First Silhouette Project

I finally shoved aside the sewing machine and decided to set up my Silhouette Cameo, which has been in its box since...Christmas. I needed a birthday card for my dad, and saw a great idea in the spring/summer issue of Make It Yourself.

Setting up the Cameo was surprisingly easy—though I couldn't register through their automatic system, I had to go on the web to do it. Took a bit to connect my online account (there are no directions provided for this!).

But I got it figured out.

Then I discovered that my cardstock has disappeared. Spent 20 minutes looking for that. It's gone. I am guessing a certain 13-year-old probably turned it into a set of dumpsters. Or something.

So, I found an envelope (since it's heavier paper) and cut that to use in the Cameo. And since it's white, I found my nice scrapbooking markers to use to color the cut piece.

Maybe I should have colored it first.

I used the glue pen and the tack from the cutting mat to stick the words. They were quite hard to get off the mat.

Turns out my wonderful pens do run a bit if wet, in spite of being permanent, acid-free, etc etc etc.

I used the glue pen to glue down the baker's twine. A bit of a mess. Getting them cut to the same length was the hardest—in retrospect, I should have used double-sided tape.

All in all, I learned a bunch about how to work the Cameo.

My poor dad actually might not notice all of the annoying details that I see. Spot, smear, glue blob (it dried clear), poorly cut ends (scissors could not trim through glue!), poorly drawn flames.

Plan for this weekend: buy a variety pack of cardstock.

My first Cameo project!

Linked to:
Sew Darn Crafty 
Take-A-Look Tuesday

Glue Stamp Pads and Glue Pens?!

Clearly, I am not a scrapbooker. I had no idea there were glue stamp pads and glue ballpoints. I went to Michael's looking for some sort of each, hoping I could find something that would work.

So, yeah. There they were. So cool. And, really, this glue ballpoint is just about the neatest thing ever. It writes in blue, so you can see what you have drawn/written! You don't need to squeeze, so no extra glue drops or strings!

So, I have ideas racing around in my head. I wonder what it would do on fabric? Dare I add glitter to our vacation shadowbox, which is still in the works? What will watercolors do when painted over the dried glue?

I love these cards. I bought the stamps years and years ago for some other idea that never happened. I have a maple one too.

I hope to try some of my other ideas soon (famous last words). But first I need to write my aunt an overdue letter (which card should I use?!) and work on another whimseybox content project that I really just want to have done.

Today I cooked. Calzones (there were 12), monkeybread test (it's yummy, I'll be more effort in next time), and cauliflower/cheddar/5 egg quiche.

Cards with Bling

I have spent the last month plus thinking about the glitter and sequins in the January and February whimseyboxes. And thinking of shiny things to make.

Today, with my internet out, and I found a 50-pack of plain white cards and envelopes that I found at Target today, I could try out one of those ideas. Cards! Simple and usable. What's not to like?

 

Glitter and sequins (crystal snow from my stash)!      

Pens and watercolors! 

Glues and cards!

I tried a few things. Drawing in white crayon and painting watercolors over. Adding glue and glitter to the drawn lines. Drawing in glue and adding glitter (no watercolors). Drawing in pen and adding glue/glitter and sequins.

Some success:

 Crayon drawing, watercolor, Elmer's glue, glitter

 Scotch glue pen, glitter, Marvy marker

 Marvy markers, glue pen, glitter, sequins

Some learning experiences:

•  It is really difficult to draw a picture in white crayon on white paper.
• It takes a lot of crayon to resist more than 2 strokes of watercolor.
• I need to try some other glue pens. The one I found at Staples creates excess "strings" of glue, almost like a glue gun. 
• It might be worth trying watercolors that aren't from cheap-o kid art sets.
• I cannot draw shamrocks. Those are in the trash.
• Drawing in glue and adding glitter over watercolor does not work that well—the glitter color washes out. Drawing in crayon first works better.
• Cheap cards from Target don't like watercolors—major paper curl!

Cheap Target card + watercolor = paper curl!

I am looking forward to trying more of these cards, especially for thank you notes. So I got myself some new goodies today—nicer cardstock, some metallic inkpads, a ballpoint gluepen, and a glue stamp pad (I didn't even know such a thing existed!), and stamp cleaner (I have no idea if this is necessary). Hopefully I can get the boys to make something too—thought I doubt they will go for glitter.

 New goodies for more experimenting.