Cherished Memories Card Set

Well, I was all set to upload these pictures this morning, then disaster struck. We had water pouring from upstairs, and the entire floor was soaked. The mess is mostly cleaned up (for now), and I have the ever so pleasant (not) drone of high-powered fans as background music.

Pre-disaster I was hard at work designing some beautiful eye candy. I designed the cut images from this set of cards with my Studio software based on images from the paper I used to create the Cherished Memories box a while ago. It took a while to design the images, but I am happy with the results. And I now have these beautiful files on hand for future use.

Products used: Card-stock in assorted colours from Michaels. Perfect Pearls Mists (forever red), Distress Stain (vintage photo and antiqued bronze), Cuttlebug's Paisley and Swiss Dots embossing folders, and Color Box Fluid Chalk Inkpad (charcoal).

Cherish

Sweet Nothings

Love Birds

Fond Memories

Memorable

Love

Well-worn

Cherished Memories Box

Notice how all of the images on the cards coordinate with the printed paper. Now, I know I said this box would easily fit 12 cards and envelopes, but apparently it appears to fit eight comfortably.

Diffusers in Detail

Just for you, Judith... Here they are in more detail! The following examples show just a tiny sample of the possibilities with homemade diffusers. You could use your Cameo to cut any shape out of the chipboard in order to create custom diffusing folders (e.g. heart(s), star(s), polka dots etc.).

Small Oval - Full Folder

Small Oval - Cutout can be placed anywhere on page

Large Oval - Full Folder

Large Oval - Cutout can be placed anywhere on page

Rectangle - Full Folder

Rectangle - Cutout can be placed anywhere on page

Half Page - Could emboss top or bottom

I used Cuttlebug's Paper Lace 2 folder to emboss these samples. I sponged the surface with Ranger's Distress Ink in iced spruce (Tim Holtz) in order to make the embossed surface stand out. 

Cherished Memories Card Box

Last night I played with some beautiful paper from the Love Letters (Recollections signature - from Michaels) paper pack. I created a beautiful card box that I now need to fill with cards. I purchased the original pattern for the box from Silhouette's online store, but I found the box size awkward. Titled "String tie bracket flap belly band box", it was created by Lori Whitlock as a single file to be cut from one sheet of paper. I found this size too small to do anything with, so I edited the design and came up with a pattern of my own that will easily fit 4.25" x 5.5" cards and envelopes.

Pattern for Card Box (fits 4.25" x 5.5" cards)

When cut to the specifications indicated on the diagram, this box will perfectly fit a set of 12 cards and envelopes. I used patterned paper to create this box, but I had to be careful of paper placement so that I did not wind up with an upside-down image on the front bracketed flap. Next time  I think I will add digital images to this file to create my own print and cut file.

The small rectangle to the right is a separate cutting file for the box front. It is exactly the same size as the box back, and enables you to have better control over the pattern direction.

Careful placement of patterned paper to avoid upside-down images

I applied circular Velcro closure stickers to the inside flap of the bracket and front of the box. In order to easily line up your placement, stick Velcro circles to each other before applying the sticker to your box. Place on desired area inside flap of box, then simply close the flap to stick the other Velcro sticker to the box. Viola! Perfect placement.

Cherished Memories Card Set Gift Box

Glitter, Grunge & So Much More

Rosette pattern from Silhouette online store

Confession... I spent the better part of today designing one card. In the end it turned out beautifully! I am loving all the glimmery mists and distress stains I have.

I began by carefully choosing several different digital images and combining them to form a collage. I printed and cut the tags on brown cardstock via the print-and-cut function on Silhouette's Studio software. After the images were cut, I sprayed the cardstock with a gold-toned fine mist (Perfect Pearls - don't know the name of the colour; it came in a two-pack from Michaels). When dry, I applied a reinforcer and darkened the edges of the tag.

Notice the discreet glimmer - beautiful!

After I embossed the dark teal paper with my Cuttlebug, I sprayed the tag with a silvery mist (my other Perfect Pearls - again, I cannot find the colour on the bottle). When the tag was dry I applied a reinforcer and dirtied the edges and raised surfaces.

The paper for the two patterned tags came from a K&Company paper pack from Michaels. I simply cut both tags (using my Cameo), applied reinforcers, and dirtied the edges. Blackened look throughout card comes from Color Box's charcoal fluid chalk inkpad.

After embossing my card front, I  carefully placed all items on card surface (music note design also comes from the Silhouette online store).

Here is the fruit of my labour.

Happy Easter!

Images: Stampin Up "Everybunny"
Embossing Folder: Tim Holtz "Chicken Wire"

All the windows are open, and the sun is pouring in. What a beautiful sunny Easter! I can definitely feel summer in the air.
:)

My design space is freshly organized, so I had a lot of fun creating today. I decided to play with some Easter images I recently acquired. The more I use the Studio design software and Silhouette Cameo the more I love them. I had so much fun creating these Easter cards!

Print-and-cut take two: I created both cards using the same digital images. The image for the first card is set against a warm yellow backing. I added texture with the Chicken Wire embossing folder by Tim Holtz (Sizzix Alterations).

Images: Stampin Up "Everybunny"
Embossing Folder: Tim Holtz "Chicken Wire"

The second card is a little busier...

I stained the card with Tim Holtz's "peeled paint" Distress Stain. I used the same embossing folder for texture (Sizzix Alterations "Chicken Wire" by Tim Holtz), but for this card I added some colour to the texture. Digital image is set against the same warm yellow.

I love how perfectly the digital images cut out with this program. Beautiful!

A Note of Thanks

This is my first ever print-and-cut project. I created a digital print image with a cut shape surrounding it using my Studio design program. The Studio program sends the file to the printer first, where it prints the image as well as three registration marks. When the image completed printing, I placed the page on my mat.

Square (top right) and upside-down L (top left)
are two of the registration marks. The third is
out of sight on the bottom left-hand side of the page.

Aligned and ready to begin cutting

The Silhouette Cameo reads the registration marks on my page, and lines up the cut file from the Studio program with the printed image on the page. I followed the same process in order to create a second image for the card front. In the end I wound up with a beautiful Thank-you card with perfectly aligned print-and-cut images.

Thanks!

Tea Time

Two for tea and tea for two...

In my opinion, there is nothing better than sharing a cup of tea with a close friend. For some reason, tea always tastes better when it's sipped from a pretty teacup, and fine china always makes me think of family.

I designed this pop-up card with my Studio design program using a teacup cutting file I had on hand; I cut the file with my most-loved Silhouette Cameo.This design and colour combination was inspired by my favourite black tea with cream (and yes, I said cream, not milk).

For Grandma and Taunte Marie