Both moms seemed to really like their gifts so of course I'm pretty proud of my little project. Stay tuned for more post-Christmas-surprise insights!
Showing posts with label Silhouette. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Silhouette. Show all posts
Monday, January 2, 2012
Mamas' gifts
This is the post where I got the idea for my mom's and mother-in-law's Christmas gifts. I liked the idea of the plaques and the book page backgrounds. Scrapbook paper ended up being the way to go for the backgrounds though because I couldn't decide on which book pages to use (words are a big deal for me)! The silhouettes themselves I cut out in vinyl with my Silhouette machine after using Photoshop to outline the people's faces. I did all of my mom's 6 kids and my mother-in-law's 6 kids. Would've done the grand-kids but there are just too many of those (and more on the way)! I forgot to take a picture of my mom's finished plaques but here are the ones we gave Kevin's mom Christmas day.
Both moms seemed to really like their gifts so of course I'm pretty proud of my little project. Stay tuned for more post-Christmas-surprise insights!
Both moms seemed to really like their gifts so of course I'm pretty proud of my little project. Stay tuned for more post-Christmas-surprise insights!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
St. Patty’s Day Iron-on
I was cruisin’ through Targét with my boys the other day and I got a kick out of this little Irish tuxedo T-shirt they had for sale. I had no desire to pay the $15 they wanted for it and I knew I had a little plain green Hobby Lobby t-shirt at home that I’d actually been saving to use for just such an occasion.
So I came home and did a little web surfing for some more inspiration. I found this design at Cafepress...
...and I liked the button (it says "I'M HERE FOR THE GOLD") but not too much else about it. So I grabbed a couple more examples…
…imported them into my Corel program to give myself something to look at, and started creating my own design free hand.
The clover is the W from the Scrapicons font from dafont.com. I used Photoshop to make a nice beveled button and then brought it back into Corel to put the text on it (I don’t love the resolution on text in Photoshop). And there you have it. To complicate (and simplify) the matter a bit further I decided I wanted to make this into a Print & Cut for my Silhouette so I wouldn’t have to worry about any white outline left behind by me and my scissors. So I imported it into my Silhouette Studio library and played with the trace function, etc, etc, until I got the cutline to do just what I wanted it too. (So if you have a Silhouette and would like the Print & Cut file I made, shoot me a comment and I’ll gladly email it to you.)
In order to keep the white parts of the design white on a green shirt, I used the HP Iron-on Transfers for Colored fabrics which meant when I selected “T-Shirt Transfers” as my media and my printer automatically mirrored the image, I had to cancel printing and start over and figure out how to NOT mirror the image. Wouldn’t have mattered if there wasn’t any text but having that button means you gotta make sure you print it out according to your iron-on package instructions (some need mirroring and some don’t).
Anyway, after letting my transfer dry for 30 minutes, I hooked up my Silhouette and sent my transfer through for cutting. Then I followed the package instructions for ironing my design to my little green shirt.
And then it was picture time!
but if you ever catch a leprechaun...
So I came home and did a little web surfing for some more inspiration. I found this design at Cafepress...
 |
| Click to open larger in new screen if you want to print for use. |
In order to keep the white parts of the design white on a green shirt, I used the HP Iron-on Transfers for Colored fabrics which meant when I selected “T-Shirt Transfers” as my media and my printer automatically mirrored the image, I had to cancel printing and start over and figure out how to NOT mirror the image. Wouldn’t have mattered if there wasn’t any text but having that button means you gotta make sure you print it out according to your iron-on package instructions (some need mirroring and some don’t).
Anyway, after letting my transfer dry for 30 minutes, I hooked up my Silhouette and sent my transfer through for cutting. Then I followed the package instructions for ironing my design to my little green shirt.
And then it was picture time!
 |
| My Little Leprechaun |
They’re really good at hiding...
you get to make a wish.
I know because these two help mine come true every single day.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Easter Design
My craft group got together for its first craft night over the weekend and I’d have to say it was a general success. There was a couple of snags with getting the contact paper to adhere snuggly enough to a curved surface and I learned never to rush a glass etching project to catch up with the rest of the group. (Eek!) But even though my nice glass trifle/candy dishes ended up looking like something I’ll only be able to pull out for Halloween, I got to show off my Silhouette machine and have a good girls’ night in.
As the group was getting ready to leave we started talking about what our next project will be and we decided to do some sort of something to display for Easter. So this morning I hopped on google and some of my favorite blogs and started hunting for a really awesome Easter project. And while I didn’t come up completely empty handed I couldn’t help but notice that there just aren’t as many fantabulous Easter ideas out there as there are for a lot of the other holidays. So I decided to play around and see if I could come up with something shareable to throw into the void. This quote by President Hinckley is one that has stuck with me for a long time and I wanted to see what I could do with it.
And just so you know, comment luv and new followers totally rock my world (everybody loves a compliment right?) So pleeeeease let me know if you like this printable. I'm just getting started with this kind of thing and I'd like to know if I'm doing a good job. :-)
Enjoy!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Craft Ideas
I'm in the process of putting together a craft group and so I spent part of the afternoon looking around for ideas to tempt some ladies I know to join. So here are some examples for you:
Signs
Glass Etching
Wall Vinyl
Fun Displays
Click on the pictures to go to the sites I got them from. There are tons more project ideas out there but I just wanted to throw out some ideas and see who is interested in what. Just lemme know girls!
Oh, and here is the Silhouette Craft Cutter site that shows all the things it can cut and things you can make. (If you didn't know that I got a Silhouette for Christmas, that's why I'm so excited about start this group; so many fun things it can do!)
Oh, and here is the Silhouette Craft Cutter site that shows all the things it can cut and things you can make. (If you didn't know that I got a Silhouette for Christmas, that's why I'm so excited about start this group; so many fun things it can do!)
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Master Bedroom Vinyl–with tips
You may remember my post from January sharing a couple of vinyl layout ideas I wanted to try. I asked Kevin which one he preferred and of course he choose the simplest of the options:
My taste is a little fancier but I wouldn’t have given him this option if I didn’t like it so that’s the layout I went with.
I wanted the “HOME” part to be as big as possible so adjusted my page size all the way up to 9 x 24 inches, which is the size of the $1.59 vinyl sheet from Expressions Vinyl. I sized the HOME up proportionally until it filled most of the red outlined box, which shows the cuttable area. I left about a half inch margin on the sides just to be safe. I started with the rest of the words in the same document so I could enlarge them too and see how they would look next to the HOME. Then, since I wanted a two-toned effect, I made two different Silhouette Studio documents, one for the word HOME, to be cut out in light brown; and one for the rest of the words, to be cut out in regular brown.
The Worstveld Sling Oblique font doesn’t allow you to make it bold but I wanted to make the letters thicker to make them easier to work with. So I added an offset. An offset traces a new cutline around any image. Then you can move it closer or farther away. I set my distance to .06. Then I deleted the actual text and it left behind the new cutline.
On to the cutting itself. I learned a few weeks ago that the default settings for speed and thickness are usually too high. You know they’re too high if the machine cuts all the way through the backing of your vinyl. If it does that, the pieces can start to pop out while the machine is still cutting and the popped up pieces can catch on the rollers and twist the vinyl all around, which obviously wrecks your project. So under the Cut Settings I selected the Silhouette Vinyl option but then lowered the thickness to 8 and the speed to 6.
I still haven’t figured out how to make the transfer paper work the way it’s supposed to so I just pealed the letters off the backing and stuck them to the wall by hand.
The Algerian font was pretty tricky to handle with all the fancy outlines. They kept trying to stick to each other and get in my way. But I figured that would be the case and waited to start this project until Jacob was asleep and I was feeling particularly patient.
Once again, I just eyeballed this project as I put it on the wall but I bet making a line with some painter’s tape would help a lot if you want to be sure everything is straight and even. The nice thing I’ve found about this vinyl (at least on this particular paint) is that I can peal it up and move it fairly easily. So if something starts to bug me because it’s uneven or whatever, I can take a second and fix it.
Anyone who likes my layout or text idea, feel free to use it yourself as I don’t claim to own the phrase “I get to come home to you” or any other part of it. I definitely would love a shout-out or comment if you do like it though, just cuz it’s nice to hear from people. Heck, if you have a Silhouette I'll even email you the files, if you'll become a follower of this blog and post about it on yours if you have one.
Segway to personal note: Beware, mild mushiness to follow.
I now wish to acknowledge my awesomely wonderful tech-savvy husband. Any of you who actually have a Silhouette
may be wondering why mine has a blue USB cable. Well, this is because yesterday when my mother-in-law came over for me to show her how to do wall vinyl, I realized with much embarrassment and “grrr-rawr” frustration that my Silhouette USB cable was no where to be found. I blame myself because I didn’t put it away in the box with everything else the last time I used it and I’m pretty sure my two-year-old claimed it as his own at some point over the past week. Absolutely distraught, because I figured it must be some special kind of cord that only Silhouette makes, I conveyed my despair to my husband over Google chat while he was still at work. He offered his sympathy and promised to help me look for it later. Then, the minute he got home, he marched upstairs and in his awesome techie know how, examined my machine and discovered that the cord I was missing was in fact a regular printer cable, of which we own several. So after hunting in the closet for a minute or two he came back downstairs and announced that I could use my Silhouette again. My hero! It may seem small, but this is the kind of thing he does that reminds me how lucky I am on a regular basis. I love you sweetie!
Fonts: HOME- Algerian; The rest- Worstveld Sling Oblique
I wanted the “HOME” part to be as big as possible so adjusted my page size all the way up to 9 x 24 inches, which is the size of the $1.59 vinyl sheet from Expressions Vinyl. I sized the HOME up proportionally until it filled most of the red outlined box, which shows the cuttable area. I left about a half inch margin on the sides just to be safe. I started with the rest of the words in the same document so I could enlarge them too and see how they would look next to the HOME. Then, since I wanted a two-toned effect, I made two different Silhouette Studio documents, one for the word HOME, to be cut out in light brown; and one for the rest of the words, to be cut out in regular brown.
The Worstveld Sling Oblique font doesn’t allow you to make it bold but I wanted to make the letters thicker to make them easier to work with. So I added an offset. An offset traces a new cutline around any image. Then you can move it closer or farther away. I set my distance to .06. Then I deleted the actual text and it left behind the new cutline.
On to the cutting itself. I learned a few weeks ago that the default settings for speed and thickness are usually too high. You know they’re too high if the machine cuts all the way through the backing of your vinyl. If it does that, the pieces can start to pop out while the machine is still cutting and the popped up pieces can catch on the rollers and twist the vinyl all around, which obviously wrecks your project. So under the Cut Settings I selected the Silhouette Vinyl option but then lowered the thickness to 8 and the speed to 6.
I still haven’t figured out how to make the transfer paper work the way it’s supposed to so I just pealed the letters off the backing and stuck them to the wall by hand.
The Algerian font was pretty tricky to handle with all the fancy outlines. They kept trying to stick to each other and get in my way. But I figured that would be the case and waited to start this project until Jacob was asleep and I was feeling particularly patient.
Once again, I just eyeballed this project as I put it on the wall but I bet making a line with some painter’s tape would help a lot if you want to be sure everything is straight and even. The nice thing I’ve found about this vinyl (at least on this particular paint) is that I can peal it up and move it fairly easily. So if something starts to bug me because it’s uneven or whatever, I can take a second and fix it.
Anyone who likes my layout or text idea, feel free to use it yourself as I don’t claim to own the phrase “I get to come home to you” or any other part of it. I definitely would love a shout-out or comment if you do like it though, just cuz it’s nice to hear from people. Heck, if you have a Silhouette I'll even email you the files, if you'll become a follower of this blog and post about it on yours if you have one.
Segway to personal note: Beware, mild mushiness to follow.
I now wish to acknowledge my awesomely wonderful tech-savvy husband. Any of you who actually have a Silhouette
may be wondering why mine has a blue USB cable. Well, this is because yesterday when my mother-in-law came over for me to show her how to do wall vinyl, I realized with much embarrassment and “grrr-rawr” frustration that my Silhouette USB cable was no where to be found. I blame myself because I didn’t put it away in the box with everything else the last time I used it and I’m pretty sure my two-year-old claimed it as his own at some point over the past week. Absolutely distraught, because I figured it must be some special kind of cord that only Silhouette makes, I conveyed my despair to my husband over Google chat while he was still at work. He offered his sympathy and promised to help me look for it later. Then, the minute he got home, he marched upstairs and in his awesome techie know how, examined my machine and discovered that the cord I was missing was in fact a regular printer cable, of which we own several. So after hunting in the closet for a minute or two he came back downstairs and announced that I could use my Silhouette again. My hero! It may seem small, but this is the kind of thing he does that reminds me how lucky I am on a regular basis. I love you sweetie!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Digi Frame Makeover
Sweet Silhouette Print & Cut Action! 
Measure frame!
Design covering in Silhouette Studio
Select “show registration marks”
Print on white card stock
Select “detect registration marks”
Cut
(Hole toward bottom is for access to buttons)
Add some vinyl lettering (also cut with Silhouette; obviously!) and attach new covering to frame (I used regular old scotch tape but if it falls off I might go back and use something sturdier.)
Bam! Done!
Love it 
Monday, February 7, 2011
You've got (real) mail.
I love ordering stuff online! It's so nice to have true one-stop shopping. And I must admit, I can be a bit of an "Amazon Super Saver Shipping" junky. You know, when you only have one thing to buy but you buy 3 other things too just to get your total up to $25? :-) Good times.
Anyway, just kind of rambling because I'm in a good mood today. My expressions vinyl order came over the weekend and I'm excited to get my "I get to come home to you." quote put up. I actually probably won't do it today because there are a couple of people I want to show how it works so I'll have to wait til they can come over. But getting stuff in the mail is just so fun.
What's your favorite thing to get in the mail?
Anyway, just kind of rambling because I'm in a good mood today. My expressions vinyl order came over the weekend and I'm excited to get my "I get to come home to you." quote put up. I actually probably won't do it today because there are a couple of people I want to show how it works so I'll have to wait til they can come over. But getting stuff in the mail is just so fun.
What's your favorite thing to get in the mail?
Monday, January 24, 2011
Project!
I've finally taken the time to experiment with my Silhouette and move forward on the idea I had for our family room wall. I decided I wanted to take the blank space on both sides of our fireplace and make a "wall" for each of our two kids. The left side for Alexander, the right for Jacob. And of course, the beauty thing about using vinyl for their names is that if we have more kids, it will come down easily and I can do something else.
So here's my picture diary of the process.
So here's my picture diary of the process.
Designing
Cutting
Transferring
Left side vinyl done!
I actually didn't love the transfer paper very much, apparently the vinyl preferred staying stuck to it rather than moving on to the wall. So I ended up just sort of peeling and pressing, very slowly. Did help keep everything lined up though so I'll give it a 5 out of 10 for serving it's purpose. Now all I have to do is finish putting up Jacob's name (the wall was dirty so I had to clean it and I'm waiting for it to dry.) And then I can start hanging pictures! Woohoo!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Joy of Getting!
As you all know I have been wanting a Silhouette Craft Cutter for quite some time now. I put it on my wishlist for Christmas but I thought for sure no one would actually get it for me. But then came Christmas morning. I opened my present from my mom and low and behold! A Silhouette! I literally squealed with delight!
I only got to play with it once while we were still visiting my family but now it is downstairs waiting for me to take it for a spin. I'm so excited. I haven't posted on this blog in a while but the things I'm going to make with it will help take care of some of my home decor and other goals I have on here. So I thought I'd share my thrill.
Woohoo!
Thanks Mom!
I only got to play with it once while we were still visiting my family but now it is downstairs waiting for me to take it for a spin. I'm so excited. I haven't posted on this blog in a while but the things I'm going to make with it will help take care of some of my home decor and other goals I have on here. So I thought I'd share my thrill.
Woohoo!
Thanks Mom!
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