Washi Tape Hello and Document Corners

This project started out with me wanting to utilize some of my washi tape stash....  It evolved into the need to design a  digital cutting embellishment!

Quietfire Hello Metal die

This card was very simple!  When I had just Hello on the card, it looked a bit too simple but I didn't want to overwhelm the card with too much embellishing.  Years ago, my Mom was cleaning out her
stash and found these things called Document Corners.  So I pulled one apart to see how it was made.  The template for it has been on my website (somewhere!) for years. It's the basic template and was crying out for embellishment.  Now that I have this incredibly cool and amazingly accurate tool called the Silhouette Cameo, I converted the template into a cutting file and added some pizzaz to the plain jane document corners!

I could have make these with the same cardstock as the card base if I wanted to be *really* subtle, but I don't think the turquoise corners overwhelmed the Hello.  Hope you think the same!



Supplies:
Quietfire Hello Die
Washi Tape
Quietfire Decorative Document cutting file
Co'ordinations Bermuda cardstock
American Crafts Blush cardstock
Recollections turquoise cardstock
Pop Dots
Kooltack 3D Clear Foam Tape

Decorative Corners - Quietfire at Silhouette Design Store

Instructions:

1. Cut a card base from Bermuda to 7 x 5".  Cut a panel of the same colour to 6 x 4".  Cut a Blush panel to 6.25 x 4.25". Adhere the 6 x4" panel on top.
2. Lay strips of washi tape side by side on a piece of white cardstock.  Diecut Hello through the strips of washi tape.
3. Cut decorative corners from turquoise and slide them on the Blush/Bermuda panel and adhere at the back.
4. Adhere die cut Hello to center of panel and use Pop Dots to adhere the panel to the card base.

Thanks for stopping by!
Suzanne

Oh, Canada! New Cutting Files on the Silhouette Online Store

Happy early Canada Day! 
To help you celebrate, here are some timely cutting files!  As with any cutting file, you can alter the size or only use part of the design.

 That maple leaf was perfectly placed so I didn't have to worry about whether you were a Canadien or a Canadian!  But if you're reading this, you're probably Canadienne!
Pick and choose your phrase!
I am Canadi*n
Je suis Canadi*n
Je suis Canadi*nne
You can find I am Canadian on the Silhouette Online Store here.

Here is another that you can split up should the need arise!

 You may find Canada, eh? on the Silhouette Online Store here.

Here is a cutting file that had no end of uses!
Instructions: Open file and ungroup once. Cut six large pennants from red, six medium pennants from white and two each of the smaller pennants from red. Cut one of each C, N, D and three As from white. Assemble as shown. Add additional layered maple leaves as desired. Fold back scored tabs on largest pennants and glue down, leaving room to thread a ribbon or cord across the back. Hang it on your mantle, in your window or make a big one for your game or party!
They don't all have to be red and you can mix and match the smaller pennants however you wish.  You may find the CANADA cutting file on the Silhouette Online Store here.

 

 Have a safe and happy holiday! 
Thanks for stopping in.
Suzanne

Happy Father's Day, Barista! with the help of Walnut Hollow

When we first acquired an espresso machine, I made a mental note never to learn how to use it....  You know - in the theory that once you do it, it's your job....
 

So to celebrate x number of years of making Americanos for us, I made our barista (and Dad unit) this sign for Father's Day.  (He also got a blue bandana so he can be part of Gordon Ramsey's Hell's Kitchen, except he wore it every way *but* they way he was suppose to!  He always has been our Kitchen Chemist - and he has an apron to prove it!)

To make this, I chose a Walnut Hollow pine base.  I adore this shape! It's called the River Road Signboard and measures 12" x 9". I planned on painting it, but I love bare wood so much, I just left it.  I went with coffee coloured papers, but you could use any colours.  I tried a blue cup, but it just wasn't working for me, to I stuck with black.  Once my barista reads this, he'll probably demand a different colour....!

Instructions:

1. Before you start gluing things down, you might wish to add a hanger to the back of the board!  I was so excited about working on it, that I didn't even think of it until we went to put it up on the wall!
2. Cut one black rectangle measuring 11.25" x 5", one rectangle in dark patterned paper measuring 11-1/8" x 4-7/8", one rectangle of light coloured patterned paper measuring 10.5" x 4" and layer as shown.
3. Enlarge the Barista image to 10.75" wide and use the Silhouette Cameo (or other electronic cutting machine) to cut two Baristas, one from white and one from black cardstock.  Layer the black behind, slightly offset, using it as a drop shadow and adhere together.  Center and mount on layered cardstock panel.
4. Enlarge the cup and steam cutting file to 5" wide and use the Silhouette Cameo to cut the cup from black cardstock and the steam from white cardstock (Staples #65).  The drop shadows  images were cut from Core'dinations textured cardstock.  Assemble as shown.  (The cup and steam should be available on the Silhouette Online store tomorrow in a design called Coffee or Tea card)
5. Use Pop Dots to attached the cup and steam to the board as shown.

Thanks for dropping by! Hope you're enjoying Father's Day.  Now we just have to decide where to go for dinner!
Suzanne

Supplies:
Quietfire Barista lettering on Silhouette
Walnut Hollow River Road Sign
Graphic 45 Kraft Recollections

Love Lives Here Step Card

Sometimes you get something in your mind and don't realize until too late that it's going to take you a  long time to complete!  This design had been brewing for a while and the longer I thought about it, the more it grew and grew!

The initial inspiration for this digital cutting file design came from a very sweet piece that Julia from WOYWW created which you can see here. My design morphed many times from there! I thought the project could use some birds and these were inspired by my friend, calligrapher Roy Elwen.  I met Roy when I lived in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and he has been a dedicated correspondent ever since.  Roy passed away just before Christmas. I had an email from him several weeks before he passed away, in which he described his garden and the birds visiting it.  He mentioned Dunnocks.  I didn't know what a Dunnock was, so I looked them up.  Here, in honour of Roy, are my pair of Dunnocks. But you may turn them into any bird you wish.

This card, with it's small pieces, unexpectedly challenged me to use a variety of adhesives!  My favourite "go-to" is always Glue Dots, but even the Micro Glue Dots were a bit too big for some of these elements.  I found the Best Glue Ever had such a fine applicator and it's so sticky than it did a better job on tiny pieces of heavier cardstock than a glue pen I tried.  Pop Dots are great for dimension and the Stamp Runner is great for large panels.


The paper I used varied a lot, too.
I like American Crafts smooth cardstock because it cuts so cleanly and I used it in these colours:
Kraft, Dark Kraft, Orange and Vanilla
The leaves were Core'dinations cardstock
and "Love Lives Here" was cut from Beckett Cambric Beet.


The base of the card and the birdhouse are Heartfelt Creations paper - from their Daphne and Posey Patch collections.

You don't have to assemble this card exactly as I have - and you don't have to use all the pieces.  That's the great thing about having so many pieces in a design.  The variations are almost endless!
Happy creating!  Thanks for dropping by.
Suzanne

Here are thumbnail links to some of the supplies used in this project which can be found on the Quietfire site and the link to the cutting file on the Silhouette Online Store:

love lives here step card Beckett Cambric Beet Coloured Cardstock Pop Dots Best Glue Ever Glue Dots Stamp Runner

InLinkz.com

Give a Little Cup of Love

One of my newest designs on the Silhouette Online Store is the Gift Card Envelope with Coffee Cup Display.  My original thought was to make it as a Father's Day gift, but then I remembered being in a Starbucks while on holiday and we were behind a woman who was riffling though a stack of gift  cards before she chose one.  When we chuckled and teased her, we discovered she was a teacher who would frequently be gifted with coffee cards by her students! Sure beats an apple if you ask me!

So yes, when I had this design idea, I drove off to Starbucks to get a coffee and disassemble the cup and sleeve to use as templates (not as easy as you might think!) and then proceeded to tweak.  Keep in mind this is a display cup, there is no bottom so you can't fill it with liquid!  It's just a little cup, not a full size one.

When you open the file, ungroup and pull most of the elements off the cutting mat.  The envelope and backing will stay together and have to be ungouped again.

Cut each element one by one in the colour you wish to use.  I would have used a white cup, but that's really hard to photograph and Silhouette wants perfectly white backgrounds.  lol! Where's the cup?


Here is a side view.

When making the cup and sleeve, you just have to be a bit careful the cup doesn't "squish".  The slits for the card make it want to fold rather than roll, so give it a few practice-rolls.
And here is the inside of the gift card envelope.

Nice Starbucks card, you say?  It's the most beautiful one I've seen - and we got it in Hawaii and keep reloading it.  It raises eyebrows in non-Hawaii Starbucks outlets!

Hope you have fun with this design!  We'd love to see photos on our FaceBook Page!
Thanks for stopping by!
Suzanne

Those We Love - Tag

Here is a tag/ornament using #Quietfire stamps with a bit of a grungy feel!

 

 

 I used manilla for the whole project - because I hardly ever do and it was high time! {Note: product links are at the bottom of this post} I used the Tim Holtz On The Edge Snowflake die to add a border to the tag and coloured it by blending Distress Stains (Bundled Sage, Tumbled Glass and Stormy Sky).  I wanted some interest and texture on the tag, so spread Dreamweaver Translucent Embossing Paste on the tag and then pressed the Spellbinders M-Bossibilities Holiday Magic EL-014 into the paste.  The embossing folder was quickly cleaned in the sink before the embossing paste turned to cement in every cranny!

 

 

After the embossing paste was dry, the tag was spritzed with water and then the same Distress Stains were used again.  Before the tag dried, grains of Walnut Ink were scattered over the surface  and allowed to "melt".  I love all the hit and miss partially formed shapes.

 

 

The Snowflake Frame/Coaster and Heart Snowflakes were cut from manilla cardstock using the Silhouette Cameo and coloured with the same Distress Stains.  The flourish was cut from Beckett Cambric Beet.

 

Those We Love are the Snowflakes was stamped with the aid of a Stamp Positioner using Versamagic Night Sky.

The tag elements were assembled as shown in the photos using Be Creative Tape and Pop Dots - after Snow-Tex was applied with a spatula.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for having a look!
Suzanne
Here are the thumbnail links to the products. If they don't work, it may be because the items is out of stock.

Those We Love Are the Snowflakes VersaMagic Stamp Positioner Tags, Manilla, #8, Manilla Cardstock, 13-point from Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Stains heart snowflake snowflake frame - coaster Walnut Ink Beckett Cambric Beet pine, flourish and leaf wreath card Embossing Paste Spatula Snow-Tex Ribbon, Linen, Tim Holtz Pop Dots Double-sided Tape

InLinkz.com

Thank You Card with Digital Die Cut

 

Here is a card I made a while ago - back when I was test driving all the die cutting files.

It's very simple! I die cut the background frame from scrapbook paper (sorry I can't remember which one and I sent the card away!) using Spellbinders Radiant Rectangles and used one of my new cutting files available over at Silhouette America - cut from Passport cardstock. A few Pop Dots and Glue Dots holds it together.

 

Thanks for having a look! Happy creating, Suzanne