Layers, Layers, and More Layers with Christine

Happy Saturday Samantha Walker fans!  Christine joining you today for the very first time!  I am going to share with you one of Samantha's new files from this past week and how to use the various layers of it!  This file is an owl and can be found in the Silhouette Store now!

 First up I am going to show you what happens if you use just the outline layer of the owl.

Because of all the detail in it - you get a striking image without having to do much to it!  Here's how I created this:

When you open the file you will get what is essentially three layers.  You will want to ungroup these and remove everything but the top outline layer.

Once you have done this - size the owl down so that he will fit onto your card size.  I went with a 5 1/2 X 5 1/2 card.

Then open up the Love  Heart file and size that down also so that it will fit on your owl.  I went a little bit big on mine so that it would overlap some of his outline.

After cutting all these out you are ready to assemble!  Don't forget fun embellishments like these half pearl stickers. I opted for a glue stick for my adhesive, because he has so many details, .  It can cover the whole area and get in all the little spots but doesn't dry too fast!

For my second project I added in another layer!  I used this owl as an attachment on a jar of candy.

For this one, I cut all the layers except the extra pieces from the bottom corner.  I cut these in the size that they are created already.

I cut the back layer in white, the middle layer in pink, and the top outline layer in brown.  I also added a little red behind the heart area to bring out the heart a little more.

Here's how I decorated my jar:

-Using strips of patterned paper that is 12 inches long and strong adhesive, wrap the papers around the jar.

-Add ric rac or other decorative ribbon

-Attach the owl using pop dots

Last up I have an owl that I turned into a shaped card and utilized all the pieces available in this file!

I left a few pieces either white or brown - but also incorporated a lot of color.  I decided on wiggly eyes too! Here's the colors I cut it in:

 And here is how I turned it into a shaped card.  I copied a second base into a new file.

I simply added a dashed line instead of solid - creating a foldable line.  I added adhesive to the top part and then attached it to the other base.

So there you have it - from one layer to three!  Thanks for joining us today!

Halloween Box and Card Gift Tutorial by Diana

Hello! Diana Fisher here with you today. I'm sharing a Halloween gift box and card I made using Silhouette files created by Samantha Walker. You can find the files I used in the Silhouette store here, here and here.

First, for the gift box, I cut it from a 12x12 sheet of black card stock. It was so easy to fold together with the tabs that interlock — no glue needed! 

To assemble the top of the box, the little bones match together and then slide through the slits in the skull and cross bones graphic. 

I wanted to decorate the gift box using some washi tape and also a skulls border from Samantha Walker. The border needed to be a bit longer and thinner than what was originally offered in the download, so I edited it a bit.

You can see in the screen shot above that I duplicated the graphic and put them end to end. Once they were overlapping exactly where I wanted, I selected both pieces and then did a weld modify on them. 

Once I had the final cut on the border, I glued it onto the box between the two strips of washi tape I had already put on. 

I also made a small card to go with the gift. I cut the decorative owl file on the Cameo in the same black card stock as the box.  

I used a foam adhesive ring to pop the embellishment up off the card and cut a piece of clear plastic to fit inside. Once filled with sequins, I adhered it to the white card base.

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There you have it! I hope you'll look to your Silhouette (and Samantha Walker files!) when you go to make your projects for Halloween.

Products (or equivalents) used to make this project:

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New This Week! February 25, 2013!

Happy Monday!

New this week at Samantha Walker's Silhouette die cut store...

Please note, designs may not be up in the store at the beginning of the week, but they have been uploaded to the queue. Watch for them as the queue rolls out the new designs! 

Fabric Owl Tutorial by Eva Dobilas

Hi there, it's Eva here today with a fun tutorial.  If you came joined us in this month's blog hop, you have seen my little fabric owl.  Well, since so many of you loved it and even asked if I would have a tutorial for it, I decided why not?  Sure hope you enjoy this.  As I mentioned in my original post, I saw this owl on Pinterest, so I had to create the pattern for it myself, and I am sharing it with you, so you can just print it out and have fun at it.  Here is what you will make.

So, let's begin.  All you need is fabric, thread, buttons, scissors, hot glue gun and little flowers for embellishment. Of course in this case I used Samantha's Riley Blake fabrics.

Here is the pattern.  Just click on the picture, save and print.  It should come out as the size I made it in.

Here are the items I used to create this owl.

First step is to cut out all the pieces.  After working on my project I realized I missed the beak of the owl, however it is in the downloadable pattern, so you won't miss a thing.

Next you need to sew the orange fabric piece on with blanket stitch.  If you don't know how to do that, I did a little google search and found this for you, just in case.  Blanket stitch tutorial

Next you do the same with the eyes.

Than it's time to stitch the beak on.  I only used one stitch, just to secure it, as my eyes will be stitched over it anyway.

Time to sew the eyes on.  I used regular stitches for that.

Than add the button eyes and you can see this owl come alive...fun isn't she?

 

For stuffing you can use all kinds of things, I didn't have anything special, so I just used some cotton makeup remover pads.

And here is what she looks like stuffed....LOL

Finally to create the bow, I folded the circle in quarter and hot glued it, so it stayed like these two and just glued them on her and added the little flowers.  If you want you can trim the bow a little bit, as it seemed a little big for my owl.  Remember, this pattern was very organic, kind of evolved, as I worked with it.

And here she is all finished with her BFF.  Aren't they cute????

 Well, hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  Hope you create one of these little guys and if you do, I sure would love to see.  ENJOY!

Guest Designer, Eva Dobilas...WOW!

I am thrilled to be featuring guest artist, Eva Dobilas.  She is actually the reason why I am designing stamps for Unity Stamp Company.  Eva was the one who introduced me to Angela the owner of Unity.  Eva's designs caught my eye when she used my birdhouse Silhouette die to create a beautiful project I featured her on my blog a few months back.  It is a truly amazing project, and worth looking at again if you haven't had a chance to see it.  What I like about Eva's designs is that she has such a knack for creating such beautiful color combinations, and adding cute little details.  I'm sure you will see what I mean after you look at these WOW cards.  Eva used a combination of Stamps from my collections at Unity, and digital die downloads from the Silhouette machine store.  Thanks, Eva for being the featured artist on my blog...you are incredible!

What got you into paper artistry?

The first time I bought a stamp was about 18 years ago, as a stay at home mom trying to make a little cash and selling cards at school shows.  I sold Christmas cards and bookmarks and I was hooked on embossing, stamping, and coloring.  13 years ago a friend invited me to a scrapbook party, and I started working with pretty papers and layouts, and till today I blame her for all the hoarding I do…hehehe

What is your favorite technique?

I don’t really have a favorite technique; instead I am a lover of all different techniques and love to try anything new that attracts me.  I love Splitcoaststampers for all their challenges for the techniques.

What do you think makes your work unique?

That is a hard question to answer, but I will try my best.  I love the pretty feminine look, semi distressed more with inks.  But I also love the grungy look, although I tend to pretty that up, too..hehehe.  Somehow I manage to add feminine touches to most everything.  Love ribbons, still on the crinkled ribbon craze as you can see from my cards.

What inspires you?

I get inspiration from other artists, blogs I visit, and Etsy is a great site, their daily e-mails sometime trigger the best work out of me.  But really I am mostly inspired by colors and sketches.

Besides crafting...tell a little about yourself... and anything else that might interest readers.

Other than the love of stamping/crafting, I also have 4 boys in my life, my wonderful partner, Michael, who loves me almost unconditionally and I just love him for that, my amazing son, who I am totally crazy about even though he is 20 already and 2 sweet kitties, Fuzzy and Louis, who make me laugh and feel loved every day I spend with them.  I love my life with all the curves and ups and downs it provides me and try to carry my own sunshine wherever I go, at least most of the time and love to help and inspire others to do the same.