Transfering Vinyl to Glass

I've noticed that a lot of people want to learn how to transfer vinyl, but haven't been able to find a good basic tutorial.  Well I can't promise mine will be good, but I hope it helps someone.  I'm going to show you how to transfer the scroll tree from the Silhouette Store (Design ID #6981) to a float frame. 

 

So here is the tree, all weeded and ready to go.  You're going to want to make sure you clean your glass really well.  Try not to touch the glass where the tree will go after you've cleaned it.  For two reasons, 1. The finger prints will be forever under your vinyl and 2. Vinyl doesn't like to stick to body oils and such.

I used clear contact paper as transfer paper. Some people don't like this. They have problems with a sticky residue left behind.  Any time this has happened to me, the sticky is easy to rub off with my finger.  I like contact paper.  I'm not a fan of real transfer paper. Anyway, I cut my transfer paper the size of the glass. In this case, 8x10.

 

Lay the contact paper over the design and try to center it as best as possible. 

 Rub down the contact paper onto the design. I use the handle of my scissors to rub over the design, some people use a credit card or the scraper from the SIL store.  You just want to make sure you go over your entire design so that it sticks to the transfer paper...

...like this. See how it has peeled off the backing paper and is now on your contact paper?

Now place the contact paper with your design onto the glass. This is why I cut my paper the size of the glass. Now I know it's going to be pretty centered on the glass.

Rub down again. This time I just use my fingers. Peel up a little and if it's now stuck to the glass instead of the transfer paper, then you're all set!  If it's having some trouble sticking, rub it down and let it set for a few hours. That will give the vinyl time to adhere and the adhesive to activate. 

Tada!  Beautiful, isn't it?  Family is also in the Silhouette store (Design ID #8560)

Reversible Recipe Holder/Block Frame

 I'm a scrap hoarder. I'll admit it. No shame!  I have scraps of fabric, scraps of wood, scraps of vinyl...you name it, I've probably got a scrap of it.  But my scrap pile adds up.  I have a small bin full of scrap vinyl.  So today I decided to scrap bust.  The wood is scrap too!

So recently I've been working on my family's meal planning.  Rewriting all of our recipe cards.  Getting the recipes off Pinterest and transferring them to my new plan...it's slow and a lot of work, but it's an attempt to organize. And of course I used my cameo to sketch the new recipe cards.

Okay, so lets get started.

 

I make these really cute wood frames with a clothes pin and a cute quote.  Well when I went and got wood cut the last time, this was the end of the board. He threw it in the scrap bucket and I was like, "Hey! I want that."  Well I didn't really have a use for it.  Until now. So it measures about 5.5x7 inches or so.  I painted it with Delta Ceramcoat Light Foliage Green. It matches my dining room and dishes.

 

I wanted to give it a little patina. So I put a little of my accent color on a piece of paper (I got way too much, but I wanted you all to see the color).  You really only need about a dime size dot. I used this little dauber brush, dip it in the paint and dab all the excess off.  You want it to be pretty "dry"

That one little drop did the whole front of my board.  I brush it along the edges first because that is where I want it the darkest and then the front.  It blends a little better if you do it when the base color is still damp.

Now for the vinyl.  I want to show you all reverse weeding because this has saved me from a lot of tears and wasted vinyl.  These pictures are a little hard to see, but I'm going to talk you through it the best I can.

 Don't weed away the extra. Keep it all in tact.  Place your transfer paper over the entire thing and rub it so when you peel it away from the backing, it will all come with the transfer paper.

 This is a picture of the entire thing transferred to the transfer paper.  Now you can weed out the middles of your letters and pull away the extra.  What should be left is this:

So now your word or words are on the transfer paper and ready to go onto your project. 

I love this close up.  I love the beat up wood and the texture!

So here is my recipe holder.  But I knew I didn't want to have that displayed all the time.  I mean a lot of stuff I can cook from memory but others I can't. So I wanted something I could display full time. 

 

So on the back side, I did this.  Then as I'm getting ready to blog and finish up pictures I realized I don't have a recent family picture.  This is from my sister's wedding in February.

 

Want more Silhouette inspiration? Check out the blog hop below for more awesome projects!

 

 

 

 

1. 2013 Snowman Christmas Card by Please Excuse My Craftermath...
2. Christmas Hoop Art by Lil' Mrs. Tori
3. Silhouette Nativity Advent Candle Box by One Tough Mother
4. Christmas Party Photo Booth Props by unOriginal Mom
5. Another Stenciled Tea Towel by Cutesy Crafts
6. Silhouette Gift Tags by Rain on a Tin Roof
7. Snowflake Pin / Ornament by Coley's Corner
8. State Sign Couple Gift by It Happens in a Blink
9. Mason Jar Christmas Ornaments by Vintage News Junkie
10. Merry Christmas Wall Decor by One Artsy Mama
11. Deer Head Holiday Banner...featuring Santa's Reindeer by The Thinking Closet
12. Restore your UGGS (with PAINT) by From Wine to Whine
13. Monogrammed Snowflake Ornaments by Architecture of a Mom
14. Christmas Countdown Sign by The Girl Creative
15. Elf Chalk Sign: "The Best Way to Spread Christmas" by Weekend Craft
16. Glittery Christmas Subway Art by The Turquoise Home
17. Sketch Pen Labels by Sowdering About in Seattle
18. Snowflake NOEL Sign by My Favorite Finds
19. DIY Holiday Hostess Gift by Everyday Paper
20. Folding Nativity Backdrop by Chicken Scratch NY
21. Recycled Glass Jar Advent Calendar by Nearly Handmade
22. Reindeer Card: Double-Sided Print & Cut by GetSilvered
23. Personalized Block Ornament by Suburble
24. Paper Medallion Christmas Tree by Create & Babble
25. Mini Mid-Century Homes by Tried & True
26. Glitter and Vinyl Minecraft Christmas Ornament by A Tossed Salad Life
27. DIY Countdown to Christmas Refrigerator Style by My Paper Craze
28. Reversible Recipe Holder/Block Frame by The Sensory Emporium
29. DIY: Lettered Christmas Pillows by The House on Hillbrook
30. Simply Charming Christmas Ornaments by Life After Laundry
31. No Glitter was Worn by GiveMeAPaintbrush
32. Make Easy Ornaments from Paper Circles by Bringing Creativity to Life
33. Cutting Machine Embroidery Applique by Terri Johnson Creates
34. "Believe" Christmas Banner by Daily Dwelling
35. DIY Christmas Nativity Card by Pitter and Glink

 

Addressing Envelopes with your Silhouette Cameo

Are your hands cramping from addressing all those Christmas cards?  Every year we send out 40 cards and I get so tired of writing out every single address.  My hands cramp, I get bored and lets face it, my hand writing isn't always the best; especially when I'm tired.  So this year, I'm letting my cameo do the work and it's easier than you might think. I'm going to show you how and let you in on a little secret!

So first you're going to want to design your envelopes in Silhouette Studio. I size my paper to the size of my envelope. My envelopes for my photo cards this year is about 4x8.  Then design your envelope with your return address and your loved one's address.

Now you can either type each address in individually or you can copy and paste from your computer. If you copy and paste, don't click on the text tool first. Just make sure nothing is selected and right click and paste. Font used is Daddy's Girl

So here is the secret.  I'm going to show you how to sketch these without unloading your mat!

Draw a 4x8 rectangle (or shape of your envelope) and arrange it around your addresses so it looks like what you want to sketch. Turn the cut line off on the rectangle.  Move it all down on your mat.  I have my design sitting on the 2 inch and 5 inch line.  You can see my virtual envelope in purple.  To see where to line it up, click on the page menu (highlighted above) and reveal cutting mat 100% (also highlighted).

Line your envelope up on your mat in the same spot as where it is in Studio.  Like this.  Please excuse my dirty mat, it gets used a lot and this is my paper mat.

I added some snow flakes, and moved my return address over a bit because I was afraid the pen would catch the edge of the envelope, but you get the idea.  Now, don't unload your mat.  Take this envelope off and put your new one on in the same spot.  Cut again with your next address!  How easy and quick is that!

Takes me about 20-30 seconds from start to finish. And, no hand cramps!  I may never write out an address again! 

Tip: Don't use super fancy fonts. I was told that the postal workers don't like that. So use a nice, easy to read font. For a list of fonts that appear to be single lines click here.

So I hope you enjoyed that little tutorial and can get through your Christmas cards in no time.  What's that? You don't have a pen holder yet? Click here to order one.

Card Display Garland

My son had a zoo theme for his 2nd birthday...he'll be 5 in May.  One of his decorations was this really cute garland with zoo animals on clothes pins and I hung a picture of him from each of the animals. I believe in reusing, so for the last 2 years, we've been using that garland to hang our yearly cards from.  I always had the intention of updating it...but here it is 2 years later...

And you know what?? Those are still cards from my daughters 1st birthday almost a year ago.  So while looking at that the other day, I decided that either A: I'm bored with hanging cards that way or B: I'm bored with it because I haven't updated it.  I decided that A wasn't quite it, so on to B.  Time to change it up.  I looked everywhere for foam shapes that would be good for all year round...didn't happen. So on to making my own.

For this project, I knew I wanted something that was going to last year round and I wanted to use my cameo to do it.  I didn't really feel like paper piecing, so sketching was my next option. 

Next I had to tear apart the zoo animals and decide what I wanted to put up instead.

I decided birds is kind of a running theme throughout my house, so some cute sketchy birds would be perfect!

Source:http://sweetclipart.com/cute-bird-line-art-17



I used this bird, traced him in Silhouette Studio and then duplicated him on top of himself a couple times to give him a more sketchy look and offset so I had a cut line. For a sketch and cut tutorial, click here.

 

Cute right?  I just love him!

 

Just for the purpose of this post, my daughter's birthday cards did go back up, but they will be coming back down soon.  Time for Christmas Cards!!!

 

Thank You

 

 

October 22nd marked the one year anniversary of my first pen holder sale on Etsy.  And I just want to say thanks to everyone who has purchased one or is thinking about purchasing one.

 

 

Since the day my son was born, all I have ever wanted to do was stay at home with him.  So I started creating stuff to provide a small extra income that would hopefully someday provide enough to buy his school clothes and allow us to do extra fun things or just to have lunch without having to tap into our single income budget.  Selling pen holders has not only allowed us to do all of that but it also allows me to grow my crafting business, which is my second love.  So thank you.  You think you just purchase a pen holder to do some fun crafting, but what you really purchase is opportunity for my family and me.

 

 

 

 



Sketching on Fabric

I wanted to try something new; to sketch on something I've never sketched on before.  I use paper all the time and I've even tried vinyl and shrinky dinks.  All very fun projects and great uses for my pen holder.  However, I have never sketched on fabric before. 

What you'll need:
Fabric (any size, this is 6.5x6.5)
Pen Holder
Marker (I used Sharpie, but I'm sure there is a thin fabric marker out there that might work better)

So all I did was cut my fabric 6.5x6.5 inches. This is going to be a mini pillow for my daughter's babies but I have a million more ideas circling in my head.

You just load your mat with the fabric on it the same way you would paper or anything else you are sketching on.

Set up your silhouette screen.  I just drew some Xs and Os really quick.  I was originally going to do this 12x12 so that's why there are so many extra. The font for this project is KG Be Still and Know found on Dafont.com. You are then going to want to set your settings to thickness of 1, speed whatever you want, I used 10.  And make sure sketch pen is selected. I also have it double cut but my marker is a little dried up.

 

Then watch it go! This is my favorite part. I always watch my machine work.

All done sketching!  Oh yeah, I should mention.  I grouped the two red ones and told them not to cut first and changed my pen out and reselected them and told them to cut and the black ones not to cut. Got that?

And here it is.  Just cut another piece of fabric and sew it to the back. Sewing would be a whole other tutorial, but it's really easy.  This still needs it's stuffing and the bottom closed, but for you all this is good enough.

 

So yeah, sketching on fabric...who knew?  I love it. I'm thinking muslin bags, more pillow designs, garden flags...got any more ideas for me?

 

Please take the time to visit these great sites for more project inspiration!

DIY Ironing Board Hanger by The Turquoise Home
Silhouette Challenge: Time Zone Bathroom Art by Nearly Handmade
Santa's Christmas Countdown by Tried & True
Nautical Anchor Pillow Tutorial by The Thinking Closet
Christmas Card Ornament with Free Cut File by unOriginalMom
Thanksgiving and Christmas Dual Sign by Architecture of a Mom
Itching to Etch by Get Silvered
Snowman Tag ~ Silhouette Challenge by Whats Next Ma
Thanksgiving Sign by Chicken Scratch NY
DIY Horse Silhouette Pillow by Rain on a Tin Roof
Sketching on Fabric by The Sensory Emporium
Paper Leaf Garland by Lil' Mrs. Tori
DIY Blessing Board - Silhouette Challenge by One Tough Mother
Christmas Pillow by Create & Babble
Glass Painting with Reverse Stencils by Givemeapaintbrush
Chalkboard Thankful Tree by Cutesy Crafts
Bottoms Up! MYO Wine Tag by From Wine to Whine
'Happy Holly-days' Tags for the Swap by An Elegant Touch...
Thank You for Dinner (Card) by Everyday Paper
DIY Flyleafs for Planners or Albums by The House on Hillbrook
Advent Star Christmas Countdown by My Favorite Finds
Geometric Fabric Bowls by Please Excuse My Craftermath...
Paper Carnival by Home At Eight
Silhouette Cameo Tutorial: Dual Sided Business Cards by Black and White Obsession
In Case of Emergency Baby Bag Tags by Tossed Salad Life
Christmas On My Mind by Creative Turn
Jingle all the Way! by My Paper Craze
Christmas Lights Garland by Making Home Base
We Are Thankful by 4 You With Love
Seattle Skyline Silhouette by Sowdering About in Seattle
DIY Stenciled Mugs by Coley's Corner

 

 

Sketching Large Files

So you've designed the perfect thing to sketch and cut. Lots of colors, lots of things to sketch but when you go to sketch, your program freezes.  Have no fear! I can help you.  All you have to do is separate the different colors to their own file.  So, you'll make a new document for every different color you have, making several smaller, more manageable files. 

I made these labels today for my Christmas packages.  To view how to sketch and cut, view this tutorial.  This video will just show how to simplify larger files so your program won't freeze.

Cute Postage Labels and Pen Holder Tutorial

Hey everyone! I've had several requests to do a video on how to use my pen holder. So I finally got around to it (read: found a screencast program and got the nerve to do it). I made these really cute labels for my packages. I'm old fashioned and I go to the post office to mail my packages and I thought they needed something to cutsie them up!

These were made using my pen holder and Gelly Roll Gel Pens. So I hope you enjoy my video and now that I know how to do it and have some confidence in it, I hope to bring you more video tutorials.

Project Inspiration--Pregnancy Journal

Okay, it's been a very long time since I've posted. I just haven't felt inspired lately and it's been same ol' same ol'. Anyway, I created an awesome gift for a friend of mine who just found out she is pregnant. I can't wait to give this to her!

This is the cover. I used my pen holder, gelly roll gel pens and scrapbook paper. I also picked up some embellishments from Michaels to help me out a little. I had just today to complete this project, so not a lot of time to create my own embellishments.

Quick look at all the pages. I made some of the pages, pocket pages so she could stick mementos in there, extra journaling or whatever she wants. I created those by first drawing a box the size I wanted it and then extending it about a quarter inch. Then I draw a line that will be perforated on three edges. Maybe I'll do a tutorial for that sometime, but it's pretty simple.

And I can't figure out why some of these are flipped. Driving me crazy today...so tilt your head or your screen. Ha ha. Have a great day and I hope this post inspired you!