One Collection, Two Different Looking Pages

Hey all. It's Pam and I am sharing two pages which are completely different but use the same collection. I really like the versatile patterns and color in the Twirly Girly collection by Chickaniddy Crafts. The possibilities are endless! You will see below how different my pages look.

My first page is of my friend's little girl. When I saw these photos I took, I envisioned butterflies and fun banners. Thus I created this page. I used a technique which I use often on my pages which is having a slight space between shape and the paper it is near. Check my layout below to see what I am talking about.

  Here is how I achieved this look! First, I cut out my strips of paper like this.

   

Next, I put the butterfly over my papers. I traced in pencil the outline but with a bit of space like  shown below.

   

The last step is to cut out and adhere to page! You will see that it looks like the butterfly is floating.

    

   

 

 I hope you get a chance to use this on your pages! Products: Twirly Girly Paper: Birthday Girl (TG140S02), Paper Posies (TG140S05), A Girl's Generation (TG140S09), Grandma's Quilt (TG140S10), This and That (TG140S07), Itty Bitty Ballerina (TG140S08), Piggy Tails (TG140S012); Mini Sticker Banners (TG14EB03); Mini Tag Stickers (TG14EB04); Enamel Hearts (TG14EB07); Brads (TG14EB06); Sticker Sheet (TG14EB02)  

On my next page, I scrapped this page of my son (you could also use a photo of a girl for this page). He has such a vibrant personality that I wanted to capture these photos with a burst of sun! I chose mainly four of the Chickaniddy colors for my page: pale yellow, grey, orange, white and a touch of pink. I absolutely love how many grey patterns there are in this collection. That gave me the idea for clouds! I used a piece of patterned grey, yellow, and white to make the sun bursts. I used pop dots on some of the clouds and outlined others with a white pen.  

    

  

 Products: Twirly Girly Paper: Paper Posies (TG140S05), This and That (TG140S07), Never Grow Up (TG140S011), Piggy Tails (TG140S012); Mini Sticker Banners (TG14EB03); Brads (TG14EB06); Sticker Sheet (TG14EB02); Alpha Stickers (TG14EB01) What kinds of pages can you create with Chickaniddy Twirly Girly Collection? We would love to see!!!

Fun, fresh colors!

Hey all, it's Pam here sharing my latest project. Spring is ALMOST upon us.... finally can you believe it? I am so into scrapping spring color palettes right now. I used Chickaniddy brand new Twirly Girly collection for my page. You will see that along with these fun photos, the colors from the Twirly Girly collection really bring out the mood to the this page. When we moved to TN over a year ago it was very hard to leave friends behind. This page shares when they visited us. It was a great weekend to just hang out and have fun.

In designing this page I wanted something so fun that would show their joy! What better than circles? I cut most of this using my Silhouette. If you want to achieve this look just create different sized circles using your Silhouette or cutting machine. Here is how I went about creating this page:
1. All the big circles are a light gray color.
2. All of the middle circles are plain cardstock
3. Most of the small circles are the color as the outer circle except the have a pattern. Chickaniddy paper was just perfect for this.
4. When combining colors like this, it will take away from being too busy and your photos will really pop!
5. Pick out your patterned papers first to match to the corresponding cardstocks.

I hope you have to time to make some fun pages soon!!

Photo Memorial Ornament

This is by far the most precious gift that I gave this Christmas. I created this for my mother-in-law.  My father-in-law passed away several years ago. He is greatly missed by all who knew him.  When the gift is this special, it really is a treat to create. The more work involved, the more time I got to spend reflecting on what made this man such a special part of the lives he touched.

You may be wondering how I got his photo on the ornament. I have a beautiful portrait of my in-laws. I scanned it into Photoshop. Next I created a black and white, high contrast image.  I then worked to get just him isolated.

I brought that photo into my Silhouette Design Studio software and traced the image. I then worked to smooth out all the little dots and such to create a usable image. I cut the image from black vinyl and applied it to a glass ornament. I had already glittered the inside of the glass ornament before applying the vinyl pieces.

On the other side of the ornament I placed the "Little bit of Heaven" phrase that I also cut from vinyl. Applying the itty-bitty-tiny letters was a bit tricky. Even using transfer paper, many still needed to be placed individually.  To be sure that this will last a while, I sprayed it with a coat of decoupage sealing spray.

Ribbons helped to finish off the cap and dress up the ornament a bit.

To present this gift, I made a special box. I used a box shape available in the Silhouette online store by Samantha Walker. I modified it to make it large enough to fit the ornament with the bows attached.  I used an acetate sheet for the window, some Christmas paper cut with a lace border punch and more ribbons on top to dress up the box.

This was the one gift I was really excited to give this year. I think she liked it!

Make your own Rick Rack Flower!

Hi, Dolores here today to share with you an easy rick rack flower.  You can get rick rack almost anywhere and it comes in so many pretty colors that it is a perfect supply for crafting.  Here is what I am using today to make our flower.

1) Two 26" lengths of Wright's Turquoise rick rack that is 5/8 of an inch wide.
2)  Hot glue gun.  You can certainly substitute you favorite quick drying glue or low heat glue gun.

To get started we are going to twist the two lengths of rick rack together.  You will need to glue the ends of the two separate rick rack lengths together when you start so your twist doesn't come undone.

Keep twisting the two lengths together until the two pieces of rick rack are one twisted length.  Glue the ends together. Your finished twisted length is going to try to untwist and may look a bit odd but don't worry we will straighten out those twists when we create our flower.

To begin our flower we are going to take one end, fold our cut edges inside and glue. Then slightly roll the end into a small bud.  Put a dot of glue to keep your bud secure.

Now start wrapping the rick rack around your bud adding dots of glue along the way.

When placing your glue dots try to keep them on the lower half of the twisted ribbon.  See where my glue gun is pointing in the picture above.

Keep rolling and gluing the rick rack.  Your flower should look something like the picture above.  All our petals are curling in right now.

When you get close to the end pull approximately an inch of the twisted end to the back side of your flower and glue in place.  See how I tried to pull the end to a smooth flat spot.

The top side of your flower should look like this.  When the glue is completely dry, start of the outer most part of the flower and fold the petals back.  Work your way towards the center.  A few rounds of the petals should stay folded inward to make the center of the flower.  Here are some finished examples.

The flower we made today is on the lower left; it is about 2" across.  The width of your rick rack and the length of the strips determine the look and size of your flower.  The wider the rick rack the more width to your petals.  Also pay attention to the bulk of the rick rack.  Wright's rick rack has nice bulk and holds the flower shape well.  Thinner, less bulky rick rack will produce a smaller flower like the pink one above make with 1/2 " rick rack.

Hope you enjoyed today's tutorial.  Thanks for stopping by!

glass etching tutorial

Hi all, Tanya here!  Today I wanted to share with you a super easy way to make awesome (and easy) home decor and/or gifts! :)

For Mother's Day this year, we decided to make homemade gifts for all the mothers in our lives, we put all the little goodies inside a glass jar, etched with their names.  It is super simple to make, but looks like a million bucks! :)

I first started off in the Silhouette Software, where I designed a label the way I wanted.  I modified THIS shape from the Silhouette Store, adding my mother's name in a fancy font that I liked.

Then, I fed a scrap of adhesive vinyl (it's a great way to use scraps of any color) through my machine, and weeded the parts that I wanted to be etched on the jar.  Transfer your vinyl (I just use clear Contact paper) to adhere your design to your jar (or whatever you are etching).

This is the lid I made for my mom's jar, another modified shape that I added lettering to.

Spread a very thick layer of your glass etching medium.  I used Armor Etch, from Hobby Lobby.  I found globbing it on works best, even though it feels like you're wasting it.

Set your timer for about 5 minutes ....

.... and then rinse!  You can just barely tell at this point that anything looks different.

Peel your adhesive vinyl away, and be amazed at your handywork!! :)

Here is the finished lid (sorry it's not a better photo).

And a view of another finished jar. 

I have since wanted to etch everything I could find! :)  I am planning to etch the glass in a frame, but I haven't done it yet.  My awesome friend Sheryl (that gave me the confidence to finally try this) says she often gives large baking dishes for wedding gifts, with the last name etched on.  I think that is a FANTASTIC idea!!! :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Using Your Own Designs in Silhouette Tutorial + Template!

Hey all, it's Pam here! I know it has been a long, long, long time since I shared a template with you all! I have double the fun today. Not only am I sharing a template but I will be showing you how to turn your own designs created in Photoshop (one example of a program you can use) into your own cuttable files in Silhouette! That is one of the reasons I purchased my Silhouette.. I love to create my own designs.  Now I don't have to handcut them, I can send them to my machine. How happy does this make me? A happy camper. That also means that if you have the die cut machine you can do this too!!  Btw- you can also create your own designs in Silhouette but you can't do as many cool things.

So let's get started. First I am going to share with you my layout and a link to the digital layered template and also a link to the JPEG file you will need for this tutorial. This is so those who want to use it digitally can, and those that want to use it on their Silhouette can. Here is a link to the files:
http://www.4shared.com/photo/Md7HxHdF/Pam_C_vine_template_JPEG.html
http://www.4shared.com/photo/tS7Aiqrl/Pam_C_vine_template_PSD.html

Let's start the tutorial!  (Note: the template looks slightly different than the one I provided for download, but just ignore that, I used this version for my page).

1. First here is a version of my template I created in Photoshop Elements. After you are done creating your image, save it in BOTH PDS and JPEG. The second photo is saved in JPEG form. We will need this JPEG form for the Silhouette because it needs a flat file without layers.

2. Next, open up your Silhouette program. Go to OPEN under FILE. Now at the bottom of the pop up box you will see "Files of Type", it will be set on Silhouette Studio. Click and change it to JPEG. You should've already either downloaded my Pam C Vine Template JPEG file above or created your own design. You will see it where you placed in on your computer and open it.

3. This is what it will look like opened. You can't cut it like this but you will be able to in a minute!! :) On the top bar on the right you will see the command "Open Trace Window".. click on that.

4. Now, click on the "Select Trace Area" and take your mouse and hold down the LEFT click and move it over the entire area of the image. This is the image that you will see.

5. On the panel to the right you will see a bunch of options. UNCLICK the High Pass Filter and CLICK the Low Pass Filter. The only thing you are going to move is the THRESHOLD. Move that all the way over to the the number 77. You will see this image below.

6. Now with that highlighted, press the TRACE button. You can now pull out your old image and put it to the side like I did below and your file is all ready to be cut (in red). Cut it like you normally do!!

Congrats you are done!! Easy huh? Hope you enjoy this feature! Let me know if you have any questions!

VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S BLOGS/GALLERIES
Cathy Dippolito
Dolores Schaeffer
Cindy deRosier
Marlene Murphy
Lesley Walker
Gael Spence
Sarah Routledge
Sharon Fritchman
Tanya Ham
Sheila Burns
Pam Callaghan
 

Quick Polaroid Tutorial!

Happy Monday, everyone.  Sheila here with a super fast Polaroid tutorial! 

I love the look of Polaroids, because I actually used them.  For real.  The first time they came out.

So now, they seem to be all the rage again.  I was lucky enough to score a non-working Polaroid recently at an auction, which I spray painted and now display in my craft room.

 Love how that looks...before it became a work of art :) I emptied all the film out.

Having this was amazing, because I had the real measurements of a Polaroid photo.

And that is really all this tutorial is---measurements.

SO you will need a picture, some white cardstock, a ruler, a trimmer, and it really helps if you have one of those cutting mats with measured squares on them.

Step one is to trim the photo you want to use.  The REAL measurement is3 1/8 inches.  But that 1/8 irritated me, so I trimmed my photo to a 3X3 square.

Then, place your 3 x 3 photo in the corner of your cardstock.  The measurement around the photo is 1/4 " white, so that is EASY.  The reason I like the cutting mat is that is divided into quarter inches, so I am able to position my photo just right.

Now, glue that baby down. Trim the cardstock on the other side of your photo to 1/4 ".   The bottom of a Polaroid, of course,  is much wider than 1/4 inch, which gives it its distinct look.  Instead of measuring that bottom, I just took a side measurement.  A Polaroid is 4 1/4" long.  Measure and make that cut with your trimmer.

And there you have it!   SO much easier to put your photo on top of the cardstock than to try to make a little window to put your picture behind (which is what this woman of little brain tried to do first).



So remember:

Picture:  3 1/8"

1/4" of white cardstock border on three sides

Side length of the cardstock:  4 1/4"

As an added bonus, these look great with the vintage look photos everyone is printing from instagram :)

Here is a layout I recently did with Polaroids...

My husband was out in the driveway pitching to my daughter IN THE SNOW!  I hope you give this trend a try----it is really easy and FUN!

Thanks for stopping by today:)

VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S BLOGS/GALLERIES
Cathy Dippolito
Dolores Schaeffer
Cindy deRosier
Marlene Murphy
Lesley Walker
Gael Spence
Sarah Routledge
Sharon Fritchman
Tanya Ham
Sheila Burns
Pam Callaghan