LW Twist Pop Card BOO: A Silhouette Tutorial
using Silhouette Studio and your Silhouette Cameo or Portrait

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Halloween is just around the corner and I’ve got a couple of special kiddos in my life that I’ll be sending some treats to, along with handmade cards. For the littlest one, I wanted a card that was interactive but without any parts that she might be tempted to tear off remove 😉 . Lori Whitlock’s Twist Pop Card BOO was the perfect solution! Today I’ll show you how to make one for your special little ghost or goblin, using Silhouette Studio and your Silhouette Cameo or Portrait.

What You’ll Need:

• Twist Pop Card BOO Design (Silhouette Design Store ID 2190148)
• Cardstock in desired colors and patterns*
• (optional) Orange Stripe Pattern (Silhouette Design Store ID 218868) – see note in Step 4.
• White Printable Cardstock
• Inkjet or Laser Printer
• Adhesive (I love my Scotch Advanced Tape Glider and my Xyron machines!)
• Dimensional Glue Dots
• Silhouette Studio
• Silhouette Cameo or Portrait

Setting up the Twist Pop Card BOO in Silhouette Studio

Step 1: Open the design in Silhouette Studio

Open Silhouette Studio and set your page dimensions to match the machine and mat you will be using (12 in x 12 in for the Cameo, 8 in x 12 in for the Portrait).

Click on the Library tab at the top right of the screen and locate the Twist Pop Card BOO design. Double click on the thumbnail to open the design in Studio.

Tip: You may want to save your file with a new filename at this point so that you don’t accidentally overwrite the original.

Step 2: Ungroup

When the design opens in Silhouette Studio, it will be grouped by default. Make sure the design is still selected (it will be enclosed by a single bounding box) and ungroup by either right-clicking and choosing Ungroup or using the shortcut CTRL/CMD+SHIFT+G.

Step 3: Separate the individual parts

The grouped triangles that say “Glue” are for reference only and can be moved to an area off the mat.

You will also see one Print & Cut section that says “Happy Halloween” layered on a black base which is then layered onto an orange square. Separate the layered section into its three parts.

Step 4: Fill with colors to match cardstock

When you open a design in Studio, the shapes may already be filled with color. This is the case for the Twist Pop Card Boo design. However, those colors won’t necessarily match the colors you’ll be using for your card. Other designs won’t be filled with color at all. Filling the individual shapes with color helps you to visualize which shapes need to be cut from which paper.

For this step, I like to refer to the thumbnail of the completed design. An easy way to do this is to locate the design in the Silhouette Design Store, take screenshot of the completed card, and import the screenshot into your design page using the File>Merge command. You can use the same process with the thumbnail in your Silhouette Studio library, but the resolution will be a bit fuzzy.

Select the individual parts of the design and fill them with a color to match the cardstock you’ll be using. For my card, I used the green, black, and two shades of orange in the original design, except for the inside card panels which I changed to an orange/white pattern*.

*Note about patterns: If you are using patterned paper, you can fill the parts to be cut from the patterned paper with a solid color or any pattern you choose from the pattern library. The purpose is simply to know which parts need to be cut from what paper. I didn’t have any patterned paper on hand that I wanted to use, so I decided to print my own. Here’s how I did it:

1. Select the shape(s) to be filled with a pattern.
2. Open the Fill Color Panel (third icon down in the column on the right).
3. Click on the third tab in the panel (looks like a square with polka dots) to access the Fill Pattern menu.
4. Click on the desired pattern. I used a pattern purchased from the Silhouette Design Store, Design ID 218868.
5. Voila! The shape(s) will now be filled with a pattern. The pattern can be enlarged, reduced, rotated, etc. using the options located in the bottom section of the Fill Pattern menu. (I scaled my pattern to 150%.) The pattern-filled shapes will be added to the Print & Cut file in Step 5.

Tip: If you are filling multiple shapes of varying sizes with the same pattern, you may note that the pattern scale will vary among the shapes. In order to keep the scale uniform, first select the shapes and create a compound path, then fill with pattern. Once you have adjusted the pattern to your liking, the shapes can be ungrouped and moved independently without altering the scale of the pattern in each shape.

Step 5: Set up the Print & Cut file.

From the File menu at the top of your screen, click on New to open a new design page. In the Page Setup Panel, enter dimensions to match your white printable cardstock. In most cases, this will be 8.5 in x 11 in,  portrait orientation. Make sure the boxes for Show Print Border and Show Cut Border are checked.

Turn on the Registration Marks by pressing M on your keyboard.

Cut (or copy) and paste the Print & Cut portions of the design from your original design page onto the new page. This will include the part that says “Happy Halloween” and any shapes you filled with a printable pattern. Since you’re cutting from white cardstock, you can also add the eyeballs and ghost to the Print & Cut page. You will not see the images on the printed page, but they will be cut when the page is sent to your Cameo or Portrait.

Make sure no part of the printed design falls within the cross-hatched areas and that everything is within the cut border.

Print the page. Be sure not to move any of the shapes before sending the file to be cut.

Step 6: Group together all pieces to be cut from cardstock

Select each piece that is to be cut from black cardstock and arrange them as desired. Rotate as needed. (I prefer to place mine close together to save materials.) Group. If you are using letter-size cardstock or a Portrait, the black cardstock will need to be cut from two separate pieces.

Repeat for each remaining color.

Step 7: Cut

The Print & Cut file will be sent “as is” to your Silhouette machine.

Each color group can be cut by either:

1. Placing a single color group on the mat, sending the file to be cut, moving that color group off the mat, and repeating for each remaining color group. (Preferred method.)
2. Arranging all parts of the design on the design page and placing each color of cardstock on the mat to match the location of the corresponding color group. (This is a good way to cut small sections or use up your scraps.)

3. Placing all color groups in their desired position on the mat, stacking them if needed. The file can then be cut by fill color. (I don’t recommend this one, but it is an option.)

I find that the Studio presets for Cardstock, Textured – Heavy (80lb) work well, but be sure to perform a Test Cut first to see what works with your paper.

Blade=3     Speed=4     Force=30     Passes=1

Now that you have all the pieces cut, you are ready to assemble your card!

Assembling the Twist Pop Card BOO

Lori has created a great video showing exactly how to assemble a Twist Pop Card. You can find it here.

Here are the basic steps:

1. Adhere each of the following sections:

• Covering panels that spell out “BOO!” to the black background
• Print & Cut “Happy Halloween” sentiment to the black base
• Three pieces of the pumpkin (orange face, black oval, green background)
• All pieces of the ghost (white eyeballs, small black circles, and white background plus the completed pumpkin)

2. Fold the large black card base in half and adhere the two orange covering panels to the front and back. Unfold.

3. Assemble the folding mechanism and adhere to card base:

• Fold the twist mechanism in half lengthwise. Unfold. Fold the mechanism from the right at an angle. Unfold. Repeat the angle-fold from the left. These actions will create sharp fold lines.

• Fold the mechanism piece in half again lengthwise. Align it to the inside of the card base with the fold line of the mechanism at the center fold of the card base, center-aligned with the interior fold of the card base. The score marks on the card base will help you find the center. The center of the card will be between the 6th and 7th score mark.
• Add adhesive to the triangle section that is on top of the folded mechanism piece. Close the card base to adhere the mechanism to the top half of the interior of the card.

• Open the card and rotate the base 180 degrees. Fold the left and right portions of the twist mechanism inward to create an arrow shape. Add adhesive to the triangle section on top and close the card base to adhere the mechanism to the card base.

4. Add the text panel:

• Open the card base. Lay the “BOO!” panel on top of the mechanism. Flip the card over and use the corner notches on the back of the “BOO!” panel (very hard to see on black cardstock!) to help align the pieces together. Flip up the right portion of the mechanism and add a small bit of adhesive to tack it in place. Hold the pieces in place and then flip the entire assembly over to its proper orientation.

• Fold the “!” to the inside of the card. Apply adhesive to the rectangular portion of the black mechanism. Fold the “!” back down to adhere to the mechanism. Repeat for the “B”. (Refer to the grey “Glue” sections of the design for details.)

5. Fold the card with the “BOO!” panel forming a W-shape. You may have to do this a couple of times in order to train the mechanism to work properly.

6. Assemble the inside of the card:

• Adhere the smaller covering panels (orange & white stripe pattern) to the interior of the card.
• Adhere the “Happy Halloween” sentiment to the bottom of the interior panel, avoiding the area where the mechanism may catch.

7. Adhere the pumpkin and ghost to the front of the card, using dimensional glue dots.

Note: If you are not using a standard size envelope to mail your card, be sure to check with the post office to see if extra postage is required.

I love the way this card turned out and I know my granddaughter will too! The steps outlined in this tutorial will work for many other designs in addition to the Twist Pop Card BOO. I hope you’ll be encouraged to try some for yourself. If you have any questions, leave a comment below, visit me on Facebook, or send me an email. And be sure to subscribe to my blog to be notified of all my future posts and tutorials!

Until next time,

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