Craftastrophe

I love my Cameo! Let me state that and get it out of the way first. That being said, sometimes you need to do a practice cut. I find that when I'm working on a 3d object and it's going to take my whole special piece of paper that it works better if I cut one to practice with that it goes smoother and I don't mess up my "special" paper. The silhouette store has a 50% off sale right now so I'm using that to my advantage (um or I was buying up shapes I wanted until I had to go buy 4 new tires this week... sigh). Anyway I picked up a few CUTE purse shapes by Samantha Walker and went about trying to cut out my fav with some paper that I had been hoarding... making the special lovely hoarded paper turn in to...

So I pulled out a sheet of paper that I liked, but simply hadn't used yet as opposed to having hoarded it in my stash for a few years... took a deep breath and cleaned out my blade (sometimes that sucker holds on to a piece of paper and can't cut like you want it to... it's just maintenance, she was trying). Then I got to this lovely: 

Simply ADORABLE! Now, what to do... ok so def when I make it again it will have the buckles either out of a metallic paper (I have some from Chickaniddy Crafts that would be perfect). And a few other accents like brads or something to make it even more lifelike. OMG it's so cute. And what to do with them, well Easter is coming and some birthdays are coming up. It is adorable and will sit on the palm of my hand. I shrunk the file just a tiny bit so that all of the pieces fit comfortably on a 12x22 sheet of paper, I wonder how big I can get it...This purse is about 5 inches long at the bottom and a bit over six inches tall at the top of the handles. This paper is by Fancy Pants. I hope you like, I've made some cards inspired by a recent Jennifer McGuire video that I'll be sharing next week and I'm off Sunday and Monday this coming week (because I work today) so hopefully I'll be inspired to make something wonderful to share with you. Hugs everyone and I hope you have a lovely day. What are you making this weekend?

What can you do with a Slhouette Cameo?

I must have done something right, because there was a brand new Silhouette Cameo under the tree for me this year and I had NO IDEA it might EVEN show up!

I was so excited that I took it out of the box right away, and plugged it in just a couple of days later :).

I wanted to see what this baby would do so I just started trying things out.

1. Would it cut vellum?

Yes it would! Intricately as well!

2. Is print to cut easy to master?

Why yes, it is, look how awesome that looks!!

3. Can it cut both Glitter as well as Regular cardstock?

Yes! I can make one of those awesome Putz-Style houses that Samantha Walker designed and put up on the Silhouette store for sale. (I had purchased these houses as fast as she put them out, and was going to make them before Christmas with my original Silhouette machine, but alas I ran out of time... I just had to make one though it's so cute. Here it is on my tree (yes, it's still up right now).

The glitter paper here is American Crafts POW! (um, I am loving that stuff!) The trim is cut out of metallic silver Bazzill and the snow is white Bazzill. I covered the whole house with Distress Stickles in Rock Candy and had some Vellum with doilies on it that I have no idea how old it is... it's by K and Company and has been in my stash for several years. But I put that behind the windows. The stickles made my icicles bow out a bit, but for my first complex 3d project I am overjoyed !!!

4. Will it cut Vinyl?

5.Will it cut Canvas?

Why yes, it will. The Vinyl does NOT need a cutting mat, and the machine has it's own vinyl settings that I used and it worked perfectly. I cut the elf shape above from that weird sheet of vinyl that I had just in my stash from forever ago. The tag and the butterfly are both cut out of Claudine Helmuth's stickyback canvas. If you are cutting this material you DO need your cutting mat and I suggest double cutting for best results. My butterfly is cut cleaner than the tag. I used the method of transferring paper my friend Christine posted here to transfer the stripy paper to my tag, then I covered it in Corvette Red Dimensional Crystal by Art Anthology. Then when it was dry I peeled my elf shape from my vinyl and stuck it on the prepped tag. This is going on a late to mail xmas gift

Oh, here it is on the gift which is inside a 3d purse box that I also cut with my awesome new toy :)

6. Will it cut chipboard?

The answer is actually yes, it will cut thin chipboard with no problem at all!

This was some Recollections brand chipboard that I picked up at Michaels one time when they had their loose leaf paper on sale. The chipboard was included so I got several sheets, they were in with the 12x12 scrapbook paper. 

I have some Graphix chipboard which is really thick, I could NOT get it to cut that, but boy I tried :)

I don't have any of their special materials like their vinyl, the vinyl I have came from Vinyl Superstore. I also have some metallic cardstock but I haven't tried it yet. I will keep you posted. 

OH in case I haven't mentioned it I took a beginner class from Kerri Bradford now that I have upgraded to a Cameo, there are more classes there that I want to take, but if you are having any sort of issues starting out, I can't recommend her beginning class enough! Also she gives you some shapes. 

I can't wait for my New Year's day off, and I kind of can't believe that I have been pushing this machine so hard to see exactly what it can do. I've been having SO MUCH FUN!!!

TFL!

(the printed cardstock is from the Studio Calico Magical collection paper pad)

It's a Wonderful Life Tag

I moved to the Northern Virginia area just over one year ago and I MISS my group of scrappy ladies that I used to get together and crop with. They have been having some swaps that I haven't been participating in, but when they announced a Christmas Tag Swap I went "I WANT IN!" ;)

I had some things that have been in my stash a long time, some glittery papers that I bought when they were on clearance and a jacket I've used before to make a mask, some burlap just hanging out, charms, ribbon, etc...

I used my Tim Holtz Tag die to cut out twelve tags from this old creative imaginations glitter paper, sprayed over with a stencil of dots with Gold Lame' colorshine mist and added ruffles made from misted vintage pattern paper, leaves from burlap and the lining of the velvet jacket that I cut up to make pointsettas out of. I raided my button stash for flower centers.

I used this tutorial to make my pointsettia.

I kept adding things thinking that I needed to add more... they were looking so victorian... I found some cameos in my stash from a few years ago. 

I was agonizing over just that touch of something extra... did I need a stamp or a banner or what... nothing in my stash seemed to fit the bill and I kept wishing I had already taken the Kerri Bradford class that I bought months ago to be able to use the silhouette that my friend had traded to me last year before I moved here (she had upgraded to a cameo and I traded her a comfy chair).

So, I started watching the class videos. And I decided to add a charm and cut out a sentiment and colorize it with Mr. Huey's and Colorshine. This was the end result:

I am SO PROUD of these tags! I hope the ladies in the swap LOVE them as much as I do! They got mailed out as soon as they were dry. (the sentiment says It's a Wonderful Life which is my FAVORITE movie of all time)

Hugs all!