Silhouette Cameo helps me with my coloring

My Silhouette Cameo helps me with my coloring AND my cutting.  I have to prevent using my hands as much as possible with my arthritis, and as a crafter it makes me have a very sad face.  I gave up knitting and crochet and I really miss it.  I can only color for a little while and cutting creates problems faster than just about anything.

I am SOOOO excited that I figured out how to scan a colored image into my computer as a jpeg, then import it into my Silhouette studio software.  It took some figuring out but I was able to create six images per sheet, then create a cutting file for one of the images.  I had to duplicate that cutting file, then manually line it up with each image, but that wasn't too hard.  (There has to be a way to duplicate the image AND the cutting file at the same time, but I haven't figured it out yet.)

This photo is intentionally awful.  It is beautiful in real life, but I adjusted it to make it not attractive and difficult to duplicate a nice image from..  The artist can be found at di's digidownloads.  She has the CUTEST images.  Because I am showing a full page of her artwork that I have colored, I did not want the image to be available to print and sell which would be piracy of her artwork (and if I do say so myself, of my beautiful coloring job using Spectrum Noir alcohol ink markers.)

The marks in the corners of the page are registration marks which helps the machine line up the image with the cutting file.  Here is the result of the cutting.

I originally forgot to set my printer for a high quality photo image so this one isn't saturated as well as it should have been, but the other ones are GORGEOUS!  I can make these into gift tags for goody bags for my daughter's upcoming birthday, make cards, etc.   OOOOh, I just had the best idea for making a Silhouette SHAPED card with this image.  I will try and let you see if it turns out okay.

Hershey bar snowmen (UPDATED Nov. 21, 2014)

I made these hershey bar snowmen last year and need to make more this year.  It's perfect for tucking in a gift bag with a gift card and Christmas card.  (I hate giving gift cards and nothing else.)

I got the idea from  kerryspapercrafts.com.

UPDATE 
Here are some notes that might help you. 

1. I learned to make this from kerryspapercrafts.com but she no longer has a website.   (The free design from Laurie Furnell has also been removed.)  I have seen other versions on the web though so try searching for snowman hershey bar wrapper freebies. 
2. Printing the appropriate size:  I found that if I click on the snowman wrapper image in my computer files, it comes up in Windows Photo Gallery. ( I use the 1.55 oz candy bar sized image.)  I click on print and then in the new window that pops up I make the following selections:

•  It should automatically come up sized as LETTER 8 1/2 by 11 inches.  If not, please change it.
• I select BEST for photo quality.
• I select PREMIUM PRESENTATION for paper type since that works well with cardstock.
• On the right side are images of photo sizes.  I select the 5X7 in (2) size.
• At this point it only shows one image on the paper preview.  Change the number of copies at the bottom of the pop up window to 2.  Wait a second and the second image pops onto your paper preview.
• I select the little box to the right of the copies that says "fit picture to frame".
• Print it out  (You might want to try it first on scrap paper to be sure it works for you).  See below for how to finish up the wrapper portion of your Hershey Snowman.

    3.  Cut the card stock in half at 5 1/2 inches between the 2 images.
    4.  Cut the bottom of the images off about 1/2 to 3/4 inch below the bottom coal button image.
    5.  Cut the height of your image to 5 3/4 inches.  It should be 5 1/2 inches wide and 5 3/4 inches tall.
    6. Score your images 1 1/2 inches in from each side edge.  This is where it will crease when you wrap it around your candy.  It isn't necessary but I find it significantly helps me center my image if I do this first.  I hope this works for you!

PS.  You can make about 21 outfits for your snowman with 1/2 yard of fabric, so feel free to use that as a guide for how much fabric to buy.

Ornament Gift Box

I am making several of these ornament gift boxes for my sister-in-law who hand paints ornaments for Christmas.  The inserts come out so you can actually make these just as gift boxes if you prefer. 

I learned to make them from this video  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE89A5OmHX0&playnext=1&list=PL2650A4DCA7F15FC7&feature=results_main  by stampinhands.  I used double sided heavy paper from KC&Co designed by Susan Winget.  I love that there is a different design on the outside of the box, than the inside.

I created boxes with small, medium, or large holes to hold the ornaments because my sister-in-law paints all three sizes of ornaments.  I guessed at the hole sizes, but they worked out perfectly.  I used 1.75", 2", and 2.5" holes  The ornaments don't move around in the box when the box is handled.  The box is bigger than needed for the smallest ornaments so I will eventually play around with the size to figure out a better sized box.  The box size is perfect for the medium and large bulbs though.

Magic Reindeer food - a Girl Scout Service Project

I made some magic reindeer food and suggested that the Girl Scouts from my daughters troop make more to donate to the local churches, banks and elementary schools that have Giving Trees this Christmas.   I thought the organizations could donate one to each family that had Elementary School aged children.

Their Leader has agreed that it is a wonderful idea for them, and because it is so inexpensive to make (especially if you use snack bags instead of test tubes), it fits perfectly in the minimal budget that the Girl Scouts have.

Whimsie Doodles created the tag but their website is no longer available.  Thank you Whimsie Doodles.  I believe these were created by Kerry  from Kerry's Paper Crafts.  Her website is also no longer available.

Birds on a wire card

I made quite a few of these "birds on a wire" card and have sent several out already.  It is a template I purchased to use on my Silhouette Cameo.  It is such a professional looking card I think.  I stamped several of them with the greeting shown, and several are thank you cards.

Playing with my Silhouette Cameo

I figured out how to weld and subtract shapes using my Silhouette Cameo electronic cutter.  I have had this particular design of card in mind for several years and was finally able to cut it out.  As a bonus, I printed the letters J O Y in the 3 circles that were going to be cut away, so I was able to use those letters in my design.  The negative image in those circles is also cool, and can be used on a different project.

This was my first attempt with decorating this design but I expect to do a few tweaks to it over the next few days to see if it looks a little better.  My daughter absolutely loved it though so maybe it is fine just the way it is.

You  can't see it but there is a dry embossed line the width of the card over the top rhinestone.  I think I might just dry emboss a design on the entire front piece of cardstock as opposed to the one line.

I used paper from a 12 x 12 set of Christmas double sided papers from KC&Co designed by Susan Winget.

Card for my Aunt

I made this card for my Aunt's birthday.  She has a family farm that is used like a cottage.  Cows use to be raised there so I thought I would use my cow stamp and silly greeting, but use beautiful papers to make it less juvenile.  I like the results.