Kathy Skou – Page 17 – Lori Whitlock

Adding a Window to the Perfectly Square Box in Silhouette

October 12, 2017October 10, 2017

Hi Everyone, it’s Kathy today with a tutorial showing how to customize the Perfectly Square Box (here in Silhouette) using the Fall Leaf Dingbats Font (here in the Silhouette Store). This little box is perfect for so many things, favors, place cards, treat holder. I thought it would be cute to cut a leaf shaped window in one side for fall to make little place markers for Thanksgiving.

I started by opening the Fall Leaf Dingbats Font in Silhouette. If you’re not familiar with the Dingbats Fonts, they have little pictures in place of letters. For instance the above leaves were added to my mat by typing the letters A, D, K, T, W, Z in the Fall Leaf Dingbats. (for a more comprehensive explanation of Lori’s Dingbat Fonts, see her YouTube video here.) These are the leaves I added to the above boxes.

Next, I added the Perfectly Square box to my mat.

The next step is to create the window. I started by creating 2 boxes using the shape tool. The first measured 2.4″ square (the size of one side of the box) and the second was 1.75″ square. I centered them together, made sure both were selected and using the Modify Panel selected Make Compound path. This not only groups the items, it makes them a single shape.

Next, I sized one of the leaves to fit into the inside of the frame I made. When doing this, you want to make sure that some of the leaf overlaps at least 2 sides of the frame. After it was placed where I wanted, I selected both the frame and the leaf, navigated to the modify window and selected weld. (if you want to add a leaf in a coordinating paper as I did, make sure to make a copy of the leaf shape before you weld)

The above picture shows the result of the weld. The next step is to add this window to the side of the box.

I started by moving the window to the front panel of the box file.

Once the window was in place, I selected the window only, navigated to the modify pane and selected release compound path. This breaks up the window into multiple pieces.

Being careful not to move any of the pieces, I selected only the outside square edge of the window, right mouse clicked, and selected delete. (You want to delete the outside edge so that it won’t be completely cut out of the box.)

Lastly, I selected the inside pieces of the window along with the box, opened the modify window and selected Make Compound Path. This makes the window a part of the box.

The box is now ready to be cut! I also cut a copy of the leaf in a coordinating paper and glued it to the outside.

The great thing about this technique is that you can do it to suit almost any holiday or occasion! That’s it for me today, thanks for stopping by to peek!

Purr-fect Halloween Treat Boxes with Kathy

September 14, 2017September 13, 2017

Hi Everyone! It’s Kathy today with some adorable treat boxes, purr-fect for Halloween! I totally embrace my inner Crazy Cat Lady, so these Cat Favor Boxes were right up my alley…take a peek…

These boxes go together really quickly! To start, cut all out all of the pieces. In addition you’ll want to have on hand: brads for the noses, some twine or embroidery thread for the whiskers, some wiggly eyes and ribbon if you want to add a bow.

Glue the decorative panels and the ears onto the box base. Be sure to line up the hole on both the box and the front decorative panel. This will be where you add the brad for the nose.

For the whiskers, I cut three 2-inch pieces of twine. I gathered them together and wrapped them around the brad making sure the lengths were even on both sides.

Next insert the brad into the front panel, open the tines on the other side and arrange the whiskers as necessary. Add some wiggly eyes.

After the face is done, glue the side and bottom of the box to complete.

All that is left is to add some bows if desired and fill them with treats!

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

Doodlebug Design: Kitten Smitten Cut Files Feature

August 25, 2017August 24, 2017

Hi Everyone! Today I’m showcasing another fabulous project using Doodlebug Design’s cut files! This purr-fect mini album was created by Kathy Skou for Doodlebug Design.

Kathy used the Kitty in House, Yarn, Fish Bones, Paw Prints Hearts, Milk Jug, Sardines and Mouse Toy files from the Kitten Smitten Collection.

Such a cute way to display pictures of her fur babies! For more views, see the original post here.

New Doodlebug Design SVG files are being added to the Lori Whitlock SVG Shop on a regular basis, so stop by to see all of the fun SVG files HERE!

Have a great day!

Mega Monogram Shadowbox Tutorial with Kathy

August 24, 2017August 7, 2017

Hi Everyone! It’s Kathy today with a tutorial showing how I created this fun Mega Monogram Shadowbox for a friend. I’ve seen many similar projects done with vinyl, but I was looking to make something more dimensional. I decided to make mine with a shadowbox frame, Lori’s Mega Monogram M (available here in the Silhouette Store) and papers from Lori’s Go See Explore Collection for Echo Park Paper.

The hardest part of doing this with paper is to make sure that everything is lined up correctly. With vinyl, it’s easier since the whole design is transferred at the same time, and in the proper position. I’m going to show you a way to make this easy. My shadowbox measured at 9″ x 9″. To start, using the page set-up function in my Silhouette software, I set my page size to be 9″x 9″.

I loaded the M Mega Monogram from my library into my work space. I wanted the monogram to be more square than the original. To change the size, I selected the monogram, then using the sizing function I set my monogram to be 7″ x 7″. This did skew it a bit from the original shape, but not enough to make a difference.

Next, I added the name for the center of the monogram. Lori’s Block Font is the perfect match for the Mega Monograms. I typed the name in all capital letters, this made it more uniform and easier to center in the monogram.

I resized the name by dragging the corners and edges until it fit in the center of the monogram. Again, the font was slightly skewed from the original but not enough to make it look odd.

Once I had all of my design on the page, I needed to center the design on the page. To do this, I first drew a square measuring the same size as the page (9×9) and placed it over the page on the mat. I clicked on the monogram and the square to select both. I opened the transform panel, and clicked on both the Center Horizontal, and Center Vertical tools. This aligned the M to be in the exact center of my page.

Next, I centered the name. To do this, I selected both the square and the Name and clicked on the Center Horizontal tool. This centered the name in the monogram. Once everything was centered, I deleted the square that I drew.

I cut my paper to be 9″ x 9″, added it to my mat, and sent it to cut.

Once the design was cut, I carefully peeled the “negative”. I used the negative as my guide for laying out my design in the shadowbox.

I layered the “negative, over my background piece and held it in place with a couple of clothes pins.

I added thin strips of foam tape to the backs of my design pieces.

I then carefully taped the pieces down inside their slots in the negative.

Once all of my pieces were taped down, I undid the clothes pins and carefully lifted the negative off of the design. (be patient and slow so that you do not bend or rip your design)

I was left with a perfectly centered design! I added the design to the shadowbox and closed it all up!

I’m giving this to my friend to celebrate her newly redone kitchen tonight! That’s it for me today, thanks for stopping by to peek!

Sneak Peek: 3D Backpack with Kathy

July 31, 2017August 1, 2017

Hi Everyone! It’s Kathy today and I have a sneak peek at a new file that will be available tomorrow in the Lori Whitlock SVG Shop and the Silhouette Store. This 3d Backpack is just so cute and would make a great back to school gift for the kids (and teachers!) in your life!

I put together a quick tutorial showing how to assemble this new file, so you’ll be all set once it hits the shop! I started by cutting my pieces and folding along all of the score lines. ( I used Lori’s Celebrate Spring and Celebrate Easter Collections for Echo Park Paper) The sides of the backpack are folded inward similar to a milk carton. I then added my decorative panels.

You are going to want to glue the backpack sides together before stringing the “straps.”

For demonstration purposes I’m showing you how I threaded the ribbon while it is still unglued. I started with an 18″ piece of ribbon. You won’t need this much but I like to leave myself some room for error… You want to use ribbon that is not too stiff or wide. Thick twine would work as well. Starting on the inside of the backpack, thread the ribbon through one of the bottom holes, to the outside. Then following the guide below, thread the ribbon through the other holes to make the backpack straps and hanger. Tie knots in the ribbon on the inside of the box and trim any excess. When done, glue the bottom flaps of the backpack to seal.

Fold the front pocket piece into a box form and glue. Add the decorative panel to the front and front flap. I closed mine with a small glue dot and finished it off with an enamel dot.