Silhouette Cameo- How to make fabric ribbon flowers

OMG, has it really been since December since I have last updated this blog? It took me over an hour to even log in, I forgot my password! lol :) But i'm hoping to redo it with a new blog background and everything so bear with me!

Today I thought I would show you how to cut fabric on your Cameo machine and turn them into fun fabric flowers! You could put these on a headband, make them into a hair clip or embellish a card or scrapbook layout. Since you all know I have my own 'bowtique' business, consider this an inside tip ;) haha

**WARNING. This is a VERY HEAVY PIC UPLOADED blog post! I tried my best to really walk you through every step**

This is Julianne modeling the headband I made her. Adorable right?? ;)

I haven't done a tutorial in a VERY long time so bear with me as I do my best to explain and get back into it! I am going to try to include lots of pics so that you can see each step. As usual, if you have any questions or requests feel free to leave me a comment! :)

First step you wanna do is open up your Silhouette software and go to your library and search for 'Scallop circles'. If you don't already have it, you will have to download it from the store. (Atleast the file i'm using).

I am working with the 4 scallop file, but only using ONE of the patterns. I will show you how to delete the others so you are left with one scallop circle. Open up the file and you are going to LEFT click on the image and click on ungroup. This will then seperate each pattern, giving it an individual box and you are now free to delete each.

Now that you have deleted all the other images and are left with the one scallop, you are free to place it wherever you want on your mat. For a larger flower, we are going to size to 2.5x2.5 so you will need to have your scallop highlighted, open up your scale window and adjust the size. (Sorry for the placement, blogger is acting up on me!)

Once you have it sized, I usually go to the page link and change my page size to 8.5x11 because I rarely cut a 12x12 piece of cardstock. Your next step is to go to the 'Replicate box' (it looks like a butterfly) and add more scallops and place them on your mat :) I usually click on the replicate right and replicate below to fill up my mat.

This is how your mat should look. You should be able to fit 12 scallops into the page and you are more than able to leave it at that or go back to the instructions I gave you and cut some more once you are done cutting these. I will show you how to get your fabric ready to cut next :)

Ok. first off, excuse the dirty mat and messy desk. This is where I make my bows and it's seen LOTS of hot glue lol ;)

Your next step is to cut an 8.5x11 piece of fabric. You can either use the rotary cutters (if you have some) or some fabric scissors :). I realized once I was cutting the no-sew 'heat n bond' that I didn't have enough for a full sheet of fabric so i'm using what is left :) 

The Heat n Bond has TWO sides. One feels just like thin paper and the BACK side is super grainy and rough.

 You are going to want to heat this bond to the back of your fabric with the grainy side down!

After you lay your heat n bond GRAINY SIDE DOWN (touching the wrong side of the fabric) you are going to place a sheet over it and iron it on. I would say roughly 20 seconds per area is good :) This is what it will look like once you are done ironing and it's done correctly

You want to LEAVE THE BACKING ON in order to cut it through with your Silhouette (these steps in preparing the fabric will also work on your Cricut as well).

Now I have placed it onto my mat and we are ready to cut!

You will go into your 'Silhouette Cut Settings and find 'Fabric Cotton' under the options. It will automatically set the settings for you and it will tell you for your blade to be at a 3. I HIGHLY recommend the fabric blade or if not, have a seperate regular blade JUST FOR FABRIC. Making hairbows and learning how to sew, I can tell you that if you cut paper with it the fabric will dull out your blade and your paper crafting will suffer. I am using a regular blade but it is for only fabric now ;)

After you have adjusted your blade and loaded your mat, press cut!

Once you are done cutting and remove them from your mat, this is what you are left with. (Obviously you will have more since I didn't have enough backing for all of my fabric.

Now remember, you still have the backing on the back so this is where you will peel off the heat n bond paper in the back. You WILL still be stuck with the clear adhesive but once you assemble your flowers it is not noticable ;)

The next step is to fold the scallop in half.

You will then fold it in half again.

This is what it should look like. A folded up fan ;)

Now you will need your needle and thread. You will place the corner onto the needle BUT DON'T PULL IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH YET. You are going to place the flower pieces on top of each other on the needle.

You will pierce your needle through the bottom corner and stack your folded scallops.

Continue stacking until you have them all stacked on the needle ;)

Now at this point you are going to pull your needle and thread through all of them (Be careful! Because of the heat n bond, it's a little tougher but manageable).

**Sorry for the horrible pic, I was working one handed;)**

Now you will pull and tie the thread. At this point it will start to look like a flower.

Snip the remaining thread and now you are free to adjust the petals and do whatever you want with it! :)

**Obviously mine isn't full because I didn't have enough petals but yours will be! :) I find it easiest to flatten one edge and adhere to an aligator clip or a headband :)

PHEW! What a long post! I hope I was able to explain this right! I would love to see your pictures of your own fabric flowers and I'd love for you to check out my facebook page at: www.facebook.com/juliesbowtique10

Itty Bitty Bag Blog Hop!

Hi everyone! WOW! It has been quite a while since i've actually used any of die-cutting machines but my friend Abby  asked me to be a part of her Itty Bitty Bag Blog Hop and I wanted to join just to CUT something :) You should have come from Jenny over at http://crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com/ but if you started from me, go ahead and head to the beginning over at Abby's blog :)www.scrapbookaholicbyabby.com. I GUARANTEE you will find much more phenomenal projects done with these cute little bags!

For my project, I used Abby's Dilo en Espanol stamp set "Que Siga la Fiesta" and used "Feliz Navidad" for some quick Christmas treats to send over to my grandparents. My grandparents don't speak English so this stamp set is PERFECT for them and also, the small bags make it easy to be able to hand out or ship :)

If you notice, the candy canes have "Liquid Pearls" as their stripes, my Cameo wasn't really cooperating very well when I cut these candy canes so I had to improvise ;)

All of the stuff, the stamp set and the bitty bags can be found at Abby's Store- http://abby.bigcartel.com/category/ittybags

Also- there is a GIVEAWAY! In order to win your own pack of bitty bags, you must comment on each of the posts and Abby will choose 10 winners! I guarantee you will LOVE these! :) 

Next up is Patty at mynameisscrappy.blogspot.com! 

Update

WOW! It's been a while since I've lasted updated my blog and although I am soooo happy I haven't lost any followers, i'm sad that I haven't kept this up but truth is I have been SOOOOO busy with my new custom hair bow business that I just don't have much time! I am very excited though because I plan on coming back to scrapbooking since Abby has invited me to be a part of her blog hop next week! Woohooo...get to play with my Cricut and Cameo again! :)

In the meantime, I wanted to invite any of you to my Facebook page to like it and to check out some of my hair bows! Some of my customers get super creative in what they want but I am loving what I do! Never a dull moment since I get to work with so many different characters, etc :)

And, I hold a giveaway each time I reach 100 likes so make sure you like my page and share with your friends! :) www.facebook.com/juliesbowtique10

Boutique Bows and Facebook Giveaway!

I have been SUPER busy this past week since 'officially' opening my homemade boutique bow business :) I am loving what I do but I gotta say, didn't realize how busy I'd be! I have quite a few orders to get done today but I wanted to quickly share some bows i've created :) I'm also having a giveaway on my Facebook page, so if you haven't, head over there and like my page and fill out the entry form for a chance to win any one bow of your choice! :) I will be holding a giveaway everytime I reach 100 likes so dont forget to share! :) Here is the link for the giveaway and my page:

Julie's Bowtique Facebook Page

This is my custom Steelers bow for my husband's cousin :) It's roughly 5" with 3 layers and a bottle cap...love it! (Even though I am a Chargers fan!) 

This is a simple Hello Kitty bottle cap bow. Isn't she sweet? :)

Have a great weekend! :)

Exciting news :)

Wow! I'm sorry I haven't posted in over a month, where did the time go? I see I got some new followers, thank you :)) I have been busy with some other things that I haven't had much time to really play on either my Cricut or Cameo but i'm hoping soon to get back to regularly posting :)

On that note, I wanted to let you all know that I have finally started my first Facebook page for my small, homemade hair bows business! :) I'm so excited, I love making them for my daughter so they are inspired by her and all things girly and I just wanted to give you all the link so you can feel free to follow along on FB! I plan on doing giveaways and much more and if you have a small home crafty business, I'd be happy to spread the word around as well! :))

https://www.facebook.com/JuliesBowtique10

Heels Favor Box-Silhouette

Typically, each day I log into the Silhouette online store to see if they have released any new images for me to use my membership money on :) Today I logged on and saw THE CUTEST heels 3D box that I knew I just had to have :)

Cute right? This would be perfect for like a centerpiece for a Bachelorette or really, any girly girl's party! 

Once I cut everything out it took me awhile to figure out how to glue and place things and if you can see reallllly closely, you can see some of the tabs :) I figured out AFTER I glued how to hide those ;) I will post a video by Friday how to make this and in the mean time, I will try to make a cut file for CCR (Cricut Craft Room) for all my Cricut friends :)

Diaper Baby Card- Silhouette

Happy Sunday! :) Today was a great day! Got up early and made it to church and then spent a lazy Sunday watching my kids play while my oldest son was at the circus with my mom :)

Then I realized that my sister in law is scheduled to be induced tomorrow morning at 5am and I still hadn't made her a card! So I decided that once my kiddos went to bed, I would make something. Well, you all know me, know i'm not much of a card maker so I went on pinterest and started looking for ideas. I didn't find anything I felt compelled to scraplift so I googled and came across the cutest diaper card template! So I saved it and then did the whole trace and detach thing (just like a clip art!) and made my own template...the cool thing is that I learned how to perforate my own lines so that I could now score it! YAY! I'll post that video sometime later this week :)

Also- if you haven't noticed, I decided to start labeling my post titles with either Silhouette or Cricut so you will know what machine i'll be using. I know a lot of you use one or the other (I'm still very happy to report I use both!) so this should make things easier :)

Alright- this is my interpretation. Cute right? Instead of making a whole card for the inside, I used a Top Note for the place of wording. Simple and not so bulky!

*Quick note* I am NOT a stamper. For some reason, I never have been able to really get too into it. I love the sentiment stamps but that is as far as I go but for some reason my stamps from Michaels would not stamp well! I think it's cause they are cheaply made or something. So ignore the stamps ;)

This is the top note :) I put the big ol' sentiment on the lower right so that it would give my husband and I plenty of room to sign the card.

If you are interested in the cut file for Silhouette feel free to email me and I will send it to you! :)

Oh and one other thing! 

I have had SCAL 2 FOREVER and I might have used it about a total of 3 times. I am a LAZY SVG'er. I love playing with them "virtually" and admiring them but when it comes to actually cutting it I get SO lazy having to think of all the tiny pieces, blah blah blah. So my son requested a Spiderman die cut (he loves to play with them alongside his legos) and decided to try my SCAL2 (since I don't have the Silhouette Designer Edition. I'll get that when we come back from Disneyland ;) Anyways- I finally created my first SVG! Awesome!

Far from perfect, if you can see, I actually had to cut the black edge because I realized that while the mask had cut, a line around the face hadn't sooooo...that sucked but I think it came out good for even just a scrapbook layout :)

Have a great weekend!: )