Guest Designer: Jen Gallacher

I think this is so clever, she said "now my daughter will be able to write down messages she has for me"!  Hilarious, how often do we just need a personal assistant to remind us or keep all our memos in place.   This sure is a cute way to keep it all together!!!  Happy Friday!

Today Phone Message Board

Jen's Instructions:

1. Mount gray patterned paper inside an 5X7” frame.

2. Cut the Telephone_C00048_24406 shape from black vinyl and mount on the outside glass of the frame.

3. Cut the Today_handwritten_word_C00010_23445 shape from pink vinyl and mount on the phone shape.

4. Add pearls to the frame.

3. Cut a 2” length from black ribbon and fold in half.

5. Staple to the back of the frame, leaving a loop for the pen.

6. Tie pink ribbon around a dry erase board marker and place inside the ribbon loop.

Supplies:

·         Silhouette

·         Black frame

·         Dry erase marker

·         Black vinyl (Silhouette)

·         Pink vinyl (Silhouette)

·         Pearls (craft supply)

·         Gray patterned paper (American Crafts)

·         Pink ribbon (KI Memories)

·         Black ribbon (American Crafts)

·         Stapler

·         Telephone_C00048_24406

·         Today_handwritten_word_C00010_23445

H

Guest Designer: Dresden Robins

Silhouette's very own Dresden is sharing her absolutely darling creation with us.  She told me about this little wall hanging a couple weeks ago and I was absolutely ecstatic to see it.  She is incredibly talented and always has such cute and creative ideas.  Just take a look!

This super simplistic design tells a story worth a million words and is full of life.  I love it.  Thanks so much sweet Dresden it is lovely!!!  If you would like to see what other greatness comes from her mind check her out! Dresden Carrie

Shape:
2_bird_shape_cards_set_C00178_21585

Guest Designer: Jen Gallacher

Be Present Layout

Traci here, just thought I would give a shout out to Jen, I absolutely adore these colors...also the texture, please girl it is soooo cute!  Ok, thats all... now its your turn go have fun recreating this!!!

Jen's Instructions:

1. Cut the Geometric_background_med_1954 shape from dark gray cardstock (leave some of the inner cuts intact) and mount on light yellow cardstock.

2. Mount again on dark gray cardstock and then on a sheet of 8 ½” X 11” cardstock.

3. Attach photo corners to the tops of the shape.

4. Mount a strip of gray patterned paper at the bottom of the page.

5. Add black photo corners to the bottom corners

6. Mount a black and white photo on the page.

7. Add a journaling spot tab to the right of the photo.

8. Mount the notebook paper journaling to the left side of the photo.

9. Mirror the shape horizontally and cut the Bird_on_a_branch_C00648_19547 shape from black dot patterned paper.

10. Mount bird shape on the notebook paper journaling spot and add a gem for the eye.

11. Wrap teal ribbon around the page.

12. Wrap twine around the ribbon several times and tie into a knot.

13. Stretch the shape horizontally and cut only the outside label of the Fancy_label_C000111_24282 shape from yellow patterned paper.

14. Cut the shape in half and mount at the bottom of the page.

15. Cut the Handwritten_be_present_C00321_19547 phrase from teal cardstock and mount on the patterned paper label shape.

16. Add flowers to the page.

17. Stick two teal leaf stick pins into one of the flowers.

18. Add gems to the page.

19. Add a black flourish sticker behind one of the flowers.

Supplies:

·         Silhouette machine

·         Black, yellow, gray, dark gray, and teal cardstock (American Crafts)

·         Gray patterned paper (American Crafts)

·         Black dot patterned paper, yellow circle patterned paper (Echo Park Paper)

·         Gems (Doodlebug Designs)

·         Black photo corners (Canson)

·         Journaling spot, side tab (Little Yellow Bicycle)

·         Rub ons (Melissa Frances)

·         Ribbon (American Crafts)

·         Twine (craft supply)

·         Black flourish sticker (Karen Foster Design)

·         Flowers (Prima)

·         Teal stick pins (Maya Road)

·         Sewing machine (Singer)

·         Sewing thread (Coats and Clark)

·         Bird_on_a_branch_C00648_19547

·         Geometric_background_med_1954

·         Handwritten_be_present_C00321_19547

·         Fancy_label_C000111_24282

FREE download of the week!!

rv_C02867_1 

Hey all! In honor of my absence I thought it would be fitting to give away this fun little shape.  I am absolutely in love with all these hilarious little bullet rv's wandering around the design scene!  Someone stated it as being a shape for the modern nomad...how can you not love that thought, sometimes you just gotta get away! I have been so excited to feel the sun on my face and the cool pool water in my hair, cant wait to see how much down time I actually get to have!  I will put together a project for you using this shape when I get back, but for now I hope you have fun enjoying your inner gypsy!

Tutorial, Guest Designer, Thanks & a big ole' HASTA Luego!

Did you just L.O.V.E. last weeks uber fun tutorials and giveaways?  Crafting is all about inspiration, fun, and community.  I truly believe when you are crafting for someone it becomes a masterpiece, because you put a piece of you into it, how can it not be lovely???  Thanks so much to sweet Jamielyn from I heart naptime for hosting such a great little Silhouette Part-ay!

Well as last week came to a close, I myself was prepping for a much needed vacay!  My hubby-boy has been in his first year of Grad School to become... Dr. Smith, Super Physical Therapist of America... (there should have been a billowy echo when you read that)...and it is about time our family had a break!  Soo, while I am off basking in the good ole' AZ sunshine, I have recruited a few of my favorite lovelies to take care of you while I am gone!  So without further adieu!  Lets get this vacation started!!!

What better way than a swimming suit!  Ha!  I love it.  Hasta!!!

Infant Swimsuit

Guest Designer: Jennifer Gallacher

Instructions:

1. Cut the Rhinestone_daisy_C00294_18816 shape from the rhinestone template paper.

2. Peel off backing and mount the shape on the backing board.

3. Brush rhinestones into the shape.

4. Peel backing from transfer paper and mount on gems.

5. Gently press each gem onto the transfer paper.

6. Peel away the transfer paper making sure each gem stays in place.

7. Mount the transfer paper on the swimsuit.

8. Cover with pressing cloth and press for 45 seconds.

9. Remove transfer paper.

10. Tie a knot of green ribbon to each swimsuit strap.

11. Use green embroidery floss to stitch green buttons on the ribbons.

Supplies:

·         Silhouette

·         Rhinestone kit (Silhouette)

·         Swimsuit

·         Ribbon (Pebbles, Inc.)

·         Buttons (craft supply)

·         Green embroidery floss (DMC)

·         Rhinestone_daisy_C00294_18816

Spring Into Silhouette Tutorial Week: Day 5 Magnet Paper

Silhouette's magnet paper is fun for quite a few little things, but I thought I would show you how you can use it to help you get your housework done too!  I'm tellin' ya its good for lots of things.

As we all know chore charts rotate, so I love the idea of being able to use these magnets to help you organize your cleaning staff! I used the chore chart shapes in the store to create my little magnets.  We really do have some great shapes!!!

I then resized them to fit in my chart and filled them in using the fill tool.  Now I am ready to cut them out.  Remember this is a print and cut, so make sure your registration marks are turned on!

This is what my magnet sheet looked like once it was printed and now I will send it through the Silhouette.  So I can reap the sweet benefits that will come from a tidy house. 

I know you have all been wondering if there is anything the machine can't do?!  The answer is simple...Nope it does everything, right down to cleaning that bathroom toilet!!!  I hope you have A GREAT Friday!!!

Shapes:
chore_chart_grid_C00569_19210
chore_chart_icons_set_1_C00566_19210
chore_chart_icons_set_2_C00567_19210
chore_chart_icons_set_3_C00568_19210


You know the drill visit I Heart Naptime and swoon over yet another great tutorial from Amy with the Idea Room...pssst: there's another giveaway!!!

Spring Into Silhouette Tutorial Week: Day 4 Etching Cream

Hola!  Are you just loving all the amazing inspiration for your Silhouette this week!  It has been so much fun to show you a variety of uses for our products!  Today is all about etching cream!!!  This is one of the funnest products to work with.  It is super simple to do and is so gratifying!


Start with the image you want to etch on to your glass.  I am going to cut out the word grow.  Place your vinyl into the Silhouette and cut out your image.

Only weed the part you want etched.  You will want to keep your image as a mask for the etch cream to spread on top of.

pour some etch cream only on the portion you want etched and let sit for 15 minutes.  I like to have a super thick layer on my projects so that every inch is well covered!  I am sure you are worried about waste right?  Well don't!  You can scrape it all back into the bottle and reuse it for the next project!

Now you are ready to rinse it off!  Once you have rinsed off your glass peel away the vinyl and yet again sit in awe at your amazingness!  I thought this would be a perfect Easter gift for my children's teachers!  Just to say thanks for helping them "grow"!

If you are dying to get your hot little hands all over this stuff we now have it available in a 1 oz bottle!  Perfect to try it out! Take a peek.  Now, head on over to I Heart Naptime and awe at the fabulous Jennifer from Tatertots & Jello and her super cute project!  Oh yeah and another giveaway is happenin'!

Spring Into Silhouette Tutorial Week: Day 3 Vinyl

We have a had a lot of feedback asking how the Silhouette can be used to cut out cameo's of our favorite photos.  The key to this type of project is to start with a good base.  It is important to have a side profile with a white background.   It will make it go a lot quicker!

In my photo there is some shadowing so using a photo editing software you can drop the white balance or erase the background and add a solid white background.

Save it and import your file into Silhouette Studio

On the upper right hand toolbar select the auto trace button.

Click on "Select Trace Area", then select the are to be traced.  Make sure ever box is unchecked and then using the slider bar change the threshold to fill in as much of your image as possible.

Then select "trace outline".  Here I have move the image away from the outline.

 

As you can see there are lots of little pieces floating around in the outline.  You can also try using the simplify button in the edit points toolbar to smooth some of the outline.

 

Click on release compound path and then select all the little pieces and hit delete!

I have zoomed in here for you to see that there are still some jagged spots.  Using the edit points tool you can click on the anchor points (little square boxes) and delete them or smooth them out.  Use tools in the toolbar.

Now that it looks the way I want I am going to use the slice tool to create the neckline I want.

Smooth out your anchor points again and drag them to the spot you want your neckline to end.

One last little step before I cut it out.  I am going to create an eyelash shape.  I love her long eyelashes so I want to make sure it is part of it.  using the curve tool I add an over dramatic eyelash.

Again using edit points I create the shape I want and then I select the face outline and the eyelash and weld them together.

Now I am ready to cut it out!

Load your vinyl directly on to the machine and cut!

Weed your vinyl and place the transfer paper on top to place on to your project.

Now place your transfer paper with vinyl on top of your project.  Using the scraper tool smooth it out.

Peel away the transfer paper to reveal your work!  Ahhh isn't it so gorgeous!

I added a little bow for an extra embellishment too. So cute!  For those of you wondering what the background board is...I purchased a 10x10 piece of routered mdf.  I put a layer of mod podge down and then placed this gorgeous piece of My Minds Eye paper (Lost & Found collection)  on to that.  Once it dried I sanded the edges and inked it up with frayed burlap distress ink.

Check out the post at I Heart Naptime for another great tutorial from guest blogger Mandi from Vintage Revivals and of course for a GIVEAWAY!!!!

FREE download of the week

owl_C02858_1

Are you looking for the free shape?  Click here and get it for your collection and if you are looking for todays tutorial scroll down!

Spring Into Silhouette Tutorial Week: Day 2 Fabric Interfacing

I love our fabric interfacing, it is so fun to create gorgeous fabric creation that would have taken hours before using the Silhouette. Today's project is a decorative tea towel.

I purchased a white tea towel and will be adding a hexagon border and ruffle to it. To start the project you will need to iron the interfacing onto the back of the fabric you will be using. Because I will be sewing it together, I am using the sewable interfacing.

Iron your interfacing glue side down. Then iron the paper side of the interfacing for about 2 seconds in each section. If you over iron it, the interfacing will work itself into the fabric so you will not have the stability you are looking for on the mat.

Now that I have all my pieces ironed I am ready to cut out all my hexagons.  I used shape: honeycomb_background_med_1787 I ungrouped and and chose a hexagon to resize.

Here we are...isn't this a gorgeous pile!

Alright the next step is to iron them lightly in place so that I can get these little guys sewn down.  Oooh PS. I cut a heart out of one of the hexagons, I just think it is a sweet little detail.

 Here is the finished result.  I love a good and frayed piece of fabric, so I threw it in the wash and voila insta' fray *wink*.  I hope you enjoy trying out the fabric interfacing!  I can't wait to see your projects!!!

Hop on over to I Heart Naptime and take a look and the super cute Fabric Interfacing tutorial from guest blogger Linda from Craftaholics and enter to win...yes another giveaway!!!

Spring Into Silhouette Tutorial Week: Day 1 Rhinestones

Jamielyn with I Heart Naptime contacted us a while back and told us about an event she wanted to host.  She wanted it to be a bunch of tutorials teaching you all how to use the Silhouette filled with lots of projects from some amazing bloggers.  How could I refuse!  I'm always up on showing people how fantastic this little machine is.  So, of course here we are with the week under way! Take a look at all the great projects people have posted using the Silhouette.

So lets jump into it!  I purchased a cardigan that I wanted to bling up using a darling little owl accent.  You will be able to get this shape for free starting tomorrow.  Check back!  So first thing is first you want to load your rhinestone template material into the machine.  You do not need a carrier sheet for this if it is in the full 8.5x11 sheet.  However, in my case I have a scrap that I want to use so I will place it on the carrier sheet and then load it in.

Here is a screen shot of what my Silhouette Studio Software looks like before I cut.

Once your template material is cut out, peel the backing away from the template material exposing the rhinestone shape.  From here you will place it on to your backing board.  You can add many different rhinestone shapes on to each board.  Now you will always have it when you need it again!

In the majority of my rhinestone tutorials I have shown you how to place the rhinestones into the template using the brush given to you in the starter kit.  Here I am using the Pickmeup tool to place each rhinestone.  I am using multiple colors and sizes in this shape and the Pickmeup makes this a quick process.  It has a sticky tip that quickly picks up the rhinestones!

The next step is to place the transfer tape on top of your finished design.  Press down across each rhinestone to ensure the tape grabs each stone.  Peel transfer tape away.

Now you are ready to place onto your clothing.

Take a pressing cloth and place over the transfer tape and rhinestones.  Press up to 45 seconds.

Peel away transfer tape and admire your work!

I added a little chiffon ruffle to the edge of the lapel on this cute little cardigan and called it finished...I love the rhinestones!  They always sass up any outfit!