LOVE-ly Inspiration

I was inspired...
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A couple of weeks ago I saw an illuminated LOVE canvas on Pinterest. It captured my imagination and I found myself gathering supplies... I was so excited to make my own version. I HAD to get it done before Valentine's Day! Sooo... on Sunday I got to it! 

Supplies I used:
16 x 20 canvas
K & C Company Specialty Papers (Valentine's Themed) or whatever papers you like!
The Ultimate Glue
Hot Glue Gun
X-Acto Knife
Scissors
1 strand of 35 Rice-Style Lights (I found mine on Amazon, 3 strands - ready for more projects!)
Pencil

I had started formatting my letters and calculating the sizes earlier in the week on my Silhouette Studio software, I was ready to cut! Do you have a Silhouette? If you like how I've made my letters... it's your lucky day! Download all four files and you have a head start! :) All files are in Silhouette Studio format.

File 1 : L for LOVE Project

File 2 : {Heart} for LOVE Project

File 3 : V for LOVE Project

File 4 : E for LOVE Project

(Please do me the little favor of leaving me a comment, if you download... It's that validation thing I have a weakness for! I also want to make sure the file download worked like it should. Enjoy!)

Did I mention I LOOOVVVEE my Silhouette Cameo!!! I haven't even scratched the surface of what it can do! Here's the gorgeous paper loading into the miracle machine.

Once all the letters are cut out, place them as you would like on your canvas. Now trace around the interior light holes. This will make placing your letters back down super easy.

Then glue them down! I initially ran my letters through my Xyron, however they didn't seem to have a permanent bond to the canvas. I ended up having to lift them up and apply the Ultimate Glue. Now they are PERMANENTLY attached! :)

Once your glue has dried, it's time to pull out that X-Acto knife. (I am not responsible for any injuries... so be CAREFUL!) Cut out each of the 35 light holes. I used scissors to cut the last little flap off of the circle. This really made it a lot easier AND safer! You know... there is nothing funny about safety... Oh, I digress... 

Get that light strand out... Now this is where it gets a little tricky. You need to make sure that your lights are going to reach all your little placement holes. If you are using my letters/layout it will work fine... if not make sure you take this into consideration prior to cutting out your light spacers. 

Turn over your canvas and decide where you want your cord end to plug in out of. I wanted mine to be at the "E." I knew where I was going to put it in the house and the plug would be easier to reach from that side of the canvas. I started with the light nearest the plug and the lowest hole in the "E," did a little measuring to make sure the lights would reach easily from hole to hole, then created a dot to dot! I numbered the holes in pencil so that when I started gluing I wouldn't make a mistake and end up having to start over! I went from the "E" up to the "Heart" down to the "L" and up to the "V." Figure out what works best for you! 

Time to glue! Yippee! Get that hot glue gun plugged in... (Also, test your light strand BEFORE gluing them in!) Now, you and I both know that when lights are plugged in they can create some warmth... so hot glue alone would not be good for this, you are using the hot glue to hold the light in while you wait for the Ultimate Glue to do it's job and dry and hold the whole thing in place... also if you feel your lights get too warm, don't leave unattended! (I have had mine plugged in for hours and it hasn't been an issue.)

I had a method to my madness here... I would hot glue 5 to 7 lights at a time and then go around them with the Ultimate glue, then move on to the next set. It makes it easier to get a good seal of glue all the way around them. 

Here's what the lights look like from the side:

Finished! It looks great unlit too!

A fun and simply LOVE-ly (couldn't resist!) project!

The Princess Card AND...

Oh my... it's been an awfully long time since I've played here... I am BACK! Ahhhh.... home. I definitely have some catching up to do with projects I've made and not posted. Oh well... A step at a time! :)

I have had the most fun the last couple of days working on a card project. I am the lucky aunt of many darling nieces that LOVE princess things. I had to create something that would be good for their birthdays this year! (Of course, I've already missed a couple of the princess nieces birthday's this year and sent them store bought *gasp* cards... I will most likely have to make up for that!)

This is what I came up with:

I can't think of many little girls who wouldn't LOVE getting a card like this! And the kicker is... after they read the pop-up "Happy Birthday" inside and my little personal message they get to WEAR IT LIKE A CROWN!!!! If you have seen any of my other cards you already know of my obsession of making cards that are "2 in 1!"

OK... Hold me back... Isn't that just adorable?!!! (Mainly because my beautiful and oh so patient daughter is modeling!) I am so excited with how it all turned out! Yippee!

This was a fairly simple project, after figuring out what I was going to do... Now that I have everything like I want, the next ones should go a little faster. 

The Details & Supplies:

Silhouette Cameo (I LOVE this machine!!)

Card Stock - I used two colors

Xyron Sticker Maker

Fiskars Cutting Board & Martha Stewart Scoring Board  (Great Tool!)

Scissors

Turbo Tacky Glue

Gold Pen-touch Marker

Assorted "Jewels"

Tiny Hole Punch

Elastic Cord

I am a relative newbie to the Silhouette Cameo... I have had it long enough to TOTALLY love it however! I have created some of my own designs and I have altered many designs to what I wanted... I have total creative reign! Ahhhh... the power.... :) It truly is amazing!

I used two shape designs for this project:

Crown Card by Samantha Walker

Happy Birthday Phrase by Samantha Walker

I opened up the Crown Card shape in the Silhouette software and I resized both elements so that the card shape would completely fill my 12" x 12" paper. I then opened the "Happy Birthday" phrase on a new document. I selected those elements and adjusted the size to what I thought would be perfect for my pop-up element. I copied these and pasted them on to the same document as the crown/card. I did it this way because I plan on making multiples of this card so I will cut out all the elements in two different card stock colors. Then mix and match the pieces for 2 cards. If you want to make one card only then you will need to separate your card elements by colors on separate documents or deselect elements to cut. Now... let that lovely Silhouette Cameo cut out your elements! 

I used my trusty Gold Pen-Touch Marker to outline the filigree part of the crown. Ran it and the phrase (top word piece only) through my Xyron. Of course plain old glue works great here too! Just a little trickier on the tiny script. (Another option is to use the fabulous sticker card stock from the Silhouette store! Sometimes I make my own sticker paper before cutting... It works great!) Place the sticky pieces on their mates. 

Now.... Here's where the Pop-Up element begins! I ADORE pop-up cards and I use lots of different techniques. This time I used the "floating layer technique." This is one of my favorite! (OK... I admit it... They are ALL my favorites!) I love how the floating layers technique makes the design appear to "float" in mid-air! 

Here's how I did it for this card. First you begin by making the supports. Using scraps from the card base colored card stock I cut a piece 4 1/2" x 1". Scored down the length of this 1/4" from each edge. 

I then cut the long strip into 3 @ 1 1/2" lengths. Turned the strips over and scored across the width in half at 3/4". (My photos show these dimensions... I may adjust them to make the supports a little smaller for my subsequent cards.) 

Take each strip and make a small cut up the mid crease of each strip, to separate the hem and create the support "feet." 

Apply glue to one half of the inner face only (not feet) of each support. Close the support and press the two faces together. This completes the support form.

Carefully glue the base of one support EXACTLY over the gutter crease on the card. Glue the other two (one on each side of the center) down in line with the center. This is a small design so the support feet will be touching each other.  

Crease your "Happy Birthday" phrase down the middle. Apply glue ONLY to the central support and carefully join the central crease of the layer to the central crease of the support. 

Apply glue to the other supports... Flatten all three to the left (careful not to let the glue touch the underside of the floating layer yet!) Once all three supports are flattened to the left carefully lower the phrase layer onto the glued supports so that the whole structure lays flat. Make sure the glue adheres and then carefully pull the structure upright. 

Yippee! A POP-UP!!

Here's what the card looks like at this point...

Now for the fun decorating! Glue all the jewels you like onto the front of the card. Ahhhh.... ssoooo sparrrkkklllyy! 

What about making it a crown?! Use a small hole punch and make a hole on each side of the back piece of the card only. About an inch up from the bottom or so. Thread the elastic cord through, tie a knot... I also punched out a larger circle of matching card stock to glue over the ends of the elastic cord to tidy it up and hopefully make it a little stronger. 

That's all there is to it! Enjoy!

I'd love to hear from you! Please leave a comment...