Magnet Paper, Who Knew?

If you're like me (and just about every other girl, and frankly, guy that I know) then you are a fan of Disney's movie Tangled.  Almost every time I whip out a frying pan I think "Frying pans, who knew?"  So when I wanted to finally try out Silhouette's Printable Magnet paper, I thought, "why not?" and made a few Tangled magnets for my nieces to play with.  To be honest, what I really wanted to make was a new magnet for our dishwasher, so as to replace what we were (shamefully) currently using:

Ahem.  Yeah, embarrassing.  But I digress.  There was sadly a lack of many options for already created images in the Silhouette online store or just on the web, for that matter, so I made my own.  Rather than waste the rest of this lovely sheet of magnet paper, I came up with some other things I might want to make with it.  Enter-- college sports' team mascot and the Tangled characters.  

What a great way to use excess paper, or to use this paper in general!  Make your own fun magnets of your favorite team to give out at a "game-day" party or of your student's school to show support, create some with your business logo and contact info, make your own magnet of places that you've visited to get one looking just the way you want, "paper" dolls and clothes, or just make some of your favorite characters for the kids to play with on their magnet board.  Capturing images from online and then making them something you can cut on your silhouette is actually pretty easy using the trace and detach feature in the trace window in your Silhouette Studio.  After selecting your area to be traced uncheck the "High Pass Filter" and then play around with your threshold to get it so it has the image covered where you don't want it to cut.  For these images, I set my threshold at about 98% each time because I didn't want any of the inside portions cut.  Check out the following Tutorial on how to do this in more detail.  Note:  I didn't follow all that the author of this tutorial suggests doing, but the video was still helpful in getting showing me the basics of how to get it to cut my image.  

Once I had detached my image, I cut and pasted it onto a new page just so I didn't have to deal with all the white space stuff left behind.  Then I went to the "cut" window, and clicked "cut edge."  The great thing about looking at your design with the cut window open, is that it shows you exactly where your cuts are going to go.  Be sure that you look over your design to make sure nothing is being cut that you don't want to.  This is how you make your own print and cut designs.  I didn't want anything inside my dishwasher magnet to be cut out beyond the main outer edge, so I just selected each of the inside images and changed them to "No Cut".  

Be sure that you have your registration marks showing,  and that you check what part of your images are going to be cut.  Select "No Cut" for any image you dont' want cut.

 After that, I sent my page to the printer and set it to "photo paper" so that my printer would compensate for the slightly glossy feel of the printable side of the magnet paper.  Because I had everything just fine and dandy and within the lines of my registration marks, the Silhouette cut the paper PERFECTLY and out came some fun new magnets.  My niece will love these.

Magnet paper....who knew?

Spread the Love with Simple, Cute Valentines' Ideas

It's almost Valentine's day!  And we all know what that means:  chocolate.  ;)  Just kidding.  It also means a nice excuse to make fun cards and little gifts for friends or family.  Here are just a few simple ideas of some cheap valentines' gifts that I made for some friends.  

Use your Silhouette and some extra/scrap double-sided adhesive vinyl from a previous project to make a cute Valentines box!

First, I tried making a new cute box that I found in the Silhouette online store.  I liked this one because the flower petals on the top also looked liked hearts, so it seemed fitting for the season.  After cutting the paper, I cut a strip from some excess double sided adhesive that I had from a previous project (see Winter Branch Hanging post) and wrapped it around the box for an extra cute touch.  A little bit of silver glitter, and this lil' box sparkled. :)  Super simple, super cheap, and let's not forget...filled with chocolate, so super pleasurable for my friend.

                    

Because there are all sorts of cute boxes and bags and such that you can make with either your Cricut or Silhouette, I decided to make some out of both.  My second box came from the FABulous Cricut cartridge: Tags, Bags, Boxes & More 2, which we've got on our website (along with most of this other stuff, in case you were wondering :) ).  This thing has LOADS of cute boxes and bags and just cute cute cute little gift boxes and tags and cards.  I am so sad I hadn't looked at this cartridge sooner.  It is now officially a staple of mine.  Anyways.  I wanted to start simple, so I picked an adorable little box that used a heart with a keyhole in it as its means of closure.  

The great thing about Tags, Bags, Boxes and More 2, is that is comes with a book that tells you just how to assemble, glue, or fold each box or item so that you aren't left guessing (as I was with my first box from the Silhouette).  This one had easy flaps to tuck in and you only had to glue a tab on one side.  This cartridge also comes with functions so that you can cut the whole piece out in one fell swoop, or you can do it in two parts to be glued together, in case you can't fit it all on one sheet of paper.  It also tells you suggested dial sizes and how big it will be once folded if you follow those recommended sizes.  I love how helpful it is. This thing even comes with a digital handbook, if you want it. Wow.  Check it out. They think of everything.  

Only thing you want to be sure of if you get this cartridge, is that you also will want to have the Cricut Scoring Blade, which helps score the card (gives partial little dotted cuts) where you will need to fold, making it easier to fold the shapes where needed and helping you get cleaner lines.  This is especially important for curved or intricate boxes that you might be making.  (They have some really fun ones--check them out!) (Can you tell I like this cartridge? haha)

Thanks to the handy book, I was able to see clearly beforehand how this box would fold once cut, so I knew that I would have to put my paper in with the back-side up, so that the patterned side would show once folded.  You won't have to do this for every box (I didn't for my first), so you'll just have to look at how the thing is going to fold up to decide if it's necessary.  

Be sure you can see all your registration marks before cutting.

I also saw a cute idea online about making a little treat bag with the gummy Swedish Fish candy.  I designed and made some stickers with my cute "catch" phrase (pun intended) on them, using some White Sticker Paper and the print and cut function on my Silhouette.  (Print on the sheet from your home printer, and then put it through your Silhouette to cut out the image.)  

Tip: Be sure that you click "show registration marks" in Silhouette Studio.  If any part of your image is overlapping the gray area, it will not print and cut correctly.  Also, it is wise to always test print your image on a regular sheet of paper first to be sure that the registation marks print correctly, and to test cut.  This is just a smart thing to do until you become familiar with the medium and print and cut functions.  Be sure that you can see ALL of the registration marks on your printed sheet (aka: the black square in the top left corner, and the black corner outlines in the top right and bottom left hand corners.)

After printing and cutting my stickers, I simply had to finish my bags....

                            

Use a little blue and white construction paper for your background, then fill the bag with either combination of Swedish Fish and Goldfish crackers, depending on which one makes more sense for your Valentine or friend.  I alternated and did both:  "Of all the fish in the sea, you're the cheesiest." (one cheese flavored goldfish cracker, the rest Swedish Fish); or "Of all the fish in the sea, you're the sweetest."  (One sweet cherry Swedish Fish, the rest Goldfish Crackers.)  For my religious friends out there, my other bag's sticker said: "God's promises are sweet, and they last!"  Fill those bags with Dove Promises chocolates, or with other sweet candies.  

Hope your Valentine's Day is filled with chocolate... :) but mostly just full of love!  Thanks for reading!

Personalized Wedding Gift? Armour Etch It

When a young couple gets married they are filled with big dreams and want to set their mark on the world-- to be able to say "we lived!  And we left this world a better place!"  And just how do they do this?  Well, with food, of course.  Making manicotti or pie for a neighbor or friend (especially if I'm that neighbor or friend beneficiary. ;) ).  What better way is there to say "we love you"?

                                

Okay, so in reality there are obviously a lot of ways that a couple may choose to leave their mark on the world and/or show friendship from time to time, BUT, with this simple wedding gift idea, they are literally able to leave their mark where they go without losing their pie or casserole dish in the process. ;) And we all know that times come up when we will be bringing food to someone else's home, whether it be for a party, family get together, or just to bring to a neighbor who is sick.  Doing this with your clear glass baking dishes helps take a whole lot of guesswork out of "who's dish is who's?" at the end of the day.

For this project, I decided to etch my soon-be-married-friend's new last name onto a pie dish that she and her fiance has registered for.  I also added a lovely flourish design on the bottom, just to make it cute.  This way, whenever they bring this dish, brimming full of delicious food to a church activity or family gathering, they'll always know what dish was theirs when the night is over and all the dishes washed clean.

You will need: Armour Etch cream, which we sell on our website, www.makeitscrappin.com (didn't know we sold accessories like this, now did you?), a glass dish or item, some vinyl or a stencil, and a brush.  Gloves are also highly recommended for use while applying and rinsing the cream.  

Flip your words so that they appear correctly
when looking at the dish held normally

Note: When choosing your glass, be sure that you read the Armour Etch instructions carefully.  It does not work on all Pyrex, so you may want to test it on an inconspicuous area first.  Also, because of the nature of what the cream is actually doing to do the glass, you will likely want to do this on surface of the dish that will not be coming in contact with drink or food, as it may cause discoloration to the etched portion of the dish.  Thus, I put my image on the bottom of the dish I was etching (or on the outside of a cup, etc.).  I just had to reverse the name, which I will explain next.

After picking a thick enough font, I reversed the image so that their name could be clearly read through the dish (i.e. looking down on a clean dish).  In my Silhouette Studio I went to "Object, Transform, Flip Horizontally".  That easy.

Next, cut your image.  I prefer to cut my image on vinyl because it sticks to the surface I am etching without leaving room for any of the cream to really creep under my vinyl stencil and blur the edges of the design.  You can do this using a plastic stencil as well by taping the stencil to the surface of the glass to etch, but be sure your surface is flat and that it is taped very tightly.  Note: If using your Silhouette, be sure to save a little space around the edge of your image so that you have a little bit of "give" room to apply your etching cream over the stencil without it going over the edge.  (AKA, don't trim your vinyl as close to your cut image as you can so as to save it--give yourself a little room.  You don't really need much, but it's just a good way to play it safe.)

Now, to use your vinyl as a stencil, simply hook out the actual cut image, in this case, the letters themselves.  What you are left with is your own custom-made stencil! Good job.  Be sure to take account for the unattached pieces, such as the insides of letters or intricate designs.  You'll want to consider using transfer tape to apply your full stencil if you have a lot of these, or you can use your Silhouette Pick Me Up tool to "pick-up" and then carefully place those pieces back into place one you've applied the main stencil to your glass surface.  (We have all these supplies on our website, www.makeitscrappin.com, so check it out.)

                                     

Place the stencil on the bottom of your dish.  Be sure to press out all air-bubbles near your stencil before applying the cream (i.e. don't leave it like my 'n' featured above.  I had to press that out before I started application)

                               
Next, put on plastic or rubber gloves if you have them, and apply a generous amount of the Armour Etch cream with a brush over the stenciled word/image.  Leave it on for 10-15 minutes, and then rinse clean! Voila.

Unfortunately, light etchings into glass are a bit hard to photograph with a simple point and shoot camera, so I don't have the best picture of the finished product, but you get the idea!  Super cute and easy, personalized wedding gift!

Winter Branch Wall Hanging

With winter comes snowballs and sledding, warm coats and cold noses.  After a few months, it also seems to bring with it a hopefulness for spring and for a time when the world will again be in blossom and things will maybe be a little easier (driving, for one!).  Sometimes, we feel an emotional "winter" in our lives, and we need to be reminded that it is just for a season, and that after winter comes Spring. That is partially the idea from whence this lovely wall-hanging was sprung-- it was meaningful to me, as well as useful in filling a nice empty spot I had on the wall behind my piano.  :)

To make this wall-hanging I just needed a few easy-to-find materials:  a square canvas, Silhouette Double-Sided Adhesive Sheets, a sprig of fake red berries, brown and black crafting paint, and some fine, brown charcoal glitter (the latter was actually the hardest to find, as far as a color that I liked.)  To start, I first watered down the brown crafting paint and then applied it to the canvas with a large sponge brush.  I then immediately wiped over it with a soft cloth to create a light antiqued look.  This helped tone down the bright white background of the canvas.  I decided to paint the edges of the canvas (it stands out about 3/4 an inch from the wall) black to help the picture "pop" from the wall depending on the angle from which you approach it.  Next came designing the branch image I wanted to use.  I made my design by transforming an existing image of a tree with bare branches.  I used the Silhouette eraser function to get rid of some of the branches, used the "edit points" function to change the shape of some of the twigs (to elongate, make skinner or fatter, etc.), and finally turned the "tree" into the type of branch I had been envisioning, and which you see.  These functions can seem a little tricky at first, but they are something that even beginners can use.  I will do a tutorial post on those in the coming month.  

Because the adhesive sheets are standard "letter" size (8 1/2 by 11 inches), my entire image could not be cut on just one sheet.  I remedied this by copying and slicing my image at two different points, so as to be able to overlap each piece on top of where I had to cut it. Because of the nature of the double sided adhesive, I wasn't worried about my "cut" lines being noticeable once the glitter medium was put on, as I knew it would cover them seamlessly because of the overlap. I cut as many of these "pieces" as I could fit on one page, and then applied each piece to where I wanted it on the prepped canvas by peeling off the yellow backing sheet and placing the image sticky-side down. 

Once I had the back-side stuck in place on the canvas, I peeled off the top white protective layer to expose the top side of the adhesive image.  Next, all I did was sprinkle on some gorgeous glitter and shake it down the canvas. It adhered perfectly.  Even after giving the canvas some light tapping on the backside to help shake off excess glitter, that on the adhesive stayed perfectly in place. 

Next, I hot-glued on the berries and then chose a font for my script (I used "Painter's Handbrush"). After using transfer tape to...well to transfer the vinyl to the canvas, I was finished.

Now it's on to awaiting spring, while enjoying the wonders of winter....

Bridal Shower Invites

Ever see those absolutely adorable cards in the stores, the ones with all the cute little glued-on details and that cost like...$4.50 a piece?  ;)  Well, I wanted some for my friend Brit's bridal shower, but didn't have the funds for the pre-purchased things at that cost.  Good thing, the total set of 25 invites that I made today cost a total of about $6.50--yes, total.  And they were hand-made with love. :) They take just a little bit more time, but are super adorable.  Just throw on your favorite TV show on Hulu as you adhere the ribbon and rhinestones, and you'll have super cute cards ready for mailing before the show is over! 

This was the stuff I needed: textured or pearl finished white designed paper, cream colored paper for the printed inserts, 1/8"ribbon, small adhesive  "bling", and 1/8" glue dots.

I found the "wedding dress card" image in my Silhouette library.  (It is still offered in the online Silhouette store.) I decided on a textured and slight print design on the white paper to give it a bit more "umph"/adorableness.  (That's a real word--you should use it.) Luckily, Hobby Lobby had a pack of just what I had in mind on sale for 1/2 off today.  Half the store is half-off all of the time, and it's always switching.  You should have no problem getting what you want on sale if you just watch the sales.  And can I just confess something that I am sure we all have a problem with?  I just need to say...that place is my downfall.  It has so many great things, I instantaneously want to take up crocheting, painting, welding, jewelry making and paper mache artistry, all while redecorating my entire apartment in new DIY projects and decor.  Yeah.  Must. Get. Out. ...Truly.  The "bling" rhinestones were only $2 at WalMart. The ribbon was in one of Brit's colors. (I figured it'd match her other things if she wanted to scrapbook a card later.)

Cutting pearl-finished cardstock can be done easily with your Silhouette, though there isn't a setting specifically for it.  I set it as "glittered/flocked cardstock", but then lowered the thickness to 30.  That may have still been a bit too thick, but it cut beautifully. Just be sure to check "double-cut" if it isn't cutting through all the way, and play around with your setting some.  A slow speed is good for thicker paper so it doesn't snag or bunch up.  

Applying that many small rhinestones can be a bit tedious getting them to set in the correct place.  I used my Silhouette "pick-me-up" tool with the first few to place them right where I wanted.  This tool is pretty handy for working with small embellishments and die-cuts letterings, etc.  Click on this link to see a tutorial about the tool and how to use it/how it works.

After that, I just had to use a little stick glue to adhere the inserts to the inside of the card with the information about the shower.  (For the inserts, I sized down one of the cards images until the skirt was just a bit smaller than the original, erased the top of the dress, and used that for the printed information portion.)

Guess I can check that item off my To-Do list! 

Oh, and did I mention that they stand up?  So adorable. :)

Grandpa's Lil' Artist Wall Hanging

So, if you have kids, are ever around kids, have ever seen kids, know what kids are...you know that kids often like to produce tons of artwork.  Artwork on paper, in coloring books, on the wall, with their food, you name it.  Kids are naturally creative!  And I love it.  I feel like a big kid sometimes with how excited I get over something I've painted, or even colored in a coloring book with my niece.  There. That's my weekly confession. :)  And what do kids do once they've made something?  (At least, the things they know they won't get in trouble for?)  They like to give it to you!  Or to someone else that they love.  You know exactly what I'm talking about, I'm sure.  I recently went home for Christmas break and was the loved recipient of no less than 20 pieces of art and pictures drawn and colored by my two young nieces (one of my nieces particularly loves to color). See Exhibit A for a sampling:

Exhibit A

I love it.  It makes me feel loved by those cute kids that I only get to see 2-3 times a year.  But anyways. What do you do once you get all these papers and lovely early masterpieces by future Van Goghs? Where do you put them all?  I've taken to keeping the ones mailed or given to me (at least, some of them--I can't have a room dedicated to just storing amassed, ripped-out coloring book pages!) in what I call my "You Make Me Happy" binder.  More on that some other time.  Another idea is to make something like the following for yourself, or to give it as a gift (as was the case with this particular one):

My Mom had the board lying around (she's so great for stuff like that) and then all we used was a little black vinyl with her Cricut cartridge, Lyrical Letters, hot-glued on a few of those clamps, and voila--a super cute way to display the artworks of your little ones.  Now you can save the front of the fridge for wedding announcements and A+ report cards. ;)

(Note:  I chose the "Jack Sprat" font from Lyrical Letters, in case you were wondering.  But there are all sorts of other fun cartridges with great "kid-like" fonts, such as Alphalicious, Ashlyn's Alphabet,  Learning Curve, and ZooBalloo just to name a few. All depends on the look you think you're going for.)

Merry Christmas

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."  Luke 2:14.  

Merry Christmas, everyone.  May your day and coming year be filled with joy and peace.  

Easy small gift box idea

Each year, my sister exchanges gifts with her five sister-in-laws for Christmas gifts.   Because they are all generally crafty people (not wily--just like to make crafts!), the gifts are often hand-made in some form. This makes exchanging gifts a bit easier, as she generally makes the same gift for each of them.  This year, she decided on making some cute beaded watches, which she found were super cheap and easy to make.  Once she finished the watches, she just needed the right wrappings.

We found some cute Christmas themed cardstock, decided on the box style/shape that we wanted (Silhouette has a seemingly endless supply of options, with all sorts of fun closures, etc.) and set our Silhouette to a-cuttin'!  Here's what we came up with!






With a little twine, some gold chalking around the edges, and a little punched tag, these perfect little gift boxes were ready to go!  We liked them.  How about you?  :)

Note:  The boxes have flaps inside that you glue to hold in place.  Just some regular stick-glue will do.  Some box shapes have cut holes to enable you to tie them closed on top (such as ours did), while others have neat twisting flower petals that link, or entwining flaps, etc.  So many fun options!  Just depends on what you like and pick.  Play around!

I think these would be fun to put small party favors in.  In fact, I think I'll do that for my very next party...

"Draw-Your-Own" Christmas Cards

So...when I first saw the Silhouette and Cricut sketch pens, I was excited.  Now I could have my machines draw, in a variety of colors, all these absolutely adorable images that I had?  Sounded like way too much fun.  So to test them out, I decided to make a simple Christmas card for a friend.  

First, I picked some whimsical images that I liked from my Silhouette library, and positioned them where I would like the image drawn on the paper.  This grouped snowflake image reminds me of Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas for some reason, already looking hand sketched and about ready to fall onto Cindy Lou Who's little head, which had just the feel I wanted. I then made sure the image measurements were correct for the size of card I wanted (needed to fit in an envelope for mailing).  I love that Silhouette shows and tells me exactly what size my images will be.   

Although I did not plan on having both images drawn by the Sketch pens, I did want to get the correct size for both images, so I also positioned my image to cut where I would have it on the card to check sizes and design.  Once I decided that I liked it, I copied the second image and then deleted it from the page so that it, too, was not sketched by the pen. Putting in the sketch pen to replace the blade was a piece of Christmas cake--not even worth telling you just how easy it was.  After that, it was just a matter of letting the sketch pen do its magic, and to await the result.  

And the verdict is... I liked it and was surprised at how perfectly the image was drawn.  (I wanted to fill in the bottom snowflake and dot ends, so if it looks a little messy, that's why--it was me.) Now I just need to play around more with having the pens do more filled-in images, and see what more these pens are capable of! If you've used them, share some of your favorite ways to use these pens!

 Here's to some fun new crafting capabilities. :) 

 Hint:  You need to be sure that the color pen you pick will show up on the color paper that you choose for it to draw on.  You can always just test it on a corner of paper by drawing on it with the pen yourself.  Also, pay attention to the thickness of the paper. I found that my thick, slightly textured paper seemed to soak up some of the ink after it dried.

Frosted Vinyl Snowflakes

What do you do with frosted glass vinyl?  Lots of things. :)  But here's one option: window snowflakes!  A cute extra lil' touch just in time for Christmas.  Maybe they will encourage a bit more of the real stuff to fall from the sky for me to play in...  

This vinyl is a bit different from regular vinyl, thought it works just the same in your Silhouette.  (Can also be used in your Cricut on its vinyl settings.) It has a frosted look once adhered to glass, rather than just being a solid color, and it can last outside for up to 7 years!  Because I don't want it to encourage snowfall in July, I'm thinking I won't keep mine up that long to test it, but this could be used for some beautiful window border designs to keep up all year.  Perhaps that's what I'll try with it next, for my kitchen window.  

Well, for this project, I searched through my silhouette library for the lucky little flakes that would be making their debut on the wondrous world of front room windows, and then saw how many I could fit in one cut.  Again, have I mentioned how much I love that Silhouette gives us measurements of each of our items and where they are placed on the mat?  I love that.  

Before peeling back the excess vinyl, the sheet looks deceivingly silver, and I'll admit that I peeled back a little corner before even cutting anything, just to see if it really did look frosted.  It did. :)  

The vinyl looks silver until you pull it back and see that it really is frosted and slightly transparent.

Use your hook to pull out the intricate excess "inner" pieces

Perhaps, had I thought through my snowflake selection a little more before cutting, I would have chosen something a little less intricate and with less inner pieces to have to hook out.  But then I might have been left with something less beautiful, and less, well, intricate than what I did get.  And what are snowflakes if not incredibly beautiful, intricate, small works of wonder and art?  Random aside:  Have you ever just stared at a snowflake on your glove?  If not, next time you go outside and see "sparkly" snow (the good kind that glitters in the sun) stick your glove into it and then examine your hand closely.  You'll see beautiful, intricate snowflakes that look surprisingly just like the kind we draw as kids!  (Or cut out of Silhouettes and put on windows...)

My roommate confessed, after I put up the snowflakes on the front window, that when she first heard what I was doing she thought it sounded like those cheap and (forgive me) tacky window stickers that people sometimes put up for the holidays.  But THESE, she said, were actually really nice and classy.  After seeing them, she wanted more!  :)  So I guess that's a win. One-point, frosted glass vinyl.   (I wonder if that means I can use this to make frosted glass-ghosts to put up next Halloween? :))