Queen for the Day Birthday Card

Just a quick post today for a fairly simple card that I made yesterday.  One of the main reasons for me buying the Silhouette Cameo is that I wanted to use the "Print and Cut" feature.  Despite having the machine since before Christmas this is the first time I have really played with this feature - here is my card.

This image comes from Digi My World, and is called Tiffany Chibi Birthday Girl.  I downloaded the files, (they come in JPEG and PNG), and imported them into my Silhouette Designer Studio.  My next step was to trace the image, fill it with various colours and then send it to the printer.  Once the image was printed I put it on the mat and loaded it into the Cameo to cut.  There are some great tutorials on how to do this on YouTube.

The real "wow" factor of this card however lies on the inside.

This is a file from Silhouette online store, and as soon as I saw it I just knew I had to have it. I think it just finishes off the card perfectly.

On a side note, a few of my 'friends', (I use the term loosely), suggested I replace the words with "Smut Queen" - I don't know why.

Thanks for stopping by.

Michelle

Love you...so there!

My good friend Jenny from the UK sent me this beautiful paper pack for Christmas.

Isn't it lovely?  It has been sitting on my craft room desk, being drooled over by me on a daily basis (just as well I left it in the packaging.)  Today I decided it was finally time to use it (someone please revive Allison - I think she has fainted from the shock of actually using paper!)  As I said previously I need to make quite a few cards for next month, and this paper just screams Valentine card to me.

The stamped image is from a set called Gorgeous Girls which I purchase from Funky Kits.  This particular image is called Little Miss Attitude (reminds me of one of my daughters when she was younger - not saying which one.)  I coloured the image with ProMarkers and used some stickles to highlight the hearts on her dress.  here is a close up.

The heart and arrow are a file from Silhouette and cut using my Cameo.  The  'Love You' is also cut with the Cameo, the font I used is Kidprint.  I was going to use the cut out letters, but liked the look of the negative image instead.

The flower embellishment came in the pack, but I decided to add the red gem in the centre to make it 'pop'.

Finally I generated the sentiment inside on the computer using Kidprint font again - here's what it says.

Thank you so much Jenny for this paper, I really love it and I have more left to play with (lucky me!)

Thanks for stopping by.

Michelle

I got Soul....

KIA Soul that is.  This is a quick LO that I did after I first go my new car.  Check out that interior, and you will know why I just had to go with with the silver/red/black colour scheme :)

The title was cut with my Cameo, and is a font from my computer (sorry I can't remember the name of it.)  I imported the word 'Soul' and cut it using the Silhouette Designer Software.  'Vroom' is a file from the Silhouette online store, the shadow is simply created using the 'offset' feature (I think I have said before how easy this is to use and therefore how much I love it.)

See you next time.

Michelle

Make Your Valentine Card Even More Special

Another first for me today - I am guest designer over at The BugBytes.  Thank you so much Pam for inviting me, I am beyond flattered and extremely excited.

I thought I would just make a simple card for Valentines Day for my youngest daughter.  February is a very busy month for me in the card making department as both my daughters have birthdays this month (one actually on Valentines Day.) Don't forget to check the end of this post on how to make your valentine card even more special.

Here is the card I made for her.

This is an SVG file from Lettering Delights, called Kyoto Kuties which was given as a freebie by Jin from Under A Cherry Tree.  I made mine into a card by taking two of the base layers and welding them together in Silhouette Studio.  These are the various component parts cut out and ready to be assembled.

I ran the various pieces through the Xyron machine, and then stuck them all together.  I used pop-dots for her sleeves and hands to give a little more dimension.

In the original SVG file this little girl is holding an umbrella, but I decided to give her this sign instead.  The stamp I bought in the dollar bin at M's several years ago, and the card stock is taped to a toothpick which I coloured with a Stampin' Up marker.

Here is another look at her with the envelope I made from a piece of patterned card stock called 'Harmony' (My Little Shoebox.)

As promised an idea to make your valentine card a little more special, check out this link Valentines Postmark.  I have lived in Colorado since 1999, and was so excited to find out about the special postmark you could get from Loveland, CO.  Over the years I discovered many other places that put special postmarks on envelopes for 14th February - my girls and husband got them every year (of course I never knew who they were from as the cards were never signed.)

Thank you again Pam for inviting me to play, and thanks everyone for stopping by today.

Michelle

Baby LO's and Onesies.

In a couple of weeks I'm going to a baby shower for a friend.  I've know about this since before Christmas, and at the time was asked if I could make a LO or two. Simple enough, but for some reason I have put this off and found other projects that need my attention.  Why?  This shower is for a boy!!!!!  I have girls, which equals lots of pink paper, flowers ribbons and bows - how do I do a LO for a baby boy?  My next hurdle is how to do a LO with no pictures? I usually make my LO's with my pictures sitting in front of me and work from there.

So this weekend I just decided to go to my craft room and 'bite the bullet'.  After a little searching through my papers I found a few blues/denims, and a great paper stack that my secret Christmas elf (Allison) got me, called "Just Chillin'" (Making Memories).  So here is the first LO I came up with.

Just something fairly simple and straightforward for two 4x6 photos.  Here are some close-ups of some of the page elements, including the title which is a file from the Silhouette online store which I cut with my Cameo.

I love how simple this title was to cut and make the shadows for, just by using the 'offset' button in Silhouette Designer Studio.

For my next LO I went to Page Maps for some inspiration, and found just the right sketch to make this.

With the exception of the background paper all the other papers are from the "Just Chillin'" stack.  The title and all elements were again cut with my Cameo.

I am really quite happy with the way they turned out, and as I was 'on a roll' I decided to pull out some heat transfer vinyl and have fun with some onesies.

For the Chick Magnet onesie I used the Creative Memories Storks Delivery Cart for the font and the Easter 2010 cart for the chick.  The other onesie is made using the same cut that I used on my first LO.

Thanks for stopping by.

Michelle

Faux Leather Purse

Today I am making my debut as a guest designer over on Paper Craft Weekend Challenge, thank you so much Allison and Caroline for giving me this opportunity. Here is my project, if you would like to see more pictures and details, please take a look at the Paper Craft Weekend Challenge blog.

Thanks for stopping by.

Michelle

Chillaxin' Layout

So this is the layout I have been working on for a few days.  It really shouldn't have taken me so long, but life kept interrupting my time in my crafting space.

At the beginning of the week I was checking around the internet for some inspiration, and went to DCWV and found the January Stackaholic Challenge.  I am by no means a "stackaholic" (although the same cannot be said for certain ladies I know), but I do have a 'few' DCWV stacks.  I liked the look of the sketch, so thought why not enter the challenge.  I love working with these stacks, I mean all the hard work is done for you - no searching around for just the right papers to compliment each other they are right before your very eyes.  The stack I chose for this LO is 'Cherry Limeade' - I fell in love with the combination of colours as soon as I saw them.

The title was cut with my Cameo, and is a font called 'Aharoni'.  I used the offset feature in the Silhouette software to create the shadow in the pink paper - I love how simple this was.  The title is 'popped-up' on foam squares to help give a little dimension.

Next came the 'fiddly' piece - making the small rosettes for letters to spell out Maui.  I cut out  each strip 1/2" x 8", scored the strip at 1/4" intervals and then accordion folded it.  Linda from The Paper Boutique has a great video tutorial showing how to do this.  These guys are just so small, and when you come to the part of using the hot glue gun (!!!!!), needless to say more got on my fingertips than on the rosettes (ouch!)

Here is a look at the larger rosette (the strip measures 2" x 16') that I used for the journalling.

 The arrow which leads from the title to the rosettes down the side of the page was made using 3 rectangles and a triangle - I manipulated them and welded them together using the Silhouette software.

One final look at the finished LO.

Thanks for stopping by to look.

Family is Everything Layout

I decided to make my first post of the year a layout.  What with all the hustle and bustle of making cards and gifts for Christmas I feel that my scrap booking has been sadly neglected.  Just the prod I needed to get me going was the challenge from Caroline over at   Paper Craft Weekend Challenge. This photo of my family is the one that we took to send back to friends and family in the UK, and I always print out a large version to display in my scrapbook.

The paper is from DCWV  Natural stack, I love this colour palette and the fact that some of the sheets are foiled.  The photo (which was originally 8" x10" I cut down to 7.5" x 7.5") is mounted on Metallics Glitter Cardstock stack (also from DCWV.)  The large heart which surrounds the photo was cut on the Silhouette Cameo at 11.5" - I really like that with this machine you can cut to the full 12" of the cutting mat.

The hearts down the side of the page are actually from an old Sizzix die called Primitive Hearts (item no.38-0158) - no matter how many svg files and cartridges I have I can't seem to part with this die I love it so much.  The brads are from Spare Parts (the Paper Studio), and each heart is popped up on dimensionals.

The heart in the bottom right-hand corner was also cut with the Cameo,the edges inked with a brown inkspot, and the sentiment (found at an online site for wall art) was printed on my computer.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by.

Happy New Year

I decided to start the year off with a new look for my blog, but being not terribly computer savvy, I wasn't really sure where to begin.  Then, I discovered Leelou blogs. They have a great selection of templates and backgrounds (most of which are free), and very easy to follow tutorials to guide you through the process of installing them.  In a matter of minutes my blog was transformed.

Now I'm not terribly good at making resolutions, but I am really going to try (really hard) to take better care of my blog and post regularly.

Happy 2012 to everyone.