Silhouette Design Store

Corn Maze

~ dddesignz ~ Leave a comment

Last fall Lindsay, Bill and I had the opportunity to take Ben to the Apple Land Station Corn Maze. This outing was a big deal – Covid restrictions meant this sweet boy had missed out on many fun activities in his early years. It was a perfect autumn day to experience this with him, and Ben loved it! It didn’t take Ben long to figure out the maze, but he had fun pretending that he was confused and didn’t know the way back out. I love how this layout captures the sheer joy of being a child and the precious memories we shared that we will cherish for a lifetime.

To create this double-page layout I combined two cut files from the Silhouette Design Store. I started with the Fun Maze Game, Design ID #8489 and used my Silhouette design space to blow it up as large as possible to fit on this layout. The end result was a cut file approximately 11″ x 13 “. I then laid the maze on the white cardstock to determine the best positioning to cut it vertically. Once the maze was secured to the background of both pages, I used sticky notes to map out the path of the machine stitching to mimic physically walking through the maze. 

Next, I cut two corn stalks from three coordinating pieces of beige cardstock to create a frame for the layout. This cut file is called Corn Stalk and is Design ID #12866. Each completed corn stalk was firmly secured at the bottom, but the tops were left free to provide texture and the illusion of depth and movement. 

To put the finishing touches on this layout I used Cork Chipboard Thickers to add the Corn Maze title. I utilized my 12″ x 12″ Memory Misti to add some stamping to the design. Using an older My Favorite Things (MFT) stamp collection entitled You’re Amazing, I stamped the START, FINISH and the You’re A-maze-ing sub-title directly on the white cardstock. I had several pictures to add to this layout and still wanted to add some journalling for Ben to reflect on in the coming years. Because I didn’t want to distract from the overall design at this stage, I included hidden journaling by sliding a tag behind one of the pictures (pictured on the left-hand side of the double page). I used another MFT product entitled Scallop X-Stitch Tag to make this tag. A gold ribbon was secured to the top of the tag for easy access to the journaling card. 

These moments will be cherished for years to come. Fast forward to a year later, and this sweet boy and his family are now living in Austria. Rather than be sad about it, we’ll look for new ways to make memories when we are together!

Thanks for stopping by today, and until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

Hedgehugs

~ dddesignz ~ 1 Comment

Who needs a hug today? I know I will take one anytime, especially from this sweet boy! Today’s post celebrates my youngest grandson’s love for hedgehogs. One of his favourite stuffed animals is a hedgehog fondly referred to as “Hedgie”. For Christmas, I made him a t-shirt with a hedgehog and the word Hedgehugs on it. It was an instant hit! You can see the t-shirt throughout the layout.

The cut file for the shirt came from the Silhouette Design Store. It is a creation from Planeta Silhouette and is Design ID #212569. It became the inspiration for this layout! I used this cut file to create the title on the left-hand page and repeated it on the right-hand side of the design.

The hedgehog on the left is a cut file from Confessions of a Paper Addict (COAPA). It was a perfect fit for this page. I used coordinating cardstocks to complete most of the cut file.

To give it a bit more punch I used coloured glitter papers to back the flowers, leaves, heart and ear of the hedgehog. Once it was secured to the layout, pearl beads were added to the flowers on its head. The final touch was adding a large googly eye for some dimension.

The patterned papers used in this layout come from PinkFresh Studio’s Let’s Stay Home collection. It was released early in the pandemic.

The adorable hedgehog wooden shapes, found on the right-hand page of the layout, came from Craft Consortium and from a collection called Over the Hedge.

The final touches for this two-page layout included adding a few foam stickers from the Simple Stories Good Stuff collection and then doodling the lines around each page with a fine sharpie. The date was added with Teensy Type cardstock stickers in Blue Jean from Doodlebug Design Inc.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this whimsical layout celebrating hedgehogs and the all-important HUG! This double page layout also shows you how you can mix and match many of the papers, ephemera and embellishments you have in your crafting stash. Thanks for dropping by today, and until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

From Cut Files to T-Shirts!

~ dddesignz ~ 2 Comments

I spend most of my crafting time working on scrapbook pages, cards or designing classes. But one of my sidelines from working with cut files has been creating t-shirts for my grandchildren. With Christmas less than two weeks away, I spent some time yesterday making each of the grandchildren a t-shirt. Making t-shirts is a great way to personalize a gift for the recipient. I chose three cut file patterns that truly represented each of their personalities.

I purchase blank t-shirts from a local company called Bright Swan. A great Canadian company with excellent service and selection! Siser Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV) is my go-to when making t-shirts. I use a Cricuit Easy Press (9″ x 9″) to transfer the vinyl to the t-shirts and find that this machine meets all my needs. It is very cost-efficient and can be stored easily, compared to a larger heat press.

The first t-shirt is for my oldest grandchild, Madison. She is very kind and caring and very aware of the impact that acts of kindness have on others around her. It was, therefore, fitting that I chose a cut file from Marcy Milly SVG to make her t-shirt. The World Kindness Day is a FREE cut file released on November 13, 2021, in honour of World Kindness Day.

I started this project by opening the SVG cut file in Silhouette Design Studio software (I use Designer Edition). Next, I ungrouped the file. Step three involved using the Fill panel to change the colours to those I would be using. These steps made the process much easier, as I now had a visual guide of the end product, and I was able to select the words by colour when it came time for cutting. The individual words, or group of words, were cut separately to minimize the waste of vinyl. Drawing a box or rectangle around each word, using the drawing tools in Silhouette, makes the weeding process very easy. Once all the individual files were cut, weeded and ready to go, I returned to the Silhouette software program to determine the centre point of the design. I gently fold the design where it intersects with the midline of the t-shirt. For this specific cut file the words Respect, Charity, Kindness, Goodness, Community and Affection all intersected with the centre line. Before adhering the design to the t-shirt, I fold the t-shirt in half and make a gentle press line to use as a guide. I’m very happy with the results and think Maddie is going to love this t-shirt!

The second t-shirt is for my oldest grandson, Owen. He loves playing video games and finds it amusing that I can’t keep up with him! This design came from Silhouette Studio. It was created by Hand Drawn Cuts and is Design ID #365234. I followed the same process as above and specifically used the turquoise HTV to match his controller. I grouped the coloured dots in the cut file to ensure they were spaced exactly as intended when pressing them to the t-shirt. I know Owen will love this t-shirt, and also find it amusing to wear to school!

Our youngest grandson Benjamin has a love for hedgehogs! This is also a Silhouette Studio design. It was created by Planeta Silhouette and is Design ID #212569. This design included layering the cut files that are all associated with the hedgehog. It was very easy to align and it pressed beautifully. Ben is going to love this t-shirt and who can resist giving him a hug when he’s wearing it?!

All I have left to do now is wrap these cute shirts and place them under the Christmas tree. I’m pretty sure I’m just as excited as they are for the big day!

I hope I’ve encouraged you to look at extending the use of your electronic cut files. Don’t be intimidated, making these shirts was not difficult, and I know you’ll find joy in making personalized shirts for your loved ones! Until next time, stay safe, stay well and Happy Scrapping!

Giving Thanks

~ dddesignz ~ 2 Comments

Fall is such a gorgeous season! It’s so refreshing to feel the temperature cool down and inspiring to see the leaves changing colour. There’s nothing better than spending time at the cottage during this season. It is a quiet time to relax and take in the beauty of our surroundings. We celebrate Thanksgiving at the cottage each year. It is the weekend we close for the season and say goodbye until the spring. We reflect on a great year of new memories and give thanks for such a wonderful summer getaway.

The Fall Words cut file from Marcy Milly SVG was the perfect compliment to the photo of my grandchildren on a beautiful fall day. This cut file is very versatile, providing multiple words for multiple layout options. I chose Cocoa Vanilla’s Legendary collection for the base page of this layout. The specific paper is called One Way. The large fir tree caught my attention immediately. I knew the tree would be one of the focal points on the layout. To provide some depth and texture, I layered the tree. First, I flipped the cut file horizontally to provide the proper placement on the left-hand side of the layout. Next, I enlarged the cut file to approximately 11″ in height and cut it from Bazzill Cardstock called Capers. I then resized the tree slightly smaller (3/4″) and cut it again. I made a 1/4″ score line along the straight edge of the smaller tree and used a 1/8″ Scor-Tape to adhere the two trees together. Before adding fun foam and pop dots between the trees for dimension, I adhered the tree to the layout first. I’m very happy with the overall effect this created, giving the feel of a real fir tree.

To help fill the blank space at the top of the layout, I used Paige Evan’s Leaf Banner. It can be purchased from the Silhouette Studio Store and is Design ID #383307. Brown cardstock was used to cut the file and I backed it with several coordinating fall colours of cardstock. The stunning brass folded leaf charm was a recent find at a Local Scrapbooking Store, The Scrapbook Shop in Listowel, ON. This was my first trip to this store, and my first visit to a Local Scrapbooking Store since COVID began. I will be back, it is a gem!

The layout was completed by adding the title using the Giving Thanks words from the Marcy Milly SVG cut file. It was so appropriate, as this picture was taken on Thanksgiving Weekend, 2017!

Thanks for popping in, and until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

EEK

~ dddesignz ~ Leave a comment

I hope you all had a wonderful, safe and fun Halloween yesterday. I love dressing up as a witch and handing out candy to all the excited children. Today’s post focuses on another picture from last year’s celebrations. With Covid restrictions and a ban on trick-or-treating, we celebrated in our driveway. Thank goodness for good weather!

I utilized Echo Park’s Halloween Party collection kit once again. The background for this layout is the backside of patterned paper HP250004 entitled Something Wicked. It is such a fun collection of papers and stickers. I’m sure I’ll be using it for many layouts.

The title for the layout, EEK, is a Silhouette Design Store cut file by Jillibean Soup (Design ID #386850). I resized the file to make it a bit bigger and cut it out of black cardstock. I love creating layers, textures, and stitching on my layouts. The spider webs in the cut file provided the perfect backdrop for adding in some soft stitching. The first step was to pierce holes in the spider webs found in the letters E and K. The spider webs were stitched using three strands of light silver DMC floss (#762). To enhance the spooky feel of the layout, the title was backfilled using Lawn Fawn’s Metallic Cardstock in Holographic 2.0. Ranger’s Glossy Accents was used to adhere the stitched cut file to the holographic background.

The large cut file at the top of the layout is entitled Halloween Corner by StudioIlustrado. It is also in the Silhouette Design Store (Design ID #65854). It was cut from black cardstock and the pumpkin eyes, noses, and mouths were kept to create a shadow effect. I choose to highlight the pumpkins and the ghost, leaving the bats flat on the page. This created continuity in the layout as the bats in both cut files appear to merge into one big cut file, encircling the photo. I used the knife tool in the Silhouette Studio software to isolate the ghost and pumpkins. This allowed me to cut the specific part of the cut file I desired, rather than having to waste paper by cutting out the entire cut file in another medium. The ghost was cut from vellum and adhered slightly offset with vellum tape. The pumpkins were cut from heavy orange textured cardstock and adhered with 3D foam squares by Scrapbook Adhesives.

A few simple elements were added to complete the layout. Two spooky spiders from Doodlebug Designs shape sprinkles were placed in the upper left and lower right spider webs. The small black and white sticker entitled Halloween Fun was placed above the picture on the right-hand side. The sticker was included in the Halloween Party collection pack.

Thanks for stopping in and until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

Party!

~ dddesignz ~ Leave a comment

I’m long overdue in posting this two-page layout for Ben’s 2nd Birthday! There’s nothing better than a summer birthday when the air is hot, the water refreshing and the birthday cake is ice cream! We are so lucky to have the opportunity to celebrate this sweet boy’s Birthday at the cottage.

The gorgeous ink base pages for this double page layout came from a craft smart paper pad called Rainbow Inks purchased at Michael’s. This paper pad is an excellent alternative for someone like me who is slightly intimidated to create the backdrop myself. I was attracted to the turquoise page with the internal square offset and rotated the second page to balance the double page layout.

I love the Star Cake cut file from Peartree Cutfiles. It was perfect for documenting Ben’s big day. The file was cut from black cardstock and then the interior pieces were offset with coordinating patterned papers from Doodlebug Design’s Party Time paper pack. Lawn fawn’s “holographic 2.0” paper was used to back the stars in this cut file. The number 2 was added to the cake using a chipboard piece from Basic Grey called dark chocolate chip.

I enjoy making my grandchildren shirts for their Birthday and found the perfect design for a two-year-old in the Silhouette Design Store. The Two Nado Birthday Phrase was designed by Sarah Bailey (Design ID#315079). I used black and turquoise Heat Transfer Vinyl to create Ben’s t-shirt. I replicated this design for the second page of this layout. 

The rest of the layout came together quickly using several “odds & ends” from Doodlebug Design’s Dragon Tails ephemera package. The PARTY title, coordinating birthday presents and stars on both pages all belong to this package. The green Happy Birthday stickers are also a Doodlebug Design product and belong to a multicolour cardstock sticker sheet. You can stretch your scrapbook stash when companies coordinate the colours between different paper collections and releases! The finishing touch was to add the date using white Thickers Happy Life foam letter stickers. 

We sure had fun celebrating Ben’s 2nd Birthday, and I’m excited to add these pages to his personal scrapbook. I hope you’ve found some inspiration to scrapbook a special birthday in your family. Until next time, stay safe, stay well and Happy Scrapping!

Even Super Heroes Need Naps

~ dddesignz ~ 2 Comments

And now for something on the funny side! Our youngest grandson Ben is 2 & 1/2 and at that stage where he’s outgrowing naps. Most days he does just fine and gets recharged at dinner time. But some days he just can’t hold on and needs to have a little nap to get through the rest of his day. Easter Sunday was a busy and exciting day for him. So it was no wonder that this was one of those days he needed a little nap to refuel for the rest of the day. Around 4 pm, my daughter and son-in-law were busy in the kitchen making dinner when they noticed it was suddenly very quiet. My son-in-law went to check on Ben and found him in this position. Ben was so tired he appeared to have simply “fallen over” onto the couch! The poor little guy didn’t even get his legs up there to properly stretch out.

Virginia Walker, the creative mind behind Confessions of a Paper Addict (COAPA Cutfiles), had the perfect cut file for this page. The Even Super Heroes Need Naps was exactly the title I needed to tell this story, and the whimsical font was also reflective of the mood I was looking for.

I chose the Super Kid – Burst patterned paper by Scrapbook Customs for the background of this layout. The Spider-man sticker in the top left-hand corner comes from the Spider Superhero Sticker sheet from the same company. I was still looking for more whimsical effects on this page and found them in two cut files in the Silhouette Design Store. The BAM! (Design ID #329165) and POW! (Design ID #329148) cut files were both designed by Sarah Bailey. Once these designs were cut and assembled, they were placed on fun foam to give them a bit of punch and dimension.

The final touch was adding the string of zzz’s in the top half of the layout to place added emphasis on the fact that this little cutie was fast asleep. Completed knocked out, as they say! They were created using Silhouette Studio software.

I hope I’ve given you a giggle today! And if you need a nap, by all means, take one. Just be sure no one is around with a camera! Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

Wish

~ dddesignz ~ Leave a comment

Do you remember the joy of turning 10 and feeling so special because you now have 2 digits to represent your age, instead of 1?! This February marked Madison’s 10 birthday, and as excited as she was to be turning 10, it also came with some sadness that she wouldn’t get to celebrate with her friends due to Covid. Thankfully, my daughter and her husband went all out in putting up decorations to celebrate this special day. You can see the joy in Maddie’s face as she took in all garlands, streamers and balloons. Take that Covid! We can still find excitement and joy in these quiet celebrations!

I wanted to create a layout for Maddie using the same papers used in creating her Tower Explosion Box. These papers came from Echo Park’s It’s Your Birthday paper collection pack. For the red background, I used Echo Park’s Party Time patterned papers. It’s difficult to see in the pictures, but this red background paper has very subtle red stars throughout each page.

Two digital cut files from Peartree Cutfiles were featured to create this double page layout. The main title, Wish, is part of the larger Wish cut file from March’s Pearscription. I utilized the other portions of this cut file in the Big Comfy Couch layout back in March. The second cut file is entitled Stack of Presents.

Both of these files have stars in them which further coordinated with the background paper. Each file was backed with coordinating patterned papers from the It’s Your Birthday paper collection. The stars were all backed with silver glitter cardstock. I also cut additional stars to add to the background to heighten the overall party effect.

One of the design elements that I wanted to pull into this layout, was the replication of the garland that Maddie is standing under in the larger picture. To accomplish this I cut multiple circles from coordinating patterned paper using the smallest die in Lawn Fawn’s Large Stitched Circle Stackables. Before adhering them to the page, I ran a dark black line with a Sharpie to connect them. The upper portions of each page were filled with various pieces of confetti that came from two Silhouette Design Store cut files. Both cut files were designed by Sophie Gallo. One is called Confetti – Design ID 17667 – and the other is called Cute Confetti – Design ID 42203. A third Silhouette cut file called Elegant Alpha – Numbers were used to create the number 10. Kolette Hall is the designer and you will find it under Design ID 35756. I removed the scrolls found on each number before cutting. The following two pictures provide a closer look at the garland, confetti and the number 10.

The final touches on the layout included adding 3 die cut cardstock pieces from the It’s Your Birthday Ephemera pack, and scattering the additional stars throughout the layout. And that’s a wrap on Birthday #10 for this sweet girl! I hope her next 10 years are as much fun as the first!

I hope you have all found creative ways to celebrate birthdays during this global pandemic. I know we will come through this to better days when we can celebrate in person with family and friends! In the meantime, stay safe, stay well and Happy Scrapping!