Printing Custom Cards in Silhouette Studio

Hiya.

Over on the Silhouette UK Blog today I have a tutorial for making and printing quick, custom cards in the Silhouette Studio® software.

A batch of cards can be made super fast by printing from the Silhouette software onto pre-made card blanks. I've used some hand-painted baubles (painted by my daughter) and quickly turned them into a set of Christmas cards.  I've refined the water-coloured baubles in the Silhouette software and added sentiments from the Silhouette Design Store by Skyla Design. The tutorial shows how to make them for yourself.

Using this method you can be reproduce a whole batch of cards in minutes - perfect for your last minute Christmas cards!

Add a new material type to Silhouette Studio software

Hello again, over on the Silhouette UK Blog today I have a post to show how to add custom media to the list of cutting materials in the Silhouette Studio® software. You'll find adding custom settings can be a HUGE time saver.

My post includes a step-by-step guide (using version 4.1 of the Silhouette Studio® software).

The media I added is glitter wallpaper; which cuts beautifully on my Cameo and Curio. I tested it making bows for my Christmas tags and parcels using Lori Whitlock's 3D Bow from the Silhouette Design Store.

Pop over to the Silhouette UK Blog if you have a Silhouette and haven't mastered this process yet.  If you discover anything extra about adding new cut settings it would be great to add it as a comment and share it with the wider Silhouette community too.

Foil and Acetate Card for Armistice and Remembrance Sunday

Hi, I'm sharing a new cardmaking technique for delicate or detailed cutting files over on the Silhouette UK Blog today.

In recognition of Remembrance weekend, I have used a beautiful poppy file by Hero Arts (#27110). This is my grandad who served in WW1 as a teenager.

These elegant cards are made with adhesive foil and an acetate, or acrylic window, overlaid on a printed background and mounted within an offset of the shape.  Using the Silhouette Printable Foil gives a fine foiled-effect without the need for heat or messy embossing powders. My photographs really don't do justice to the depth, dimension, and prettiness of the cards in real life.

I have a full step-by-step tutorial over on the Silhouette UK Blog today. As usual, there are plenty of additional hints and tips on using your Silhouette and the Silhouette Studio software.

Snow Lady using Simply Crafty SVGs Snowman Stacking Box Set

Hello, Janet here with my first 3D Christmas project of the year using the Snowman Stacking Box Set from Simply Crafty SVGs.  I've turned the snowman into a glamorous 'snowLADY' using the Silhouette Cameo's Print & Cut function with digital papers and elements to make new accessories.  I used a Silhouette Cameo® 3, but of course these SVG files can be used with other desktop die cutting machines (details here).
 
My finished Snowlady ended up just under 12" tall, with the largest box at 6.5" across and 4" tall, and the smaller one at 4.5" by 3.75".  The original sizes can be found with the Snowman's listing in the Simply Crafty SVGs shop.

MATERIALS:
White Pearl Card (large sheets)
Black Pearl Card
Red & White Baker's Twine
Down the Road Snow Flurries Digital Elements
Down the Road Snow Flurries Digital Papers
Versafine Embossing Ink
Judikins Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder
Sizzix Embossing Folder & Stamp - Fun Stripes Set by Hero Arts
Small gems
Beacon 3-in-1 Glue
Inkjet Printer
Silhouette Cameo


The Snowman Body
I made the whole snowman a little larger to fit some bigger gifts inside. To do this it is necessary merge all the files that make up the snowman onto one tab, selecting all the pieces and enlarging the biggest piece to fit the largest piece of card. Of course, you also need to check that the largest piece to be cut from smaller card fits too.


The Body Box
The two boxes are cut from white pearl card and constructed using the instructions in the PDF included with the Snowman Stacking Box Set files.  The top of the lid of the larger box is 'filled' with a snowflake design from the set of digital papers and then print and cut with printer and Cameo. The scarf lid edging was filled a plain paper from the same set.


Scarf
The scarf tails come from the digital set, substituting them for the original scarf tails, but using them to gauge the sizing.  All the scarf pieces were stamped with embossing ink and then heat embossed with the iridescent powder to give sparkling stripes.

Buttons
The buttons were cut from coated black card with just the top piece embossed using the striped embossing folder. Once constructed they were mounted to the base using dimensional foam pads.

Mittens
The mittens were a new element taken from the digital elements set and sized to match the project.  I print and cut three copies of each glove (one set was a mirror image of another), cutting a slit in one of each. Three copies of the mittens were layered with the slit copy in the middle of the sandwich and with baker's twine trapped inside. The bakers' twine was placed close to the position that the head box will sit on the body lid and then stitched in place using embroidery thread.

Head
I attempted to substitute some more feminine facial elements, using a berry from the digital elements as a nose. I can't pretend that I didn't have several attempts at this, and I'm not entirely sure I achieved it. Maybe you can do better?

Hat
This is my favourite part. The hat parts were cut straight from the file and decorated with print and cut digital elements from the elements set. These were enhanced with the addition of some Glossy Accents, extra small shapes, sequins and adhesive gems.

... And that completes the snowlady.

It was such fun to combine the SVG file with digital elements to make something unique. I hope you'll try it.



Bye for now,
Janet, DT Member Simply Crafty SVGS

Blog: https://CraftingQuine.blogspot.co.uk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craftingquine



Simply Crafty SVG Files:
Snowman Stacking Box Set


Additional Digital Files:
Down the Road Flurries of Fun Digital Elements
Down the Road Flurries of Fun Digital Papers

No-Mess Ways to add Glitter - using the Polar Bear Girl by Sanqunetti Design

Do you love using glitter, but hate the mess it leaves behind? Adding regular glitter with wet adhesive can really add wow factor to cards but tends leave a glittery trail behind.  I made this sparkling card with a new SVG release from Sanqunetti Design - the Polar Bear Girl SVG using two no-mess glitter techniques.


 Supplies Used

I used all the above which including patterned papers are from Kaisercraft's Bubblegum Hills, 6 1/2" Paper Pad (recently retired).  For the glittery parts I used regular superfine glitter and also Silhouette's  Glitter Heat Transfer material.


Card Technique

I made a shaped card base in the Silhouette Studio software using an offset of the bear sitting on a present.  The present is simply a rectangle draw in the software, and the ribbons are just thinner rectangles.  I used a 2 mm offset of the two pieces, then made a mirrored copy to the left, overlapped the two, and then welded them together. The small extra shapes generated were then deleted to give just the outline.  I added a few simple tag shapes, trying out a couple of different colours of sketch pens. This is what I cut out from the white frost glimmer card.

It was then simply a matter of cutting the other pieces out of card and paper. I didn't cut the bear feet separately but made a combined grey base welding all the shapes together, and borrowing the right leg cut line from the feet, adding it to the white bear body.  More about the bear body later.

Now, here is my first non-mess glitter method.


METHOD 1. Apply Glitter with Double-Sided Adhesive


Cut the parcel from regular patterned paper (no fancy finish) and apply a matching piece of double-sides adhesive sheet over the top.  Expose the sticky surface of the sheet and sprinkle it with clear super-fine crystal glitter.

Knock off the excess glitter and burnish the newly glittered surface with a paper folder. Use one of the scrap protective layers from the adhesive sheet to cover the glittered surface while rubbing to protect the paper folder and rub firmly to ensure the glitter is firmly adhered to the paper.

After burnishing in this way you'll have a hard time shifting any of the glitter!

METHOD 2: Using Glitter Heat Transfer Material on Card


To make the he glittery bear, I cut the main bear body from white glitter heat transfer material. The material is cut with the shiny side to the mat, and the design should be flipped horizontally before cutting so that the bear is oriented correctly.

This is the design piece that I cut. Do see where the I placed the right leg piece borrowed from the foot?

I used a heat press to activate the adhesive on the heat transfer material, but an iron would work too. Use a lower temperature than you would normally use to attach heat transfer to fabric to avoid distorting the supporting card.  Apply for just a few seconds and then check if it has adhered. Peel off the backing sheet and press for another second or so and the glitter is permanently stuck.

I hope you'll try these methods out; they both give a really neat professional look - so much easier and cleaner than using liquid glue.

The cute Girl Polar Bear SVG file is available now from the Sangunetti Design website and also from the Etsy store.

This card has been entered in the following challenges:
ABC Christmas Challenge - 'W' for White
Craft Rocket Challenges - Christmas Is Coming
Simon Says Stamp - Christmas Gift Tag
Crafty Cats Challenge - ATG Beartastic challenge #391

If you like polar bears - here are a Polar Bear shaker card  and  Polar Bear personalised gift boxes that I made from the Sangunetti Design Christmas Polar Bear SVG.

Use Silhouette Sketch Pens to Make Cards with a Handrawn Look

Hiya, this is one of three cards that I have over on the Silhouette UK Blog today. This card is drawn with sketch pens on the Silhouette® Cameo and hand-coloured with copic markers. YES! Copic Markers ARE compatible with the Silhouette Sketch pens.  The instructions for this card show how to combine three cut files to make the card front, and include how to convert a regular cut file into a sketch file.

I have two other cards and lots of tips and techniques for using the Silhouette® Sketch Pens to make unusual Christmas cards with a hand-drawn look,

This one has additional text sketched onto the  Presents Christmas Card by Rivka Wilkins from the Silhouette Design Store.

This one uses two colours of pens and uses the Snowman Sketch Card also by Rivka Wilkins.

Sketching is a great way to batch make cards - pop over to the Silhouette UK Blog to read how to do it.