How to Create a Handstitched Card Using the Silhouette Cameo

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Hello, I'm excited to share with you a tutorial for an adorable card using the Silhouette Sketch Pens. and the Silhouette Cameo. This is the card I created:

 I started by opening the “love” cut file in Silhouette Studio. I placed the cut file on the mat where I knew my card base would be. Then, I adjusted my cut setting to work with  the Silhouette Sketch Pen.

Then I sent my card base through my Silhouette Cameo with a black pen.

What I like about this technique is that you can use any color of pen or pencil to match the color of the embroidery floss you’d like to use for your hand stitching. For this card, I chose black.

After I had the lines drawn, I poked holes along each line with a paper piercer. I poked the holes about ¼ to ⅛ inch apart.

Then, I stitched all the way around the word “love” with black embroidery floss.

After I finished stitching I added a couple of small embellishments, a couple of strips of patterned paper, and a sticker to finish the card.

I love adding hand stitched elements to my paper crafting projects. It adds a personal handmade touch to any project.

Using the Silhouette and the sketch pens makes hand stitching that much easier.

I hope you love your Silhouette as much as I do? What is your favorite project using the Silhouette?

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Fun and Games Layout with Tutorial

Happy Monday! Do you like Mondays or do you hate Mondays? Personally, I kind of like Mondays. I love getting back into a routine after the chaos of the weekend and it's also nice to send the kids off to school so I can get a few things accomplished.

This Monday is a particularly nice Monday. I spent part of last week at the Snap Conference in Salt Lake City Utah. I LOVE this conference and on this Monday I feel like my batteries have been recharged, I have clear goals in mind, and a specific to-do list to help me accomplish my goals. I'll have more details about this conference in an upcoming blog post. I'm so excited to share with you a few things I learned at the conference.

While I was at the conference I found a new amazing place to shop for crafting supplies and get the best deals!

Halloween Wreath with Tutorial

Halloween is 25 days away! EEEEeeeekkkkk! I love Halloween! I've had my Halloween decorations up since the middle of September. My husband isn't really a fan of early decorating but if I'm going to go to all the work of decorating I want it enjoy it for more than a few days. This week on the blog everything will be all about Halloween. I'm giddy about it, really.

I have a love/hate relationship with wreaths (and other stuff) hanging on my front door. I love how it looks but I hate how it beats on my door when the wind blows. I live in rural Idaho so the wind blows....pretty much all the time. Most wreaths and things I hang on my door I end up taking down because its more of a windsock than a wreath.
When I was browsing Pinterest the other day I found an adorable Halloween wreath/frame and decided that I was going to make it my own and make a Halloween wreath for my front door.This is the easiest/least expensive thing I've ever made or bought to hang on my front door.

I spent a total of $4.99 (+tax) on this project. Here's what I bought:
Frame $2.99 (Thrift Store)
Spider $1.00 (Dollar Tree)
Twine $1.00 (Target Dollar Spot)
Total= $4.99 (YAY!)

There were some items I gathered from my garage:
Spray paint (optional)
Glue gun (and glue sticks)
Sandpaper
Felt

 When I was shopping for a frame I looked for one that was really thick and heavy. My hubby was helping me out and painted it before I got a "before" photo. It was just a dark brown stained frame. After he painted it I took a piece of sandpaper and distressed it a little bit to show some of the decorative carving around the edge.

Then I turned it over and started gluing the twine to the back of the frame with a glue gun. I glued 5 pieces of twine to the back of the frame. *TIP: glue one end of the twine and then let it dry before gluing the other end to the other side of the frame. By doing that you can pull the twine a little tighter so your web won't sag.

Then I tied the twine (still attached to the spool) where all the pieces of twine intersected.

I just kept going around in a circle weaving over and under each piece of twine. When a piece of twine intersected with another I put a small dot of glue between the pieces of twine.

I glued (I used LOTS of glue) the spider to the twine and the frame.
The last thing I did was glue felt to the back of the frame so it didn't scratch the door when the door gets slammed or when the wind blows really hard. This project took me less than an hour to finish (not including paint drying time).
It's an easy cheap Halloween decoration.

 Here's the blog post I found on Pinterest (Craftaholics Anonymous Spider Web Frame)

What ideas do you have for inexpensive/cute wreaths to hang on your front door? I need something for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Preschool Tutorial Video

Yesterday I mentioned that I have 2 favorite collections that I've used for my back to school projects this year; Public Library from October Afternoon and Tiny Tots from Bella Blvd. Today I have a process video to share with you using the Tiny Tots collection. Here's the project I created:

Watch how I created this project...complete with the paper straw flagpole.

Have a great Thursday! 

Let's Talk Tuesday: Video Tutorial

Good morning! It's Tuesday again and you know what that means! It's Let's Talk Tuesday.

 Thank you for the overwhelming response to last weeks post on Gelatos. I have loved chatting with all of you about that tutorial. If you missed it you can find it HERE. I can't wait to see what all of you create with your gelatos. Today I thought we'd change things up a bit and try a process video for Let's Talk Tuesday this week. 

I've been working on a super-secret, super-exciting project (I can't wait to tell you about it... in a few more days). While I had my video camera set up I shot this process video. I'm excited to share it with you. Let me know what you think.  I'd love to know weather you enjoy photo or video tutorials or both.

Without further adieu here's my video:

 I also have one more video on my youtube channel that you may have missed:

I promise I will have more process/tutorial videos coming up.  Thank you for stopping by today and for all your support!

Creating Banners (Tutorial Included)

A couple of days ago I had projects on the American Crafts blog for Banner week. I created a set of cards and a layout. Today I thought I'd share a quick and easy tutorial to show you how I created the banners on my projects. (I created the banner on the layout using the same technique.) It's so easy and very quick especially if you use quick drying adhesive.

Let's get started!

The first thing you'll want to do is lay the banner out on your project just like you want it when your project is finished.

Next, draw a line right along the top of the banner pieces (use a pencil and draw very lightly):

Cut a piece of twine a couple of inches longer (on both sides) than the line you drew:

Lay it across your project and make loops at each end of the banner, just to get an idea of where you want your loops to be. (You don't have to have loops you could just tie a knot in each end of the twine or you could just leave it plain):

Now, move the twine so it's just below the pencil line and add a thin bead of glue all the way across the pencil line:

Move the twine onto the glue and then carefully add a few dots of glue so the loops or knots will stay in place:

And last but not least adhere your banner pieces back under the line of twine (I also added a few sprinkles of black ink as a finishing touch to my card):

It's as easy as that! I found that for me it's so much easier to glue the twine on before the banner pieces are adhered. 

*product note* I use glossy accents by Ranger as my liquid adhesive. I love it because it dries clear and it dries so quickly.

Here is the layout I did using the same technique to add the banner under the photo/journaling.

What do you recommend when adding a banner to your projects? Do you have a tried and true method?

Darling Photos {mini album tutorial}

Good morning! Happy Wednesday! I hope you are well and making it through the work week. Things are going well here. Spring is on it's way, I just know it's coming! I went to yoga class last night, one of my classmates was telling me that her tulips are just starting to come up. I'm so excited for warmer weather.
Yesterday, I had a tutorial on the American Crafts Blog. I created a mini album using the Plus One collection. I will admit that this project did give me a grey hair...or maybe two, but it was so worth it! I adore the finished product and so does my little lady.
Here are a few photos and then you can hop over to the AC blog and get all the details HERE.

Thanks for stopping by. If you have any questions about my mini album or my creative process. Just click on the "contact me" button on the right. I'd love to chat with you and answer any questions!