Hello Sunshine!

 

Hello, sunshine!

I made this card for a friend of mine who has been facing some hard times.  I wanted something sunny and happy and fun!

Here's a close up of the center of my sun.  I added a few gems because everything is better with bling.  I inked the edges of everything with black.  I was worried the black would be too harsh, but I didn't want to use brown and didn't have some gray ink.  I gotta get some of that...

I made a little cloud, cut it out and put my stamp on there.  This was a cheapo, dollar bin stamp and I like it.

Although this was super simple, I really enjoyed making it.  The paper is from The Basics stack by The Paper Studio.  I designed this in the Silhouette Studio software.  I thought I'd share the file in case you all were interested in it.  Here's the link:

Sunburst and Cloud Studio File

Happy Crafting!!

Cheryl

Box Cards!

For all you Silhouette users out there, have you tried anything from svgcuts.com yet?  I purchased my first set of files from them a few weeks ago and I really like them.  I made a couple of the box cards for Mother's Day and I'm finally gonna share one of them...

Aren't these box cards fun?  If you've never made one, they fold flat and will fit in an A2 sized envelope.  Now that I've seen how they're put together, I think I'm going to design a few of my own.  I have all kinds of ideas....

I used the print and cut feature on my Silhouette for the first time here.  you can see my printing wasn't perfectly lined up on my oval, but I think I figured out what I did and I've gotten better at it since then. 

 Here's a front view of the card sitting on my desk.

And here's what it looks like folded up!  I had a great time making this.  I would recommend you try one if you access to the file.

On another note, I have wanted to start designing SVG files for a long time.  I have finally finished my first one.  It's a flower and I'll have it posted in a day or two for you to download.  I have to make sure I have it all done correctly, then I'll be sharing with you guys.

Until next time...

Cheryl

Fun Chapstick Holder

My mom's birthday was a couple weeks ago and in lieu of a card, I made a little "Happy Birthday" chapstick holder.  Here it is...

I got a new paper pack from Hobby Lobby the last time they had a 50% off sale and I've been waiting to use it.  It's called Ninth Street by The Paper Studio.  I {heart} this paper!

I found the dimensions for the chapstick holder online, then designed it on my Silhouette.  The flowers and label are some free SVG's I found on Pinterest.  I cut them out and inked all the edges with charcoal ink.

I adhered three pieces of twine to the teal paper, then added the front and back panels and the embellishments on the front.

I added the strip in the middle and the side panels inside.  I added the chapstick (It's organic by Sierra Bees from iherb.com - Love it!), signed it and voila!  All done!  It was so simple and I think it's nice to do something different from a card occasionally.  I am working on tweaking the Silhouette file, then I'll be offering that for download, if anyone is interested.

I hope you're all having a great week so far.  We're halfway through...

Cheryl

Nurses' Day Cards

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope you had a fabulous mother's day weekend...even if you're not a mother (like me!).  I had a nice lazy weekend but surely sad to see it end.  I thought I'd share the above pic with you all just because they're so pretty.  My hubby's aunt grew these peonies and brought me some to enjoy.  Gorgeous!!!

I wanted to share a couple of cards with you that I made over the weekend.  I was asked to make a card for a nursing school graduate, then asked to make a card for someone for Nurses' Day.  I had no clue what to design, so I went to Pinterest.  I found some inspiration there, of course.  Here's a link to the inspiration card: Scrub Card.  And here are mine:

First of all - Please disregard the bad photos.  I forgot to take pictures until I got to work, then had to take them at my desk under the lovely fluorescent lights.

I designed the card on my Silhouette, using basic shapes for most of it.  I downloaded the stethoscope, band aids and scissors all in one file from the silhouette store.

For the bandages, I accidentally discovered that if I cover some brown paper with my peach-with-silver-polka-dot washi tape, it looks like band aids!  So, that's what I did.  Aren't they cute?

This is my favorite part of the card.  I cut the red R.N. portion with the cameo, then did print and cut for the name badge.  I love my Cameo!!  This was the first time I've used that feature and I. LOVE. IT.

I was really pleased with how it turned out.  Although, as I was editing my pictures, I did think it odd that I made this body card with no head or arms.  Freaky.

My boss also asked for this card to be made in blue to match the scrubs they wore in nursing school.  Here's that one:

You can see the "stitching" marks around the collar and pocket.  I added those in the design on silhouette and it cut them for me.  How genius is that cameo?!?!?

Have a great Monday!

Cheryl

Owl Easel Card

Here's a fun easel card I made on the Silhouette a few weeks ago.  I downloaded it from the Silhouette store and I believe it was designed by Lori Whiltock.  I've never made an easel card before and it couldn't have been easier!

Here's a side view of the card. As you can see, I added the beak and feet using foam dots so they would stand out.  You can't tell in this picture, but I also coated them with Glossy Accents to make them shiny.

This is the view from the inside.  As you can see, there's plenty of room to write, which I like.  And the branch is kinda cute, too!

This is what it looks like all set up.  I really enjoyed making and giving this card.  I am planning to make a few more to have on hand, since it will work for a birthday, thank you or just a card to say "Howdy!".

That's all for today, folks.  I wish you all a fabulous day!

Cheryl

I got a Silhouette Cameo!!

I am so excited to tell you all that I finally got a Silhouette Cameo.  I realize I'm a little behind the times with this, but I had to weigh out the options and be sure before I put out more money on a toy...I mean, necessity. I have used my Cricut Expression faithfully for many years and have worn that baby out.  About a year and a half ago, the Silhouette caught my eye.  Some of the blogs I follow had switched over from Cricut to Silhouette and their creations were super cute.  Since that time, I have researched everything it could do and decided I wanted one.  At Christmas, I got enough money to purchase one, so I did.

I. am. in. LOVE.

That's the best thing I can say about it.  There are obviously many differences between the Cameo and the Expression, but one similarity is the instruction manual.  It's not much help!  At lease the Cameo comes with a manual, unlike the Cricut, but it wasn't much help to me.  The first couple of days I used it, I actually regretted my purchase.  It seemed very complicated and tedious to me, unlike my Gypsy, at which I'm a whiz now because I've used it a gazillion times.  Once I started playing with the Cameo, it got better and better.  I watched several videos on YouTube and read several blogs and I'm learning pretty quickly.  

As time goes on and I learn some tricks, I'll be sure to share them with you.  For now, I thought I'd share my first project with the Silhouette.  As I mentioned in my last post, I missed several weeks of work because I was in the hospital.  I wanted to make little goodie bags of candy for my co-workers to say thank you because they covered my job and were so kind to me.  So, I downloaded a free file for a bag, made a liner and added some embellishments.  I forgot to take the pictures until I got to work, so pardon the ugly background.  Here they are:

   The bag was a free download I found on Pinterest, but I failed to save the link where I got it.  The flowers are from the Silhouette online store.

I made these flowers with graduated circles and the leaves from the above cut.

I made this rosette by cutting 2 strips of paper that were 1.25" x 12".  I then scored them every half inch, folded and glued together.  The heart was a free shape that came with my Silhouette.

The butterflies are a cut that came with my Silhouette.

These were simple little bags to make and I filled them with candy and little thank you notes.  I'm learning more about my Silhouette every day and I can't wait to share what I'm learning with you all.  In case you're interested, I bought mine directly from Silhouette on a promotion for $269.99.  It came with a mat, a blade, a bonus rolling tote (super nice), the software, a $10 and $25 gift card to the Silhouette store.  I am still recovering, so I'm not up to big projects or lots of work yet, but I will be soon.  

I wanted to let you know one other thing....

As I mentioned last week, we have to move.  I just received a call that our application was approved, so I will be moving at the end of this month.  Because of this, I will have to start packing up my desk (sigh...) and my beloved new Cameo (Boo Hoo) this weekend.  It will probably be a few weeks before I'm back to crafting, but in the meantime, I'd like to hear from you.  Do you have the Silhouette?  If so, do you like it better/worse than the Cricut?  What's your favorite feature?  I love to hear what other people think!  Especially you guys...

Have a blessed day!

Cheryl