Thursday, December 26, 2013

Recapping Unity 2013

Hello Unity Friends!

Today - I'm doing something different from usual as I recap the whole year of Unity!
I have a couple of projects from each month starting from January, 
showing you how much variety we have in in the Unity store!
With several artists drawing amazing designs - 
the fun releases kept on coming!

If you like a certain stamp - 
just click on the image and will take you right to the actual product in the store!


Hope that you enjoy my recap!



JANUARY

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FEBRUARY


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MARCH

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 photo MAR-ClairefashionistaSassyPants_zps1d8a6a25.jpg

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APRIL

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MAY

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JUNE

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JULY

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AUGUST


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SEPTEMBER


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 photo SEPT-AdventfullSeason_zpsa925fcac.jpg

OCTOBER

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 photo NOV-IamWoman_zpsd96e5b2a.jpg

NOVEMBER



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 photo NOV-HandmadeValentines_zps8213f8e1.jpg

Here are the other participating blogs for your reference:

Thienly Azim - me :)

I can't wait to see what UNITY is going to bring us in 2014!
I am so excited to be a part of it!

I know that there is going to be a sale 
clearing out some inventory to make room for more stamps,
so click here to go check out the store!

Make sure to leave a comment here to win these yummy prize pack!
(Two lucky winners from the comments made from this hop)


Thank you,
and if I don't have any more new posts for the rest of the year - 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Best wishes to you all in 2014!

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Winter Wonderland Magical Celebration - SVG Cuts project.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Today, I'm so excited to share what I've been tediously working on this month!
I've created a whole party set up all with SVG Cuts files!

I just wanted to do everything...
from invitations, to banners, to garlands...
to napkin holders, crackers, coasters, cutlery holders -
place cards and table lanterns and ornaments...
all the way to the party favors!

Here's a snapshot of the whole party!

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... and here's a detailed shot and instructions for each of the projects!

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1. Party Invitation: Use the Layered Square from Bicycle Built for Two SVG Collection to create a 5x5 card.  So simple! The Shimmer twine was wrapped around the vertical banner and tied into a bow before adhering. Attach a bell with hot glue. The double frame was adhered using foam tape to add dimension. If you wish to print your sentiment rather than handwriting or using stamps like I have done, you just need to follow these simple steps. Make ‘templates’ similar to the ‘Photo Templates’ Mary explains in various kits to create a frame guiding you where to place the paper to get the perfect cut. Cut out a shape on a piece of paper, lift off the inside cut out, and without moving the paper, carefully insert the sentiment printed sheet underneath framing the sentiment.  Lift off the top paper and cut. For the ‘Eat. Drink. Be Merry.’, I simply printed a black background on white cardstock with white font and added some chalk smear for a chalkboard effect.



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2. Merry and Bright Banner: Enlarge the Banner1.svg, banner2.svg and frame2.svg from BicycleBuilt for Two SVG Collection (change to vertical orientation) to a desired size and cut.  For my letters, I used Credit Valley Font to cut in glitter paper and created a shadow in cream to make the letters ‘pop’. Adhere a snowflake from Santa’s North Pole Workshop SVG Collection and top it off with a bell in the center. Attach clothespin on each side of the pennant and use jute twine and Shimmer twine to hold up the banner. (I found it helps to glue the clothespin at the back to add sturdiness)



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3. Snowflake garland: These are easy to make and adds so much to a party! Cut as many snowflakes in a desired size from Santa’s North Pole Workshop SVG Collection. Using a craft circle punch, make two holes opposite from each other on the snowflake. String through the snowflakes with Shimmer twine and suspend them between the walls. If you do not have a punch, you may add the circle cut outs to be cut on your machine.



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4. Pinecone Place Cards: Enlarge the pinecone from 3D Wintergreens SVG Kit, cut and assemble. Paint the tips with white paint, let it dry and finish off with a glitter paint to add sparkle. Using a large clothespin, clip the bottom portion of the pinecone so it stands up and tie the bottom with a Shimmer twine bow. Make a slit at the top of the pinecone using a craft knife and insert your personalized name banner, using a chalkboard cardstock, alphabet stamp and white ink (this was hand cut).  



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5. Cutlery Bag: Set your cutlery inside this fancy holder to impress your guests! Simply cut 5”w by 10”w with a pretty cardstock, and sew on a 5”w by 5.5”w vellum for the top layer.  I added on a lace from BattenburgLace and Crochet Trim SVG Collection on the vellum before sewing onto the backing piece. I added a sentiment stamp, Shimmer twine, and a bell to ‘jazz’ it up.




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6. Poinsettia Crackers: Can you believe that the file for these pretty party crackers (under SVG Collections used) is FREE? I love using them for various occasions. Here, I dressed up these crackers with corrugated paper, Shimmer twine and a spindly poinsettia from 3D Wintergreens SVG Kit.




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7. Wreath Napkin Rings: Reduce size, simply cut and assemble the wreath.svg from Silent Night SVG Kit. These already have so much detail and dimension that it doesn’t need much more to dress it up. I added Shimmer twine bow and attached them onto a paper strip ring.



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8. Cardinal Wine Glass Rim Topper and Coaster: Mini cardinals were made using the Cardinal Hideaway bag from the Christmas Gift Bags SVG Kit. A small slit was made at the bottom, and adjust the slit width to fit your glasses. Don’t make the slit too wide as it will not hold its position.  You can also add names of the guests on each of the cardinals to use as wine 'markers'. A mini doily from Doilies SVG Collection makes elegant coasters in no time! Size the doilies making sure that it is bigger than the base of the glasses you’re using for your party.



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9. Etched Snowflake Wine Glasses: see Winter Wonderland Etched Wine Glasses blog post for detailed instructions.


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10. Tree Ornaments: Make some beautiful ornaments that coordinate with your party theme and hang them on a miniature store bought tree to create a stunning dinner centerpiece!  Reduced size Ball Ornament from Silent Night SVG Kit and Spindle Ornament from Christmas Ornaments SVGKit were used here. Simply add some Shimmer twine, glitter dots and a bell for a festive look! You may use the commercial ornament hangers or simply make them out of wire or use twine to hang them on the tree.



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11. Table Lanterns: Add a bit of a glow to your dinner table by adding in some luminaries. I used a lantern from the Stars and Stripes SVG Kit and accented with ferny evergreens from 3D Wintergreens SVG Kit, Shimmer twine and a bell. Inside is a LED flameless candle surrounded by pinecones, mini cinnamon stick and bells.


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12. Crate Party Favors: Adjust the size of the crates from Caramel Apple Pie SVG Kit to make mini sized ones. I stamped a sentiment on the chalkboard cardstock and adhered on using a clothespin. Fill them up with bags of cookies tied up with Shimmer twine and a tag for a special gift your guests can take home. 


That's it! 
Thanks for coming to my party!

I hope that you enjoyed my projects and how I customized each of the items 
to make them special! 

Merry Christmas everyone!



Friday, December 13, 2013

Winter Wonderland Etched Wine Glasses TUTORIAL - SVG Cuts project.

Hey all!
I have a TUTORIAL to share with you today!
I'm pretty sure many of you have tried doing this already,
and for those that haven't tried it - it's because you're probably afraid of vinyl!
(Well, at least for me, that was!)

So, all these pretty etched glasses that you see in stores -
they get pretty expensive don't they?
Well, I'm pleased to inform you that they are pretty easy to make,
and really don't take as long as you think!

I've made a set of 6 wine glasses all etched with SVG Cuts snowflakes...
and ta-da!!!

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So festive, right?

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These are cheap Ikea glasses - ones that you can get them for $5.00 for six!
... and after etching them, no one can guess it's from Ikea!
(Well, until they read this post, that is)

Ready for the TUTORIAL?
Well, first of all -
here's a pic of the MATERIALS:

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1. Armour Etch cream (Martha Stewart one is fine as well!)
2. Vinyl (any color will do as it will only be used as a stencil)
3. Transfer vinyl
4. Cutting machine and a mat
5. Scraper (credit card or thin plastic object will do)
6. Paint brush
7. Craft knife
8. and of course, wine glasses! 

Instructions:

1. On your cutting machine software, open various snowflakes and resize them. 
You will need to make a ‘frame’ around each one to create a stencil that can be used individually. 
Using Basic Shapes Library, place a circle around each of the snowflakes, making sure the snowflake is centered. Group each snowflake with its frame. Make copies of these snowflakes on the mat. 
For my six glasses, I used two of each snowflake, resulting in 12 snowflakes each.



I used the following snowflakes:

Christmas Gifts Vinyl SVG Collection
Extras folder
snowflake.svg 0.90"w with 1.20"w circle
Christmas Cookie Party SVG Collection
snowflake.svg 0.90"w with 1.15"w circle
Cookies folder
snowflk_white.svg    1.40"w with 1.70" circle
Santa's North Pole Workshop SVG Collection
snowflake3.svg 1.10"w with 1.50"w


2. Apply vinyl sheet on the mat. Using the scraper, starting from middle, slowly apply light pressure moving towards the end of the vinyl getting any possible bubbles out. Cut. 
I used vinyl setting as the material being cut on the Sizzix eclips (Speed 4, Pressure1) and set the blade depth to 2. However, it does vary from machine to machine, as well as the age of the blade can play a role, too. To be safe, start out with a lower blade depth setting, and do a litle test cut to make sure that it is cutting through only the vinyl, but not through the backing.   

3. Peel off the vinyl around the frame,

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and using craft knife, gently also peel off the inside snowflake  Discard the snowflake.

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4. Apply a small sized transfer vinyl to cover the snowflake frame.  Using the same technique 
used in step 3,  release any bubbles between the vinyl and the transfer vinyl.

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5. Start from one edge and peel off the transfer vinyl. The vinyl image should be attached onto the transfer vinyl.  It may help to use a craft knife to lift up the edges of the vinyl image.

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6. Apply this directly onto a clean glass surface (you may use alcohol or glass cleaning solution prior). Any dust or oil residue may interfere with the etching quality. For wine glasses, it is inevitable to get a bit of vinyl bunching as the glass surface is curved. Some people make a small slit to allow the vinyl to sit flat. Whatever you may do, just make sure that every snowflake edge of the vinyl is sealed to the glass in all areas. Otherwise, the cream may leak out into the air pockets causing image blurriness.

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7. Work on etching one half of the glass surface first instead of doing the whole glass. This allows you to hold the glasses sideways to prevent etching cream from leaking out of the image. Apply rest of the snowflakes needed for the first half.

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8. Apply the etching cream. Stir the mixture well before applying. Using a brush, apply a good amount onto the inside snowflake making sure every part is covered.  Thicker coat gives a better result, but too much may cause the cream to leak out of the stencil.

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9. Leave it on for at least 5 minutes. The longer you can wait, the more defined your etching will be. You can scrape off any cream with your brush to put back in the container as the etching cream is reusable.  Rinse under water, making sure all the cream is washed off.

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10. Peel off the vinyl and repeat the other half of the glass.

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11. To add little dotted snowflake, take a fine brush and hand apply random dots around the glass. 
Wait another 5-10 minutes and wash off.

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...and that's it!

Once again, here is the completed project!

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Just imagine the possibilities with a cutting machine and SVG Cuts files!
You can pretty much take anything and make an etched glass with it!
A great gift idea, and you can even customize it, too!

Just a few things: 

Smaller sized designs will be easier to etch on any surface that is curved, such as glasses, bowls and jars. The less area the stencil needs to cover, the less likely chance you’ll see vinyl bunching. 

Same concept as above, if the ‘frame’ is too thin, you would need to be more careful in applying the etching cream as it may leak into the ‘outer’ area. However, if the frame is too thick, it will be harder to apply the vinyl onto the glass as it is curved and more likely to ‘bunch’ up.

Take your time. Don’t rush trying to apply the vinyl onto the glass as it creates air pockets and loose seal. Don’t rush applying the etching cream, as it increases the chance of making a mistake. Allow enough time for the cream to etch into your glass. By following these instructions, you can create professional results.

Just like making a layout or a card, even a 3D object, the design is very important. Think ahead and make sure that your images are balanced and spaced out well on the glass.

That's it!
Easy Peasy!

I hope that I inspired you to try something new today! :)

Oh, and while you're here, 
don't forget to grab that new kit from SVG Cuts!
It's FREE!!!! (for a limited time!)
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY!
(Can't get better than that!)


Thanks for coming by!
Have a GREAT weekend!




  

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