Category: Tutorial

Digital Tutorial with Ashley

Hi, Ashley here bringing you a Digital Tutorial.  I am going to show you how to recolor part of a digital paper.  This tutorial is shown in Photoshop Elements 11, but the same technique can be done in the full version of Photoshop or previous and later versions of PSE.

Take a look at this short 3 minute video.

Before and after:

Green Basics

Pink Basics

Basics Collection

Thanks for watching, and I hope that you enjoyed this short tutorial.

Silhouette Tutorial: Creating Stitching Templates with Mendi + Freebie

Hi there!  It’s Mendi here and ‘m so excited to be sharing a new Silhouette trick today showcasing how you can create stitching templates using all your favorite cutting files!

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE to add touches of hand stitching on my projects!  I adore the homemade look it gives my cards and layouts! I have been brainstorming for awhile now trying to figure out the easiest way to do this on the Silhouette and I think I finally found a way that is both quick and easy.  Best of all I love that it allows me to execute hand-stitching with perfectly spaced stitches every time!  And better yet it doesn’t require extra money to buy and store special stitching templates–I have everything I need just using a few of my favorite cutting files of Lori’s!


One thing I forgot to point out in my video tutorial is that when you do create a stitching template, it’s very important to size your shape to the size you want it before adding your holes.  If you decide to shrink it down or enlarge it later, it will affect the size of your stitching holes and you may not get the same results.


To illustrate how I created my stitching template I created a video tutorial for you.  If you’d like to skip the preparation for the rest of the card and to go straight to the stitching template tutorial portion, fast forward to the 5:50 mark.  😉



To create my card today I used the following cutting files available for purchase at Lori’s shop and also in the Silhouette Store:
I hope I’ve inspired you to give hand-stitching a try using this fun technique.  🙂
Thanks for stopping by, you can grab your daily freebie here! Thanks for joining us this month.

Silhouette Tutorial with Brigit: Using Fonts + Freebie

Hi everyone, Brigit here to share a tutorial using Lori’s bunting font to create a fun Easter banner.  Using this font makes it so easy to put any kind of banner together quickly.

 

 

If you’ve never installed fonts before, just download to your computer, if it’s zipped extract the files, then right click on the font file and install, it’s that simple.  If you download from the silhouette store it will install it automatically for you.

 

 

Select the bunting font and type your word out, enlarge to the size you would like your banner, I chose 5.5″h but I ended up selecting all at the end and making it smaller to fit the space where I’m going to display it.

 

 

Ungroup and Release Compound Path, you can see in the picture above the bunting is separated now from the fonts.

 

 

When you Released the Compound Path you also separated the A and R middle pieces so make sure you select around each one again and Make a Compound Path so they join together.

 

 

Because the pieces are large I’m just showing the one bunting piece on the mat but of course you’ll need for each letter.

I wanted to add some more layers so I added a shadow offset to the bunting.  Select it, go to the Offset Window choose offset and your size, I left it at the default of .250 but selected corner.

I also added the circle and scalloped circle from the cupcake flags, ungroup and released compound path to remove the lines inside and delete them.

I enlarged the circles so the letters would fit inside, but you can also make the letters smaller so the circles fit inside of the bunting if you’d like.

Now your ready to cutout all your pieces and put your banner together.

 

 

A little tip, when cutting a couple of pages I like to group together by what fits on a page if it’s a print n cut or by color if not and keep to the left side of my mat.  As I cut I move the finished one to the right, just keeps it nice and neat.

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial, you can find more of my projects at http://www.brigitsscraps.com.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Before you take off grab your daily freebie here.

Silhouette Tutorial: Sketching a Cut File + Silhouette Print & Cut Promo + Giveaway + Daily Freebie

Today we have A LOT to share, did I mention A LOT. So be sure to stay tuned till the VERY end, I promise, you won’t be sorry! First up is Corri with a great project using sketch pens…

Hi everyone!  Corri here today to share a quick tutorial for changing a cut file to a sketch.

I love this “Life is a Beautiful Ride” file and have been thinking of how I could use it on a project.  I turned it into a sketch and it worked perfectly on my card.  The paper on my project is from the Echo Park – Summer Bliss Collection that Lori designed.

 

It’s very easy to do.  Here’s how I did it.  First open open these 3×4 life cards, ungroup and delete the ones you do not need.

 

I resized the card to 4-1/2″h (keep aspect ratio).   Next, open the ‘life is a beautiful ride’ file and scale it down to fit the card.

 

Next, select the card shape and click on the scissor icon along the top of your screen.   Select “no cut”.   The phrase portion need to remain on cut even though you won’t be cutting it….the pen will replace the blade.

 

Select the text and click on the sketch icon and click on plain.  Now you are ready to send this to the Silhouette. Be sure to replace your blade with the sketch pen and select sketch pen in the cut settings.

 

Do not unload the mat.  Replace your pen with the blade.  Click on the card and change it back to cut.   Select the phrase and change it to no cut.   Adjust your settings back to blade and send it back to the Silhouette to cut.    I cut a six petal flower and used a chipboard sticker from the paper collection to embellish my card.   The finished size of my card is 6-1/2″h x 4-1/4″w.

Next, I have some GREAT news! Silhouette is having an amazing sale!

Beginning today, March 20th-31st Silhouette is running a promo on their Print & Cut items. In case you don’t know, this is one of the BEST features about the Silhouette! If you are unfamiliar, dig these details: http://www.silhouetteamerica.com/faq/solution/print-and-cut-capability. Check out all 3 of their offers below.

The first is 1 Silhouette CAMEO® plus the following print & cut related items

1 package of temporary tattoo paper

1 package of printable adhesive kraft paper

1 package of printable adhesive gold foil

1 package of printable adhesive silver foil

1 package of printable white sticker paper

1 package of printable clear sticker paper

1 package of printable adhesive cotton canvas

All of this for only for $269.99 (MSRP $357.92)
Be sure to use this link to the machine section of the shop, and coupon code LORI at checkout.

If the Silhouette CAMEO® isn’t your thing or not quite in your budget there is a second option, which includes 1 Silhouette Portrait™ plus the same print & cut related items with the CAMEO:

1 package of temporary tattoo paper

1 package of printable adhesive kraft paper

1 package of printable adhesive gold foil

1 package of printable adhesive silver foil

1 package of printable white sticker paper

1 package of printable clear sticker paper

1 package of printable adhesive cotton canvas

All of this for only for $129.99 ($237.92 MSRP)
Be sure to use this link to the machine section of the shop, and coupon code LORI at checkout.

If you already own the machine of your dreams but need some extra supplies to replenish your stash, ALL specialty media will be 30% off until March 31. Use this link to the media section of their shop (be aware it is a different link than the other two) and use coupon code LORI at checkout

Silhouette has been so generous and provided a Silhouette CAMEO® to one lucky reader. Be sure to enter using the Rafflecopter link below. The giveaway will end March 25 so be sure to enter by then and tell your friends. We will announce our winner on March 26, 2014. Good luck to you all!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

THANK YOU for sticking it out till the VERY end, WHEW, that was A LOT of reading. I want to give you something too. We have today’s freebie here for you to download and enjoy. Thanks for being such great friends and sharing your projects with us. Be sure to come back tomorrow for another daily freebie. 

GOOD LUCK to all who enter the giveaway!

Daily Freebie + Getting Creative with Name Tags by Traci

First off, if you are here for the freebie grab it here.
Hi everyone!  It’s Traci here with a fun tutorial to share with you.  A few weeks ago, a friend asked me to make some name tags and a guest book for a baby shower she is having for a friend.  The colors for the shower are grey and yellow, and they are using daisies and the chevron pattern for decorations.  Today I’d like to show you how I made her name tags so that next time you are having a party, you can ‘wow’ the guests with your creativity!
I apologize for the photo — it started raining before I could get any decent shots.  I used Silhouette’s white, printable sticker paper for these so that the guests can write their name on the tag and then peel them right off the sheet.
To start, open your Silhouette software, set your mat to 8 1/2 x 11, and click on ‘show registration marks’.  You want to do this because your name tags will be a print and cut, and your paper will probably need to be 8 1/2 x 11 to go through your printer.  Next, find the label shape you want to use and size it appropriately.  Mine are approximately 2×3″.
Since I’m using Lori’s cute bracket labels that have a shadow behind them, I was able to color fill the back shape with grey, and the inside shape with white.  To do this, highlight the individual shape and click on the fill color bucket (1st icon on the top right toolbar).  Do the same to color fill each shape.
 
Now the fun part.  Add some cute details to your name tag that go with the theme of the party or meeting.  Since the baby shower theme was daisies, I chose Lori’s adorable daisy file.
 
I resized and ungrouped the daisy so that I could change the color.  I wanted the daisy to be white, but show up well on the white background so I changed the ‘Line Color’ (6th icon on the top right toolbar) to grey.
 
Now here’s a tip — if I changed the line color and then printed it, the line would not show up well.  Before printing,  I had to change the thickness of the line (7th icon on the top right toolbar).  I changed my grey line around the petals to .75.
I then color filled the center of my flower with yellow, grouped the whole flower (by right-clicking and choosing ‘group’) and moved it into position on my name tag.
The other theme of the baby shower is the popular chevron pattern.  I found one of Lori’s zig zag borders, resized it, and duplicated it a few times to create an extra little accent.
Once my name tag looked the way I wanted, I highlighted the inside shapes and went to the “cut window” and clicked ‘no cut’.  I only wanted to see the red cut line around the outside of the grey label.
I then went to the duplicate icon (the one that looks like a little flower) and duplicated right and below until I had a whole page of cute tags.  Another tip — after printing your name tags, be sure to set the cut settings on your machine appropriately.  Since I was using printable sticker paper, and wanted the page to peel off the mat without leaving the tags behind so I set my blade to a 2.  The tags were cut, but the backing of the sticker paper wasn’t.
Thanks for letting me share these tips with you today!  Have fun creating cute name tags for your next party or event!