Planner Goodies to Make with Your Silhouette

Taking delivery of a new printer this week was all the excuse I needed to crack on with some more planner goodies. I'm a relative newcomer to the world of planners, but am really enjoying making custom bits and bobs for my little purple friend (aka Filofax Domino) with my Silhouette Cameo.


MONTHLY DIVIDERS

I made monthly calendar dividers on thin card using a 'Month per Page' free download from the Philofaxy website. I scanned the page size and holes from an actual page and added the Purple Haze fill pattern from the Silhouette Design Store (#21898) by Sophie Gallo.

I added my own month tabs to each page and cut them out (holes included) using print and cut. You can't see my cut lines here as they are hidden with a printing 'gutter'.

CUSTOM PAGES AND MONTHLY STICKERS

I made plain note pages in a similar way and used the Print and Cut facility, printed on to high quality copier paper. I attached some custom tab stickers made using the Months of the Year file by Echo Park from the Silhouette Design Store (#73523). Echo Park files are 25% off at present. Offer finishes in just a few hours.

The stickers were also made using Print and Cut, printed onto adhesive sticker paper.

COVER CUSTOMISATION

I used some premium cast vinyl (Oracal 951) from Crafty Cutter to make a decal for the cover. This vinyl has a permanent adhesive, and is more durable than regular vinyl.  It is also a bit thinner and can be applied to flat, curved, uneven and even corrugated surfaces, so ideal for this textured leather planner cover.

Hopefully I'll use my newly prettified planner a little more now.

New Chalkboard Cardstock - Family Menu Chalkboard - with FREE Design Elements

Hiya,

You might have realised by now that I LOVE having the to opportunity to try out new products and this week I got to try a NEW Silhouette product in the UK - Silhouette Chalkboard Cardstock

This cardstock has a surface similar to that of the Silhouette Chalkboard Vinyl, but slightly smoother surface. Obviously, it is thicker (like medium-weight cardstock) and more rigid but similar in that it has a peel-off backing sheet covering a sticky adhesive surface. It was fun to play with - it is always good to try out a few different techniques before committing to a project. I really liked the effect of writing with gel pens, so used my Silhouette Pen Holder and Uni ball white gel pen to make a Family Menu Chalkboard. I made the permanent decorations with matte white vinyl so I wouldn't erase the days by mistake when I was being over-enthusiastic with erasing the meal listings.

So, if you'd like to make something similar with you Silhouette® CAMEO, Portrait or Curio, head on over to the Silhouette UK Blog for a tutorial and the low-down on this new product.

These are the items you'll need: 
Black Picture Frame (**)
Silhouette Chalkboard Cardstock
White Matte Adhesive Vinyl
Clear Transfer Material
White Marker Pen (Uni ball)
Silhouette Pen Holder
Downloaded Typewriter Key Font like LW Type Print
Downloaded Sketch Font like Rivka Wilkins' Madilyn Font
Downloaded Plain Font like LW Perfect Type Font


The Silhouette UK Blog links to a FREE file to make a modified header for your chalkboard.

The piece in the download just needs to be welded on to a rectangle matching the size of the top of your frame, all achieved very easily in the Silhouette Design software. As a bonus, the file format is GSD so may be used in other software too.


NOW, for readers of THIS blog I have a special gift for you! You can download an exclusive file of the additional Design Elements as shown in the wee picture below. They are also in GSD format, and are downloadable HERE.

(**) Note on the frame: I re-cycled an old certificate frame, originally with a bevelled edge. The rather unpleasant red-brown stain was covered with matte black acrylic paint and also turned around, to have the flat rear frame surface facing front.

I love chalkboard items and using this chalkboard cardstock is an easy way to obtain a very neat and effective look. I hope you'll try it.

Personalise a Children's Apron - a Quick design Tweak

Hiya,

Kids seem to love gifts with their name on them,c  So, needing a gift in a hurry, I decorated this plain apron for a young friend who has a tiny bit of a car obsession, using a design from the Silhouette Design Store. I’m sharing a sep-by-step tutorial for this  quick and easy gift idea over on the Silhouette UK Blog today, using a child’s blank apron and flocked heat transfer material  (HTV) .

The design I chose was from a set from the Silhouette Design Store called Baby Toys Borders Set designed by StudioIlustrado. The designer has loads of similarly sized borders with a rectangular base, any of which would work for this purpose. Just search the store for 'Borders set' and filter by 'Studioilustrado' (note, just one 'L') and it will bring up pages of lovely designs - including tractors, seahorses, and even kitchen sets.

I made a few minor adaptations to the file to incorporate the child's name and make a one-piece decal which makes it super easy to weed and align on a garment (or on a flat hard surface if regular vinyl is used). This would be ideal for anyone new to changing files, or to using heat transfer material. do pop over to the Silhouette blog and take a look.

Firstly, I show how to edit the design to allow sufficient space for some text

Then I type the child’s name in an easy-to-read font - Lori Whitlock’s Super Font

Once reversed design is cut out on your digital cutting system (this would fit Silhouette®Cameo, Portrait or Curio) it is a straightforward design to iron or press onto the font of the apron.

There you have it - add a matching gift tag and your gift is ready.

Of course, the same personalised design (not reversed) can be used on almost any hard surface too, using regular vinyl, so you could make even more co-ordinating items.

I hope you'll try it!

Making a card with an Acrylic Panel and Designing Vertical Text

Hiya,

Firstly I have to share my news ... I'm really pleased to announce that I'm back on the Silhouette UK Design Team for another year. Today my first new project with the Silhouette UK 2017/18 Design Team has been published on the Silhouette UK Blog.

I love to add acetate windows to my cards, and the post contains instructions on how to put this card with an acrylic panel together.   It also features a colourful topper by Doodlebug Designs made with Silhouette Adhesive Cardstock, and a happy birthday sentiment using vertical text.

I've also included a tutorial on how to design the vertical text sentiment in the Silhouette Studio software. 

TO MAKE THE CARD

What You'll Need
A4 Pearl Heavy-weight Cardstock (300 gsm)
A5 Heavy-weight Clear Acetate (at least 220 microns)
Double-sided Adhesive Tape
Silhouette Adhesive Cardstock (white, strawberry, pink, sea mist, mint, yellow)
Silhouette Vellum
Downloaded Umbrella Drink file by Doodlebug #160426
Downloaded Cheers file by Rivka Wilkins #72361
Downloaded LW Bubble Letter font by Lori Whitlock #47853

One of the benefits of using the self-adhesive cardstock on an acrylic panel is that the back looks good too - no need to neaten it with a reverse image.

The Silhouette Adhesive Cardstock makes it super easy. I hope you'll try it.

Envelope seals with the FREE file from the Silhouette Store

Hiya! Today I'm bringing you a quick project using the FREE file of the week form the Silhouette Design Store. You may know that I love to challenge myself to make something with the free file every week. It doesn't always happen, but I try to share it when I do.

This week I used the Easter Basket file by Miss Kate (aka Miss Kate Cuttables).  It is free until a new free file is posted on Tuesday 7th March 2017 (the changeover usually happens around 7:00 am GMT).

This file is a Regular Cut one, and most of the items can be used individually. I just used the big bow from the top of the basket.

I decided to make clear stickers from the bow and in the Silhouette Studio software I set up a Print and Cut sheet. This is Letter size to match the size of the Silhouette Clear Sticker Paper.

I coloured the bows using the colour pallet I'd make from the Love You 2 Pieces digital papers from Down the Lane (purchased from Snap Click Supply Co.)

The surface of the sticker paper is very shiny, and the registration marks are often not recognised by the Silhouette machines, so my workaround is to use plain white stickers, as shown below.

I printed out the stickers using my workhorse Epson printer. Now, it does have pigment, rather than dye ink, so the stickers did take a while to dry.

I then sent the stickers to cut through my original Cameo.Here is one of the stickers in use - a pretty addition to a card made with the lovely digital papers (I'll share that in a later post).

I LOVE that I can make embellishments to match my digital papers 💖