Lilies of the Valley with Freebie Silhouette Studio Cut Files

Similar cards and layout, but much different looks. I have been very fascinated with flowers recently, and this is just the latest in the line. The more nostalgia with the heirloom flowers, the better. This is another one of the flowers that my family seems to gravitate toward.  We all have it in our gardens, but it isn't the sacred pass me down that the Bleeding Heart is.  Most of my flowers are things that I have gotten from friends and family, and I'm thinking of doing the Silhouette Cuts for all of my favorites; especially if I can't find a pattern online.  

The flowers are shaped by cupping, you can see the instructions below.  I place a round dimensional adhesive dot on the back of them.  The stem had tiny dimensional adhesive dots right at the junction of the flower stem, and in some places I actually glued the rest of the stem down to the leaf. I left the end of the flower stem loose until I had placed the flowers at the end of those stem, and then used my trusty Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive to the very end. I let it drop down on the flower and let it dry in place.

I used the smaller stylus to make some veins in the leaf. I did this in a pattern that gives the leaf some life.  On a hard surface I start at the bottom of the leaf, just above the stem, and drag the stylus to the top of the leaf.  I then do similar motions but terminate the action further down the side of the leaf using just a bit of pressure. I did this about 5 or 6 times per side. I then used my hands to gently coax the leaf into a cupped shape.  On the top card I only glued the center of the leaf, from the bottom to about one inch from the top, which curves up off the paper.  On the bottom card I used more glue, but I don't like that as well.

The backgrounds are from my scrap paper pieces, and I have forgotten who they are.  The grid is done with DMVW Cardstock.  I used Prima beaded medallion, and an unknown clear stamp I've had forever, probably from Paper Wishes.  I used two white card bases from Paper Wishes, and Tim Holtz tea dye and black soot Distress Inks.  

Cupping-Shaping the Flowers

The trick to this card is the shaping of the flowers, and I have a tutorial on this that I used for a class that I taught a while back. The first step in the process is called Cupping the flower.  To do that I use the McGill tools that I have, but any mouse pad and larger stylus  will work.  Press firmly, but not so hard that you punch through the paper/cardstock. Go in a circular motion to form a bit of a cup with the petals. You will be surprised how easily they just curl up.  See the example below.  I don't suggest using a really small ball stylus. 

If you don't have a large ball stylus, you can use your finger nail edge by pulling it across the paper, and forming the petals to your desired shape.  I used fairly light weight cardstock for this project.

The Grid

I designed this grid using the Silhouette Designer Edition Software.  This started out as a circle, and I point edited to form an interesting shape.  I then made four copies, and fitted the shapes together in a square. It is important to get the spacing as even as possible.  I grouped four together in a diamond shape, and duplicated the grouped shapes until I had filled the page.  I had to adjust sizes, and ungroup to delete some single images, but finally got it onto the page in a good configuration.  I cut these out of a double sided heavier card stock.  I plan to use the grid for another project that I will share.  I will also cut this out of acetate, and use it for a stencil.

As you notice, I used some of the shapes as embellishments on the above cards.

The Blog Hop

The Free Downloads

I hope you enjoy this project, and the free downloadable files. Downloads are from Box.com .

Lilies of the Valley are Here
The Ornate Grid is Here

3-D Tea Gift Box Download

The bright red highlights are not place here by the blog owner. Mine are a dark red.

This box was design to hold tea bags that I make and give as gifts. I have also used it for small jewelry that I make for gifts. I got the idea from several examples on Cricut, but just didn't quite like how they went together. I seemed like making my own was the only way I would be satisfied with the box configuration

The assembly requires that the side panels, be crease to the inside of the box about half way in order to close the box. I use Velcro to stick the flap down, or magnets.  Either one will require careful opening and closing to prevent tearing.  You could always use double-sided removable tape for a closure. This would be easier on the box if you wish to reuse it.

I used BoBunny Papers, and the embellishment sentiment.  The filigree I have had forever, and forget where it came from.  The pearl embellishment on the opening flap and the back of the box are from Prima.  The satin ribbon is from Offray. The black paper is Paper Bok at Walmart. I put this box together with Scotch Quick Dry glue, I just love this stuff. I doesn't take anytime to grab hold even before it is completely dry.  The roses are from I Am Roses, and I colored the cream colored rose with Lindy Stamp Gang Starburst sprays.  There is a really nice simmer on the flowers, that just doesn't show up on these photos.

Here are the links for the rest of the challenge participants.

DIY Business Cards {Silhouette Tutorial} by Create & Babble

Make Your Own "Rubber" Stamps by Coley's Corner

Where Home Is: A Gift for a Military Family by Suburble

This Month's Facebook Silhouette Challenge by Tanya's Creative Space

3D Tea Gift Box Download by Creative Turn You are Here

File Cabinet Makeover by Super Sweet Life

Jewelry Box Creation by Joy & Gladness of Heart

Retro Chair Silhouette by Tried & True

Toddler Train T-Shirt by The Thinking Closet

First Silhouette Project! 3-2-1 Blastoff Shirt by de Jong Dream House

Placecard & Card Medley by An Elegant Touch

Using my Silhouette in the Shower (Bathroom Organization) by Whole New Leaf

Pretty & Personal Birthday Bundle by The House on Hillbrook

You will find the Silhouette Studio cut files here. 

• Embellishment File
• Box Part 1
• Box Part 2

I hope you enjoy, Namaste

Bleeding Hearts Mother's Day + Free Download

All the women in my family family love bleeding heart flowers. It is sort of a tradition in our gardens. The plants are all derived from one plant, which came from Germany if the facts were passed down correctly. I know my plant came from my Great Grandmothers plant, as my mother received it from her.  My daughter's plant came from her Grandmother, as will my plant be given to my grandsons' wives.  

I designed the Silhouette Cut file myself, and will be sharing this with all of you.  I also designed the medallion that is used as the front sentiment.  I used a Martha Stewart punch for the border, and used Vintage Linen Distress Ink by Tim Holtz to distress everything including the sentiment layers, hearts Stem and flowers. I also used Gold Brilliance on the label and card, and I'm sad to say that my scanner and scanner just doesn't pick that up. It is really shiny and so pretty. The ribbon is also gold metallic, but I think it is reflecting my outfit, and making it black and less shiny.  I need to get my daughter here to give me an education on taking pictures like this.

To assemble the flowers I used really small glue dots to raise up the branch in a couple of places, and used Scotch Quick Dry to glue the rest. I left the flower stems loose until I put the flowers on.  I used a large stylus from McGill to shape the hearts, and make sure they were rounded.  I glued the white bottom portion to the red heart shape, and placed a larger foam dot in the hollow of the heart.  To place the flowers I lifted the stem, placed the heart under it so some of the stem hung over the groove of the heart, and then glued the stem to the heart.  I assembled the label in layers and glued the ribbon on the back. I used a foam dot to raise it up.

The inside sentiment is from Gina K, as is the dragonfly.  They are from the Whimsical Wishes stamp set.  I included a scan of the inside of the card.

Interior of card

Here are the links for the Silhouette Studio files.  They are free, but I would hope that if you use them on the internet that you give me credit for them.

Here is the Bleeding Heart Flower
Here is the sentiment label

I hope you enjoy the files. I hope all mothers had a wonderful and blessed Mother's Day.

Namaste

Links to More Silhouette Stuff from the Silhouette Challenge

Spring Hoop Home Decor - Daily Dwelling

I Heart Labels: Flour & Sugar Jar Edition - The Thinking Closet

A Numbers Game - Learning Numbers with Your Preschooler - Lil Mrs. Tori

My First Silhouette Challenge Group Project - Tanya's Creative Space

Personalized Garden Post & Grandma Book (Silhouette Mother's Day Presents) - Whole New Leaf

Girly Superhero Decor - Coley's Corner

"A Cup of Tea" Customizable Art Printable - Tried & True

The Lady in Hat "Thinking of You" Card - An Elegant Touch

Mother's Day Celebration

It's the time of year to celebrate your mother. I know some of you are going, "Wait a minute, those aren't Silhouette Images!" You are correct they aren't. Now the rest of the story. We are having another Sihouette Challenge Blog Hop, I have the links below.  Thanks for stopping by.

This card was designed using graphics and papers that were printed on the Cricut Imagine, and cut on the Silhouette Cameo. My Imagine has never calibrated correctly, and it just does not cut the items that it prints correctly. They look like crap.

I decided, that since I spent 599.00 for that sucker when they first came out, I have the right to use the patterns printed from it to cut on my Cameo.  I love the images and patterns from the Imagine, but they just would not line up and cut properly. I spent several 3 hour sessions with Cricut, and they couldn't even make it work properly.  We'd get it lined up to cut one image, and the next one would be all out of whack. They were sorry, but there just wasn't anything they could do. I know what I wanted to do, but that probably would have been trouble for me. So this is what I am doing.

I cut the layers for the bird, and used some thin dimensional tape to pop up each layer. I popped up the sentiment with slightly thinker foam dots. I printed the inside sentiment, and cut it with the Silhouette Cameo.  All of the images are from the Cricut Lori's Garden cartridge.  I use an Anna Griffin Embossing folder, for one background and printed a page of the music sheet paper from the Imagine, and cut the background from the Lori's Garden for the other card.

The mother sentiment on the outside of the card is from the Silhouette Store, but I changed the colors to match my card.  I used some Smooch white to highlight the bird and flower. I just love the way you can manipulate their images, to make them work with other things.  I designed the medallion image with the mother's day sentiment using the silhouette, and a swatch I created from the Imagine paper collection on Lori's Garden Cartridge. These were perfect images to fill a very bare space. I used some ribbon from my stash that is so old the names were rubbed off.

I used an Anna Griffin Embossing Folder, that I borrowed from a friend, on the back panel on the front of the card. I used Antique Linen Distress Ink Pad by Ranger Tim Holtz directly on the background. I lightly rubbed the pad directly to the paper, and highlighted the embossed image. I then used Tea Stain on the edges.  I used the Antique Line on all images in the card.

I normally give my papers, and cut files that I use for the cards away free here, but I don't have the rights to do so with these images.  Next set will be free giveaways. I'm working on some flowers, and so far I have made a Dogwood, Bachelor Button and Marigold. I am just finishing some things on a Bleeding Heart cut.  I'm fairly certain you will like them. I expect them to be up in a couple of days, but it may take me a week as I have lots going on next week.

Thanks for stopping by.
Namaste

Blog Hop Connections

Budget-Savvy Spring Silhouette Make - We Love Cards

D.I.Y. Canvas Date Art - The House on Hillbrook

Paint Chip Spring Ornaments - Coley's Corner

D.I.Y. Vertical File Folders (Martha Stewart Home Office Knockoff with Free Cut File) - Whole New Leaf

Anchor's Away! A Fabric Applique Silhouette Tutorial - Lil' Mrs. Tori

D.I.Y. Subway Art Canvas & Free Cut File - The Thinking Closet

"Different Is Good" Autism Awareness Tee - Tried and True

A Gift! - For 'Just a Little Nutty' - An Elegant Touch

Steampunk Lime Fog plus Free Stuff

Welcome to the blog crawl, I hope you enjoy the visit. See the links to the other participants at the bottom of my post.

Gray Bicycle Birthday Card

Dressform and Gentlemans Perspective with Butterfly

This is the Steampunk Lime Fog

This is the inside sentiment. The frames match the color scheme of the card.

I did several renditions of this theme. I had some interesting colors come out of the combinations that I chose for this steampunk escapade. The first card I did had such unusual colors for the scalloped border, and flowers that I almost threw it out. The my daughter, who is taking Graphic Design at university, said she loved the color because it was so eye catching. I have to admit, it is Loud. I decided to share it here with the two that I liked.


I have created the papers, color swatches, and some of the cut files for this masculine birthday card. I had such a great time with the Steampunk Bizarre Brushes by Hogret that I found here.  I cut the flowers from the Silhouette Store on my Cameo.  The leaves and borders I created in my Silhouette Cameo Designer Edition software and cut with my Cameo, here are the links to the cut files: Leaves and Border. I also used a chipboard butterfly that I sprayed with Lindy Stamp Gang Starburst Spray in Yellow Rose of Texas which you can find here.

The inside sentiment is made by my using Some Weatz Swashes which I got here. I used a frame/label from the Silhouette Store, which I adapted heavily to meet my needs. I colored the frame using the swatch that matched the card front.

I am linking one of the posts that used on how to add patterns to your Silhouette, for both the designer edition and the regular edition.  It is really quite simple once you know the trick. Here it is.

I used my Photoshop to print the Digi Paper that I have as the background to the card.  I used the print and cut feature of the Silhouette Cameo to cut the scalloped border, leaves and greeting. What is interesting is that you can fit all the embellishment for one card on one piece of 8.5x11 cardstock. I use the Copic Express It card stock (CS), which I buy at Amazon when it is on sale, find it here. The X-Press It Paper is really high quality, but isn't too thick. It is between 70-80#, which makes it ideal for manipulating the rolled glowers, but sturdy enough to make a great card in a pinch. The printed colors on this stay really sharp and bright, which does not happen with cheap CS. I've tried some cheaper cover papers, and those have very limited capability as they are generally 65# or less.  The could not be a good quality card base.

The Digi Patterns can be used on the silhouette per the instructions in the linked video.  These are 300 pixels per inch, and can be printed for paper also. See my paper choice above.

If you have any questions please let me know. Comments make my day. Enjoy.

Namaste

Steampunk Yello n Lime Pattern and here it is free

Steampunk Gray n Yello Pilot Pattern and here it is free

Steampunk Lime Swatch and here it is free










Steampunk Yello Swatch and here it is free

Steampunk Graybull Swatch and here it is free

Gender Neutral Onesies & Free Cut Files - (The Thinking Closet)

Personalized Kindle Fire Cover - (Daily Dwelling)

Vintage Numbered File Organizer: Office Organization - (Whole New Leaf)

Make Montessori Sandpaper Letters with Silhouette - (Tried & True)

Steampunk Lime Fog Plus Free Stuff - (Creative Turn)

Their WORD for 2013: A Gift - (An Elegant Touch)

Pinch-Proof Shamrock Pin - (Coley's Corner)

Lucky - (Sugar Bee Crafts)

How to Not Lose Your Sunglasses - Silhouette Style - (Crafty Jac)

Easter Tweety & Peter RabbityTooT Sweet-Free Background Silhouette Download

These were created using the Silhouette Cameo.  The Tweetys and Peter Rabbit are from the Silhouette Store the background and sentiments I designed.  I have the Easter Egg Background and Frame as a free download.  I used white paper and sprayed them with Lindy Stamp Gang Starburst Sprays on the background and frames.  The edges were distressed with Tim Holtz Vintage Paper Distress Ink.  I used gems for the sentiment frame, and I can remembers whose they are.  Get the background Cut File here.  You can get the Frame Cut File here.

Stripes 'n Flowers Valentine--Free Printable Paper

This is a card that I made for a Shabby Tea Room challenge I thought I would try.  It had to have stripes and flowers.  I discovered that I didn't have any striped paper, so I decided to make it myself.  While I was at it I make two other patterns that would match the stripes perfectly.  I used Photoshop for this, and a brush set called Meldir Script Set which you can get  here.  I altered the color of the Grey Mist Script paper for the leaves by using Tim Holtz Distress Ink Bundled Sage to keep with the tones.  I used white card stock to print the patterns.  The leaves and flowers I bought from Silhouette.  The heart comes (from Bird Cards), and I designed the scalloped border myself on the silhouette and you can get it here.

There is a tutorial here that shows how to use the patterned papers to fill in the scalloped shape, and you can make a 4" wide x 3.5" high rectangle in the print, and the stripe for the scallop.  This is for a standard A2 card.

I distressed everything with Tim Holtz Distress Ink Antique Lace, including those colored leaves.  I stamped the sentiments from Hot Off the Press Tiny Words & Images onto Sticky Backed Canvas. I punched the sentiments out with the Stampin' Up large oval punch and distressed them.  I used a GinaK Pure Luxury Heavy Base Weight white card stock for the card base.

I will have the paper available below.  Just right click on it, and save it on your computer.  There are several tutorials on how to use the papers with the silhouette.  It is really neat in the Print and Cut Feature.  The one I liked best is here.

I hope you enjoy.
Namaste