Jin's Silhouette Studio double-sided, print-and-cut Action Wobble Easter cards

If Print-and-Cut is my favorite feature of the Silhouette Cameo, then the double-sided print-and-cut has got to be my second favorite. Using the "Center-to-Page" alignment in the Silhouette Studio program, I made a couple of double-sided print-and-cut Easter cards with my Silhouette Cameo.

The design of the cards is basic and easy to do but adding an Action Wobble spring brings an extra element of playfulness to the project.

Each card measures 5.25" x 5.25" (folded) and is printed on both the front and the inside. The Easter eggs on the card front were cut out of colored cardstock and layered together with glue and foam tape. They are then affixed to the card with an Action Wobble spring.

To make a double-sided card with the Silhouette Cameo, I aligned the card front and the inside to the center of the page. I used the same technique as that for my double-sided Birthday Fairy card and my tri-fold Princess card.

Card Front (click on the image to enlarge)

Inside card (click on the image to enlarge)

The Action Wobble on the card front hints that the egg is about to "crack" and so for the inside, I added an image of the cracked egg exposing a newborn chick!

To make the patterned cracked eggs, I used the Object-Modify commands.

Here are the steps to creating the patterned cracked eggs:

- Ungroup both the cracked egg and patterned egg images.
- Delete the chick and position the plain (blue) cracked eggshell over the patterned egg.
- Object>Modify>Crop will result in a patterned egg bottom, while Object>Modify>Subtract will leave behind the patterned egg top.

Note: Each of the patterned egg comes in more than one layer and while the "Subtract" command can be used on the whole egg, "Crop" has to be applied to each individual layer.

 

 

Here's a video that shows how the eggs on the card front wobble. For those of you who are following this blog via the newsletter, click HERE to see the video.

Enjoy!




Files used:
Lil Peanuts cut its
Lil Peanuts graphic (Optional. I replaced the chick with the graphic version only because I prefer the look of the graphic vs the SVG).
Lil Peanuts paper pack
Hi-Dee-Hoo cut its
Hop Hop Hooray graphics
My Own Topher font

Action Wobbles spring

Silhouette Studio Tutorial: How to make a Tear-Off Calendar

Happy New Year! 

Here's a new tutorial to kick off 2012.

I am using Windows 7 and the Silhouette Studio Designer Edition (v2.2.0d) with the Silhouette Cameo. However, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that you can use the free Silhouette Studio program with this tutorial since I did not use any SVGs to make this calendar. 

In addition, since I did not use any 12" by 12" papers, you can also make this project with your Silhouette SD.

Graphics used are by Lettering Delights:

- Cowabunga Calendar

- Cowabunga Alphabet

- Cowabunga Graphic Set

- Cut Its Basic Tiles

Papers needed: 
3 sheets 8.5" x 11" printer paper, 1 sheet cardstock

Here is the video tutorial. For the written instructions, just keep scrolling down. :-)

PART 1: How to add your own patterns (textures) to the Fill Patterns window.

There are two methods (that I know of). I will show you the quick method today:

1. Go to File, My Library, My Patterns

2. From your computer,  locate the pattern that you would like to add to the program. I chose the LD Basic Tiles.

3. Drag and drop the pattern into Silhouette Studio.

PART 2: How to make the calendar in Silhouette Studio

1. If you are using the Cameo, set page size to Letter.

2. Using the Rectangle Tool, draw a 3.0" x 2.5" rectangle.

3. On your computer, open the folder that contains the Cowabunga Cowlendar graphics. Bring the January cow into Silhouette Studio by dragging and dropping the image onto the virtual mat.

4. Lock the Aspect Ratio and reduce the width of the cow to 2.35". The height will adjust automatically.

5. Use the Line tool and draw a line inside the rectangle and just above the cow.

6. Open the Line style and change it into a dashed line.

7. Holding down the SHIFT button, select both the dashed line and the rectangle. Release the SHIFT, right-click and Group.

8. Select the rectangle, open the Fill Pattern window and click on a design to fill it with.

9. Mouse-over the rectangle, right-click and Send to Back.

10. Set the page to show Registration Marks. Select all and reposition entire image to the top left corner.

11. Use Duplicate or apply Copy and Paste (Ctrl-C/Ctrl-V) to fill up the page with 6 January cows.

12. From your computer, open the folder that holds the Cowabunga Cowlendar graphics. Drag the February cow over a January cow. It will replace the January cow and resize itself. Continue with the other months until you have the January-June cows on the page.

13. Open a new page and repeat steps 2-12 to make the pages for July-December. (Hint: or just save the Jan-June page as a .studio file, then replace the months with July-Dec and save that as a different .studio file)

14. To make a cover page for the calendar, select and Delete all but one of the pages. Delete the cow on remaining page.

15. Drag and drop the Alphabet (see footnote below) and Cow onto the virtual mat. Lock Aspect Ratio and resize the width of the Alphabet to 2" and the width of the cow to 1". Position the images as you wish.

16. Duplicate the cover as many times as you want (up to 6 on a letter-size page).

17. To make the backing page, use the Rectangle Tool to draw a 3.8"x 2.5" rectangle. Make sure to change your Line Style back to solid if you are still in the "dashed line mode". Copy and Paste to make as many backing as you like.

18. Use TEXT WEIGHT paper (printer paper) to print and cut the calender pages and COVER WEIGHT cardstock for the backing. Before cutting, please remember to set the blade accordingly.

Part 3: Assembling the calendar

1. Staple the inside pages together.

2. Align the backing cover just above the perforation and adhere with strong double-sided tape.

3. Place twine or ribbon on the "spine".

4. Align the bottom of the backing with the bottom of the calendar and adhere with tape. 

Note: I had deliberately made the backing slightly longer so that it has some allowance for the ribbon/twine. If you find that unnecessary, just trim any excess length.

5. Embellish as you please.

FOOTNOTE: How to download an Alphabet string (or a word) from Lettering Delights.

1. Log in to your Lettering Delights account.

2. Click on My Library.

3. Locate your Cowabunga Alphabet (under My Lettering) and click on the Try Me Now button.

4. Type "2012" in the Type text box, Change the resolution to High Res.

5. Click Save to download that string of alphabets (in this case, "2012") to your computer.

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