Halloween Prep • Haunted Ledge Village

The haunted series of Ledge Village buildings and accessories makes a perfect mantle, shelf or Ledge Halloween display. It is small and each part fits on 8.5 x 11" card stock. The mansion is about 6.5" tall and less than 1" deep. The cottage is about 4" tall. This series was first introduced last year on the Silhouette Online store with just the tower mansion, a tree, a bat and a tombstone. This year I have expanded on the series to include a haunted cottage with boarded up windows, a casket that opens to reveal the creepy skeletal remains of some long departed soul, a rickety fence with scary black cat, and a different haunted tree.  I keep adding trees to my groupings because they really spark up the Ledge Village displays.

I redesigned the mansion to include a few structural changes, more for ease of construction. I also did a better job with the spider web detail on the corner of the porch. I am especially please with the casket and skeleton cutting file.

The group of haunted files is available as one download for $3.99 here in my downloads store.

There are 4 step-by-step tutorials which you can review before purchase here. And you will find that construction of this project is quick and easy! It won't take from now to Halloween to complete!

Have fun making it and be sure to share photos with me.

Sunflowers for August

Every month has a classic decor symbol and if you are beyond "Back to School", I think August's is the Sunflower.  I noticed a garden full of them in bloom on the road side just the other day.  I have had no success growing the ( I have a paper thumb - NOT a green one!) so instead I make them.  I have uploaded to the 3dcuts store the cutting files for this triptych.

Cutting file link: http://www.3dcuts.com/shadow-boxes-nature-themes/sunflowers-shadow-box

Tutorial Link: http://www.3dcuts.com/tutorial-sunflowers-shadow-box

 
Sunflowers by 3dcuts.com
 
Sunflowers in Paper - room setting

Ledge Village • Group 1 • At Last!

I started designing Ledge Village over a year ago and it has seen great success on the Silhouette Store. It is the most requested set of files from Cricut people. I finally have had the time to start the transfer process and am introducing the first grouping of buildings and accessories for your crafting pleasure.  

The above video shows the grouping currently on display in my sunroom above the windows. In the group being released today, I have included cutting files for:

  • Country Cottage
  • Chapel
  • Greek Revival Style Home
  • Two-Story Home
  • Maple Tree
  • Fir Tree
  • Evergreen bush
  • Picket Fence
  • Laundry

I chose this group because it is a great beginner set. The village includes many more buildings, some more complicated, and they will becoming available as well.  The digital download also includes pdf tutorials. If you'd like to get a glimpse of the construction process, all the tutorials are online here and you can view those before downloading. Files are available in SVG format for use with the Cricut Explore and Silhouette Design Studio plus other software programs.

Get started today! I am sure you can see the potential for a Christmas Village and you don't want to get behind on the holiday crafting rush!

 

 

New Shapes and Numbers!

Hello All! I have been away from my Silhouette for the month of July. It was a wonderful month - full of family, friends and non-paper projects which I will be sharing soon. But yesterday, I finally got back to my machine and today I am moving full steam ahead.  I do have some new projects planned but first a few quick files to get me started.  I have received a variety of requests from fellow crafters for some specific files to be added to the shadow box series. That is a great project to get me going.

New Numbers!

Today, I have made available on the store 3 new numbers - 10, 11 and 12.  The request came from a crafter wanting to use the shadow boxes to make a clock. I love the idea so have added those numbers. Please share photos with me of finished projects!

These are available for purchase in 3 different groupings.......

• Buy as a 13 files group with all the numbers 0-12 for $5.49
• Buy just the 3 new numbers 10, 11 and 12 as a group for $1.49
• Buy as individual files for 99¢ each.

New Shapes!

The possibilities for shapes is endless. Someday I'll create a tutorial showing you how to make your own but that is a huge challenge. For today here are a couple of interesting ones that caught my fancy.

treble clef shape shadow box by Marji Roy of 3dcuts.com
Tennis Racquet shadow box by Marji Roy of 3dcuts.com

These shapes are available at my store in a couple of different groupings as well.

• All Shapes. I have created a new group purchase that includes all the shapes available. That is 11 different shape shadow boxes for $4.99

• Individually - these can be purchased individually for 99¢ each.

Happy crafting, everyone!
Marji

 

Patriotic Stars on Display

I made a plethora of stars for the All-Star Cutting files series with a goal in mind. I have a wonderful display corner in the portico over the main entry to our home. I have used it as a display area for tons of crafty ideas but have always shied away from using paper because of the elements. I like a display to be able to last a month or two. The span between Memorial Day and July 4th includes Flag Day so a patriotic theme is appropriate. Here is what I completed.

These stars have been hanging here for 2 weeks and are doing just fine. They are protected from the rain with a roof but not from mist and wind and humidity. I don't expect them to last for two years but that is ok because I keep creating new designs.  I did spray them with Mod Podge acrylic Sealer but I know I didn't cover all the nooks and crannies. I'll try a different display without the sealer for another season and see how it goes.

These stars are available through my store here. You can buy the patterns individually or as a group of 6 different styles. I have uploaded step-by-step tutorials as well. Check them out.

  • Star 1 - Cutting File here - Tutorial here
  • Star 2 - Cutting File here - Tutorial here
  • Star 3 - Cutting File here - Tutorial here
  • Star 4 - Cutting File here - Tutorial here

Two New Shapes for the 3D Shadow Boxes

People have made a few special requests for shapes to be added to the growing library of 3D Shadow Boxes.  Today I uploaded cutting files for both a Breast Cancer Awareness Ribbon.......

 


and a Question Mark....

Looking forward to seeing what people do with their own paper combinations.

Files are already available here on my website store and should be available at the Silhouette Store tomorrow.

For those of you using my SVG files with the Cricut Explore note that I am learning! These two files include some better formatting on my part to make file prep easier on your part.  The dotted lines come in as dotted lines and many of them are grouped so you can quickly label them as SCORE lines. I have down a step-by-step tutorial for newbies on this process here.

Additional Sizes for the Shadow Box Series in Cricut

Nicole Nolan with 3dcuts sizes

Requests have been coming in for additional sizes for making the Shadow Box series. This is especially important for those importing into Cricut because it doesn't maintain a relative size with .SVG imports.

The first set of numbers below was expanded to make better use of 8.5 x 11 card stock.  ( I am sure the thousandths place probably doesn’t matter in these numbers.)

  • Layer 1 - 7.875 h x 7.9 w  (Finished about 6.1" Square)
  • Hanger - 1.635 h x 6.025 w
  • Layer 2-7.290 h x 7.225 w
  • Layer 3 - 6.725 h x 6.725 w
  • layer 4 - 6.360 H x 6.320 w
  • Layer 5 7.770 h x 7.785 w
  • Layer 6 5.960 h x 5.960 w

 

  • Layer 1 - 9.805 h x 9.835 w (finished about 7.59" square)
  • Hanger - 2.035 h x 7.495 w
  • Layer 2-9.070h x 8.995 w
  • Layer 3 - 8.370 h x 8.370 w
  • layer 4 - 7.915 H x 7.865 w
  • Layer 5 9.670 h x 9.690 w
  • Layer 6 7.420 h x 7.425 w

 

  • Layer 1 - 10.625 h x 10.650 w (finished about 8.2" square)
  • Hanger - 2.205 h x 8.120 w
  • Layer 2-9.830h x 9.745 w
  • Layer 3 - 9.035 h x 9.070 w
  • layer 4 - 8.575 H x 8.520 w
  • Layer 5 10.475h x 10.500 w
  • Layer 6 8.035 h x 8.045 w

Here is another set that will maximize a 12 x 12 paper. It hasn’t been tested yet so give it a try on unimportant and inexpensive paper first. I am not sure if it will start to get wobbly at big sizes. Let me know what you find out.

  • Layer 1 - 11.470 h x 11.505 w  (finished about 8.92" square)
  • Hanger - 2.380 h x 8.770 w
  • Layer 2- 10.610 h x 10.520 w
  • Layer 3 - 9.790 h x 9.795 w
  • layer 4 - 9.265 H x 9.210 w
  • Layer 5 - 11.310h x 11.335 w
  • Layer 6 - 8.675 h x 8.685 w

And here is the original size for the smallest 5X 5 series.

  • Universal 1 (Just the box without hanger) - 6.4505 W x 6.4307 H
  • Layer 2 - 5.8991 W x 5.9503 H
  • Layer 3 - 5.4915 W x 5.4908 H
  • Layer 4 - 5.1632 W x 5.1938 H
  • Universal Layer 5 - 6.3563 W x 6.3879 H
  • Universal Layer 6 - 4.7708 W x 4.7643 H
  • Hanger - 1.33 W x 4.9" H
  • Hanger and Layer 1 together - 6.4505 W x 8.488 H

Keep sharing photos of your projects. I love seeing all the variations and creativity out there!