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.

Three Wise Skeletons - Carina Gardner Guest Post

Hiya! Today I'm delighted to be a guest designer over on the Carina Gardner Blog. I have this fun Halloween project for you, featuring Carina's Skeleton Mini Monster Shelf Sitter as the Three Wise Monkeys Skeletons.

I've used Silhouette Glow in the Dark Sticker Sheets (USA/UK) in several ways to complete this project, which I'll show in more detail over the next few days. Follow this blog so you don't miss any of these mini tutorials.

I used a few other Carina Gardner files from the Silhouette Design Store to finish the project. You'll find a complete list of all the files used over on the Carina Gardner Blog. You'll also be able to read details of all 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

Glow in the Dark Space Card

Hiya, on the Silhouette UK Blog today, I have a space themed box card featuring glowing embellishments cut from Silhouette's Printable Glow in the Dark Sticker Sheets.

The card design is the Space Rocket Planets 3D Box Card file (#135755) by Snap Dragon Snippets which can be purchased from the Silhouette Design Store, or direct from SVG Attic.

Here are the materials I used in this project:

AC Smooth Navy Cardstock
Patterned Papers (Graphtec GB, All Occasions, and My Mind's Eye, Summer Splash)
Silhouette Glow in the dark Sticker Sheets
Silhouette Metallic Vinyl (red)
Vinyl Scraps (blue, green & yellow)
Double-sided Adhesive Tape
Dimensional Foam Pads
Silhouette Cameo or Portrait

Pop over to the Silhouette UK Blog for more details.

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

Haunted Halloween Castle using Crafty SVGs Dragon Castle Card

Hello, Janet here with a new Halloween project. I've used the SVG file for the Dragon Castle Card from Simply Crafty SVGs as a starting point for this folding haunted castle.

You might have noticed that I can't resist changing things up a bit and as Sandy's files are so well designed and versatile they are the perfect for this.  Sandy's castle box card is great as it is, and comes with a super dragon - brilliant for all the 'Game of Thrones' fans in your life. Not only that, the file contains a bonus shaped card of the dragon in all his/her glory!

However, I needed something bigger so I enlarged the castle design and used two castles stuck back-to-back. Then I added some Halloween embellishments and the castle was transformed. I was so pleased when I realised that it still folded down. That means I can easily store it and reuse it next year.

 

Materials Used:
Grey Heavyweight Card in A3 sheets 240 gsm
Crackle-textured Background Stamp
Black Soot and Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide Inks
Patterned papers in Grey and Orange
Black Paper
Silhouette Glow-in-the-Dark Sticker Paper
Black Wink of Stella Pen
Beacon 3-in-1 Adhesive
Dimensional Adhesive Pads
Silhouette Cameo
Silhouette 12" x 24" Cutting Mat

Files Used:
Simply Crafty SVGs Dragon Castle Card

Silhouette Studio Files:
Haunted House Accessories by Samantha Walker (ghosts) (#34010)*
Trick or Treat Halloween Banner by Emily Dyer (#97615)
Spider Web by Silhouette (#2954)*
Spider & Web by Sarah Bailey (spider) (#33514)
Bats by Lori Whitlock (#156856)
*also available as SVGs



Resizing and Cutting

I enlarged all the castle card components so that the biggest piece would fit onto A3 cardstock approx. 11.5" x 16.5". The file piece shown is roughly 8" x 16".  The I cut double the number of card bases, panels and door frames from the grey cardstock.  I also cut additional small towers to put on the inside of the castle.

Decorating the Card/Castle Base

I used black distress oxide ink to blend some ink around the the edges of the inside parts of the castle (parts not covered with panels).

Decorating the Panels

The panels were stamped with a texture background stamp. This is an old one from Personal Impressions (P765). I think it may be discontinued as I couldn't find it online. It's so long since I used a quality large mounted stamp like this, it has a real luxury feel to it!  However, most texture stamps would work, especially brickwork, stone or marble.

I then blended Distress Oxide ink around the edges with a mini sponge dauber and also lightly rubbed some Frayed Burlap ink over the surface to give the panels a bit of colour variation.

Windows and Doors

Using the panels as a template, I drew the windows onto the bases. On the front of the castle I added scraps of glow-in-the-dark sticker to cover the window openings (they will later be covered with the panels). As an alternative I cut out the windows on the rear of the castle with a craft knife and placed orange vellum over the windows.  I preferred the glow-in-the-dark ones, but the vellum is an adequate alternative.

Attaching the Panels

The window frames, flagpoles and battlement strips were cut from black paper, the flags from orange, and the roof pieces from grey patterned paper.  It is a good idea to made up the panels before attaching them to the base. Sandwiching the vellum or glow-in-the-dark paper between the base and the panels really shows the detail in the window frames off nicely.  The picture below shows the vellum version.

Card Assembly

Both written (PDF) and video instructions are available for this file and it is very straightforward to put together. I assembled both halves of the castle independently, remembering to put the rear panels on the inside of the card rather than the back, where the two castles are joined together. I reversed one of the castles so the towers matched up on each side, but it would look fine with them alternating too.



Decorations

The two ghosts were cut from the glow-in-the-dark sticker paper, with a second set in reverse. I sandwiched a narrow strip of grey card between each matching set which was used to attach the ghosts above the castle walls.

I substituted the door for a glow-in-the-dark panel with a spider's web sandwiched between the two door frame parts.

The spider was made from several layers of black and orange card and mounted proud of the web on adhesive foam pads.

The 'Trick or Treat' banner was cut from black paper and layered with some orange paper behind and mounted above the door frame. A black Wink of Stella pen was used to give the black parts a bit of gloss and shine.

Finally, a few bats were added on the flag and in other random places.



Here is the castle in the dark with the ghosts a-glowing!

There are so many options for decorating this Halloween castle, it is hard to know when to stop!


Bye for now,
Janet, DT Member Simply Crafty SVGS


Blog: Crafting Quine 
Instagram: @CraftingQuine



Simply Crafty SVG Files:
Dragon Castle Card

Dinosaur Card with Peel-Off Glow-in-the-Dark Sticker

Hello,  Today I've posted a tutorial on the Silhouette UK Blog on how to incorporate a fun peel-off sticker into your card design. 

As well as a great card, your recipient has a sticker that can be removed and stuck onto a smooth surface, a fun addition to a card for a child, or even a young-at-heart adult! For the sticker itself I've used the Silhouette Glow-in-the-Dark Sticker Paper and, almost as importantly, its backing paper!

Its a great way to get more use from your cards and the glow in the dark element both on the card and as a sticker provide even more fun for a young recipient.

Do pop over to Silhouette UK Blog to read the full tutorial, its such a fun way to enhance your cards!

SILHOUETTE FILES USED:
Dinosaurs Set 1 by Studio Estrado #77106
Intricate Leaves Background by Jamie Koay #30041
HoHoHo [speech bubble] by  Silhouette #52684