Tag: Michelle Zerull

“Faux Stamping” with Dingbats Technique by Michelle

Cozy up with the Winter Dingbat Font and make these sweet little stocking-stuffer notebooks!  This is Michelle Zerull and I’d like to share a pocket sized project that can made in practically no time at all.  Perfect for stockings, classroom gifts and coworkers. Make one for yourself too!

For these mini notebooks, I used “A Perfect Winter” papers by Echo Park.  The colors and patterns are great for the holidays and beyond. For the “Faux Stamped” covers, I downloaded the Winter Dingbat Font which can be found in the Silhouette Design Store and also at Lori Whitlock’s SVG Shop.  The books themselves were made from the 2×2 Accordion Mini Album SVG files that can be found here in the Silhouette Design Store and also here at Lori Whitlock’s SVG Shop.  Lori has an excellent Tutorial Video where she shows how to assemble the books. Be sure to watch the seven minute video for Lori’s tips and tricks! I’ll show you here, how to use the adorable Winter Dingbat Font to make the book covers.

I’ve been a rubber stamper for over 20 years.  I love the look, but I hate stamping on my favorite patterned papers.  I’m always afraid that I’m going to get a bad impression and ruin them.  Sadly, it happens.  By using the Winter Dingbat Font, I know that I’m going to get a consistently perfect image every time without actually stamping.  The Winter Dingbat Font contain 26 images and phrases that can be cut, colored and printed in any size your heart desires!  Yes, that’s right…26 images…in ANY size!  This “Faux Stamping” technique is so easy to do with the print and cut feature on my Silhouette Cameo.  It’s my latest obsession!

After downloading your font and SVG design, open up your design area and type in the alphabet using your dingbat font.  Look at all of those images! The hard part is choosing which ones to use!  For this project, I’m going to use three of the phrases. I clicked on the designs, clicked on the fill tool and chose the color black.  I ungrouped all 26 images and deleted the images that I was not going to use.

Next, I opened the 2×2 Accordion Mini Album files. I’m going to cut them all eventually, but right now, I’m working with the covers. I ungrouped the pieces and set them off to the side for later.

I copied the teal front cover piece and made three covers. (I made a lot of little books!)  Move your phrases to the front of the covers and remove the cut lines by selecting “no cut.” Important! Remember to remove the teal color from your pieces and change it to transparent. At this time, I also changed my page setup.  I don’t have a 12×12 printer, so I am going to cut my 12×12 patterned paper down to 8.5×11 so it will feed through my printer.  In order for the Silhouette to read the registration marks, you will need to choose a light colored patterned paper.

Add your registration marks to your letter sized page setup.  Place your light colored 8.5×11 patterned paper in your printer and hit “print.” Voila! Perfectly printed on patterned paper!  Now you can put this sheet through the Silhouette Cameo for perfectly cut book covers that already have the phrases printed, or “Faux Stamped”on them.

Cut and assemble the other pieces like Lori shows in the tutorial video. Instead of using designer paper for the pages, I chose to use plain white pages so I could make them into mini notebooks.

I hope that you enjoyed my “Faux Stamping” with Dingbats technique. The dingbat fonts are so fun to play with!

Halloween Gift Bag with Michelle

Grown-ups like treats too!  This is Michelle here today to share my easy to make paper gift bag that is perfectly sized for little treats to give to neighbors or co-workers.

Lori is busy adding new digital cut files files each week, and these recent additions are too cute to pass up! You can find the digital cut files for this Gift Bag at the Lori Whitlock SVG Shop. The Gift Bag file is also sold at the Silhouette Design Store. The file to create the Rolled Flower is also new. You can find the Rolled Flower at the Lori Whitlock Shop and also at the Silhouette Design Store. The little “Twig” file can be found here.

When you look closely, you can see that the flowers are really easy to make. You just roll them up! Both the bag and these versatile flowers can be used year-round, so they’re great values as well as must-haves!

Crafting and candy are so yummy together. I hope that I’ve inspired you to grab your glue and a candy bar and have a wonderful day!

~Michelle

Haunted House Ornament with Michelle

Hello Crafty Friends! I am Michelle Zerull from Pinch Your Chic and I’d like to share a fun tutorial for these adorable Haunted House Ornaments.

The ornaments are made using Haunted House Ornament SVG digital cutting files from the Lori Whitlock SVG Shop, or you can find the same Haunted House Ornament files at the Silhouette Design Store. The files come with many fun little Halloween elements to make  your house as spooky as you want.

After downloading your files, cut your pieces on your Digital cutting machine using whatever colors and patterns appeal to you. (This project is also Silhouette Portrait compatible for those users!)

You will also need glue and string or ribbon to hang your ornaments. Optional: If you would like to place paper on the inside of the windows, cut this also. I cut four squares of 1 1/2″ vellum for the inside of mine. If you would like to ink, paint, or glitter any of your house elements, this would be the time to do that.

Glue the window, doors and other house elements to your main house piece. It is easier to glue these now, rather than waiting until it is assembled.

 

  1. Fold sides of House structure and glue tabs inside. this will create an open ended rectangle.
  2. Fold in the bottom and glue closed.
  3. Fold the three roof pieces in half and glue together to form one piece. Set aside. Cut a 6″-8″ piece of string or ribbon. Fold the string in half, knot and set aside. The knot will need to be bigger than the hole in the roof piece. Now fold the “triangle” roof pieces inward. Also fold the roof top tabs inward.
  4. Run the string through one of the roof holes. Make sure that the knot is on the inside.
  5. Press the knotted tab inward. Fold under the opposite tab.
  6. glue the two tabs together. This forms the roof peak.
  7. Add glue to the roof. Push the strip loop through the roof sections from step #3 and adhere the roof.

That’s it! As you are working with the pieces, you will find that the assembly is much easier than it appears…and lots of fun too!

This was such a fun and easy project to assemble! As you can see, I made several of these little Haunted Houses. Lori Whitlock has other fun paper houses at her SVG Shop. Be sure to check them out. I know that I will!

~Michelle


Twist Pop Early Autumn Card and More with Michelle

Happy Labor Day! I’m Michelle Zerull from Pinch Your Chic and for me, Labor Day signals the end of Summer and the beginning of Autumn. Even in 80-degree weather, I’m anxious to get out my fall decor and start those fall crafts. Today I would like to share a cute Twist Pop Card to announce the Fall Season.

I used papers from Echo Park’s “A Perfect Autumn.” I love the colors! By adding a lot of white, it lightened the mood for this time of the year. When opened, the card sentiment literally pops! Isn’t that a clever design? 3-D Crafting is awesome!

The Twist Pop Card Digital Cutting Files can be found in the Silhouette Design Store or at Lori Whitlock’s Digital Cut File Shop. Lori has many different styles of this Twist Pop Card available, and with this Video Tutorial, they’re easy to put together.

I had so much fun playing with my pretty “A Perfect Autumn” Papers, that I made a coordinating Milk Carton Treat Box too! This little carton can be also be found at the Silhouette Design Store and here at Lori’s shop.

And if you put both projects together on a sweet little 5X7 Paper Serving Tray (or here at Lori’s Shop) that you crafted, you have the perfect gift to present to a friend or neighbor to start “A Perfect Autumn!”

Happy Labor Day!

Michelle

3D Chrysanthemum Flowers Tutorial with Michelle

Hello crafty people! I’m Michelle Zerull from Pinch Your Chic and I have a fun tutorial for you today using the Lori Whitlock 3D Chrysanthemum. Earlier, I used this file when making a paper flower wreath and I loved it so much that I wanted to explore other possibilities with this SVG file. I love Chrysanthemums! They are a great flower to have this time of the year because you can display them throughout the Autumn months too! The flowers make beautiful embellishments, but they can also be used in a vase as home decor. I’ll show you how to make them!

You can find the 3D Chrysanthemum SVG file at the Lori Whitlock Store as well as the Silhouette Design Store. I cut my flowers using my Silhouette Cameo, but these are Portrait compatible too. And as always, the files can be used with your Cricut, Sizzix Eclips, or any electronic digital cutting machine that uses SVG files.

The file includes many varied sizes. You are going to want to cut approximately 9-10 layers per stem in concentric sizes. To add some visual interest and depth, I used 3 different shades of yellow for my flowers, but you can make yours in whatever colors you prefer.

I cut my flowers using the factory recommended settings for plain cardstock. I did slow the machine down just a tad so I could get nice, clean cuts. They came out perfect each time! After weeding, I sorted the layers by size and set them aside.

To make my stems, I used 18 gauge wire cut to desired length. You can cover the wire in floral tape, but this step is optional. Using pliers, bend one end of the wire to a 90-degree angle, leaving an approximately 1/4 inch “tail”. Set your wire stems aside.

Start shaping your smallest layer. Using a wooden skewer or stick, curl the petals upward.  I also recommend using a flower cupping tool to make the petals curl upwards. Simply place the tool in the center of the layer and make small, circular motions. The petals will curl up almost immediately. It’s like magic! If you do not have a flower tool, that’s okay. Simply curl each petal upward with the skewer.

Be patient. The results are worth the time it takes to curl the petals. Curl approximately 8 or 9 and set aside in order of size.

Take your smallest layer and glue it inside the next size up.

This process reminds me of nesting dolls, with each small layer fitting inside the larger. You will be forming a “bunch” of layers. There are times when you will be placing them inside of the same size in order to have approximately eight or nine layers. With numerous layers, the flowers will be full and luscious!

Take the largest layer and carefully poke a small hole in the center using your skewer or toothpick.

Glue the tail end of the stem to one of the largest petals using your glue of choice. I do not recommend using hot glue because the pieces are small and you could get burned.

Take your layers “bunch” and glue on top of largest layer with stem. Now let dry completely. They must be completely dry before your final shaping.

When completely dry, you will need to fluff open your bunch and finish your shaping. This is my favorite part! Try bending some of the outer petals downward and some of the petals upward. Have fun and let them go a little crazy! Like in nature, no two flowers will be exactly alike.

Thank you for allowing me to share my 3D Chrysanthemums with you. Lori has some of the best flower making files available in SVG format. Paper Flowers are so popular right now that you are going to want to make a bunch! I hope that you’ll enjoy making them as much as I did.

 

Thanks again!

Michelle