It has been awhile since I participated in a craft challenge. A new challenge over at SVG Cutting Files started on the 15th (theirs run 15th-14th of each month) with a theme of “Spring Treat.” I thought it was a perfect break for me because I love to make treat bags and boxes and wanted something with a bunny on it.
I actually found this bunny slide card and loved the little bunny on it. I used a gift bag file that I have from SVG Cuts (not part of the challenge). I duplicated the grass from the slider card to wrap around the bag.
Of course I had to use my sketch pens to write “Hoppy Spring” on a little egg.
Who knows, I just might have to make some more for Ian’s class mates.
Valentine’s day is coming up. Not really my favorite holiday, because I am not really all that fond of hearts. Never really have been. I even had an anti-pink period in my life. Don’t worry, I got over it.
I have boys who need to give out Valentines at school, to both boys and girls. They are two and four so I have a hard time wanting to hand out cards that say ‘be mine’ or ‘my valentine’ or anything like that. There are lots of great alternatives now, and really punny ones too. I typically like to make something for the kids to hand out, but this year I am so far behind and if I did make something I would have to double it cause now both kids are in preschool.
Yesterday I decided to just buy valentines for the kids to hand out.
EEKK!!! I KNOW! who is this lady?
But I couldn’t go with out making anything for the kids. I love the Tic-Tac-Toe Valentine’s I have been seeing lately and decided to design my own for the kids at school.
In Silhouette Studio I designed the game board and some x’s and o’s. Only I wanted them a little thicker so I cut out 5 layers of each x & o and glued them together.
The boys will give one to each kid, from both of them, but not as their valentines cards. Just a fun gift and they can play it at school during the party.
I wanted to make a free printable for you guys, but didn’t want you to have to cut out all those little x’s & o’s. So I made your game pieces in circles to cut out.
You can click on the picture to download it or go here.
Please note this design is for PERSONAL USE only please. Please do not forward, share, sell or distribute the files for any commercial purposes or claim as your own design. Thanks a bunch!
I feel a little behind this year. Ian’s birthday is next month and I have only been working on his invitations for about a week.
Ian decided in December that he wanted a Ninja Turtle birthday party. I knew it was on the list of parties but didn’t know he wanted it this year. (He has the next six birthday’s planned, yep, he takes after me.)
I decided I wanted his invitations to be a pop-up card with the front as a sewer cover. I designed them knowing I would need to use my favorite thing about the Silhouette. It’s Print ‘N Cut feature!
It is the main reason I got it and it just so happens that this month’s Silhouette Challenge was to make a project using this very thing I love so much.
I started with a picture of a NYC manhole cover. I used Photoshop to make the sewer cover look a little more comic-booky. I couldn’t find a TMNT one with out words on it, and while I could have altered it in Photoshop to remove the words, I just didn’t want to go the trouble, this was easier.
I had thought about having just a circle card, but the pop-up part would have been to small, or the circle card would have been too big. So I used a card template from SVG CutsHaunted Forest kit.
I needed something above the manhole cover, and I didn’t want to use a solid color so I used a picture of NYC that I found on one of the TMNT sites. Since the angle of the city is from the street it worked perfectly. For that part and the sewer cover I used the fill with pattern feature, or more accurately, I dragged and dropped the pictures into the shapes.
I used foam dimensional tabs to raise the ‘Let’s Party’ text.
I didn’t want to apply the letters individually to each invitation. I connected them with the offset tool, I made the offset as small as possible while still maintaining connections between each letter.
It was still in two parts, but that was better than 9 parts.
I made the “Ian is turning 5” part in Photoshop and traced it in Studio.
But a TMNT party invitation would not be complete with out some Ninja Turtles!
p.s. I decided to use the Old-School version from my childhood because I like them the best.
I traced a PNG copy of a picture of the four of them coming out of a sewer. This was the part that I wanted to use as a pop-up.
It is pretty amazing how close and accurately the Silhouette cuts with the print ‘n cut feature. I could even cut out the little spaces on the bottom that would have been white after printing. There is no way I would have been able to cut that out by hand.
The party information will be printed out on vellum and attached to the bottom of the inside. I decided on vellum because I didn’t want the inside to be white. I could have printed it on colored paper, but with the size of the card I couldn’t get two on one page, and I hate wasting paper.
Stay tuned for how the party turned out and all the other things I will make, although you will have to wait till a couple of months.
Want to Check Out More Silhouette Projects?
My Silhouette Challenge buddies and I are all sharing projects on our blogs today, so pursue the projects below for a wealth of Silhouette inspiration! With a heavy emphasis on hearts!
‘Tis the season for giving, and there is nothing better than giving someone a hand-made gift.
Except being able to giveaway a new Silhouette Portrait or Cameo, that is.
That’s right, a wonderful group of bloggers and I have gotten together to giveaway not one, but two Silhouettes. These ladies have also came up with a variety of holiday projects to make with your brand new Silhouette. Just follow the links at the end of this post for some inspiration.
DIY Christmas Coasters
I thought I would share some of the gifts I have been making for Christmas this year.
I made some Christmas coasters from tiles using a couple different methods, including etching cream, vinyl and sharpies.
I love making etched glass items and thought how great it would work on glass tiles. I found these blue glass tiles, they are clear glass with a backing that is colored, and knew they would be perfect for a snow themed coaster.
Since the tile would be a coaster I wanted the majority of the surface to be rough with the design smooth. I cut my design out of scrap vinyl, I have been told contact paper works too, and transferred the design on to the tile.
I like to apply my etching cream right next to the sink. I lay down wax paper for a work surface, and use gloves to protect my skin. At the end of the etching time I try to scrape the etching cream back into the bottle. No need to waste! Rinse the rest of the cream off the tile under cold running water. Peel off the stencil and wash again with soap and water.
Please follow the directions on your etching cream and be safe.
Because the tile is thick glass the unetched parts refract the light and distort the design when trying to take a picture.
I absolutely love how these turned out, but the elegance of them is lost in translation. They do look lovely all wrapped up in a bow.
Did you know that etching cream will also take the glaze off ceramic tiles?
This is even harder to photograph because of how subtle it is.
My first thought was to make a minimalist snowman design with vinyl, but then I decided to take it one step further. I used a vinyl stencil for the snowman base and a few circles of falling snow. I then applied the etching cream to the entire coaster as above. This left a rough background with a shiny snowman and snow.
After etching, washing and allowing to dry for at least a day, I applied the vinyl decorations, using outdoor vinyl if I had it. I love how these turned out, they are impressive with just the vinyl but when you look close you can see the subtle outline of the snowman and snow.
But why stop there? Sharpies on ceramics are always a fun craft.
Since I am pretty sure my 4-year-old draws better than me, I use my Silhouette to cut out stencils for all my Sharpie work as well. As I did with these Rudolph coasters and they are fantastic!
After coloring I cured the ink by placing the coasters in a cold over, turning on the heat to 350°F, baking for about 30 minutes, turning the oven off and letting the coasters come back to room temperature slowly.
Using the same sharpie and stencil method I made some Christmas light coasters as well.
On one set of coasters I simply colored the lights in. On the other set I used the negative of the stencil and used scattered dots to draw the lights. I should tell you that I did not use oil based markers or ceramic pens. I cured them just as I did with the Rudolph ones.
Some of the colors (uh, all but the red and green) did not hold up as well with the curing process. *sigh, lesson learned. So, if you are going to cure them in the oven, use ceramic markers. Another option would be to seal them after coloring with a clear waterproof sealant. Sealing them is still probably a good idea anyway.
Not to worry though. They can just be recolored and then sealed. (which admittedly I have not yet done, but plan on doing)
These coaster would make great gift to with a new mug and box of hot chocolate, coffee or tea. *spoiler alert
Silhouette Giveaway!
I know, I know, here is the part of the post you are most excited about. As I said above, my Silhouette Challenge buddies in partnership with Silhouette America are hosting a mega-huge giveaway for not one…but two winners! The prizes up for grabs?
First prize: The NEW Silhouette Cameo Machine and Designer Edition Super Bundle! $406.93 value.
Silhouette CAMEO®
Designer Edition Software
Dust Cover
$25 Download Card
Four Essential Silhouette Tools (hook, spatula, scraper, pick-me-up™)
Second prize: Silhouette Portrait Machine and Rhinestone Starter Kit! $219.98 value.
Pretty sweet, huh? We want you to have the chance to get that Silhouette machine that might still be on your wish list.
To enter: just click on the image below or on this link, either will take you to the entry form. Because of my many blog friends who helped make this giveaway possible, you have 42 potential entries, which means a lot of winning power. So, hurry up and enter!
{This giveaway runs from today through Monday, December 15th at 11:59p eastern and is open to anyone 18 years of age or older with a U.S. or Canada mailing address. You can read the rest of the terms and conditions in the giveaway window. You only need to enter the giveaway on one blog.}
My Silhouette Challenge buddies and I are all sharing projects on our blogs today, so pursue the projects below for a wealth of Silhouette inspiration!
I actually found this bunny slide card and loved the little bunny on it. I used a gift bag file that I have from SVG Cuts (not part of the challenge). I duplicated the grass from the slider card to wrap around the bag.
I Tri and Craft 