Category: Tutorial

Strawberry Card Tutorial with Traci

Hi Lori fans!  It’s Traci from Artsy Albums and I’m glad to be back on Lori’s blog today with a fun tutorial for making cards out of Lori’s cute new strawberry files.  I’ll show you two different card styles today and lots of “how to” pictures … so let’s get started!

These adorable strawberry designs are actually “print & cut” designs, but we are going to cut all of the pieces for a more layered look.

Let’s start with the first flip up Strawberry Jar card.  First, I opened the design and created an offset to make my card base.  I set my offset around the jar to 0.125.

Once I had the offset for the jar, I created a mirror image.  I went to the Replicate button and clicked “Mirror Above”.

I moved my two jars tops together and welded them so that I could fold the shape in half to create the card base.  I also used the type tool to type my sentiment for a print and cut.  (You can search Lori’s site for lots of Print & Cut tutorials if needed).  When you are ready to cut your shape, be sure that “cut edge” is highlighted in your cut setting window.

Once my white card base was cut, I cut out the other pieces and layered them on the front of the card.  Again, since this was originally created as a print design, you will want to be sure that “cut edge” is highlighted in your cut setting window before cutting out each piece.   By the way, the paper I used is from an Echo Park collection called Jack & Jill (Jill) designed by Lori also!

The second design is a pull-out card.  First, I opened the design and ungrouped all of my pieces.

I located the solid “basket” piece first and moved everything else off of my software mat.   Next, I created an internal offset (setting .20) so that I would have a card base that would be small enough to slide back into the basket.

Once I had the inset piece for the basket, I created an offset on each of the three strawberries so that when I cut the card, the strawberries would have a white edge.  I then welded the strawberry offsets to my basket inset.  To simplify, you are welding a smaller basket and three larger strawberries together. (Ignore my second set of strawberries in the photo … you don’t need them).

Once you have the strawberries welded to your basket inset, you can add a sentiment with the type tool if desired and then do a print & cut for the base of the card.

For the card pocket, locate the original blue “basket” piece and create a mirror image above the shape.

Move the pieces so that they touch along the future fold line.  Weld them together and cut the piece out.  Now you should have a basket piece that looks like the photo below.  Fold the piece in half and add adhesive along the right and left sides to create a pocket.  Leave the top free of adhesive so that the white card you created in previous steps can slide down into the pocket.

Finally, cut out the remaining pieces of the basket and strawberries and adhere them to your base card and pocket.  So Cute!

Thanks so much for letting me share these two cards with you.  I hope you found the tutorial helpful!  I would love to have you stop by my blog at Artsy Albums sometime!  Tell me you found me here at Lori’s and leave me a comment to introduce yourself!

Link to Strawberry File Set

 

Permanent Vinyl Tutorial with Kathy

Hi Everyone!  It’s Kathy today with a fun tutorial using Permanent Adhesive Vinyl to customize some wine glasses!  We have some good friends with a pool who gave us an open invitation to swim this summer!   I wanted to give them a little something as a thank you for their generosity.  I found these acrylic wine glasses at HomeGoods and thought they’d be the perfect gift!

It was so simple to add the little fish from Lori’s Island Paradise Set (here in the Silhouette Store).

1.  I started with some Acrylic Wine Glasses (good for the pool area, they don’t shatter!) and some colorful permanent (outdoor) vinyl sheets.

2.  Load your design onto the virtual mat and size it for your object.  I added a rectangle around them to make it easier to remove the unwanted pieces of vinyl from around the design without wasting vinyl.  Change the cut settings to Vinyl. (blade depth of 2)

3.  Place the  vinyl onto the mat and feed it into the Cameo.  You can omit the mat if you’re using a 12″ sheet (choose load media), but I’m used to using my mat when I use smaller pieces of vinyl.

4.  Once the design is out, peel  away the unwanted pieces of the vinyl.

5.  I cut the eyes from white and black vinyl and peeled the back off the vinyl and added them to my fish.  It was easy to do this with simple, little pieces.  I thought it would be easier to add the eye layer before placing the fish on the glass.  For more complex or intricate designs you would want to use transfer tape to add any layers.

6.  Transfer tape makes it easy to place a design on your object.  First cut a piece about the same size as your design.  Peel one edge of the tape from the backing and place the tape on the edge of the vinyl backing.  Peel it off, while pressing it over the design.

7.  Once the back is completely off, rub your scraper over the design to make sure it all sticks to the tape.

8.  Peel the tape off, the design should come with it.  If it doesn’t, press it back down and go over it again with your scraper.

9.  Place the tape with your design over the glass.  Starting from the center of the design, start pressing onto your glass.  Move outward, pressing out any air bubbles.  Once the design is down rub over it with your fingers again to make sure it’s on securely.

10.   Slowly peel the transfer tape off the glass.

I’m really happy with the way they turned out!  It’s such a nice way to personalize a gift!  You could also do monograms!

That’s it for me today!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Octagon Teapot Tutorial by Corri

Hi everyone!  Corri here today sharing this beautiful new 3D Teapot 2 SVG (Silhouette file HERE) that Lori added this week.  This would make a great gift for Mother’s Day!  You could fill it with your Mom’s favorite tea bags or with a small gift and a gift card.

I used paper from the Lori’s Jack & Jill Collection for Echo Park Paper.  This large floral print is perfect for the teapot.

To assemble the teapot, first cut everything out from the papers of your choice.

If you choose a detailed pattern paper like this for your project, I suggest leaving all the pieces on your mat.  That way the pattern will match up easily as you glue the panels in place.

Next,  apply glue to the glue tabs of the two teapot pieces (white), glue them together and the glue the end tabs together to form a circle.

Now you are ready to start forming the octagon shape.

 

Apply glue to the glue tabs as show and line them up with the adjacent panel.  It helps to fold the panel with the glue tab out, apply the glue and then line up the panel as closely as possible to the score line.  Be patient on this portion of the assembly.  Wait a few seconds to allow the glue to dry slightly before moving on to the next tab to prevent shifting.

Continue all the way around glueing the tabs in place.  Follow the same steps with the base and lid.

Glue the base in place. Glue the two pieces of the handle together folding taps out and then glue in place.  Fold the spout in half, fold tabs out and glue in place.

Finally, glue the decorative panels in place. So cute!!

Be sure to check out all the new files added to the shop this week.

Monogramed Home Decor with Traci

Hi everyone, it’s Traci from Artsy Albums, and I’m back to share an easy home decor project with you.  This monogramed piece would make a wonderful gift for a wedding, shower, new baby, or new home!

I framed mine on paper from Carta Bella’s Yesterday collection, designed by Lori.  I added some Prima flowers and stickers from the collection to add some extra pops of color.

I’ve seen monograms like this cut from vinyl and placed in clear “floating” frames, cut from fabric and embroidered onto pillows, or incorporated into invitations and party decor.  You could include a wedding couple’s names in the center as I did, or use a last name, an address, or a new baby’s name. Lori gives you four designs for each letter so you have lots of possibilities for this wonderful set of monograms!

The Mega Monogram Set is located in the SVG Shop HERE. Each letter is available individually in the Silhouette Design Store HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

Traci

www.artsyalbums.com

 

Using Your 6×6 Paper Pad Scraps – Tutorial with Tya

Hi everyone! It’s Tya here to share with you a fun tutorial today. I adore, like really adore 6×6 paper pads. They are the perfect size for card making, but inevitably I am always stuck with oodles of little scraps after I am done with my projects, so today, I wanted to share with you a quick and easy tutorial on how to use up those scraps.

 

 

First-  I gathered up my supplies to make my card. I am using the 6×6 paper pad from the Jill collection that Lori designed for Echo Park. I am also using the decorative brads, chipboard stickers and element stickers.

I also used a sheet of kraft cardstock.

Next I opened up the Silhouette. I like to used the grid function when I am dealing with scraps. The Grid is on the far right side of the toolbar. To make it true to size, I do 1 inch spacing and 1 divisions – this basically makes (12)  1 inch squares along the top and sides so it is just like the Silhouette mat.

Now, I find my card shapes and lay them out on the workspace. I try and utilize the mat and lay my shapes out evenly so they will be easy to cut out.  I used the Card 1 shape (Lori Whitlock Shop) or a2 Flower Card (Silhouette Store).

 

Now this next step, it’s just what I do when I cut scraps, I am sure there is an easier way, but this is what I like to do because it is pretty fool proof. So I take a scrap piece of paper and cut out all my shapes. I like to do either white or kraft because I save these and can use them on another card. So I lay out all my shapes and cut them out.

 

Here is where those pesky cut marks, like the one below, that we get on our mats come in handy. I take my real papers and basically lay them over the cut marks that were previously made.

Now the shapes are all cut out and we were able to use up some of those little scraps- AND we only had to make ONE cut! This is such a time saver! No having to guess or measure exactly where the papers are, just lay them over the cut marks and you are set!

 Here is the finished card –

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope I have inspired you to pull out all those scraps and have fun creating beautiful cards! Have a great day!