Showing posts with label cameo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cameo. Show all posts

Valentine's Day Banner and Decor


It's February! How did that happen?
I am thrilled to be inching closer to Spring even if it doesn't feel like it right now with the snow in the forecast.
Today I am sharing with you my February Banner!
This is another simple banner made mostly by cutting shapes on my Silhouette Cameo.
I added handmade paper rosettes for another layer, some dimension and visual interest.
I am using MME Cupid's Arrow Papers for the banner and my framed decor this month.

To start I cut the 4 base pieces using a cut file from the Silhouette store.

They all fit on one piece of 12x12 paper with scraps leftover that I ended up using for the circles behind the letters.
As you see in the above picture the base piece left a negative image that I decided to flip over and use for some more color.
Here are the four base pieces - no holes to punch a nice pennant shape like last months but with the cut out at the bottom. This time I used a patterned paper for a base instead of cardstock.

Here are the base pieces with the negative pieces flipped and glued  on.
Next we need to make the rosettes (or medallions) to put the letters on.
This is how I learned to make rosettes, there are cut files and dies to cut the base and there are other ways I am sure but this way works pretty well.
To start you need to cut paper strips. For these I used 2, 12x1 1/2 inch strips for each rosette. You can vary the width and even use a border bunch to add visual interest.
Next you need to score the pieces every half inch and tape them together into one long piece. 
Did you know you can use your daughter's play knife when your Scor-Pal tool goes missing?
Works great! #don'tjudge

Next you will accordion fold the piece of scored paper following the score marks.

Until your paper looks like this - all nice and folded.
Next up is the hard part! And it's hard to photograph as well so I will do my best to explain.
You want to make the folded paper into a circle and press it inward making the circle in the center as small as possible. It will want to flip up though so keep a hand on it.
It will look like this. 
It is a good idea to have your circles to go on top pre-punched. If you are not adding the rosette to another piece of paper you will want two circles for each rosette, if not one is enough.
You will want to put glue on your punched out circle (I used a blue Marvy punch if you are wondering about the size) and then place it in the center of the rosette and press down firmly holding it to the rosette making sure the rosette doesn't try to expand. Hold until it doesn't pop apart. Then I like to set aside and place something on top to hold the circle to the rosette until it dries.

I then glued the letters I cut out (on the cameo again from the same file) on top of the circle.

Then you will place your rosette with the letter on the pennant base.
Once you have made all four pennants then you will want to string them up.
I chose a sheer ribbon so it would not take away from the already busy banner.
Here they are ready to hang!

And the finished product hung up! 
I really like how it turned out!
The aqua is different for Valentine's Day but I really like striking combo of red and aqua

Be Sure to Check out So Simply Stephanie's Sweetheart Blog Hop!
And the giveaway!!!!

Find Joy in the Journey,
 Tess

100th Day of School T-Shirt with HTV


 Tomorrow is our 100th day of school !
And I WILL be there! 
Andrew is off so he can stay home with any sick kids.
The principal said we could wear jeans tomorrow if we wore a 100th day shirt.
So I immediately thought of HTV (heat transfer vinyl) and my Silhouette Cameo!
I decided to do a Keep Calm shirt reminiscent of THIS shirt that I created last May.

First step is to create what you want to cut in the Silhouette Design Software.
This is very easy. For this shirt I simply typed what I wanted then chose the font.
You must be sure to mirror the image ESPECIALLY with text.
 Then double check your settings. It is essential to have the right settings so you cut through the HTV but NOT the clear plastic sheet.
Then you will select CUT, let the machine do it's thing and end up with this.
You will then want to peel the excess HTV away from your letters - this is pretty easy - much easier than regular vinyl!
  
Here I am almost done weeding I just need to get the center of the letters. Then you will peel the plastic sheet with the HTV off of your cutting mat.

You will then center it on your shirt (I chose purple surprise, surprise!)
 I like to put a shirt form inside my shirt for added structure. They are like $1 at Hobby Lobby!
You will hold a hot iron (no steam) on each section for about 30 seconds or refer to manufacturer instructions on your HTV. Then slowly peel away the plastic sheet - if any vinyl sticks carefully lay back down and iron again.
After removing the plastic sheet I like to go over the whole thing one more time with the iron.
There you have it! A custom 100th Day Shirt!
Yikes I was having a bad hair day! My hair is always so staticky and fly away in winter!

Blake has to take in 100 of something in a baggie - he chose Skittles and he gets to dress like he is 100 years old! Can't wait to get pictures of that!

Kaden isn't celebrating 100th day.
Third Grade does 101 Dalmatian Day!
So he has to dress like a Dalmatian Friday and they get to watch the movie and eat puppy chow!
I free hand cut "spots" out of black HTV and made him a shirt.

Find Joy in the Journey,
 Tess

Freebie


I am off doing some scrapping with some wonderful girl friends today but I have a cut file freebie for you! My first! Hopefully will have more! Hope you like them!


Get the file  HERE!

Let me know what you think!


Find Joy in the Journey,
 Tess

My FavoriteCameo Resources



I have had my Silhouette Cameo for almost a year now! To see why I sold my Cricut and bought a Cameo check out THIS POST. and I have built up quite the  collection of pins and sites that are great for helping me work my machine! If you are a new Cameo user, or even if you are not you might find these sites helpful! I am sharing three categories of sites with you. Images and Fonts which are sites that I find fonts and images to cut with my machine, Helpful Info which are sites that have good tutorials or videos or information on how to use the machine and do things with the software, and Products which is stores that carry the mattes and other products that go along with the machine.

Fonts
dafont.com
Kevin and Amanda Fonts for Peas
Kimberly Geswin Fonts - also dingbats and occasionally cut files
Fontspace

Images
Silhouette Online Store - obviously but if you buy a subscription you can save money (especially during sales) and they are the easiest to download and use!
Miss Kate Cuttables - a freebie every day! Many of her designs are also now in Silhouette store - must have Designer Software or program such as SCAL or MTC to use because they are SVGs.
Crafts by Jen - all free! SVGs
SVG Cuts - 34 pages of freebies and thousands more at reasonable prices!

Help
Basics Video - explains ALL the buttons! She has a few other Cameo videos but this is the best
Joy's Life - A whole list of tutorials!
Expressions Vinyl - Gobs of great vinyl tutorials - this really is where you really learn to expand what you can do with your machine!! Vinyl is such a great medium!
Silhouette America Blog - who better to learn from than the Company?

Products
Expressions Vinyl - this is where I get most of my vinyl and HTV (heat transfer vinyl) They have other supplies too! Very quick shipping!
Amazon - You can usually find good prices and free/fast shipping with Prime!
Overstock - You can find some great deals on overstock! It's where I originally purchased my machine as a bundle.
Silhouette America - Obviously they carry all the supplies you will need BUT wait for a sale!

I hope this helps any new Cameo Users out there! Veteran Users any sites you think that I failed to mention that I should have? - Leave me a comment with a link and I will check it out!

Find Joy in the Journey,
Tess

Monday Made It - Starting to Panic!



So I get home at 10:15 Sunday night from a trip to the in-laws and I think SWEET plenty of time to work on my Monday made it post for 4th Grade Frolics - WRONG! She's already posted it! Oh well! So then I had been contemplating consolidating my blogs, which I decided to do! And so Now it's 11:15 and I am up working on my blog! And I have to tutor tomorrow! I have LESS than one month before my darling kiddos will be walking through that door the first day of school and I think I am about to be in Panic mode! There is so much more I want to do before school starts! Thank goodness the in-laws kept the older two for the whole week! Time to get my hiney in gear! So I am going to finish my Monday Made It. Finish this post then work on my blog some more! So it's now Monday at 815 and I am trying to quickly finish this up!! I was up till 1 am working on the blog! Still needs work I know! But onto Monday Made it!


Up first this is a little door sign I made for my Origami owl convention with my cameo! Love that thing! Get it 2 MO owls cause we're from Missouri?!?


And next up is a shirt I made with my cameo and heat transfer vinyl and an iron!!! How cool is that anyone can make super cute shirts at home!
I am going to include a quickie tutorial!

1. Choose or create your design in the design studio or your choice of software I use Sure cuts a lot or Scal.

2. Flip your design especially if you have words or they will be backwards!

3. Cut your HTV backing side up

4. Weed off extra HTV clear sticky front will still be there

5. Center your design on your shirt.

6. Press each section with iron on about a 4 setting with no steam!

7. Gently peel clear piece off design checking for parts that didn't adhere. 

8. I like to go over the whole thing real quick after the plastic piece is off.

9. Wear and enjoy!


This cute little dot banner cover for your note books!


And you can get it for FREE in my Teachers Pay Teachers Shop! HERE!
Please leave me a rating if you do download it! 
And Follow me if you are so inclined! I would love it!

So now I am getting busy and the next couple weeks you are gonna see all kinds of Made its! (school related too!)


Find Joy in the Journey!
  Tess

Teacher Gifts with the Cameo



Finally finished my end of the year teacher gifts last night! And not a moment too soon as today It's Blake's last day of preschool! I think they turned out quite cute.
This is the basket for Blake's head teacher Miss Jane. His other teacher Miss Davina has a garden bag. In them I put goo gone every teachers dream at the end of the year, hand sanitizer, chocolates ( the good kind) a water bottle I made with cameo and a shirt made with cameo and a $5  sonic card for one and coffee for the other!
This is the water bottle I made. The name of the preschool is Lil Tots!
Here is a picture of the shirts I made, not the greatest picture the glitter reflects a lot! It was my first time using HTV and I love it! I am addicted!
I also made a Lil somethin for our librarians, they are so good to me! So I had to hook them up. 
Kaden's teacher is getting nail polish, goo gone, hand sanitizer she wouldn't appreciate the hand made stuff so she's not getting any!
Tonight is Blake's preschool graduation then I have Lil gifts for my kiddos and parent helpers to work on! What a long week!

Find Joy in the Journey, Tess

Cutting up with my Cameo!



 I am loving my cameo! I ordered the vinyl starter kit so I would have the right tools for vinyl and decided to play with the samples that came in it and came up with this.
Quick and easy! And they love it!
The font is My Own Topher.

Linking up with

*Live*Laugh*Love*Create
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Stockings - Doodlebug and Hero Arts



Woo hoo another layout! This is actually the one for the sketch I picked LAST month for my little challenge with my friend Cheri. It is THIS sketch from Practical Scrappers. I changed it up just a bit by having 5 evenly spaced same size pieces in the background and only one rectangle matte. Also my three pictures are same size. They are phone pics cause we started Christmas morning WAY to early this year! Like 5 am! Ava was sick and I slept in the chair with her! Poor baby not fair to be sick on your first Christmas!
I used Doodlebug Designs North Pole Collection, Hero Arts Stamp and Cut Stocking stamp which was an Archivers Exclusive! I added some buttons that I tied a bit of PIT Bakers twine through, a poinsettia with a red SU bling brad in the center and the font for the title is Black Boys on Mopeds which I cut with my Cameo~!

Valentines


 Here are the kiddos valentines' for the year!
Blake's


We made his with a really cute CTMH kit! That came with this stamp set, 12 of the test tubes, 12 boxes and 4 sheets of paper! how cute! And it has owls!

Kaden's

He is getting to the age where HE wants to pick and have control! What?!?! We got them out of a super CUTE scholastic kit that had an activity book with it which of course he loved! We added the pixie sticks so they would look like light sabers!!!

For the Grandparents
 I took a pic of the kids, turned in black and white and then added the color back to the words. The words I cut with my Cameo and the font is Wexham Script one of my faves for welding! I used SCAL cause I can't figure out how to weld in the Cameo Software!


Thanks for looking!

*Live*Laugh*Love*Create*
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Why I traded my Cricut for a Cameo


I am loving my new Cameo! I love it so much more than I ever did my Cricuit. Why you might ask? Well let's compare.

Cricut Expression
List Price: $249.00
What I paid: $199 Black Friday deal with one full and one smaller cartridge
Cutting Size: up to 12inx24in
Design Software: You used to have to purchase the Design Studio Software to see what you cut which was around $30 or gypsy which is considerably more.
Images: You must purchase cartridges that contain images, or buy the digital cartridges for the Craft Room (not familiar with new software but you must be online to use it)
Fonts: You must purchase carts with fonts on them.
SVG or other images not from Company: You can not cut any image or font that is not made by Cricut. At one time you could purchase SCAL (Sure Cuts a Lot) or MTC (Make the Cut) and use these programs but then there was a big lawsuit and you can no longer use these programs

Silhouette Cameo
List Price: $299.00
What I Paid: $279 for a MEGA bundle from Overstock.com that included $35 in downloads, a dust cover, 6 pack of glitter, 8 sheets double sided stick paper
Cutting Size: up to 12in x 10 feet
Design Software: Comes with machine holds library of images and all fonts, option for upgrade of software
Images: There is a huge Silhouette Online Store that has a free image every week and literally thousands of images!
Fonts: You can cut ANY true type font that you have installed on your computer!
SVG or other images not from Company: There are two options to cut these types of files 1) Purchase the upgraded Designer Software (List Price $49.99) or use a program such as SCAL or MTC which is what I intend to do since I had it when you could use it with the Cricut.

Deciding Factors
For me the deciding factors were; 1)being able to cut true type fonts
2)Being able to cut SVGs
3) freedom to cut what and how I want

Other Bonuses
Freed up space with no cartridges
I think the software loads faster, does more and is easier to use
Quieter!
Variety of starter sets, pre-made vinyl projects etc in Silhouette Store

I hope this helps you if you are trying to make a decision between the Cricut and Cameo

Find Joy in the Journey,
 Tess

NEW TOY!



 Lookie what I got! I had been eying the Silhouette Cameo for awhile and I just finally decided to do it! So I sold my Cricut and all my cartridges and bought this!
 I got a pretty darn good deal from Overstock.com in that I got machine, dust cover, double sided sticky paper, glitter and $35 in downloads for $260 shipped! I was so excited to play but I had nothing to cut! LOL a friend of mine on facebook told me about the cover template so I cut it! I used Gina K's intro video to set it up and it was so easy!
 The machine cuts like a dream! Can't wait to play more! Darn job gets in the way though!

*Live*Laugh*Love*Create*
 Tessa

Who is the Krafty Mama?


Hi I'm the Krafty one! :) I'm the Queen to 2 little knights and a sweet princess. I married my knight in shining armor (kevlar) over 8 years ago and I am a REAL mom, wife and substitute teacher trying to be the best I can be! I love "krafting" but tend to buy more supplies than I actually use. I love make up, nail polish, hair products and fashion but have been known to leave the house in sweats a messy bun and no make up! I love to cook and bake but am guilty of feeding my kids McDonalds in a pinch. I love direct sales and have joined too many to mention! I would love to get to know you!

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