eve?  I made it with the Silhouette, vinyl and some fabric paint!


It all stemmed from this shirt I saw Babz510 post on Instagram!  I thought this was a really cute, fun shirt for the holidays.  Unfortunately, when I asked her about it, she said it was from Old Navy 2010!

Which led me to my Silhouette!  I designed the template in the Silhouette Software

 I then cut the design out on a piece of vinyl.  Using only the negative from the cut, I peeled the sticky back off and placed it on my shirt, making sure that it was securely stuck to the shirt so that no paint could seep under.  Note:  You could also use freezer paper (shiny side down), and iron it on your shirt, in lieu of vinyl.

 Once I was happy with the placement of the vinyl, I used red fabric paint and a foam brush and filled in the design.  Starting with a thin layer and adding another until I reached the desired effect. (I think I used about 3 layers).

 The paint calls for letting it sit for 4 hours.  I wanted to wear it before the 4 hours would've been up, so I used a blow dryer and helped it along, it was dry to the touch very quickly.  The next step was just to remove the vinyl.

 

There you have it!  My Christmas Shirt for the cost of $2.97 for the paint, the shirt and vinyl I already had on hand.  Can't beat that!  I took this photo in the mirror with my phone, so the letters look backwards!  They really aren't.

 

I also had this fun positive cut left, which I used on a Christmas Present that was wrapped in Kraft paper.  (I couldn't let it go to waste!).  Sorry, but I forgot to take a photo of the package.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!

Christmas Card

I think I am almost finished making Christmas Cards.  I love the red, black and a splash of silver combo for Christmas.

Look what my honey made! Cute wooden garden box

Look at this AWESOME garden basket!  Doug totally just made this freehand.  I think it is the most awesome thing ever!   Imagine picking your garden veggies and/or flowers and being able to put them in this cute basket so the dirt can fall right off.... you can hose them off right in the basket.  I just LOVE this!

Christmas Card

Another Black, Red and Silver card.  I think I need maybe just one or two more.  I never make two cards exactly alike.  I really had no idea where I was going with this one!

Christmas Cards with Heidi Swapp Christmas Freebies

Have you been collecting the Heidi Swapp Digital Christmas Freebies?   If you haven't, go now!  They are so cute, I can't decide which I like best!   I made these cards using quite a few of her products/ideas!  The papers, elements and the basic idea of the card layout are all Heidi Swapp touches.  Some of the elements are from her digital Christmas Kit with Jessica Sprague which was available last year, but I believe many of the same elements are now available in the Echo Park "Very Merry" kit.

 This year I made each of the couples on Doug's side this fun catch-all serving tray. 

 The artwork is by Nancie Rowe-Janitz and the entire project directions can be purchased at JessicaSprague.com right here.  The tutorial is on sale right now!

I think they are so fun and they were very easy to make and really affordable.

 You don't even need any Photopshop expereince, the tutorial has everything you need as far as artwork, you just need a printer to print (I actually took mine to Staples to have printed).

 Someone suggested they would even be cute hung on a wall.  I thought that was a great idea!

The tutorial is worth it just for the art.  Nancie is amazing!  I think using this concept the possibilities are endless.  You could personalize the tray with your own sentiment, you could use other things than a serving tray, even use totally different artwork.

I love that it's not perfect looking.  I think they have a lot of character.

 She walks you through painting the trays to get that distressed look, even giving you the exact colors she used in the artwork so you get a perfect match. 

 I have been trying to come up with some fun little stocking stuffers for the girls on Doug's side.  This is my solution for this year.

A few years ago we switched to just exchanging stocking stuffers in lieu of gifts, however, it's sort of become a homemade swap.  I hope these refrigerator magnets will be a fun addition to the stockings. 

I made serving trays as a larger gift for each of the families.  Now, what to make for the boys??!

Christmas Card

Another fun, but simple Christmas Card made with a tag and a few diecuts.  The tag is from the 12 Days of Christmas Collection by Heidi Swapp and Jessica Sprague.

Christmas Cards

I don't often make one dimensional cards.  I had printed this background last year and put it in a bag with Christmas Crafty stuff... this year I thought I'd see what I could do with it.  It is purely a printed digital image and I just glittered the trees and ground.  So simple.  It really sparkles!

I have traditionally made cards with non-traditional colors!  This one is no exception.  It's very simple, but I kind of like it that way.  Originally I had a scalloped book paper circle behind the tree, but decided it liked the simpler version.

Christmas Card

This card was made with a digital image by Nancie Rowe Janitz from her Joyeux Noel kit available at Jessica Sprague.com

Reindeer Christmas Card with Silhouette

I made both of these cards with the Silhouette and some cardstock I had on hand.  I love the unexpected splash of red the bird adds.  I got the inspiration for this card from a tag that I saw on Pinterest, unfortunately I can't find it now... but will post when I do.

Christmas Card 101 Cardmaking Class - Final Card

One last card from our class. 

Christmas Card

This is a hybrid Christmas Card.  The main sentiment and tag are from digital files and the remainder is traditional papers.

Christmas Countdown Calendar

I'm so stinking excited!   I have had this idea for a countdown calendar for a few days and haven't had the time to actually make it.  I made this countdown calendar from a picture frame!

The idea was born from Heidi Swapp's Memory File Stand and her awesome Christmas Freebies.  

I used a few ornaments and Christmas decorations I had laying around to dress up the frame and Voila, this little cutie was born.  The rings on the top allow the countdown tags to be flipped and you could even add some cute photo sleeves, or pictures right in between, a little journaling.

A fun way to do the December Daily and it fits right on your desktop.  I think the possibilities are endless.  Birthday Calendars, Recipe Stands, Just photos, Month to Month yearly calendar.  I'm so excited I can't stand it!  :)   

When I thought of this idea I called my awesome friend, Kathryn (aka WhimseyGirl.com) and told her what I was thinking.... look at this little cutie she whipped up!  I just love how she added Heidi's banners to hers and the cute Colorshined seam binding!   Kathryn is also a Heidi Swapp Retailer, go check her out!

This was actually the very first card we made in our Christmas Card 101 Cardmaking Class

Silhouette Tutorial - How to make circle text

Another Silhouette Video showing you how to make circle text, or a text path.

Christmas Card 101

Christmas Card 101 Cardmaking Class Continues!!!   This was my least favorite card of the class, but at the last minute we added the red snowflake which added a bit of jazz

Christmas Card 101 Card Making Class Continues

The 3rd card from our Christmas Card 101 Cardmaking Class.

Christmas Card 101 - Card 2

This is another card from the Christmas Card 101 cardmaking class I taught with my friend, Jodie. 

Silhouette Tutorial - How to Print and Cut ANY Clipart Image

Sandy asked me to make a video showing how to use an image from the internet and make it into a print and cut for the Silhouette.  This is a great option and the possibilities are endless!! 

I used  this same method to cut vinyl window clings for my son's car with the Cubs Logo, and his college logo for my car.  I also made a Dallas Cowboys window cling for a friend.   Just make sure when you are searching for images that you get something with decent resolution.... I'd say nothing less than 200 x 200, but preferably 400 x 400 or better, this particular image was over 1000 x 1000.

Have fun creating and as always I'd love to see what you made!

If there are any techniques that you'd like me to use in a video, please let me know.  I'm enjoying the requests and will try and get them uploaded as quickly as possible.

Christmas Card 101

My friend, Jodie, and I taught a Christmas Cardmaking 101 class.  It was a very basic card class.  I will be showing the other 5 cards over the next few days.  The cards were designed for students who have never made a card before, so we kept them pretty simple.  All of the supplies were precut.

Silhouette Print and Cut 101

This is a just a quick video that shows the very basic print and cut feature of the Silhouette.  I'll walk you through each step from blank mat to a perfectly printed and cut image.

A lot of people are confused by the Print and Cut feature.  The Silhouette cannot print.  How the print and cut feature works is through the printer you have connected to your computer.  Mine is a regular inkjet HP printer.  When you are in the Silhouette Studio software, there is a button called "send to printer".  This will send the image on your mat to the printer connected to your computer.  You will use that printed image, place it on your mat and insert it into the Silhouette for cutting.

Hope this helps a few of the questions that have been rolling in. 

Silhouette Cameo Tutorial - Another video showing how to make a print and cut

Nancy asked me to specifically show how to take this cute Heart House by Sweet Alton and turn it into a flat printable file.  This is a little more complicated than the last because it involves compound paths.  It's very doable... don't let the term Compound Path scare you.  It just means a image that has multiple cut line within one image. 

Silhouette Tutorial - How to make any Silhouette Store File a Print and Cut

For this video I wanted to quickly walk you through an easy way to take those Silhouette Files that come in as just blank cut files and turn them into what the sample picture looks like.  For instance, I took this file

 And made it into this:

Based on the Echo Park Sample in the Store

Here is a video showing you my process:

Christmas Card 101 with the Silhouette - Card #5

Isn't this a super simple, but super cute card??  I just love how it turned out.  I made an insert for the inside to make writing, stamping, or adding a greeting easier to see.

This is the 5th card in our Silhouette 101 Christmas Card series.  It's pretty simple and focuses on using a simple element and making it into a fun shaped card.  The only item I bought from the Silhouette Store for this card was the front greeting by Echo Park.  If you go right now you can get this for $0.50 with their Holiday Store sale.  It also comes with two other super cute elements that could be made into similar cards using the same method described in my video below.

I hope you enjoyed this series and make lots of fun Christmas Cards for your friends and family.  I'd love to see what you make, leave me a comment and a link to your creation!


Here's a quick video tutorial showing you how to make this card.

Memory File Christmas Album with the SIlhouette

I've been MIA for awhile.  Last week I was taking two different classes.  The first was Mo'tography with Heidi Swapp and Jessica Sprague.  It was a class designed to teach you how to use various phone apps and your camera phone to create some awesome photos and hybrid projects.  So much fun!  The second class I was taking was the Heidi Swapp Memory Files Live class.  So much fun and so many possibilities.  I'll be posting those projects soon, but the kids are here for the weekend (both at the same time...never happens).  They are upstairs sound asleep this morning, so I thought I'd do a little prep work for a Christmas Album I have in mind.  Aren't these just the cutest folders ever?  I made them all with the Silhouette, some K & CO paper that I picked up at Target.  I cannot wait to put this together.  I'm going to use some ideas from the classes I took this week.

Besides the two amazing classes last week, I also had a super fun "secret project" I've been working on due.  I gave you a little sneak peak a few days ago.  I'll be posting those fun projects, too!  I need to finish up my Silhouette 101 Christmas Card Series as well.  I hope to be back to regular posting this coming week. 

Color Shine by Heidi Swapp, the Silhouette and a Sunday Afternoon

I've been playing today!  I am currently taking the Memory Files Live class with Heidi Swapp.  We've been playing with Mini File Folders and I am in love!  I was thinking today that I could use Heidi's ColorMagic Paper, the Silhouette and make my own Mini File Folder.  Well Here it is... (SWOON).  I love, love, love it!

After the first success above, I thought I'd try some Color Resist Papers I had from the Old Artisian
 Collection by Pink Paislee.  LOVE IT!  The top one was misted with ColorShine in Mustard.  The bottom one was misted in Georgia Peach.  These are just the cutest size.  If you haven't taken any of Heidi's memory files class.... you must!  It's such a great concept.  I cannot wait to put these babies to work. 

PS:  For the ColorMagic Paper on the Silhouette I used the following settings
Blade Setting 5, thickness 33, and speed 5 (Double Cut). 

Silhouette Cameo Blade Settings

I made a printable pdf that you can print on 8-1/2 x 11 (landscape), cut it out and tape it right inside the lid of of your Silhouette Cameo for the blade settings for various materials.  I don't get credit for all this wonderful information.  I got the information from Doodling Debbie on the Silhouette Plus messageboard.  There is so much information over there, if you haven't already, sign up.  It's a great environment if you have questions, need inspiration and/or just want to share your creations.

 I just took her list and made it into something that would fit into my Cameo for easy access.  You can get the pdf here.  Isn't it fun to know that you CAN cut foam, Chipboard, Shrink Plastic!!   Have fun Ladies!!