woodland bookmarks: a silhouette tutorial

I was searching for a cute little token to give my kindergarten students for the end of the school year.  Searching for "bookmarks" on Pinterest turned up these little cuties at Ellinée:

photo credit: www.ellinee.com

They were designed by the talented Lia Griffith

I downloaded them (they're free!), and opened the file with my Silhouette Studio Designer Edition software.  From there, I was able to turn them into print and cut files using the trace feature:

How to: uncheck High Pass Filter; dial threshold up to 100% (or there abouts); select Trace Outer Edge.

Next, I added my text in the color and font of choice using the text and line color tools:

Then, tell the Silhouette not to cut your text:

How to: go to the Cut Settings menu; select the text in your project and select "no cut" in the Cut Style options.

Lastly, place your print and cut registration marks and move your project to fit (avoid placing anything on top of the shaded sections):

Using the Print and Cut option, send it to the printer, then to your cutter, and you will end up with the cutest batch of personalized woodland bookmarks ever!

To add some stability, I backed mine with tongue depressors and "laminated" them with heavy duty clear packing tape.

happy international scrapbook day!

Just a quickie post to wish all you crazy scrapbookers out there a very happy International Scrapbook Day!  Hope you are all getting your scrap on and making time for the creative hobby we love so much.  The one that marries our creative energies with memory keeping and story telling.  The one that breaks our budgets despite out attempts at "no-spending" limits.  The one that makes us live in the moment, appreciate the here and now, and capture the smallest moments of our lives and the lives of those we love.

I don't make nearly enough time for this hobby I love, but today I made it a priority (yup, bathrooms didn't get cleaned yet, and sheets are stripped off beds waiting for fresh ones to be put on).  

But I have this photo of my barely pre-teen son and me in the car before his guitar lesson this morning.  He was poking fun at my new "nerdy" sunglasses.  When I went to snap a picture, he popped up from the back seat to bomb my photo.  As he approaches his 13 birthday next month, I know his willingness to get his picture taken, especially with his mama, is dwindling.  I'm so grateful to have captured this small moment of us, and to have taken the time to document the story behind it.  And that I owe to scrapbooking.

This page was inspired by the Citrus Twist Kits NSD challenge and the gorgeous moodboard that Nathalie put together:

Inspired by: the florals, the pinwheels, the soft pinks, the hexagons, the brush script, the metallic gold.

floral wall art

Hello my little blog!

Couldn't let the entire month of April slip on by with only two posts.  Not sure what happened this month, and not about to make any excuses (like maybe gorgeous weather after a looooonnnnnggg winter indoors, or spring cleaning the house, or hosting the Easter holiday, or three boys home for a week off from school, or reading, reading, reading).  But one thing is for sure, I have actually been creating some fun projects that I promise to share with you in the coming days.  There might even be a free cut-file download just for sticking through this quiet-around-here month with me.

Once in a while you make something that you just fall utterly and totally in love with.  This is one of those projects.

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut most of the flowers using gorgeous cut files from Jamie Cripps.  You can find her amazing designs in her Silhouette Store.

Her blog contains easy-to-follow instructions for assembling each of these fabulous blooms.

I had so much fun putting them all together to fill a metal ampersand I had scored on clearance at Target.

The inspiration for this project came from the amazingly talented Cole Franke.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

silhouette freebie

Hello!

Just popping in to share some digital cut files that I created tonight:

You can download this set of Polaroid Project Life cards for free at Box.

Enjoy!

tinkerbell invitations

I have been working on a super fun project for two little girls' birthdays.  They're having a Tinkerbell party and I have been honored with the task of designing the invitation.

I really love these kinds of projects.  I love the challenge of coming up with an idea, and then executing it.

Most of all I love when it turns out better than I expected, like this one did.

Little Tink is caught in a mason jar tied up with baker's twine and a hang tag.

The vellum jar contains a sprinkling of her pixie dust: pink glitter and gold & vellum stars.

The entire invitation was designed using the Silhouette Designer Series software.  I used the software to create cut files from jpegs, and to also draw hair, clothes and shoes for Tinkerbell.

The envelopes are also handmade using the We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit today!

pencil arrow valentines

Love is in the air, and Valentines for my little Valentines are done and ready for giving:

I had this project in my head after seeing this Pin and had planned to cut the arrow feathers by hand.  Then in a fantastic turn of luck, the Silhouette blog came to my rescue with their free cut file:

image credit: Silhouette America

I set to work with glitter pencils from Target's Dollar Spot and whipped these pretties up.

Twenty of them to give to my sweet kindergarteners

Wrapped with twine and a hanging tag

Happy Valentine's Day!

❤XOXO❤ 

scrappy saturday: hello 2014

{on Sunday}

I got sick this past week.  Being sick sucks.

And because of it, I am behind on all my blog posts for the week.

But that's where a little post dating comes in.  Blogger saves my sick butt!

Be sure to scroll down for this week's crochet posts.

Week 3's scrapbook page is a little ode to my One Little Word: {nourish}

Boy #2 took this photo of me back in the summer.  It's very rare for me to be in front of the camera, but I'm grateful that I had this pic to use for this layout.  

The creativity was running a little dry when I sat down to work on this today, so I looked to my i♥MEMORY.KEEPING board, specifically this pin, for a little inspiration.  I loved Karine's collage of mixed papers at the top third of her layout, and the graphically typographic title in the bottom 2/3rds.  I used papers from one of the American Crafts Dear Lizzy paper packs and coordinating Project Life 5th and Frolic cards.  My title is cut with the Silhouette using Bebas and Mr. Keningbeck fonts.

Thanks for looking.

top dog dies: 2 bottles, 3 ways

Hello!

I have a couple of cards to share with you today.  I once read on a crafty girl's blog that she doesn't buy anything unless she can think of three different ways to use it.

So in case you have a little holiday money burning a hole in your crafty little pocket, I wanted to show you three different ways to use this cute little die set from Top Dog Dies:

Bottles #2

When I looked at that bottle on the left, I immediately saw a flower petal (I know.  I'm crazy.  I see things, and don't even get me started on the voices I hear).  Anyway, do you see it?  Just trim off the base and continue the curve on the top and you've got a perfect little petal shape.  

And then it was all very serendipitous when they fit perfectly around the little hexie punch from Fiskars.  I created two layers of petals just to be able to use all the pretty colored petals I had cut (did you catch that they are in rainbow order?)

The hello is cut on my Silhouette Cameo and the friend tag is cut from the Cherish Doilies & Tags set.  I mounted the whole piece onto an embossed Circle Mini Album die.

Next up, I used the bottle on the right as a vase and filled it with a cut from the Wildflower Die.

I also snuck in a little doily from the Cherish set.

A couple of Wednesdays ago, I shared this nail polish gift:

Yup, you guessed it!  That nail polish bottle was made with the Bottles #2 die, too.

Just cut off the top, add a strip, and a little tip for the brush.  These would also make the perfect embellishment for a card that contains a gift certificate for a mani or pedi.

Here are the die sets I used in these projects (click on the photo to go to the Top Dog Dies shop):

  

 

Next week I'll be back with a collection of mini embellished doilies.

Thanks so much for stopping in for a visit!

cards in the round

Hello crafty friends!

Geesh it's a miracle these days if I can get on this little old blog.  Wish I could say that it's because I've been busy in the studio doing all kinds of crafty projects.  But.  Nope.  It's not.

We have been spending a bunch of time at the rink {like 62 times this month to be exact}.  

I will never complain.  I am grateful for this sport: grateful that all 3 boys love it fiercely, grateful for the exercise and healthy lifestyle it provides them, grateful that they are healthy enough to play a sport, grateful for the friendships they have made on the rink that carry over to off the ice, grateful for the bonding that happens between them when they play hockey in the basement, in the driveway, or while sitting on the couch watching the Bruins game.

And I never tire of watching them take to the ice.

Hockey aside, I do have some cards to share with you today.  All three of them were made with the Top Dog Dies Circle Mini Album Die as their base.

To create the folded card base from this type of die, simply fold your card stock and line up the folded edge just inside the cutting line's edge.  This keeps the fold intact so that it opens like a card.

Floral swags are hot right now.  This one can be found here in the Silhouette online store.  A bow and a doily with a simple stamped sentiment finish off this card easily.

Another thing that has been trending for a while now is pie charts.  Inspired by Sara McLachlan's song "Ice Cream, I cut the pie chart shapes from a freebie cut file from the always adorable Juliana Michaels.  You can download yours here.  Check out her other fantastic die cut downloads on her blog, too.

Lastly, I have a cute little spinner card.  I used my new sketch pens for the Silhouette Cameo to write the text on the spinner.  The little shapes are a mix of patterned papers and some Stampin' Up! stamps.  By taking elements from Juliana's pie chart cut shared above, and this spinner cut from Silhouette (the arrow and the scallop circle), I was able to design a fun and interactive birthday card.

I'm kinda in love with the circle shape as a card base.  So many possibilities from one die cut shape.

Thanks for stopping by!