Make your own glitter card and paper

Hello, over on the Silhouette UK Blog I've been using the Silhouette Glitter Sheets. This is one of my favourite Silhouette media as it is so versatile. It can be used for Print & Cut, but here I've simply printed it all over in a couple of colours and then cut out my shapes. I call this Print THEN Cut!

I made two shades of brown glitter card to transform the Stacked Polar Bear Card, by Jennifer Rush, into a cute a cuddly brown bear. Details on how to make the glitter paper and card, togther with details on making the card are over on the Silhouette UK Blog, so do pop over there to get more info.

I'm rather fond of this little bear with his friendly expression.

Zig Zag Village Card - Line Segment Overcut

Hello, today I'm over on the Silhouette UK Blog with a post about using the overcut feature in the Silhouette Studio software. It features this beautiful folding Zig Zag Village Card by Marji Roy. The card design is fabulous, but I didn't cut it very well first time around. On the second time around I used the Line Segment Overcut feature and the improvement was amazing!

If you look closely, you'll see that the squares and rectangles are not really square - all the corners are rounded.

First attempt with Overcut turned off

When I used Overcut (with all other settings the same) the cuts were crisper and more square.

Second attempt with Overcut on

The post over on the Silhouette UK Blog describe the feature and explain how, and where to use it.

The overcut feature also assisted in cutting out the teeny tiny wreaths successfully.

These were enhanced using my favourite embossing powder - more effective than cutting them out from metallic card.

I'll be making a few of these for the special folks on my Christmas card list.

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

Joy Marquee Letters for Carina Gardner Papercrafts

Hiya! I'm delighted to be a guest designer over on the Carina Gardner Blog again this week. I have a charming Christmas decoration for you, featuring Carina's Marquee Letters J, O, Y,  the bow from the Filled Basket of Tulips and the Mini Lou Gold Leaf Wreath.

Here is a list of all the materials I used:

Marquee Letters:
Rose Gold Glitter Wallpaper by Windsor Wallcoverings
Silhouette Chipboard
Vinter Mini Tree Baubles from Ikea (any colour)
Montana Copper Metallic Spray Paint from Hobbycraft

Wreath & Bow:
Centura Pearl Cardstock in Rose, Cream & Metallic Copper

Cast Metallic Vinyl (Oracal 951) in 920 Bronze from Crafty Cutter
DMC Metallic Copper Thread
Nuvo Crystal Glaze

The Mini Lou and Carina Gardner cutting files are all from the Silhouette Design Store . You'll find more details over on the Carina Gardner Blog. You'll also be able to read about the other guest designers of the Carina Gardner Holiday Design Team 2018.

To keep up with all my projects, follow me on Instagram.

All the Holiday Team makes will use the hash tag #cgdesignteam

Top tips for making multiple cards with Silhouette and Cricut - Santa Delivers Box Card by Simply Crafty SVGs

Hello.  I've made a start on making this year's Christmas cards. The Santa Delivers Box Card from Simply Crafty SVGs is THE perfect card for the younger set and I ended up making a little army of them. It is a fun box card design that cuts beautifully using a digital cutter, goes together like a dream, and folds flat for posting.

I thought I'd share some tips for saving time, effort, and materials when you are making duplicate cards. Useful, not just for this card, but for any cards made in duplicates using your digital cutting machine.

I made no changes to the file itself, and stayed with all the original colours. I did change out some of the materials though, and you'll find out why as you read on.  Full written instructions for assembling this file are included with the file download when you purchase the file.


Materials Used:
White, Red & Black Medium-Weight Textured Cardstock
Grey Adhesive Textured Cardstock
White Printable Cardstock
White & Red Glitter Paper
Black & Gold Sign Vinyl
Beacon 3-in-1 Craft Adhesive
Strong Hold Adhesive Tape
Silhouette Cameo, or other machine that cuts SVG files


Files Used:
Simply Crafty SVGs Santa Delivers Box Card
Simply Crafty SVGs Basic Envelope Set (free)


Other Digital Files: 
Christmas Greeting Dingbat font by Lori Whitlock (Sil Studio or LW Shop)


1. Cut Duplicate Pieces Together
Duplicate all the pieces for the number of cards that you want to make. Then save card by ungrouping them and spending a little time re-arranging all the pieces to be cut from the same material and colour to fit on the page in the the software.

2. Add Extras
Cut a few extra pieces, especially the smaller ones. Then if one or two don't cut perfectly, or you lose them, you don't need to spend time cutting more, saving time overall.

3. Cut Like Materials in Succession
Cut all the items from one media type first, before moving on to the next type, to save time changing the cut settings. I cut all the medium-weight pieces in white, then the red and black, then I changed the settings to cut the adhesive grey cardstock, and finally the glitter paper.

4.  Choose Cardstock of an Appropriate Weight
Choose a card weight that is easy to cut; medium-weight card cuts on a faster speed than heavy-weight cardstock. This style of card has extra layers to give it stability, and so a heavy, foundation-weight card, with a slower cut setting, is unnecessary.

5. Consider Using Self-Adhesive Cardstock
Cut intricate pieces from adhesive cardstock. This speeds up the process in by:
(1) ensuring the waste pieces stay on the backing sheet, and then they don't need to be removed separately from your cutting mat, and
(2) eliminating the need for need additional adhesive, so time is saved applying liquid glue to thin or fiddly pieces. It's neater and cleaner too!

6. Assemble in Stages
Adhere the pieces together assembly line style to save time. You become an expert at each stage and the process is completed faster and with greater skill. On the Santa section, apply the red glitter bodies first, then the white trim. the black belt, the black boots and finally the gold buckle.

7. Make Your Own Shiny Media
Rather than spending time applying foiling or wet embossing to embellishments like buckles, cut them from card with an additional layer of metallic vinyl.

Similarly, use cardstock with a shiny vinyl layer to cut the belt and boots. As you can see, it is a great way of using up scrap pieces of all the materials.

8. Use a Dingbat fonts for Greetings
Rather than taking the time to type, resize and arrange sentiments use a greetings dingbat font where all the hard work is done for you.  Use a sketch pen or pen and pen holder to write out the sentiments with your machine, or better still, set up a Print & Cut page and use your printer to make sentiment panels which you can have the cutter cut out for you.

9. Have Envelopes to Fit
Check the finished card size before you start. Resize all the pieces to fit ready-made envelopes if necessary. This card fits into a US A7 sized envelope (for cards up to 5" x 7").  This is a standard size available in the UK too, so you won't need to spend time making envelopes to fit. However, If you want to make a custom envelope Sandy has provided a free file which you can download from her site (follow the link below).







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; there are three different sizes of envelopes included.





I hope you find these tips useful. If you have any time, money or effort saving tips you'd like to share, do add them in the comments below.



Janet, DT Member Simply Crafty SVGs

Blog: Crafting Quine 
Instagram: @CraftingQuine



Simply Crafty SVG Files:
Santa Delivers Box Card
Basic Envelope Set (Free)

These cards have been entered into the Crafter's Castle Anything Goes (Christmas/Winter) Challenge #10

Light Up Santa Pants Box from Simply Crafty SVGs

Hiya, This week I've had such fun playing with the Santa Pants Box SVG File by Simply Crafty SVGs. I enjoyed it so much that I made two versions: a regular Santa one, and an Elvis version.

At first glance there seem to be a lot of pieces, but most of them fit together in the same way, and the designer, Sandy, has made a fabulous video that guides you through every step. I made both using my Silhouette Cameo and the Silhouette Studio Designer Edition software, but any changes I made could be replicated in other cutting software and with other machines.

For the Santa version I made very few changes, but I've shown the ones that I did make below, in case you'd like to do the same.


Materials Used:
Red and Black Medium-weight Bazzill Cardstock
Red Glitter Paper from UK supplier, Syntego)
Black Sign Vinyl
Gold Mirror Card
White Glitter Fabric
Beacon 3 in 1 Craft Adhesive
Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal Glaze
String of White LED Lights
Bradawl/Pokey Tool/Hole Punch
Silhouette Cameo


Files Used:
Simply Crafty SVGs Santa Pants Box SVG File


Scaling Up the SVG File
I made the whole box a little larger. To do this I opened one of the files in the software, and then used Merge to bring in each of the other files. I then placed the biggest on the mat, selected all the files, and increased the size proportionally until the chosen one filled the 12"x12" cutting mat entirely (holding down the shift key when dragging one of the corner handles). This increased the size of the finished box (with braces/suspenders) from 8.25" to 9", and it made it somewhat easier to install the LEDs (needing more candies to fill it though)!


Sketching rather than Cutting the Numbers
To aid assembly Sandy has numbered all the leg pieces in the order in which they should be attached. I'm an impatient crafter so I changed the line colour of the numbers and, using Cut by Line Colour, I drew the numbers on with a sketch pen. I used a speed of 10 to do this, so it was sketched almost as fast as I could have drawn them.

Base Alignment
Once all the leg pieces were attached I found it helpful, when adhering the base piece, to use a second, slightly smaller piece under the flaps to hold a more regular shape (made using the Internal Offset function). My glue has a good amount of wiggle time, so I added glue to both base pieces (to stick to the top and the bottom of the tags), and wiggled it around until I had a good alignment.

Here are the pants before any panels are attached, and with the base pieces in place.

Glitter Panels
I cut the pants panels from red glitter paper. I chose paper over a thicker card, as it moulds more easily to the shaped base and consequently is easier to adhere. The glitter is encapsulated into the paper surface, which means there is minimal shedding (and mess), and the panels adhere more easily. Additionally, it is better for your blade and cutting mat then regular glitter cardstock.


Buttons
Real buttons would be great to use on the box, but I didn't have any black ones in the correct size. I cut extra button pieces so that each button was made from four pieces stacked and adhered together. I finished off with a coating of glaze to make them shiny. In this pic the glaze is still wet and looks a bit cloudy, they did dry to be beautifully shiny though.

Making the Belt Shiny
Once I had my buttons ready, I thought that the belt should really be shiny too. In this picture the bottom belt piece is cut from card, and in the upper one I've covered the card with a layer of adhesive sign vinyl. I think I like it much better.

Golden Buckle
The belt buckle was cut from gold mirror card. I found a scrap from some packaging that was perfect excepting it was a little thin. To counter this I cut a second buckle from spare card and adhered the two together.


Adding Glittery Cuffs
I first cut the cuff pieces from card, and then used them as pattern pieces to cut the white glitter fabric. It is really thick, too thick and irregular to cut on my Silhouette, but cut easily with scissors. Other materials that would be great for the cuffs are faux fur, or simple glittered cardstock. However, I had this fabric in my stash, so thought I'd make use of it.

Adding Lights
I made holes for the bulbs for a short string of battery-operated LED lights around the fabric pieces for the base of the trouser legs.  After adhering them with Fabric adhesive, I made matching holes in the assembled pants using a pokey tool, and then a knitting needle.

The lights were pushed  through from the inside of the pants legs, so they partially protruded through the holes (this works fine, as long as the holes are tight, fractionally smaller than the lights).

Oh, and here's Elvis version. I hummed 'Suspicious Minds' the entire time I was assembling this one!

Here is a link to the Elvis buckle (a freebie cutting file in SVG format).

I hope you find these as much fun as I did. Do subscribe if you'd like to regularly read my hints and tips for Simply Crafty SVGS and others files. I also have tutorials and inspiration posts, and occasionally have a FREEBIE file too.