Valentines with the Silhouette

With Valentine's Day a month away, I have started on ideas for my daughter to hand out to her class. I love making little goodies for the children and since she only has 30 children in the entire school (K-5) it usually doesn't take me too long. This year I am going to be filling a bag with Valentines themed items instead of candy…well maybe just a bit of candy.

I love how the Silhouette has many 3D designs for bags, boxes, even a milk carton. I chose a really cute bag you can find it in the downloads under "adorable_box_C00267_20509"

This bag is super easy to fold since all the score lines are cut for you. I used nice heavy cardstock so that it was very sturdy.

The printed images on the bag and the container are a digi kit from Two Peas by Rhonna Farrer called "Valentines Gift Packaging Kit". I changed the image I wanted to use into a jpeg file, imported it into my ROBO Master software for the Silhouette and then created an outline so it would cut the images out for me. No more fussy cutting! I have a tutorial on my blog if you would like more detailed directions.

I used stickles for the glittered edges to make it sparkle and finished it out with a little bow. Now I can start filling it up with goodies.

This little candy dish is made from a petri dish, the ones we used to use in biology! I used the same digital elements as the bag, just increased the size. I wrapped a ribbon around the dish and added a cute bow and it was ready to give away!

I can't wait to see what you are making for your Valentines. Be sure to leave a comment with a link to your creations!

Have a great weekend.

**Teresa**

Valentines with the Silhouette

Creating 3D Flowers using your Silhouette

(Layout inspired by Scrapbook Challenge’s Blog Hop Challenge Sketch.)


Happy Friday! My name is Teresa Hord and I am a Contributor for Cutting Above!




I love all things floral and frilly so my layouts usually have some kind of flower on them. I try to keep a well stocked scraproom however, I always run into the problem of not having just the right color flowers for my layouts. I have recently started making my own flowers with the help of my **ADORED** Silhouette SD.

The materials I used for this project are:
My Mind’s Eye: Coastal “Authentic” Patterned Paper, Journaling Square and Rub-Ons, CTMH Twine, Bazzill Cardstock, Ranger: Baby Blue Stickles, Silhouette SD, and bulk ribbon.

Start with the 3D Posy Flower from the Silhouette Online Store.

1. Adjust the size to the diameter you want for your flowers.

2. “Ungroup” the so you can cut each layer out in a different paper. One of the layers I used Baby Blue Stickles by Ranger to make them sparkle like the patterned paper I used for the layout.

3. Stack and glue each layer in the middle section.

4. Use a craft button with some twine for the middle.

5. Fold the layers up around the craft button to create a 3D effect.

Now my flowers match my layout perfectly!


(Layout inspired by Scrapbook Challenge’s Blog Hop Challenge Sketch.)

Be sure to come back and leave a comment with a link to the flowers you have created!
Let us know what you think?
Have a fabulous day,
Teresa

Creating 3D Flowers using your Silhouette

Silhouette "Think Pink" Candy Container

Supplies: Clear Plastic Tackle Box, Paper – Close To My Heart Chocolate Cardstock, Basic Grey Pattern Paper: Sultry Stylish and Sultry Elite, Recollections Paper: Dark and Light Pink, QuicKutz Silhouette SD, Silhouette Design: Awareness_ThinkPink_1928, Embellishments – Basic Grey Sultry Chip Stickers, Close To My Heart Cocoa Grosgrain Ribbon, Recollections Pink Rhinestone Stickers, CTMH Chocolate Brads, Close To My Heart Chocolate Ink Pad, Adhesives – Therm O Web Craft ZIPS Clear Adhesive Lines, EK Success 3D Pop Dots, Tombow Mono Permanent Adhesive

1. Start by cutting your paper for your base.

Basic Grey Elite Pattern Paper – 6" x 9.75", 1.25" x 12" and (2) 1.25" x 6"

Basic Grey Stylish Pattern Paper – (2) 1" x 6" and (2) 1" x 9.75"

2. Using your Silhouette SD, open Awareness_ThinkPink_1928 in your Robo Master Software. "Ungroup" the design so you can manipulate the file. Separate the designs as seen below. Cut out the "INK" in the light pink cardstock.

4. Bring the ribbon into the page viewer and cut that out with the dark pink paper.

5. Bring in the ribbon outline and "THINK" and cut in Chocolate Cardstock.

6. Ink all edges of your paper and cut-outs. Attach the brown outline to the pink paper ribbon.

7. Glue the base paper and the edging down to the top of the candy holder. Then glue the "Think Pink" cut outs. I chose to use 3D Pop dots for the ribbon and the "INK."

8. Glue the 12" x 1.25" strip of Basic Grey Elite paper on the side of the container centering it in the middle. Fold the edges around the side of the box and adhere. Then glue the 1.25" x 6" strips of Basic Grey Elite paper on each side of the box. Glue ribbon around the edge of the top of the container. Then decorate the candy container as you like.

9. Fill your finished container with yummy candy!

Here is my finished Think Pink Candy Container:

Thank you for visitng Cutting Above Blog.

Don't forget Cutting Above is giving away the exclusive Pink Journey cartridge - just leave a comment on all the Pink Journey Events to be eligible to win.

Silhouette "Think Pink" Candy Container

Silhouette Cutting Guide

Good morning ladies! It's time for another Silhouette tutorial and today we are working with loading your media and using the guided cutting menu. First thing first lets open either a new file or one that has been saved previously.

The very first step is to grab your cutting mat.

Pull off the center wax sheet off of your mat. Be sure to leave the yellow on the edges these make it easier for your wheels on the machine grab the mat and take it through.

Next is a very important step. Load your mat by placing the wheels on your yellow strips and turning your wheel on the left to feed the mat into the machine. This is the very important part, you need to take the edge of your media and take it tot he furthest edge of your black cutting strip.
Now we will start learning how to use the guided cutting menu. Go back to your open file in your ROBO Master software and press the cut button in your top toolbar. Another menu will pop up, go ahead and press ok.

After you press ok your cutting menu will pop up. If you do not see an image like the one below click on the "show operation guide" in the upper right hand corner of the pop up window. Notice that the sections you are working with will be highlighted in the title area and the area on your guide that you are working with.


The first thing the guide asks you to choose is your media type. Click on the drop down box and a long list of cutting possibilities drops down, most of the time it will be the cardstock 40-60 lbs. The silhouette is so versatile however that if you dont see your option you can even create your own media type.
Next is to choose your blade adjustment cap, the guide will tell you depending on your media type which color cap you should put on your blade. For cardstock the software will tell you to choose a yellow cap.
Next is design orientation. This means the direction you would like to cut, for example landscape or portriat. I always select portrait.
The next step is a very important step to pay attention to, this step chooses which orientation you want the machine to cut your image, I'm already used to the default option which cuts upside down but you can change this if its not what you like.

The next step lets you choose exactly where you would like your blade position to rest and where you would like to start cutting.
Next is our final step. Go ahead and click on the big CUT button.

Right above the cut button there are other help options if you get stuck, such as a help button and even animated instructions!!! Next your machine will make some space age like noises and feed the mat back and forth before settling and starting to cut. To unload your media turn the wheel on the left of the machine the opposite direction you did to load your media and peel from your mat! Its SO easy!

Pink Journey Giveaway more info about this giveaway HERE

Silhouette Cutting Guide

Working With Basic Shapes Using The Silhouette Software

Good morning everyone!!!
Today I will start a series of basic tutorials using the Quickutz Silhouette! This machine is so amazing and can do SO much! I will start out with the very basic applications so that everyone may learn what they can accomplish. Today we are working with opening a new file and using basic shapes.

This is what the ROBO Master software looks like when you first open it up, none of the buttons are live until you open a new file.

To open a new file go up to the tool bar at the top and on the very left is it the "file" tab, click that, move down to "new" and click.

When your new file opens this is what you get. The colored line is your cutting area and the outer lines is your paper and mat area.

Now comes a very important step and a very useful tool! The software that come with the silhouette makes it very easy to size and place shapes by providing you with a "grid". To view your grid move your mouse pointer to the tool bar above once again and select "View" slide down to "View Grid" and click.



Each square as a default is a half inch. But can be changed if preferred. This is what your grid will look like.
Now we are ready to start playing with our basic shape! Ive chosen a Rectangle to work with today which would be perfect for home made labels, journaling spots, or anything else you can imagine! Go to the left hand column and click on "Rectangle".

Click anywhere on your cutting area and drag until you reach your desired Rectangle size, then click again to set.

Say you don't like your rectangle the way it is and would like to adjust it, to do so take your cursor and click on your shape, as soon as you do that little squares and triangles will appear on each corner and line. To adjust click and drag these points.

To rotate your shape simply double click one of the squares on either corner and they turn to circles and once you click on of those circles your entire shape moves with the cursor and can be flipped.

When you are done making adjustments to your shape click anywhere on your grid to deselect. Now we are ready to cut! Again move your mouse cursor up to the top tool bar and click on the cut icon.

Next a cut menu will pop up, go ahead and press ok.


Then another menu will pop up and walk you through the steps of cutting out your shape which we will go over in detail in our next tutorial. Thank you all so much for wanting to learn how to use the Quickutz Silhouette!
This machine has changed the way I scrapbook and I'm sure that all of you will fall in love with it too.

Let us know what you think of the tutorial and how helpful it was to you?

Have a great day,
Courtney

Working With Basic Shapes Using The Silhouette Software