Sneak Peek of the New Flexi Cards with Kathy

Hi Everyone it’s Kathy today with one of the new Flexi Cards being released in the Lori Whitlock SVG Shop tomorrow, as well as in the Silhouette Store.  I got a chance to play with one of the files a little early!

These cards are so cute and they are so easy to make!  Even better, they can be made for a man or woman depending on the colors you choose!  They also stand up nicely for display, but fold flat for mailing!   I added some flower stickers and an enamel heart to embellish my card, the possibilities are endless.  This Flexi Card Happy Birthday will be in the Lori Whitlock SVG shop tomorrow and is in the Silhouette store here.    There are a number of different sentiments including Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Anniversary, Friend, Thank You and more on their way, so be sure to check them out.  That’s it for me today, thanks for stopping by to peek!

Pop Up Birthday Cake Card Tutorial with Kathy

Hi Everyone!  It’s Kathy today with a tutorial showing how to fold and assemble the new A2 Pop Up Birthday Cake Card, which is available here in Lori’s SVG Shop and here in the Silhouette Store.

This card is really pretty easy to make,  but I know a lot of people get intimidated by the folding.  I started by cutting my pieces.

Next I started folding the insert or pop up piece.  It’s easiest to start folding from either the very top or very bottom score lines.  That way it’s a little easier to keep track.   I put together this graphic showing which way to fold which lines.   The V means a valley fold, the upside down V means a mountain fold.

Here is what it looks like from the side when it is folded:

And from the front.  I do recommend you go slowly and have a little patience.

Once you have the pop up insert folded, it helps to open and close it a few times to sharpen the folds.  Next step is to add adhesive to the back of the insert.   You want to add adhesive only to the outer parts of the card.  The blue area on the graphic below shows the pop up portion.  You do not want to add any adhesive to those parts.

Once you have the adhesive added, I find it easier to fold the insert and center it onto one side of the card base.  Make sure the outermost side folds are flush with the center crease on the card base.   You can then fold the other side over to adhere, and it should be centered.

Lastly, add the presents with their bows to the front panels beneath the BIRTHDAY letters.  I also added some enamels to the bows for some sparkle!

That’s it for me today, thanks for stopping by to peek!

 

How to Make a Shaped Card with Kathy

Happy April Everyone!  It’s Kathy today with a tutorial showing how to make a shaped card from a one-dimensional file using my Silhouette.  I make a lot of these cards, and always get asked how I do them, so I decided it was time to write it all out!  For my card, I started with Lori’s new Cute Dog File (SVG, Silhouette)  I thought it would make a sweet card!

Start by loading the file into Silhouette.  I then  sized it so it was 6″ wide.  ( I wanted my card to be able to fit into a 6.5″ square envelope when done)

Next, select the image by clicking on it, and then select the offset button. (the button that looks like a star with a line around it)  The default offset is .125, which was fine for my project, click apply.  This will create a shape around your original shape which is slightly larger.

Move the original file off of your mat, and copy the offset shape two more times.

Click on one of the copies, right mouse click and select flip vertically.

Move the flipped shape down so that it overlaps the other offset shape.  Where they intersect will eventually be where the card folds.  Select both the “top and bottom” shapes, click on the transform button then click on the left justify button.  This will make sure your card sides are properly aligned.

Once the pieces are aligned, make sure they are still both selected, right mouse click and select weld.  This will make them one solid piece.

To add a score line, select the line tool, and draw a line in the center of the intersect.  Change the line to a dashed line.

Lastly, select the line and the card base, right mouse click and select group.

After I created the file, I cut all the pieces.  I assembled the dog shape, then layered it on the single offset piece.  This is then layered onto the folded base.

What you end up with is a cute puppy-shaped card!  I used Lori’s Sweet Baby Girl collection for Echo Park paper for the card.

That’s it for me today, thanks for stopping by to peek!

Bunny Window Treat Boxes with Kathy

Hi Everyone!  I can’t believe Easter is in 2 weeks!  Since it’s so early this year,  I had to get my act together much more quickly to make these fun little treat boxes for my college sophomore and her dorm-mates!

I used Lori’s Easter Window Box Bunny (SVG File, Silhouette File) and added a fun little pop-pom tail to the window!  (The pom-poms were made with baker’s  twine and a pom-pom maker).

I filled them with some chocolate eggs and sent them off to the girls!  Head over to Lori’s shop for a great variety of Easter files!  That’s it for me today, thanks for stopping by to peek!

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Monogrammed Note Cards Using Pattern Fills with Kathy

Hi Everyone!  It’s Kathy today with some fun monogrammed note cards I created using Lori’s Pattern Fills and My Silhouette.  When I was younger, I always had note cards lying around in case I needed to write a thank you or thinking of you card.  These days with email and texting, it seems like a lost art, but I still think it’s important to send a hand written note for some situations!  I created these to have on hand, in case nothing but a hand written note would do!

Before I show how I created the cards, I thought it would be helpful to show how to add these patterns to your Silhouette Library.  Once you’ve purchased the files from Lori’s Shop (they are not available through the Silhouette Store) you want to unzip the file.  Next you will want to open your Silhouette Library, and also open another window showing the Fill files on your computer.  To add them in bulk to your library, select all of the files at once, click and drag them over to the Patterns category of your library as shown below…

This will add all of the files to your Silhouette library at once, and they will be available for use through the Patterns category of the Fill function.  Now for the cards themselves.  I actually didn’t create the whole card in Silhouette, just the front layer.  By creating just this layer, it enabled me to get more per piece of paper since I wasn’t cutting the entire card.  I started by opening my Silhouette software and creating a 3.75″ x 5″ rectangle.  This is the size of my front layer and allows for a .25″ border all around. (my note cards are standard A2 sized or 5.5″ x 4.25″)

Next, I added the fill to this rectangle.  To do this I clicked on the fill button (the paint palate icon), then selected fill pattern (the dotted button).  This brings up all of the fills I’ve loaded to my Silhouette Library.  I scrolled down until I found the pattern.  I clicked on my shape to select it, then clicked on the pattern fill I wanted.

The next step was to create the Monogram Circle.  I started by drawing a circle using the shape tool.  I sized it to be 2.5″.   I filled that circle with white using the Fill function, selecting the circle and clicking on the white square.

For the letter I chose Lori’s Deco Font (Lori’s Shop, Silhouette) and sized my letter to 100.

I wanted my letter to be the same color as my background.  To do this, I first selected my letter by clicking on it, and opened the Fill Window.  I clicked on the dropper icon, then moved over to a blue area on my background piece and clicked.  This added the background color to my letter.

The last steps of design were simply to center everything for printing.  I first centered the letter in my circle using the Transform Panel.

Using the same buttons, I then centered the circle on my background.

Once everything was centered, I selected all portions of the design, right mouse clicked and selected group.  This is a very important step.  It allows you to cut just the outside of the design when using the Silhouette  print and cut function.

I created a few different cards using the same method and some different fills.  I then set up the printer registration marks by selecting Page Set Up, Registration marks and Type 1 Cameo.  I have a wide format printer, so I can print 12″ x 12″.  If you’re using a standard printer, you would set up the paper size to be 8.5″ x 11″ (from the page set up menu) and you would need to print 2 per page rather than 4.

I then sent the file to print.

Once printed, I clicked on send, selected my media, then most importantly selected cut edge under action.  Since I grouped each of the cards to be one file, this will insure that only the edges of the card fronts are cut.  I then sent it to cut.

To finish my cards, I glued the front layers to a standard A2 Card ( paper cut to 5.5″ x 8.5″ then folded in half for card).

These would make a fun gift for a friend or family member!  I’ve also used the same process to make thank you notes for my daughter to send to companies she has interviewed with for her summer internship!  The possibilities are endless.   That’s it for me today, thanks for stopping by to peek!

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