5 Cute Back to School Projects from SVGCuts

Do you have kids going back to school this week?  Do you know any teachers?  Why not try some of these cute back to school themed projects from SVGCuts.com?  You'll definitely have fun making them! 

I will list the projects from simplest to more difficult to create.  This is purely subjective, as some of you may find some things harder and others easier than I did.  Even when I had a bit of difficulty putting things together, I was happy with the outcome, so give them a try!  All of the links to the kits these projects are in will be listed at the end.

Every one can use a card, even if it isn't for back to school but to simply send a greeting to your child's teacher or someone you know who's a teacher.

This card was really quick to put together.  Just add a little embossing and it goes a long way!

Believe it or not, this backpack took less than five minutes to assemble!

My daughter suggested I needed something to go inside, and what did she suggest?  Books, of course!  I made some mini notebooks to stick inside, but you could fill it with any goodies for your child.

Here's a nice gift any teacher would appreciate!

This project was quite easy, but making the cards was a little time consuming, so don't start this if you're in a rush!  I made six notecards and six envelopes suitable for a teacher to send a note.  Add your teacher's name to the front and you have a super personalized gift!

Planning to give your teacher or student a little something that needs a box?  This one is perfect!

This adorable apple opens up so you can place a sweet gift inside!  Since this one is three dimensional, it takes a little more patience to put together.  It is still pretty easy, and the wow factor is awesome!  The main thing to remember is to take your time while gluing, holding each piece and letting the glue dry as you go.

Last but not least, another gift box any student or teacher would love.

Of all the projects listed here, the pencil box was the most difficult for me to put together.  Putting the wood part onto the pencil was a challenge, but overall I'm very happy with the outcome.  

I added a scalloped edge for a little more embellishment at the top since I didn't want to use the numbers that came with this file.  The black part of the apple on the front is cut from chalkboard paper which was perfect for writing the sentiment.

So, that's it!  Five really cute projects you'll have a blast making for a teacher or student!  Imagine how impressed the recipients will be!

Which projects are you making for back to school this year?  Please tell me about them!  If you have any questions about the projects listed here, ask in the comments and I'll do my best to answer!

SVG Kits Used: 
Back To School (Books on front of backpack)
Back to the Books (Backpack, Cards for teacher)
Miss Baker's Classroom (Apple)
School Days (Apple card, Pencil box)

Have a Crafty Day! 

*I'm an affiliate for SVGCuts because I love them and YOU will too!
 

Flip Calendar Day: August

Happy August!

An August calendar with a new twist, at least for me.  Since I'm in flip calendar mode, I thought I'd make one for my monthly calendar.  I used to print one 12"x12" calendar every month, but it seems like I'm always running out of ink in my wide format printer!

First, I created my calendar in Photoshop at 12"x12".  Once it was completed I reduced the size to 8"x8" which made it possible to print on my regular size printer.

Digital calendar

I then proceeded to make the flip calendar much the same way as the countdown calendar I made.  Since it's much bigger than that one, I had to use two 12"x12" sheets of cardstock and glue them together to form the base as in these pictures:

I scored each sheet at 8.75", folded them and glued one flap on top of the other.  Using my Cinch binding machine, I punched binding holes in the top.  I put patterned paper on the front and backside of the base.  To sturdy up the base I put additional pieces of the same colored cardstock on the interior of it.  Then I bound the top with O rings.  This is how it looks:

I used a removable 8"x8" page protector for the calendar, so I can take it off at any time, or add another if I wish.

I decided it need a little something more, so I added some embellishments and a removable journal card.  The journal card is held on with magnets as I did on my countdown calendar.

Magnets work like a charm!

I can add important dates on the journal card, or anything I want. When the month is over I'll stick it inside the page protector with the calendar.

Thanks for checking out my calendar!  I've made one more, but I'll take a break from flip calendars....for now.

Let me know if you plan to make one of these.  They really are a lot of fun! If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments.

Items used:

Photoshop
Cinch Binding Machine
Zutter movable 8x8 page protector
.75" Zutter O Rings
DCWV Sweet Tangerine Stack
Bo Bunny Key Lime and Barefoot&Bliss Digital Collections
Milkshake Font by Laura Worthington

Have a Crafty Day!
 

Have You Seen It? The SVG Cuts Spring Blossoms SVG Kit Rocks!

Have you seen the new kit from SVGCuts.com?  It is awesome!  Just in time for Spring, an Asian themed kit complete with a pagoda!  Check out the new Spring Blossoms SVG Kit!

 This kit is FREE with a purchase of $9.98 or more!  You save $6.99!

 I am in love with the pagoda and the lantern.  In fact, I've already made both of them, but I'm only going to show the lantern today.  Here's my version of it, which looks eerily similar (lol, yeah no creative license taken here!) to the one Mary from SVGCuts made.

 I didn't use the same paper as Mary, since from what I've heard it's difficult to find.  Of course, any excuse to buy more paper is fine with me! 

This lantern is very simple, but I love the clean look of it and I can't wait to put it up on my mantle in the living room with a tea light this evening.  

Here's another view.

 I can't wait to show you the pagoda I made, so stop by again and in the meantime I'd love to know what you think of my lantern!  

What will you make from the Spring Blossoms SVG Kit?  Be sure to tell me in the comments!

Have a Crafty Day!

Items used:
Spring Blossoms SVG Kit
Silhouette Cameo
Make The Cut! software
DCWV Wind Butterfly from Far East Stack
Bazzill Basics cardstock

I'm an affiliate for SVGCuts.com and Make The Cut! because I LOVE them and you will too! 
 

"Five Minute" Birthday Card

Can you really finish a card in five minutes??  Maybe you can, but I have yet to accomplish that feat, although this birthday card from the Five Minute Cards SVG Kit (from SVGCuts.com) I made for my mother comes close.  Usually the longest part of the creative process for me is choosing the paper to use.  Once my paper was chosen for this card, there were only five cuts to make, but I wasn't done yet!

This card is only four layers and went together quickly, if you don't count the time I spent obsessively applying foam tape to the back of the flower cut out layer.  You can see what I mean here:

Just a little bit of foam tape!

Once the foam tape was on, it really did take five minutes to put together!

For the inside sentiment I used my Silhouette sketch pens and wrote with the Cameo.  I haven't used my thin fonts from Lettering Delights nearly enough, so I was happy for the chance.

 

Being able to write with your cutting machine comes in real handy when you don't want to stamp or when your printers are out of ink (both are the case for me).  I thought putting the candles on the bottom was also a cute idea, but I'm not sure my mother will appreciate them!  I really enjoyed putting this card together, now all I have to do is get it in the mail!

Supplies Used:

Make The Cut* 

Silhouette Cameo

Silhouette Sketch Pen

DCWV Playtime Stack

Core'dinations Cardstock

Five Minute Cards SVG Kit

LDT Cursive

LDT Cutesie Doodles

Hope you Have A Crafty Day!

*I'm an affiliate for Make The Cut because I LOVE it and you will too! 

  

DIY Wooden Frames: Halloween Decor

Here's some inexpensive Halloween decorating for you.  I bought these wooden picture frames on the cheap from A.C. Moore and Micheal's.  They were only a dollar each, and all the other supplies I used I had on hand.  They're very easy to decorate using some acrylic paint, Halloween scrapbook paper and cutting files (the ones I used are from SVGCuts.com).

The witching hour frame is from Michael's and has a nice shape.  I was surprised it was a dollar until I got it home and discovered the backing was only a piece of cardboard the thickness of a cereal box.  Despite that, it came out fine and who's looking at the back anyway?

I painted the frame with glossy black acrylic paint after sanding it with a fine grit sandpaper.  It probably could have used a little more sanding, but I'm not the queen of patience.  After that it came together pretty quick, since the background is simply a page from a mat stack by DCWV.  All I did was cut it down to fit the frame and add a little stickles to the house and flourishes.  The witching hour title is from the same stack and I popped it up using some scrap fun foam.  After adding some cuts from the Gothic Flourishes SVG kit and some bling, it was done.  Here's another view:

Next up is the skull frame.  Since this frame had a wooden back, I glued the background paper directly to it.  I painted the frame after sanding it with glossy purple acrylic paint, then I went over the purple with some black glitter paint.  Once it was dry I sanded the edges and corners slightly to make it look distressed.

For the skull and bones I put two files from different kits together and created a shadow to glue the cuts to using Make The Cut.  I added a spiderweb corner from Gothic Flourishes (I also adhered a tiny svwarovski crystal to the spider), a flower from Elmhurst Hollow, and a banner from the Christmas Cheer SVG kit (Department Store card).  The bones font is from Lettering Delights, which I blacked out and then did a print and cut in Make The Cut.

Some tips for making these:

• Be sure to sand your frame with a fine grit sandpaper.  They tend to be a little rough, especially on the edges, which makes painting them a bit more difficult.

• Make sure to seal everything before putting it on to the frame.  I sealed each paper piece with Mod Podge, and I also sealed the frame with it.  Sealing helps to make it last so you can use it year after year.

• Use acrylic paint with a glossy finish because it looks nicer than the flat finish.

• Have fun!

Hope you enjoy decorating some frames of your own.  This is a great craft for any time of the year!

Supplies Used:
Make The Cut*
Silhouette Cameo
Wooden Frames (AC Moore and Michael's)
DCWV Eek-a-Boo & Midnight Spell (mat stack)
Recollections Midnight Magic Pad (glitter paper)
Gothic Flourishes SVG Collection
Elmhurst Hollow SVG Kit (flower)
Catacomb Manor SVG Kit (skull)
Doggie Pals SVG Collection Part II (bones)
Christmas Cheer SVG Kit (banner)
Scrap Bones (font from Lettering Delights)

Have some fun decorating frames and Have A Crafty Day!
*I'm an affiliate for Make The Cut because I LOVE it and you will too! 
 
 

Double Calendar Day and Back To School Luncboxes

Phew.  I made it through the first month of school.  What I didn't make it through was posting here during that time!  Getting used to a schedule after a lazy summer makes transitioning back to a routine a little rough on my kids (not to mention me!).  And now that they're all settled in, I can return to getting my craft on!
  
First up is my September calendar which is now irrelevant, but I thought I'd post it anyway.  Take a look:

I decided to mix it up a bit by using mini chalk boards for the grid.  Other than that, there's not much to say about it!

Next up are some lunchboxes I made for my kids from the Miss Baker's Classroom SVG kit from SVGcuts.com.  I wanted to show them my sympathy for their not so sweet return to the books.

Back to school got ya down?

Sugar and chocolate are the answer...sweet!

These were so quick to put together, and on each one I put something relating to that particular child.  The computer, piano keys, treble clef, turtle and monkey are all free files from SVGCuts.  You may notice that the turtle one (for my son "turtle boy"), is upside down.  I found myself wondering which way to put the paper, and thought it would be best if it was right side up when my son was going to open it.  After that decision I googled "lunchboxes" and discovered the images on them were the other way. I knew turtle boy wouldn't notice, so I didn't fret too much but I decided to make the other three "properly".  My kids enjoyed the candy and didn't pay much attention to the lunchboxes, but I had fun making them.

And finally, my October calendar:

Spooky!

 I went "off the grid" for this one which allowed the haunted house in the background to be more visible.  Using the black and purple papers from Lori Whitlock's Happy Halloween Collection I played around with the blending modes to get a more grungy effect.  Although the purple paper appears to be below the black, it's actually above it.  Have you ever played with blending modes in Photoshop?  If not, try it sometime, it can change the look of your papers which makes them much more versatile.

Supplies used:
September Calendar
Lori Whitlock's School Days Collection
LD Foundation (Font)
LD Chalky (Font)
Learning Curve (Font)

Lunchboxes
Miss Baker's Classroom SVG Kit
Computer, Piano Keys, Treble Clef, Turtle, Monkey SVGCuts Freebies
DCWV Summer Dream, Edumacation, &Generation Tech Stacks

October Calendar
Lori Whitlock's Happy Halloween Collection
LD Frightmares (Font)
LD Castle (Font)
Burnt Type Alphabet (LD)
 
Thanks for checking out my creations!  I'll be posting some Halloween creations soon. Until then....

Have a Crafty Day!

Hangin' at the Doghouse!

I'm hangin' at my house, with my dog Molly.  SVGCuts came out with a Victorian Row House cut file in their Parkside Row SVG kit.  I just bought the DCWV Limoncello stack, with you guessed it, a dog print.  What else could I do, but make a doggy hangout?

Woof!  Every dog needs a place to hang!

This house was so much fun to make!  The most difficult part was figuring out which paper to use for the many different cuts in this file.  Fortunately Mary at SVGCuts organizes the files by color which helps a lot.  You can also change things around if you want to make it your own!  I plan to make a few more versions of this (Halloween, Christmas, etc.), and now my daughter wants one for her room!  Guess I'll be busy.   If you enjoy making 3D paper projects you really should check out SVGCuts.com, they've got some creative stuff to make!

Here's what I used:
Make The Cut!*
Parkside Row SVG Kit
DCWV Limoncello Stack
American Crafts Cardstock
Core'dinations Cardstock

Woof!  Have A Crafty Day!
*I'm an affiliate for Make The Cut! because I love it and you will too! 

 

Happy Mother's Day!

You deserve it, Moms!

To all of the mothers out there, have a very Happy Mother's Day!  For all the work you do that goes without much reward, you deserve a day of pampering and rest!  I should know, because I'm a mother to four children, and my husband is a fifth child.  Not only that but we've got our puppy Molly, who is like having an additional toddler who doesn't understand English in the house!

Okay, now that I've got that out of my system, I thought I'd share a card I made for my mother, who, to put it mildly, went through a lot during her child raising years.  She's now fortunate enough to live by herself in a wonderful adult community where she has plenty of friends, but she tells me she doesn't like living alone (want to trade places Mom?).  Unfortunately she lives quite a distance from me making it difficult to see her regularly.  So I sent her this card for Mother's Day and hopefully she'll enjoy it although it's not the same as a visit in person.

You deserve it, Mom!

I didn't embellish this card at all since I had to mail it and I didn't want to worry about damaging the card.  I think the bright paper from the Tangerine stack by DCWV makes up for it.  The card is a step card from the Cards For Moms SVG Kit from SVGCuts.com.  It was fast and easy to put together, and if you have a stack of coordinating papers it doesn't matter which ones you choose, they'll look great together.

A long while back my mom gave me some old photos to scan and save to a disc for her.  Can't say I've finished that project yet, there are a lot of photos to scan, but I thought I'd include some in her card just to give her a blast from the past.  Here's what I did with two photos of her on Mother's Day in 1973:

That was a looong time ago!

Yep, that's my mom having a nice dinner out with, what, wait a minute, all of the kids???  Mom, what were you thinking???   All I can say is I hope I didn't send her a bad memory or anything!

For this 4x6 layout I used several supplies from SnapClick Supply Co. (formerly JessicaSprague.com) by Meredith Fenwick, Carina Gardner, and Samantha Walker.

I hope all of the Moms out there are enjoying their day!

Have a Crafty Mother's Day!

3 Things To Pay Attention To When Using Your Silhouette Cameo

With Chinese New Year coming on January 31, I thought I'd make some cards for my kids using Make The Cut (MTC) and the Chinese Zodiac Cut It Set from Lettering Delights.  That would mean making four cards, with each of their zodiac signs on the front.  Because of my lack of a fully functioning brain due to being sick for the past five days, I encountered three "technical difficulties" and only succeeded at making one card.  I thought I'd share these difficulties and what I learned here, in case you encounter them.  My first problem was easy to solve.  I noticed while my Cameo was cutting the square card mats I'd created, the shapes inside the mats were way too small to cut well.  I wasted an entire sheet of cardstock, ugh!    Lesson learned, make sure to do a test cut when cutting small shapes!  I also noticed the squares had cut farther to the right on the cutting mat than they should, problem number two.  I had no idea why that was.  The only card that seemed salvageable was the snake, so I decided to press on.  I cut the top layer of the snake in vinyl, and that's when the third problem revealed itself.  The shapes weren't closed, they looked like this:

This shape didn't finish being cut!

I racked my brain over this for a while, and then it dawned on me.  While I was test cutting trying to figure out what was wrong, I had the cut window open and I noticed some unchecked boxes, which if memory served me right, had always been checked when I cut.

This could be the problem!

I then clicked on that question mark to the right of settings and discovered this little tidbit of info:

Bingo!

Shapes not closing, exactly what one of my problems was!  And, since the "using carrier mat" option was unchecked the shapes cut farther to the right on the mat.  Try checking and unchecking that box some time and see the difference, the picture will change.  I hope sharing my mistakes will prevent this from happening to you!  Now, last but not least, here is the card I managed to create:

It's far from perfect, as you can see the rough edges from where the shapes didn't cut well.  To make the red mat have only the openings of the snake I used MTC and broke apart the snake, removed the solid portion that remained and joined the inner pieces to the square.  I was then able to put the actual snake shape cut from vinyl on top.  The one success I had was writing on the card using a thin font and a Silhouette sketch pen, it turned out perfect!

No, I'm not a snake!

This is one advantage of having Make The Cut, as this is something Silhouette Studio can't do.  If you use these fonts in Silhouette Studio it must be the true type version which is a double line, and personally I don't think it looks as good.  The red layer is popped up with foam tape for dimension, here's another view:

Ssssssss!

Of course I'm not really calling my 12 year old son a snake!  He was born in the year of the snake, 2001.  Here's the inside of the card:

Doesn't really sound like a snake!

I did a little reading to find that info in a book called The Secrets of Chinese Astrology by Derek Walters.  I found the Chinese character for snake by doing a simple Google search, clipping it, and tracing it in Make The Cut.  Making this card turned out to be a learning experience for me.  I now know to pay more attention to things like unchecked boxes and the appropriate size for cutting shapes!  Have you ever had a crafting experience like this?  I mean, for a while there it felt like someone didn't want me to finish!  I feel better now that I have one card.  I plan to make larger versions of the others tomorrow.  Here's what I used to make this card:
Lots of PATIENCE!
Silhouette Cameo
Make The Cut Software
Chinese Zodiac Cut It Simple Shapes
LDThin Font Light Sans
LDB Christine's Hand (inside of card)
Black Silhouette Sketch Pen
Core'dinations Cardstock (red)
DCWV Textures & Finishes Stack (gold)
Vinyl

Hope you enjoyed this post, and Have a Crafty Day!

(I am an affiliate for Make The Cut)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  I can't believe another year has almost come and gone!  I made this cornucopia from an SVGCuts kit called Happy Thanks.  It was pretty easy to put together.  I love this paper from the DCWV Autumn Melody stack.  Hope you have a grateful day!