Cardmaking with Your Silhouette (1 design, 3 techniques, endless possibilities!)
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Have you ever seen a design and knew that you just had to use it right away??? That’s what happened to me this week! As soon as the weekly freebie was released in the Silhouette Design Store, I knew exactly what I wanted to make – note cards! But why make only one style, when you can make a whole bunch of different ones? By using a variety of techniques, it’s easy to create many different looks from only one design. Combine those techniques and make even more – you’re only limited by your imagination!!! Here are three ways I used one design to create six different cards.
What You’ll Need
- Silhouette Studio
- Silhouette machine (Cameo, Portrait, or Curio with large base)
- Design – Hi There by Lilium Pixel SVG, Silhouette Design Store ID 326177
- White and/or color cardstock
- Other: Adhesive, Patterned Paper, Printer, Sketch Pens, Foil Quill
Create the Card Base
- Set up an 8.5-inch x 11-inch page in Silhouette Studio, landscape orientation.
- To create an A2 (4.25-inch x 5.5-inch) card, draw a rectangle with a width of 8.5 inches and a height of 5.5 inches.
- Draw a vertical dashed line approximately 5.4 inches long.
- Align the dashed line in the center-middle of the rectangle.
- Group the dashed line and rectangle together.
- Move the card base into the grey holding area next to the mat.
Create the Basic Card Design
- Draw a rectangle with a width of 4.25 inches and a height of 5.5 inches. This will be your alignment rectangle.
- Change the line color to something other than red (I used green) and set to No Cut. You can do this either in the Send tab or by using the shortcut CTRL/CMD + SHIFT + T.
- Locate the design in your Silhouette Studio Library and double-click on the thumbnail to open it in the workspace.
- Optional: Ungroup the design and make the dot over the “i” a little larger, rotating as desired. Make sure to group it back together with the rest of the design once you have the look you want.
- Resize the design to fit within the rectangle. I made mine about 3.75 inches wide.
- Align the design in the center middle of the rectangle.
- Group the rectangle and the design together.
Option 1: Standard Cut
- Align the card design with the bottom and right of the card base.
- Group the card design and base together.
- Cut the design on the Silhouette. Be sure to save all the little pieces from the inside of the letters when you remove the paper from your mat.
- Glue a piece of patterned paper behind the cutout section.
- Glue the inner pieces of the design to the patterned paper.
Variation: Glue the cut portion of the design onto a card base to create a second card.
Option 2: Print & Cut
- Ungroup the design from the alignment rectangle.
- Select the design and set to No Cut.
- Change the fill color of the design to the color/pattern of your choice.
- Change the line color to transparent or a color of your choice.
- Group the design and the alignment rectangle back together.
- Align the card design with the bottom and right of the card base.
- Turn on registration marks.
- Print the page on your printer and cut on the Silhouette.
Want to know more about using patterns in Silhouette Studio? Check out these posts:
Using Pattern Fills in Silhouette Studio
Perfect Pattern Fills in Silhouette Studio
Option 3: Sketch/Foil
Note: The Line Effects panel is only available in Version 4.2 and above.
- Ungroup the design from the alignment rectangle.
- Select the design and change the fill color to transparent.
- Open the Line Effects Panel. Apply the spiral effect with spacing of 0.010 inches and an angle of 0.0.
- Change the line color of the design to something other than red. (I used blue.)
- Group the design and the alignment rectangle back together.
- Align the card design with the bottom and right of the card base.
To Sketch/Cut on Cameo 4 (with blue adapter) or machines with Single Tool Holder:
- Open the Send Panel. From the row at the top, click on Line to cut by line color.
- Click on the line color of the design and drag it to the top of the list.
- Add a pause between the line color for the design and the line color for the card base.
- Uncheck the box for the line color of the alignment rectangle.
- Make sure the boxes are checked for the line colors of the design and the card base.
- Use the following settings to sketch/cut the design:
Design
Tool: 1
Material: Cardstock, Textured
Action: Sketch
Tool: Pen
Card Base
Tool: 1
Material: Cardstock, Textured
Action: Cut
Tool: AutoBlade or Ratchet
(depending on which one you’re using)
- Place sketch pen in Tool Holder 1 (use the blue adapter for the Cameo 4).
- Send the job to sketch.
- When sketching action is finished and the machine pauses, place blade in Tool Holder 1. Press Resume to cut the design.
To Sketch/Cut on machines with dual tool holders EXCEPT for Cameo 4 (includes Cameo 3 and Curio):
- Open the Send Panel. From the row at the top, click on Line to cut by line color.
- Click on the line color of the design and drag it to the top of the list.
- Uncheck the box for the line color of the alignment rectangle.
- Make sure the boxes are checked for the line colors of the design and the card base.
- Use the same settings as shown above but select Tool Holder 2 for the sketch action of the design.
- Place blade in Tool Holder 1 and sketch pen in Tool Holder 2.
- Send the job to sketch then cut.
To foil the design:
For tips on how to use the Foil Quill with your Cameo, I recommend this excellent tutorial by Kelly Wayment.
I used the medium-tip Foil Quill and the same settings as above but changed the Force to 7 and Speed to 3. Kelly cuts before foiling but I foiled my design first. It’s really a matter of personal preference and whatever works best for you.
When foiling with the Quill, use Adapter D in Tool Holder 1 of the Cameo 4 or Adapter A for all other Silhouette machines.
Like what you see here? Share the image below to Pinterest!
Ready to make some cards of your own? Grab a design and get started! When you’re finished, come share your creation over in the Silhouette Crafters by Design Facebook group. I always love to see what you create!
Until next time,
Lycia is a lifelong crafter whose goal is to help others find value, confidence, and joy in whatever they create. She geeks out on using technology to supercharge craft projects with Silhouette Studio, Design Space, Glowforge, sublimation, etc.! Lycia teaches these skills and more through online tutorials and videos as well as in-person classes at both the local and national levels.