DIY Printed Stamps on the Silhouette! (Part 1)

This one is for all of my Silhouette using friends! A few days ago I was looking for a stamp to coordinate with a card I was working on and didn't like what I had. I also didn't feel like going out and buying one... I needed it like NOW! So I had an aha moment... Why not make one digitally? I figured I had all the tools I needed. So here is how I was able to create my perfect stamp... The possibilities are endless, and it's was all at my fingertips!

Here is the card I made, the file comes from CLARA'S CHRISTMAS EVE KIT here. Isn't it pretty??? Look at the stamp! What a perfect match, don't you think?  Wanna see how I made it? Follow my instructions below. Super easy! It just looks lengthy... I probably should have made a video... not a road I want to go down right now... I'd probably crash! LOL! Ok, back to how I did it...

The first thing I did was go onto dafont.com. Since I was wanting to create a Christmas stamp, I needed Christmas images.  I then searched for holiday fonts or images known as wingdings. Here is the font I chose. The next thing I did was install it onto my computer, that way when I open up the Silhouette program it would automatically show up in the text box. (I chose to use a font/wingding but your possibilities are endless, use any image you have or find on the web!)

Next, I opened up my Silhouette Designer Studio Edition. Selected the text box, which brought up the text style box on the right-hand side. Scrolled down until I found the font I just installed  (Xmas tfb Christmas)
Because I had no idea of what the images were when each letter was typed I just type the whole alphabet out starting with upper case and then lower case letters.

Here are the images from this font. The next thing I did was change the outline color of the images to black. (I don't know why, but they look more like stamps when they are black)

The next thing I did was select all my images and ungroup them. Then I chose some of the images I thought I would like a stamp of. I'll just focus on a few for this post!

So here are some snowflakes I chose. Now, for some reason, the Silhouette software doesn't recognize this font. It will just print blank for you. All you need to do is fill the image in. Yes, it's that simple! Highlight the image and with the fill color option, change the color of the inside of your image. It won't print the outline, not sure why :( . I chose to make my snowflakes blue.

 Now you can get creative... Add other fonts, quotes, resize the images, basically do whatever you like! Here is what I did... (Remember to fill in the color your fonts or else you will end up with the outline of the letters)

Once you arrange your images the way you like, group them together. The next thing I did was select each image and create an off-set for them.

Now if you look closely you will notice that if I leave the image this way when it is sent to the cutter it will cut all the little spaces in between my image. Since I don't want that to happen, I will first highlight the inside image, right-click and copy. Then highlight it again and right-click and delete the image. (don't worry) You should be left at this point with only an outline. Look something like this...

Now highlight this image and right-click and select Release Compound Path. Go ahead and delete all the little pieces from the inside of the image. Like I did below.

Next, highlight the image again, right-click and select Paste in Front. That should bring your image back. Note! Very important... DO NOT drag your image or move it on the screen or else it might not line up. Phew!!! I managed to keep it still!  Here's what it should look like now.

Notice that the offset outline is black, if left this way the outline might be visible when you cut it with your machine. I changed the outline in mine by just selecting the outline portion of the image and changing it to a very light grey. Make sure you group the outline now and the image together!

Time to select your cut style. Since I want just the out-line cut, I've selected the cut edge option. If you wanted to at this point you could go ahead a send this to your printer. This image is actually too large at this point for my liking, so I will re-size it and I would like to make a few more copies. I only want 5, but you can fill so many more on one sheet. I will be printing on an 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper. Here is what my sheet looks like.

Now you are ready to send it to your printer and then cut it out with your Silhouette machine. Make sure you save your work. 

If you want to see how I created the shadow cutout for my stamp (blue piece behind the stamp), check out the next post. Part 2 DIY Stamp Shadows on the Silhouette! 

Hope this post was helpful and hopefully not too complicated to follow :) 

Thanks for following and if you like this post leave me some love in the comments below!

Happy stamp-making!

Entering this card in:

3D Snowmen Treat Boxes and Sleigh Ride | SVGCuts

Snow has hit us hard here in Edmonton... and as soon as it came so did my cold! Probably why I haven't blogged in a bit... been feeling a bit under the weather :( 

I got this really nasty cough that's not going away, booohooo me, sniff, sniff, cough!

So while I was on some great cough medicine today... I thought I would get some crafting done, lol. Here's what I made. 

Aren't they the cutest snowmen ever?! I had to get the latest SVGCuts Christmas Open House kit specifically for this snowman file! So easy and quick to make! Thanks again Mary for the wonderful files you create! 

Here is a closer look at my "man!" Did you notice his broom? This was another Thienly Azim inspired project. She had made a broom in a recent post... I thought it would work great with my snowman. Check out her broom here. For the broom, I used a wooden dowel wrapped with black washi tape and used the branches from here to create the broom bristles. The holly on the hat also comes from the same kit. 

This 3D sled was also inspired by Theinly. As soon as I saw her latest SVG Cuts Design Team project, I knew I had to make one! Check out her sled here... it's amazing! Thanks, Thienly for all your help and inspiration!

I think these snowmen will make the perfect Christmas treat boxes for the kid's teachers this year... Who wouldn't love them, especially when they are filled with irresistible goodies! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Happy crafting!

Quick Chocolate Cup Cakes | Baking Tips and Tricks

Hey everyone! 

Hope you are enjoying your weekend :) For the first time in a long time on a Saturday, I was home all day... Wow! Usually, I'm running around with the kids, grocery shopping or at some event. Well, I can say I've enjoyed being at home today... My daughter and I got to paint our nails, read a few books and even did some baking together! While the boys did garage stuff and played video games!

Here is how our chocolate cupcakes turned out! Yummy can't wait to try them tonight for dessert!

Here is how I made them. I kind of cheated with the cake mix! I used a Duncan Hines cake box, I love this mix. The cake always turns out moist!

Once my batter was all mixed up, I poured it all into an extra-large Ziploc bag. I placed the bag in a bowl to hold the bag in place while I scrapped out the bowl. 

Next, I closed up the Ziploc bag and pinched one of the bottom corners. With some kitchen scissors, I then snipped the corner off (don't cut it too big, or you might end up with a big mess). Start pouring into the wrappers.

Like the directions on the box indicate, only fill up to 2/3 of the way up the cupcake wrapper.

Around 20 minutes later your cupcakes will look like this. Perfect time to get your frosting done! Here is the recipe I used for mine. Tip: To make more icing, simply keep whipping your mixture. It usually will double what your recipe yields! I usually let the mixer go until my cupcakes are completely cool, around 10-15 minutes!

Once my frosting is done, I scoop it all into a size 16 pastry bag with a star tip already attached. To help me do that I place the pastry bag in a large cylinder vase I have, and roll back the edges.

Then I flip up the edge of the pastry bag and twist the top closed, and keep it pinched with my hand while I squeeze and frost the cupcakes! 

And here they are once again! YUMMO!

Half of them I packed up to take to work with me on Monday! It's been a while since I treated my colleagues with some baking! I don't know any nurses who can resist a cupcake, lol! These will go straight into my deep freezer. That will keep them fresh until then!

Here are the little cupcake wrappers I found at the Dollar store! What a deal and they come with the little toppers! I couldn't even make them for that price ;)

Thanks for stopping by! 

Have a great weekend! Live a little, eat some chocolate! :)

Witch Boots | Halloween Treat Boxes

Happy Halloween Everyone!!!

This year for treats I thought I would make this witches boot. I had bought this file on the Silhouette Online Store and had cut all the pieces for it, but life, as usual, got busy and only tonight did I get to finish them up. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, lol! I slightly enlarged the file, but now I kind of wished I had enlarged it some more, as they are kind of tricky to put together when they are this small! Update this file is no longer available. Here is another "NANNY" boot file that could be used as a Halloween boot. 

Aren't they soooo cool?!  They actually can fit quite a bit of goodies. I also like that they can fit a full-size chocolate bar... and even extra candy in the front part of the boot :)

Here is a closer look! BOO! Did I scare you? Maybe those eyeball chocolates did, kinda creepy, aren't they?!

Just put it in a treat baggy, wrap it up and it's all ready for a very special little goblin!

I hope you like my "Boots!" Have a fun Halloween!

Happy Haunting & be safe!

DIY Painted Pumpkins | Halloween Decor

Hey all!

I finally got around to making my pumpkins this year. Unlike other years, we thought we'd paint them this year. Usually, the kids get so excited to carve out the pumpkins, but in reality, what happens is... they start... they get tired...  start whining cause it's hard... and complain about the gooshy insides when gutting out the pumpkins! Then I end up doing all the work and cleaning up all the mess! So my daughter and I painted them this year... I have to agree, way more fun! 

Here is how they turned out! Aren't they cool! They were super easy, and my daughter actually did most of the painting herself!

Here is how we did it...

Started off with plain ol' pumpkins... makes sure they are clean, no dirt.

Used acrylic paints and brush. For one of the pumpkins, I divided it into sections and painted guidelines for my daughter to paint in.

Then for my other pumpkin, I wanted to paint the word "BOO" so I typed the word in the Silhouette SDE program and took the offset of the word and cut it out of some scrap contact paper.

I placed the contact paper on the pumpkin to used it as a guide and painted the center in white. For the actual word "BOO", I just freehanded the letters inside the white space. TIP: if you are impatient like me, use a blow dryer on a low setting to speed up the drying time!

Here's how they look in my front entrance. LOVE how they turned out! Hope you do too :)

Have a great weekend!

San Francisco | Travel Pictures and Highlights

Hello!!!

I'm tagging along this week with my hubby... while he's in meetings all day I get to explore one of my favorite cities in the world... San Francisco... Yay me!

I'm very proud of myself today... I was able to drive from Mountain View, where we are staying all the way to San Francisco.... not bad considering I'm directionally challenged! I'm sure I must have been one of the slowest drivers on the highway, lol!

So here are a few pictures from my travels of today... if you follow me on Instagram you may have already seen most of these... If that's the case, woohoo you get to see them again! 

Snapped a few pics of houses while exploring the streets. I love the architecture here!

Next, I headed down to Pier 39...

where I saw the Sea Lions just hanging out enjoying the beautiful weather today, (usually its really cold out by the ocean) Got lucky!

A must-have for me when I visit, clam chowder in a sourdough bowl... Delish!

After lunch, I took a long stroll along the marina (had some calories to burn, lol), and where I met this guy... I was literally 2 feet away from him and he didn't move!

Ghirardelli chocolate, yummy!

I finished my afternoon here at the Golden Gate... What a spectacular view!

All these picture were taken with my new Iphone5, I'm pretty impressed with how they turned out. That and because I didn't want to lug around my heavy DSLR camera. I love the new panoramic feature of the camera, it's so cool!

Thanks for stopping by, tomorrow I'll be shopping :)