Home Decor Projects with Guest Designer Aimee Maddern

Aimee is back today with more Home Decor projects using Silhouette Cuts!

 

I have always wanted to be able to make my own vinyl decals. I just have always been a little bit afraid. So for this tutorial I bit my lip and went for it.

I found one of my favorite phrases from Samantha and decided this one would look great on a mirror. The best part about the vinyl is, you can change it out anytime you want! So if I decide I don’t like it anymore, or I want to change the décor in my home, it’s a easy as cutting it with my Silhouette Cameo!

I first found the phrase I wanted to use. In the Silhouette Program I made it to the size I wanted which is about 7.5 x 10.5 inches. The silhouette can cut up to 12 inches wide, and the vinyl comes 12 inches x 6 ft. So I am only limited on width for this project.

I then changed the setting on the machine it’s self to load media, and feed the machine my vinyl. I made sure I adjusted my setting in the program and also on my blade.

After the vinyl was cut I weeded out the negative space and placed my transfer sheet on top of the design, making sure the design stuck really well to the transfer paper.

 

I cleaned my mirror really well and lined my design up. I then peeled the vinyl backing of my “sticker’ and stuck it to the mirror. I rubbed over the sticker many times to make sure the vinyl stuck to the mirror, I then very carefully pulled the transfer paper up making sure the vinyl stuck to the mirror.

For Aimee's second project, she made this “when pigs fly” pillow!

 

I recently went to a baby shower and the theme was “when pigs fly”. Before making this pillow I was going through Samantha’s designs in the Silhouette store and came across this design and knew I needed to make something with it.

The pillowcase I used is from Ikea {$4} and measures 20x20 inches.

In the silhouette program I ungrouped the design and found “just” the pieces I was going to use, which were the simple pig and wings.

I then made the pig and wings almost 11.75 inches big. To keep the shapes the same scale, I pulled on the corner of the design The design was now way bigger than my cutting mat, so I copied and pasted the wings to a new “untitled” cutting mat. 

Before cutting my material, I cut the shapes from cardstock to see if I liked the size on the pillowcase, this also helped me see how much fabric and interfacing to cut.

Once I figured how much fabric and interfacing I needed I ironed the 2 together following manufactures directions.

I placed the fabric on my cutting mat and cut away. I cut the pink fabric first for the pig and the off white second for the wings {I cut a third wing from a plain off white fabric and adhered it to the wing on the pig body to help give the wing definition}.

After the fabric cut I carefully pulled it off the cutting mat and placed on to my pillowcase.

I then ironed the fabric to the pillowcase.

To see more of Aimee's work, be sure to stop by her blog: http://aimeesarmoire.typepad.com/

Halloween Pillow with Guest Designer Aimee Maddern

Guest Designer Aimee Maddern is with us today to share how she made her bat pillow using the 1 piece bat moon circle frame Silhouette cut!

 

I was feeling the need to release some creativity and came upon the idea to make some Halloween home décor. I came across the bat moon design and thought of making a vinyl decal. But I then decided I wanted a pillow for my front porch. So I decided to make the bat moon a stencil using vinyl. I used a pillowcase that I purchased from Ikea for $4} and measures 20x20 inches.

First I opened the design in the Silhouette Studio Program. I made the design about 11.75 inches big. The silhouette can cut up to 12 inches wide, and the vinyl comes 12 inches x 6 ft. So I am limited on size for this project since the design is square.

 

I first cut the design out on cardstock so I could see what the negative pieces were. Now that I know what those pieces are I changed the setting on the machine it’s self to load media, and feed the machine my vinyl. I made sure I adjusted my setting in the program and also on my blade.

After cutting the vinyl I weeded out the actual design of the bat moon leaving a square piece of vinyl to adhere to my pillowcase.

I stuck the negative piece of vinyl to the pillowcase making sure it stuck as well as vinyl can to material. At first I planned using a dye in a spray bottle to dye the fabric. I then came up with the idea to use spray paint, which I had on hand. {Later I found out I should have just used an acrylic fabric paint}

 

I used painter’s tape and wax paper to cover the pillowcase to catch any over spray. I also placed the whole project on the grass so incase there was over spray, the lawn would be mowed removing any of the over spray.

 I also sprayed the stencil with a color mist {I now regret} giving it a shimmer.

 

I then let the pillow dry for a few hours in the sun, but I could have used a heat gun to speed up the process

 

Be sure to stop back in Monday to see more Home Decor projects from Aimee!

BOO Banner by Diana

Hi! Diana Fisher here with you today to share a custom Halloween banner with you. I used the Samantha Walker Spook 31 font to make this "BOO" banner to add to my Halloween decor.

This font is so fun and versatile you could make any word or phase you would want for your banner. Here are the steps I took in the Silhouette Studio software to make my banner.

First thing is to type out the "boo" word and then select the downloaded SW Spook 31 font from your choices. You'll notice after I did that, that the two "o" letters are really close together. So close, it might affect the cut. 

To get the letter further apart, I selected the Character Spacing option and just moved them a bit further apart.  

After that was done, I added circles to the top of my letters. This gave me a space to thread the ribbon. This can be done with a small hole punch after you are done with cutting the letters, but I chose to use the Cameo for this step as well.

I cut my banner out of purple glitter paper and it turned out great, even with the small details in the spiders. 

Thanks for stopping to see my BOO banner. Download Samantha's Spook 31 font and create your own custom Halloween banner!

Spooky Halloween Mobile with Pinky!

Hey there SW friends, 

It's Pinky today with a Halloween mobile that is so cool near a window with 

the crystals and shine! This would be fun with a black light behind it. 

Have you seen the newest Halloween Cut Files from Samantha Walker?

http://www.silhouettedesignstore.com/?page=view-shape&id=67403

They are fun and so easy to use. 

 For the base hanger I took a roll from the inside of a tape and 

spray painted it metallic nickel. 

Then hot glued rhinestone mesh on the outside. 

After that I used my Silhouette to cut the SW SPOOKY cut file

from black card stock. 

On the back I adhered a piece of acrylic to keep it straight but invisible. 

I used fishing line to tie the crystals and the SPOOKY on. 

Then added a fishing wire hanger as well.

This is just too cool lit up in the dark by a candle or porch light,

and during the day it lets off little rainbows. 

Fun project you could make with your kids even...

Until next time- Keep on creating!

Pinky Hobbs: Samantha Walker Creative Team

Vinyl Cross by Christine

Hi Samantha Walker fans, Christine hosting the blog today! I love using vinyl to decorate my home and change things up regularly.  It's not expensive and so I don't feel guilty changing it out here and there.  Today I decided to use one of Samantha's new crosses to create a new vinyl piece in my living room!

I picked up a wood frame that I thought would coordinate nicely and then spray painted that black.  I cut the cross (#63275) out in a black vinyl and centered it on the wall inside of the frame. It cut perfectly on the first time too - love how nicely the Silhouette Cameo cuts vinyl!

I then added some rhinestones to various points to give it a little extra dimension and pop!

It goes perfectly with all my black picture frames and adds a nice, new fresh touch to the room!  

Thanks for joining us today!

Quick and Easy Fabric Wall Decoration with Claudia Harvey

Hello everyone. Claudia here. I'm so excited to share another fabric project with you today. I just love Samantha's Serenata Collection! If you remember, I created these memo boards/wall decorations last month. I realized that not everyone has an Ikea nearby; which is where I bought the little round cork boards. So, I just had to create something using the next best thing... Fabric Hoops! You can find these at just about any craft and hobby store; even Walmart. Honestly, it gave me another excuse to play with Samantha's fabric.

These are the supplies I used:

First thing I did was fit the fabric to the hoops; then pulled the fabric to position it where I wanted it, and tightened it.

Then I turned the hoop over and trimmed the fabric, leaving it about 1/2 inch wider than the hoop; if you leave it any longer, it might look like the fabric is poking through the front when it is hanging. I may or may not have learned that the hard way.

Then simply fold over, and glue. Because this is wood, you can use just about any glue; however, I find that the hot glue dries really quick, so I barely have to press on it to hold before moving on.

Finally just position the Command hooks where you want and done!

Quick and easy!
I think I did this project in about 30 minutes. I think it took me longer to photograph that wall; my house does not have enough natural lighting.

Fabric has taken on a whole new meaning for me. I can't use a sewing machine to save my life; but with projects like this... I don't have to! I can make fabric hoops to match any season. These make such a fun and unique gift too!

Until next time.

Lots of happy hugs,

Kitchen decor with Diana Fisher

Hello! Diana Fisher here with you today sharing a framed project I made for my kitchen. Samantha Walker has these amazing sayings she designed for the Silhouette store and this one always makes me giggle. 

I'm pretty sure these cuts would work perfectly using vinyl, but what if you didn't want to use vinyl? Here is how you can get the same effect with paper. 

I love this Antique Tile blue pattern paper from the Traditions Collection at Carta Bella and it goes perfectly with my kitchen and dining room (the kitchen is tan and the dining room off of it is blue). This frame lives on the counter  at the corner where the dining room meets the kitchen — perfect!

So, here's a little bit about the process. I chose the Antique Damask yellow paper from Traditions for the yellow that is showing through and the brown paper is Rodeo Kid from the Giddy Up Boy Collection. This helped with the contrast to be able to read the letters showing through.

The frame is 8" x 10", so the cut was a little more than 7" by nearly 8". It wasn't an exact measurement, I just wanted it to float on the paper and I cut it later to be even on the sides.

When I took it off the sheet, I was careful not to tear any of the letters. Then I backed it with the yellow paper and adhered the two sheets together.

I put the blue paper in the frame and then used foam adhesive to lift the saying up off the background piece, giving it dimension. A fun little banner in the corner from the Traditions collection sticker sheet and my frame was finished. 

The finished project completes this corner of my kitchen and I couldn't be happier! Is there a spot in your house that could use a fun, new frame?

Thanks for stopping to see my project today!
Here are some supplies you can use to recreate Diana's project:

Get Amazon Prime Membership! Enjoy Free 2-day Shipping on Prime products, plus access to Free digital content like videos, books, and more!

Pinch me...I think I'm dreaming!

Last June I was offered the opportunity of a lifetime...to create a line of home decor products.  Did I just say that out loud?  REALLY...that's HUGE! I have been over the moon about it for months...but cautiously, as I just didn't know how it was all going to go down. I worked many late nights and weekends to pull off the magnitude of this project, and today, I got to see it come to fruition.  My samples were ready to view!  I had no idea what to expect, and so I was floored to see it all come to life. I quickly snapped a few pictures to give you a preview of what we created. I cannot take all the credit as Mark and Kristen Tuttle shopped overseas for what my artwork would be laid into...wooden frames, clocks, marble coasters, frames, wall tins, magnets, wood wall art and more! So together, their choices of products combined with my art...we came up with this:

This is just a sneak peek at the products that will start selling in January at the gift market trade show in Atlanta.

 The Pear stacked wood prints are among some of my favorite pieces in this collection.  Actually...there are three collections if you break it down into Pears, Owls and Flowers, and black and white.

 This is just a small sampling of the owl and flower collection.  These are prints done on metal tins.

This is a close up of some of the flower designs...

 This is a close up of some of the owl prints.  

I'm crazy excited to see this go to the next step...and that is being presented in the VIP International booth in Atlanta at the trade show in January.  Here's to hoping this line will see much success!