Day 25 of Christmas Crafting, Part 1

Hmmm.  It seems my nifty idea for my first Silhouette craft is not working out as well as expected.  In fact, I'm on the third try.  Here's hoping it's the charm.  As I mentioned in Day 24's post, I want to make a piece of wall art featuring a Christmas scripture.  I had no trouble whipping up a pleasing design to cut, but sadly, it did not cut quite as well as I had hoped (Rookie mistake: Small intricate cuts on heavy cardstock are not a good idea, I guess.)  First try = fail.

I was not easily deterred, however, and decided that I could use the cuts as negative space.  I bought a 16x20 canvas, and my paper was 12x12, so I figured I would paint the paper and canvas the same color and go from there.  By leaving the space behind the paper unpainted, I would end up with white lettering on my navy background.  However, a 12x12 piece of cardstock glued in the corner of a 16x20 canvas is glaringly obvious and so sadly, second try = fail, too.

Still hopeful, I decided to try a different tactic.  I thought that perhaps I could use the cut cardstock as a stencil.  I laid it out on the canvas and started daubing white acrylic paint on the stencil.

 But when I pulled back the stencil to check it out, sigh...

the paint bled under the stencil, and that was not the look I was going for.  Rats! Foiled again!  Apparently the third time was not the charm this go 'round.

Ever the optimist, I know I can still make this work.  My new plan is to beef up the font and try cutting it out in white this time.  I'm also going to see if I can find some adhesive cardstock to speed the application process.  Wish me luck!

Day 24 of Christmas Crafting: the Star of the East

After 2 days off with my family, it's time to finish the 25 Days of Christmas Crafting!  We had a wonderful Christmas, and I loved spending the two days with Patrick and Claire. We spent a lot of quality time with my family and playing at home, with our new toys.  Speaking of which, apparently I was very good this year, because Santa brought me a big present!

Source: http://www.amazon.com/Silhouette-Cameo/dp/B005Y1CPSU

I've been dreaming of the Silhouette Cameo for a few months now.  It seems that every time I turn around in the crafting blogosphere someone is making something amazing with one.  I figured I'd have to save my pennies for quite some time before I could get one.  Then, surprise, surprise, Santa left me one under the tree!  I was beyond excited.  I have big plans for this thing, and I knew I wanted to finish off my Christmas Crafting series using it.  So I scraped my original plans for Day 24 and 25, and started designing.

I have wanted to make a piece of wall art featuring a Christmas scripture for awhile now.  I saw a couple of great examples here and here online.  I knew it would be much easier to make one once I had a Cameo, because I don't trust myself to be able make the text straight otherwise.  I also knew that I wanted to combine the text with the technique I used on Day 11 (my Star ornament) to make a 3D piece of art.  That's what I worked on today.

The scripture I am using is Matthew 2:9-10 which tells the story of the wise men seeing the star in the east, so I planned to make a 3D star to really make the piece pop.

Here's what I used:

• 1 piece of bright yellow card stock
• Scotch Quick-Dry Adhesive

Here's what I did:

1. I cut several thin strips from the cardstock.  Specifically:

• 1 0.5x12 inch strip
• 3 0.5x6 inch strips
• 4 0.5x3 inch strips

2. I then took each strip and overlapped the edges to make a circle.

 3. I put a thin line of adhesive on one edge and held it tight for about 30 seconds to seal the circle's edges.  I did this with each of the strips.  (Note: I accidentally cut an extra 6 inch strip, so please disregard the extra medium sized circle below.)

 4. Then I flattened each circle and pressed firmly at the top and bottom to form a good crease.

 5. Next I laid out my pieces to make sure I would end up with the shape I wanted.

6. The I began gluing the pieces together.  I put a thin line of adhesive at the top of one piece and then attached the adjoining piece.  I held each seam for about 30 seconds to allow the adhesive to set.

 7. Next I continued gluing around the star, paying close attention to the order of the pieces and the placement.  It is important that the pieces line up at the top and the sides as I want this to be able to lay flat on a canvas once I am done.

 And there you have it.  I have one beautiful star that will represent the star in the East!

Tomorrow I'll share my plans for this guy and the end result.  Happy Boxing Day!