Witch Gnome and Cat Gnome - a Halloween Transformation!

Hiya! Have you ever combined 3d SVG files together? When you do you can make something completely unique without having to design from scratch and it's a great way to get even more from purchased files. 

For Halloween this year I've combined the Gnome Box file with the Hovering Witch Hat from Simply Crafty SVGs to make a super big Witchy Gnome Box. I also made a cat companion by making changes to the Gnome Box. In this post I've included details of how to make the combinations and changes so that you can do the same or add your own twist to these versatile files.

WITCH

Materials Used:
Black, Purple & Grey Medium-weight Textured Cardstock
Green & Purple Patterned Paper
Glow-in-the-Dark Sticker Paper (Silhouette brand) 
Green Brad

White Embroidery Thread

Beacon 3-in-1 Craft Adhesive

Double-sided Dimensional Tape

Black Glitter

Multi-colour Sparkle Spray

Black Distress Oxide Ink and Ink Blender

Silhouette Cameo or other Digital DieCutting Machine

Main Files Used:
Simply Crafty SVGs Gnome Box
Simply Crafty SVGs Hovering Witch Hat

Other Files Used: 
Halloween Spider Set by Lori Whitlock (spider) SVG/Studio
Bats by Lori Whitlock SVG/Studio

The witch is made with the body of the Gnome file, and the crooked hat mostly from the Hovering Witch Hat plus a few more changes.

Size
The witch is bigger than the original gnome, the finished height being approximately 16". The larger size allows more halloween candies to be stored within, yay! I enlarged all the gnome pieces used by about 185%. This size allows the body sections to fit three to a page on 12" x 12" cardstock. I selected only the body sections and lower hat portion (black), body panels and lower hat panel (purple pattern), gnome feet (purple) and gnome beard (grey) to size up.

Hat Brim

The hat brim is a newly designed piece, made to fit the dimensions of the gnome hat top (pointed piece) only in the software, as the gnome piece was not actually cut. Using the dimension of one lower edge of the enlarged hat top, I drew a 6-sided shape with the drawing tool with sides of that length and centred it within a circle of 8 inches diameter. The new brim then fits at the join of the lower and the upper hat pieces (described in the next section).

Hat

The upper hat part with the bend in it comes from the Hovering Witch Hat file and the lower part is from the gnome file. It is easy to make them fit together as both hats are hexagon shapes. Select the four pieces that make up the top part of the hat, and increase the size of them all together until the bottom edge length matches that of the lower part (same length used for the brim internal octagon). Cut from black cardstock and decorate with glitter spray (mine was old and gloopy, but the drops and blobs made an interesting pattern and texture). Follow the construction directions in the video for the Hovering Hat file, remembering to add the string for a spider once the first two (smallest) pieces are attached. Attach the remaining two pieces then adhere the Gnome Hat base and slide the brim on from the top. It should stop at the point where the two hat pieces join. My brim was a little big so I cut a small circle with a slightly smaller hole and added that on too of the first brim. It barely shows, but looks like a design feature anyway. It is finished by adding a spider to the string.

Nose

The nose, cut from green patterned paper, is cut using the top three of the four pieces re-sized for the hat described in the previous section. Using the lighter weight paper makes construction easier.  A green brad was added to mimic a wart.

Face
The face is the top half of an enlarged body panel, cut from green patterned paper and was trimmed by hand to a point to indicate the witch's chin. I made an attempt to add some contouring by blending on Black Soot Distress Ink. This also toned down the brightness of the white dots somewhat.

Hair

The witch's hair is made from two enlarged beard pieces, shrunk (width-wise only) to about 4.5" at the widest point. The top edge was adjusted using point editing to fit the new hair line and cut from grey card. As the individual strands are narrower than previously, care should be taken when curling them so that they do not break away (no need to ask how I know that)!

Feet 

The feet were cut at the enlarged size from purple cardstock. Assembly directions are on the Gnome YouTube video.

Rather than mounting them flat on the box base, I decided to adhere them together and to mount the box on top the feet. I added a piece of folded scrap card to steady the box weight at the back. 

Assembly

The box base was assembled as per the gnome assembly video and the patterned panels adhered. The box base was then stuck to the feet.

The face is attached to the hat below the brim. The hair was also stuck to the lower edge of the brim and part of the lower hat panel (trimmed down to three sections) was added at the rear.

The nose was then stuck to the face.

Finishing Touches

Your choice, but I added a black bat to her hair and a set of 'boo' buttons made with card circles layered over glow-in-the-dark paper. Then the witch is ready to fill with Halloween treats!

WITCH'S CAT

Materials Used:
Black, grey, pink and purple Medium-weight Textured Cardstock
Green Patterned Cardstock
Glow-in-the-Dark Sticker Paper (Silhouette brand) 

Beacon 3-in-1 Craft Adhesive

Double-sided Dimensional Tape

Black Distress Oxide Ink and Ink Blender

Multi-colour Sparkle Spray

Silhouette Cameo or other Digital DieCutting Machine

Main Files Used:
Simply Crafty SVGs Gnome Box
Simply Crafty SVGs Bunny Easter Basket

Other Files Used: 
Fish and Yarn by Hero arts (fish skeleton & ball of wool) SVG/Studio
3D Classy Cat Luminaire (cat's eyes) SVG/Studio

The cat was made at the original gnome size. The same hat brim as used on the witch (above) was added, at a smaller size, but otherwise construction was similar to that of the gnome (omitting the feet). 

Whiskers were added from the Bunny Easter Basket file, eyes from the luminaire, and the fish skeleton and yard were added to decorate.

The tail and ears were hand cut additions.

These were lots of fun to make. I hope you'll try them, and enjoy them too!

These are the files I used. Just click on the photo to visit the page in Simply Crafty SVGs online store.

I've used the Gnome Box file several times before and I can honestly say that it is one of my all-time favourite files. Details of the previous makes are still available through links at the bottom of this post.Here are some links to my previous makes with the Gnome Box file:

8 Ways to customise your Christmas Gnome

Easter Gnome Box

Blog: Crafting Quine 
Instagram: @CraftingQuine

Simply Crafty SVG Files:
Gnome Box 
Hovering Witch Hat

Bunny Easter Basket

Lori Whitlock's Haunted Houses and a design tutorial on Using Simple Offsets

Hiya, over on the Silhouette UK Blog today I have a simple design tutorial using the offset function in the Silhouette Studio software.  I've used it to show how to make glow in the dark embellishments quickly and easily using the default offset setting.

To demonstrate the technique I've used a couple of Lori Whitlock's new Haunted Houses (#276325 , #276343), concentrating on the embellishments that are included with the files. Adding an offset, adds a quick and easy enhancement. The embellishments not only glow in the dark, but are thicker and more dimensional. Of course, this technique isn't limited to Halloween projects; you can apply the same steps to any shape which isn't too complex.

I also included a bonus project showing how to turn the embellishments into badges, or brooches. I transformed the cute cat embellishment by adhering it to a piece of card cut out at the same size. Then I added a pin closure and I now have a fun set of badges to wear for Halloween!

These are the designs I used


... and these are the Silhouette products.

Do pop over to the Silhouette UK Blog if you'd like to find out more.

Glow in the Dark Bottle Gift Bag for Silhouette UK

Hi, On the Silhouette UK Blog today I've designed the decal for this Halloween bottle bag using heat transfer materials. It is designed in the Silhouette Studio software, and the materials are cut with a Silhouette Cameo, and applied using a heat press (an iron would work too).

The magical element is the glow in the dark HTV which glows really brightly when the lights are doused, and contrasts well with orange flocked heat transfer.

To make the decal I used a partial "knock out" design technique on one of the words using a ghost design. The post on the Silhouette UK Blog describes how to do this for yourself.

The Silhouette Glow in the Dark Heat Transfer is a dream to weed and apply and gives a fun effect.




DESIGNS USED:




PRODUCTS USED:

Simply Crafty SVGs Design Team

Hello, I'm happy to announce that I will be part of the Simply Crafty SVGs Design Team for a further term.  Simply Crafty SVGs designs and sells fabulous 3D digital cutting files for cardmaking and papercrafting.

I'm thrilled to have some lovely new teamies. You can read their bios over at the Simply Crafty SVG Blog. 

Here are some of my favourite projects from the past 6 months.

Handy Storage Drawers

Orchid Box Card

Chalkboard Bird House

Haunted Halloween Castle

Santa Express Box Card

Terrier Pin Cushion

All the project posts contain information on how to recreate these projects, just click on the link below each picture to read more.

I'm SO looking forward to the new term, and can't wait to see the new files that will be released over the coming months.

Halloween Gruesome Brew Luminary from Simply Crafty SVGs 3D Beer Glass File

Hello, Janet here with a Halloween project using another amazing cutting file from Simply Crafty SVGs. There are many fantastic Halloween designs in the shop, but I decided that I'd transform the 3D Beer Glass into a gruesome brew luminary, complete with eyeballs, green foam, and led lights.  I've included details on how you can make this 'brew' for yourself. I used a Silhouette Cameo® 3, but the SVG files used for the glass can be utilised with other desktop die cutting machines (details here).

MATERIALS:
White Cardstock
Green Paper
Vellum
Glow-in-the-dark Sticker Paper
Scraps of Coloured Paper and Card
Beacon 3-in-1 Glue
Distress Ink in Walnut Stain
Distress Oxide Ink in Distressed Pistachio
Bubbles Embossing Folder
Manual Embossing/Die-cutting Machine
Silhouette Cameo
Multi-coloured LED Light String
Drinking Straw with Firework Frill


The Faux Glass Base

Cut the base pieces from white cardstock and the panels from green paper. Make an offset of the base pieces and cut them from vellum.

Before assembling, darken the bottom edge of the green panels to represent sediment in the glass.

Curl the base pieces before attaching the green panels.  Align the vellum pieces and bend over the right edge and adhere it on the underside of the panel with clear craft glue on the right edge only.

Before securing the vellum on the other edges add eyeballs and vellum circles. For the circles I used vellum left over from another project which had been 'smooshed' with Distress Oxide Inks.

Make eye balls with circles cut from glow-in-the-dark sticker paper, with smaller circles adhered on top (white card could be substituted). Draw on red veins to the eyeballs if desired.

Continue to assemble the base as directed in the designer's instructions.


The Green Foam

Since the completed base is thicker because of the extra vellum layer, enlarge the lid pieces slightly to compensate (base pieces and panels).

To allow light to shine though the top, add a large circular hole to the top of the lid on both lid pieces with sufficient width to cover the tabs. Cut from white cardstock.

Cut the panels from vellum. Duplicate the 10-sided shape adding a smaller hole to allow the straw to pass through. Cut that from vellum.

Emboss all the vellum pieces with a bubble embossing folder.

Tint the pieces with Cracked Pistachio Distress Oxide Ink.  Adhere them to the main lid piece and assemble the lid.


Additional Decorations

Add a dangling spider to the side of the glass.

Attach small black bats and glow-in-the-dark bubbles to the ends of the firework frill on the straw. 



To Finish
Add a battery-operated white or coloured LED light string. (My lights were bundled with blue and green lights at one end and red and orange lights at the other, I left them bundled as they were).

Turn on the lights, put the lid on, and insert the straw.

Display

I displayed the brew with a 'Drink me if you dare' sign in a black bracket-shaped frame, a layered green paper and vellum background, and words in black sign vinyl.

I think this will make a great addition to my Halloween display this year.


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:
Beer Glass

Files for Accompanying Stand:
3D Bracket Shaped Frame by Lori Whitlock  
Drink Me Phrase by Rhonna Farrer