A Beginner's Guide to Cutting Cardstock and Making 3D Designs

Hiya, Over on the Silhouette UK Blog I have a pretty and practical Valentine's papercraft project using the Heart Bowl (#39182) file by Snapdragon Snippets. The mini size is perfect for sharing some chocolates or a special gift on Valentine's Day. I've also shared some useful tips for preparing and assembling cardstock projects.

Tips include

• Fitting more pattern pieces to a sheet
• Changing perforated lines to score lines
• Using 'Cut by Line' to use different cut settings on the same pattern piece
• Advantages of using liquid adhesive
• How to clean up excess adhesive
• Reducing the size of the finished item
• Choosing different weights of paper and cardstock

FREE cutting file - Accessory Trays

Hiya, over on the Silhouette UK Blog this weekend I have a project to help organise all those invaluable Silhouette bits and pieces that accumulate when you use your machine. I used the Two Compartment Candy Box by Lori Whitlock, added some custom-designed accessory trays, and decorated the outside with panels cut from Silhouette Wood Effect Vinyl. I included a FREE accessory tray file too to keep blades, penholders and sketch pens all in one place.

You can also download the FREE Accessory Trays cut file here. The file is in .GSD format which can be opened with any edition of the Silhouette Studio software. From the Silhouette program select File > Open, then navigate to the downloaded file and click OK.

There are two versions in the file, one is taller than the other. The taller one is for sketch pens, to bring the coloured tops closer to the top. It also has more holes which are a fraction larger. The shorter one accommodates all the blades and is sized to allow the AutoBlade enough headroom, as it is taller than the others.

You can mix and match the holes, just Ungroup each version (select one, right mouse click, select Ungroup) and duplicate or swap the sets of holes.

You can also adjust the size and spacing of the holes.

To adjust the size, duplicate a set of holes, move it to one side and adjust all the circles simultaneously (hold down Shift, Alt, Cmd on a Mac and move one of the corner sizing handles either in or out). If you increase the size, check that they still fit within the square part of the tray. If not, you can adjust the spacing, as shown below.

To adjust the spacing, duplicate as above and ungroup the set of holes (select, right click, Ungroup, then Ungroup again). Using the Drawing Tools, draw a square over the existing dotted lines and then move it over the duplicate set of ungrouped dots.

If you need to make the holes larger than the above method allows (if they overlap the edges) then select one of the holes, open the Transform panel, and adjust the with and height as required (I chose 1" to accommodate a Stickles bottle).

Delete the remaining holes and using the Replicate panel, select the remaining hole and make a row of three.

Then space them evenly within the square by clicking on the Horizontal Spacing in the Transform panel.

Then group and then duplicate the row using column of three in the Replicate panel.

Then space the holes evenly using the vertical option in the Transform panel.

When you are happy with the spacing delete the square, group holes, and move them back to the tray, deleting or moving the original set.

For the ideal storage of Stickles and similar sized bottles, the legs will need to be shorter (even shorter than the short-legged version). You can adjust the height either up or down by using point editing of the points on the end of each leg. I'll save that explanation for another post. If you are in need of it meantime, let me know and I'll expedite it!

I hope you'll find this useful.


Happy New Year!




Designs used:

Geometric 3D Christmas Tree Box

Hi there! Today I'm sharing a sophisticated Christmas decoration using a versatile cutting file from Simply Crafty SVGs.  I've used the Christmas Tree Box, a 3-dimensional tree that can be used as a special gift box, or simply used as a pretty decoration.

I love metallics, and I love geometric patterns,  and when I saw this fabulous decorative paper I couldn't resist trying out an alternative holiday colour scheme of blush pink and rose gold. It's from the DCWV Lively Geos 12" x 12" paper stack. I used a Silhouette Cameo 3, and the Silhouette Studio Designer Edition of the software to cut all the pieces for the box. However, the SVG files can be used with other desktop cutting machines and software (details here).

Materials Used:
Walnut Bazzill Textured Cardstock
Octagon Patterned Paper from DCWV Lively Geo 12 x 12 Stack
Beacon 3-in-1 Adhesive
Galaxy Gold Brilliance Dew Drop Ink Pad
Copper Jingle Bells from Paperchase
Silhouette Cameo or other digital die-cutter


Files Used:
Simply Crafty SVGs Christmas tree Box


Cutting the Pieces

This file is very economical in paper use; I rearranged and rotated the pieces a little and cut all the pieces from two sheets of 12-inch square walnut cardstock and one sheet of 12-inch square patterned paper.


Constructing the Box

Sandy of Simply Crafty SVGs has made a fab assembly video for this box. In order to add gold ink to all the fold lines, I assembled the box before adding the decorative panels.

Decorating the Box

The tear-drop shape of the ink pad  makes it easy to apply gold ink to all the folds.  This gives the box the appearance of being gold all over once the panels are attached. I loved that my clumsy over-inking would be covered too!

I also inked the edges of the decorative panels to hide the white edges.

I applied the panels a little higher than suggested in the video so that they were centred. They seemed to fit just fine that way.

The box was finished off with a string of copper jungle bells tied around the base of the first tier. With hindsight, I'd have hung them individually from the top tier before I attaching the tiers together. I'll certainly do that next time I make one.

I'm looking forward to adding this to my Christmas decor  - sorry friends, this one's staying at home with me!



Janet, DT Member Simply Crafty SVGs

Blog: Crafting Quine 
Instagram: @CraftingQuine



Simply Crafty SVG Files:
Christmas Tree Box

Birdhouse Mobile made with the Birdhouse Box by Simply Crafty SVGs

Hiya, This week I've been making a mobile to decorate my craft room using a simplified version of the Birdhouse Box from Simply Crafty SVGs. I love the shape of this birdhouse design and decided to miniaturise the file and use just the foundation shapes (walls and roof base) to make some light-weight houses for the mobile. This is a great project for displaying your hand decorated papers. I have lots of background papers made from gel printing, but for this project I used paper that I'd decorated with distress inks. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut all the card and paper pieces, but any cutting machine that uses SVGs could be used instead.

Materials Used


Wooden Mobile Hanger Bracket
AC White Textured Cardstock
Smooth Watercolour Paper
Distress Oxide Inks (Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, Wilted Violet & Picked Raspberry)
White Gel Pen
Silhouette Pen Holder
Pink & Turquoise Beads
Turquoise Embroidery Thread


Hand-decorated Paper

Each birdhouse roof is cut from watercolour paper that I'd first damped with water and then painted with Distress Oxide inks, blending each colour into the next. Once it had dried, I stamped a crackle pattern in the Salty Ocean colour over the top. Although I'd taped the paper to a board, it still warped as it dried. My solution was to finish off the drying in my heat press. When it was almost dry, I sandwiched it between clean sheets of paper and applied a little low heat. Then I turned of the press, and left in in the closed press to dry completely.

Sketch and Cut Birds

Using a bird design from the Silhouette Design Store (#268417) I sketched the outline of the bird in white gel pen onto the decorated paper and then cut an offset around it. I made a duplicate and some mirrored images, and gave each an eye in crystal Nuvo Drops. Then I adhered them back-to-back on a length of embroidery thread.  Beads were added at the end of the thread to ensure that the thread would hang straight, pulling out any kinks. These beads were re-purposed from a discarded child's bracelet. N.B. If you were making this for child you'd need to omit the beads and spend more time straightening the thread.

3-Dimensional Clouds

I designed my own 3-D clouds to hang on each thread. Each cloud consists of three identical cloud-shaped pieces with a fold line down the centre of each.  Any cloud shape would work so long as it is symmetrical along the fold line.

The clouds were cut from white textured cardstock and the cut edges highlighted with blue oxide ink.

The pieces were folded in half and they were adhered together in sets of three with one side left open. The last sides were stuck with liquid glue around the embroidery thread once the birds and houses had been attached to the threads.

Miniature Bird Houses

I made the houses by reducing the size to 65% of the original.

I used just the house and the roof (without the panels). To keep the weight down, I didn't use the door and frame, but just added a hole in their place, with a simple circle frame around it. The house parts were assembled and two small holes added in the floor, used to attach the thread together with a bead. The the roof was then threaded on and adhered to the house with a bead added on top.


Assembling the Mobile

The four 'house' threads (of identical length), were attached to the mobile hanger arms, and the 'bird' thread was attached to the loop in the centre. The finished mobile is in constant motion and consequently proved somewhat difficult to photograph.

I'm so looking forward to putting this up in my craft room once I've finished tidying and decorating. There is something rather special about having a moving paper craft project on display!

Simply Crafty SVG Files:
Bird House Box


Additional Silhouette Files:
Bird (Fox Sister) #268417
or
Bird (Fox Sister) #268416

Dog Hybrid Birthday Card using the FREE Envelope file

Hello there.   Today I'm sharing another dog-themed project from Simply Crafty SVGs with you. When you browse the store, it is obvious that designer Sandy is a dog lover, as her canine files are so good.  Some months ago I fell in love with the Dog Box Set from which I made this Terrier Pin Cushion.  She has recently released MORE canine files and I have combined two of them here to make a birthday card for a special family member.

I've transformed the Dog Love Box Card into a birthday card by changing out the heart for a ball, adding a birthday sentiment, and borrowing a few elements from the Dog Sticky Notepad Holder.  To make the card resemble our family pet a little more I used a photo of our own dog, a Lucas Terrier, to inspire the changes to the shape and shading on the dog's face and ears.

Materials Used:
Rich Cream Heavyweight Smooth Cardstock
Pink, Aqua, & Black Medium weight Textured Cardstock
Kraft Medium weight Smooth Cardstock (optional)
Black Sign Vinyl
Beacon 3-in-1 Adhesive
Dimensional Adhesive Tape
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink in Antique Linen & Frayed Burlap
Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Walnut Stain
Tim Holtz Distress Marker in Walnut Stain
Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool
Tonic Nuvo Crystal Glaze
Silhouette Cameo


Files Used:
Simply Crafty SVGs Dog Love Box Card
Simply Crafty SVGs Dog Sticky Notepad Holder
Simply Crafty SVGs Basic Envelope Set (free)

Other Digital Files: 
Happy Birthday phrase by Patty Young designs (Studio or SVG)


Restyling the Dog's Head

Using the Knife Tool in the Silhouette software, I sliced off the head portion from the main card piece. With the separate head pieces stacked together, I shortened the ears and widened the top of the head using Point Editing. I then welded a copy of the original head top to the bottom of the snout to make it appear hairier, and then placed all the pieces together, and welded a copy back onto the main card piece.


Decorating the Dog's Head

The adjusted card body, head pieces, and panels were cut from cream cardstock with added colour and shading on some parts. I tested out likely colours of Distress Oxides onto the cutting waste.   Have you spotted that I spelt linen incorrectly there?

I blended the lightest colour, Antique Linen, around the edges of all the pieces and added shading to where the mouth and eye sockets would be.

Then I used a darker colour, Frayed Burlap, to deepen the shading (don't be too alarmed by the dark shade as it does fade a little as it dries).

Walnut Stain Distress Ink was used to colour the eye irises, and to shade a set of paws from the Sticky Notepad Holder file. Frayed Burlap was used to shade and darken the paw parts with the cutout. (By the way, when I make this card again, I think I'll use cream rather than kraft coloured card for the paw bases).

Assembling the Dog's Head

The head pieces were adhered onto the card base (The base is white here, but in my final card it is cream). The Beacon 3-in-1 adhesive is perfect to use to adhere them, as the pieces can be slid around until they align exactly.

The eyebrows were raised up over the eyes using dimensional adhesive tape.

Restyling the Card Front and Centre Panel

A dip was formed in the front of the card by subtracting the heart shape. The heart was then discarded.

The heart shape was also removed from the centre panel, and a circle welded in its place. A circle of the same size was cut from Aqua cardstock and shaded around the edges to resemble a ball. The small paws were the adhered toward the top of the ball and the whole thing mounted onto the centre panel.

Decorating the Ball

A curved sentiment was added to the ball in black gloss vinyl.  Space was been left to add the recipient's name.

Assembling the Card

The card was assembled following the directions for the Dog Love Box in the pdf document included with the file download. I used panels in the same colour as the card base, shading the edges lightly with the distress inks. I decided not to fold down the side flaps, and adhered the triangular panels above the side panels, rather than to the inside.


Adding a Tongue

I added a small pink tongue re-shaped (using point editing) from the one in the noteholder file.

Finishing the Large Paws

For the large paws on both the card and the envelope I had cut two of each of the paw part (the part with the cut out pads) and layered them onto their base piece (to the envelope liner, in the case of the envelope paw). The waste pieces from the inside of one layer were coloured dark brown with the Distress Marker and pushed down into the cut outs in the layered paws. Crystal Glaze was then flooded into the holes. The glaze was also used for the dog's nose and eyes. Once dry, the paws were adhered to the front of the card.

Making a Custom Envelope

The card fits into a US A7 envelope (for cards up to 5" x 7").  Sandy has provided a free file to which I added the following customisations (but for a quick make just cut it as it is):

• A slightly pointed flap (using point editing).
• A flap liner (making an internal offset of the flap)
• A cut out of the paw (resized, rotated and the exterior grouped with the envelope exterior)
• A dimensional paw print (see Finishing the Large Paws, above).

These are the files I used (including the free envelope file). Just click on the photo to visit the page in Simply Crafty SVGs online store.





The FREE Basic Envelope File is a great find. I shall be using it to make a custom envelopes for all my cards from now on.



Janet, DT Member Simply Crafty SVGs

Blog: Crafting Quine 
Instagram: @CraftingQuine



Simply Crafty SVG Files:
Dog Love Box Card
Dog Sticky Notepad Holder
Basic Envelope Set (Free)