Author: kabram

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Here Come the Elephants

Aren’t Elephants awesome? They are such elegant creatures, but yet so strong and mighty too. I rounded up some free images I found on the web and created some awesome cutting files!

I am envisioning the elephants with the heart as an awesome note card or love note design – stuck in a frame, it could be a very simple cut and go card. I’m not sure what I will use the African Elephant design for, but perhaps it would make a good vinyl application to my daughter’s nursery. Lately I have been envisioning her walls bedecked with multitudes of vinyl animals.

There is also an elephant sketch file that would work well on the front of a baby shower card or perhaps a baby announcement.

Finally, I found the last elephant as a free tattoo design that would look awesome in vinyl, or perhaps cut as a stencil.

If you use these in any of your project, definitely show me! I would love to see how your crafty brains put these to use.

Aren’t Elephants awesome? They are such elegant creatures, but yet so strong and mighty too. I rounded up some free images I found on the web and created some awesome cutting files!

I am envisioning the elephants with the heart as an awesome note card or love note design – stuck in a frame, it could be a very simple cut and go card. I’m not sure what I will use the African Elephant design for, but perhaps it would make a good vinyl application to my daughter’s nursery. Lately I have been envisioning her walls bedecked with multitudes of vinyl animals.

There is also an elephant sketch file that would work well on the front of a baby shower card or perhaps a baby announcement.

Finally, I found the last elephant as a free tattoo design that would look awesome in vinyl, or perhaps cut as a stencil.

If you use these in any of your project, definitely show me! I would love to see how your crafty brains put these to use.

Download the Zip file with the free SVG and DFX files HERE
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DIY Wooden Growth Ruler Chart

Well, this is one of those projects that I’m sure you have seen if you have spent any time on Pinterest. Despite its ubiquity, I wanted to give it a try since it has a wonderful appeal both in its practicality and in its decorative nature.

Once completed, you can chart your children’s growth without the worry of having to leave behind a chart on the wall. The ruler is also a beautiful keepsake for years to come!

I wanted to keep the cost of this project down, so I rummaged around the stash of paints and such that was left in our home by the previous owner. I found a can of stain – just what I was after. Now, this meant that I had to be content with the stain color I had (red oak), but it definitely kept the costs down.

Materials

  • 1″ x 8″ x 6′ board (I had them cut an 8′ pine board down to 6′, cost = $8)
  • Stain – whatever color you like, it really doesn’t take too much either
  • Sandpaper
  • Black Permanent Marker
  • Ruler / Square (Square is optional, but VERY helpful)
  • Silhouette Cameo (optional – can use printer and exacto to make a template instead)
  • Black Vinyl (optional, see above)
  • Clear Spray Coat (optional)
Directions
 

  1. Sand and Stain your wood.Tips: Sand a lot; I definitely should have sanded this some more, but oh well… Also, you can wipe your stain off after several minutes with a paper towel to get a lighter look (didn’t know this at first!)
  2. Mark your lines every inch with your permanent marker and measuring device.Length of the lines I drew:
    – Each “foot” mark = 3.5″ long
    – Each 4″ between feet = 3″ long (these divide each foot in thirds)
    – Each 2″ withing the thirds = 2″ long (these divide each third in half)
    – Each remaing 1″ mark = 1″ longTips: Use a square if you have one! This allows you to make even, perpendicular lines. I began my board at 6″, so my 1 foot mark was 6″ up the board. Measure the baseboards where you plan to hang your finished product to ensure you start high enough. Also, if you have room, there is no shame in making a taller ruler – I probably could have had an extra foot on mine if I had thought ahead.

     

  3. Spray your wood with several light coats of your clear protective coat.Tips: I don’t know how essential this is. It seemed to smooth the surface, make me feel better about the projects durability, and perhaps prep it for the vinyl. Note that I did not spray the project after the vinyl was applied as this can make the vinyl peel up. 
  4. Design and cut out your vinyl (or paper stencil). Feel free to use the numbers I made – here is my svg file.

    Tips: I used Century font and put a little bracket around each number to help me line it up. If you use my cut file, leave the bracket on while applying to get it straight, then pull it off your project. Play around with your name if you want it, I used Xiomara font with Century for the numbers.

     

  5. Apply your vinyl lettering and admire your work! (And, I suppose, hang it on the wall…)
If you made a wonderful growth chart like this, I would love to see how yours turned out.
Happy Crafting!
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Stars and Stripes Forever

Fireworks are just around the corner, so I thought I would turn my Inkscape experiments to something celebratory. Turns out that the clone tool is awesome! If I get a chance I may just write up a bit on how to clone and rotate shapes around a center.

I haven’t test cut this file, so if you use it, I would love to see how your project turns out. Please keep my files for personal use only.
Free SVG File
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Father’s Day Card SVG Download

Father’s Day is Coming!

My dad loves his tools! Here is a Father’s Day Card I made with a border of tools for him. I have included the free cut file with it, including the sentiment separately in case you want to add it to your own creation.


 

Also, check out my new Father’s Day Card Template too!

Check it out HERE.

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Free Flower SVG

Floral Stencil Cutting File

Okay, so this was just for fun. I really love exploring Inkscape! I was playing around and this is what I came up with. I think I will keep playing around, so look forward to some more files soon!

Free Flower Cutting File
Free SVG file download
Please credit me if you use this in any public projects, and I would love to see any projects it is used in!
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A Baby Headband

Well, this project was a pretty simple one, but I thought I would put it up anyhow as it was a spin off project from my t-shirt yarn rug. When I made the t-shirt yarn (see my DIY t-shirt yarn post), I kept the elastic edges of the fitted sheets I cut apart. (And I made a wonderful crocheted rug for my daughter’s room with the yarn I made). I left a nice little ruffled edge along the side of the elastic and it seemed that it might come in handy, and it did.
Elastic from Jersey Fitted Sheet
The elastic edge of the fitted sheets was perfect for a headband, but it is a little thicker than some elastics I have used for headbands. So, I wanted a larger flower to add to it. I used a knitted flower I made using directions I found on Ninuska’s Blog. The flower came out very lovely, though I think I would use a lighter weight yarn to make the flower more delicate.
Knit Flower for Headband Accent

I measured my daughter’s head and cut the elastic to size. Next, I wove the band of elastic through the bottom of the flower. Finally, I sewed the ends of the elastic together and hid the seam in the flower. Here is the finished product:

Here it is again displayed on my daughter’s lovely little head. I think it turned out well. What do you think?
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Graduation and Mother’s Day Cards

Cards for every Occasion

Well, I know that these occasions have now passed for most of us, but I thought I would share what I came up with anyhow.

I made a couple different Mother’s Day cards, and a graduation card for my little sister.

I was very happy with how the designs came out, though my color choices for the graduation card could have been improved. Oh well, I keep learning!

First, here is the graduation card and a free download of the svg and studio files:

2014 Graduation Card – Black Rose Font for the Year
Free SVG File Download

Below are the Mother’s Day cards I made. For the first one (purple), I used a floral card from the Silhouette Store and added a simple butterfly to it. The second one I used a frame I found on www.birdscards.com and added the sentiment in Blessed Day font. Here is the Mother’s Day card I made last year on my ecraft.

If you like my cards, be sure to check out the Birthday Cards I have made too!
Dragon Birthday Card
Happy Birthday Card
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DIY Bulletin Board and Household Command Center Makeover

We recently moved into a new house, and I am afraid my walls are mostly still blank. I have an area of our main floor that I have been using as a command center to gather odds and ends, pay the bills, stash the printer, etc. Someday, it will get a pretty little white desk, but unfortunately that is not in the budget yet.

What could I do to make the space more usable right now without spending money? It turns out I could do quite a lot. Well, technically, I did spend $1.50 on the frames, and a little bit at some point in time on the spray paint and a few other materials… but the point is, I didn’t go out and buy things I didn’t have already.

I had an old black framed bulletin board lying around, so I decided it needed a spray paint makeover! What doesn’t, right? Well, it turned out that I had paper and paint just the same teal color as a file holder I had on hand, so my colors were chosen.

Now, for the fun part!

I had already worked on some nice little chore charts with my Silhouette Cameo machine as you can see here if you like. I started by spraying my three thrift store frames white. After tweaking the text on my chore charts, I sketched the text on a plain piece of white cardstock. Then, I cut out the frames with a pattern I made. Basically, the pattern I came up with involved a shape (created from overlapping circles) that repeats across the area I wanted to have for a frame. It doesn’t look like much by itself, but trust me, when it is repeated, it looks awesome! Here is the shape I repeated to form the pattern:

Free SVG File Download

Here is the bulletin board I started with (well, almost… I forgot to take a true before picture, before the teal paint and application of the stencil):

 

Before the white paint (but after the teal – sorry!)

STEP 1: Paint the cork board part of the bulletin board the background color of your choice (teal!).

STEP 2: Make a stencil using copies of the shape given above (or another one, of course). Size the template according to the inner cork dimensions of your bulletin board.

STEP 3: Cut out your stencil from contact paper or vinyl (I used clear contact paper). You may need to use multiple strips to get the necessary width.

The Stencil is On

 

STEP 4: Apply your stencil. This is the hardest step. At first I tried to remove all the negative space (the diamond shape pieces) before applying it to the board, but since I was using clear contact paper, this proved very difficult. So, I applied it to the board and it was a lot easier to pick off all the diamonds. Be very careful applying the second strip. You want the stencil to align just right in the center where they come together, so BE CAREFUL! I had to trim a little bit with an exacto knife to make the stencil just right. It didn’t come out as perfect as I would have liked, but the result was still awesome!

 

 

STEP 5: Spray paint it white (or whatever color you like better)! Spray it from above just to make sure it doesn’t seep under the edge. Make sure you cover it well, then wait for it to dry.

STEP 6: Peel off the stencil and marvel at your handiwork!

 

All Done!

Doesn’t it look awesome? I framed the chore charts with a cutout frame using the same stencil and color. I hung them below and added a dry erase marker to check off my chores! Let me know if you have any questions. I am smiling at how nice it looks, and at how I conveniently chopped off the part of the picture that shows my messy folding table desk.

 

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Free Duckling SVG file for Spring!

Ducklings

Spring has Sprung! Sadly, that statement doesn’t yet ring true here – but I have high hopes. We have warm weather for the next week (and by warm, I mean above freezing) – so thesnow should melt soon! Perhaps we may start seeing green too.

At any rate, I found this adorable sketch pinned on pinterest with a dead link and no searching on my part has turned up its origins. If anyone knows, let me know! I took the liberty of converting to a cutting file because I simply couldn’t resist.

Here it is in all its wonderful spring like glory:


And, of course, a cute little image for pinterest. Have a great day!

Ducklings
 
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Hearts and Handprints

I’m just now getting around to posting these little projects I made. One was a (very) belated Christmas gift for my parents and the other was first Valentine for my husband from our baby daughter. Both turned out really cute. Also, I am throwing in a free cutting file (in both svg and dfx formats) that I adapted from a free image I found online. I was going to use it for Valentine’s day – but didn’t quite get to it! Let me know how it looks if you end up using it.

First, the adorable handprint, heart, and footprint picture! Inspired, of course, by pinterest. This turned out really well. It has Micah 6:8 (the first part) on it – “Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly”. The most challenging part of this project was getting my daughter to cooperate. I actually did the handprints and footprints months ago and it sat around waiting for the words for what seemed like forever. My hold up was terror of messing up the lovely handprints I had worked so hard on.

Finally – I tried to write the words on with a paint pen and my attempt was a huge fail! I hated how it looked. Thankfully, I only had done one word and was able to paint it back to gold and try again. Not liking my handwritten attempt – I typed the words in and cut them out of vinyl with my Silhouette Cameo. MUCH better results! The only remaining worry is that the lettering might slip off of the paint, but you could probably fix that with a clear top coat of some kind.

Anyhow, this is how it turned out:

BABY TIP : I finally got her left hand when she was deep in sleep. I had to let her nap on the floor and then do the print quickly (her left hand was particularly challenging since she sucks her left fingers!). It did cost the nap though as she woke up after the handprint. The footprints were much easier!

Since footprints were easier, I used them to make a nice Valentine’s day card for daddy. Paint was so messy and unpredictable, so I decided to try embossing ink. It work better than I imagined. I simply dabbed her foot with the embossing ink (I had it in a tube, but an ink pad might work even better) and pressed the foot on the paper. I did one foot at a time, so after the first one, I put on the powder and embossed it, then did the second to form a heart.

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut a heart shape around it. After measuring where the footprints ended up, I matched the size and positioning of my shape in Silhouette Studio and cut it out. If you don’t have a cutting machine, I’m sure it would look just as cute if you cut out a heart by hand, or even just left it as a rectangular card.

The shape I used was a modified version of the lacey heart I found at Bird’s Cards.

And, finally, the free cut file that I made. I found the image on the right online and made it into a cutting file. I also inverted it in case you want to cut out one piece instead of embedding it into another shape. Let me know if you make anything with these files, I would love to see it!
FREE SVG FILE DOWNLOAD