I was doom scrolling through Facebook yesterday and I saw my Tea Light Village Files being displayed in a new way. Sandra Engelmann had combined them with other files and used them all to fill out a wooden candle arch.
I always love seeing new and creative uses of my files. Please share yours on facebook and by sending to me at marji@3dcuts.com
Every year for decades I have sent hand crafted Christmas Cards. Once I got my Silhouette all designs have used that. Traditionally I don’t show my card online until the following Christmas so as to keep them a surprise for my family. I really doubt that any of them are reading my blog or looking at my online store so I decided to stop that tradition. This year I am posting both my 2021 design AND my 2022 design.
First my 2022 Swinging Gnome Card……
This card was inspired by a swinging fox easel card. I liked the concept but neither the animal or the engineering - so I made my own. I have finally designed something with a gnome. They have been the rage for awhile and I sure quite past but I am slow. To me it isn’t a gnome but a tomte. That would be my swedish heritage showing through!
This card can be constructed in several ways- for quickest you can use print and cut on the trees, sign and gnome. I am making my 40 using stacked card stock for the gnome but I am using print and cut for the tree and sign. I know many find print and cut to be challenging so I included directions to make it with out print and cut.
It is designed to fit in a standard 6 x 9” booklet envelope but the download also includes the cutting file for a make-you-own envelope. If you are making 40 - buy the envelopes. If you are making 1, make the envelope as well.
The design for 2021 was this geometric Star Christmas Card Design. In 2021 I was bogged down and needed a quick design. This was it. Still striking but it didn’t take and our to make each one. This uses a clever cutting layout to create the 3-d pop-out star.
I purchased my Silhouette to design and make Ledge Village. From that beginning grew 3dcuts.com. I have designed many types of files since then but I keep circling back to buildings. Ledge Village was followed by Tea Light Village. Both have grown in both size and complexity over the years. My thinking is that they have become so extensive that the magnitude frightens away new users. I designed Tree Town as a smaller simplier village to encourage less experienced users to experiment with building 3d projects.
I also addressed a second challenge with the earlier towns and that was display. I designed the display system right into the Tree Town project. In fact that was the basis of this design. I started with the tree shelf unit and designed the village to fit in it.
The finished projects is about 12.5” tall. The download includes the files in SVG, PDF, PNG, and DXF file formats. All pieces fit on 8.5 x 11” card stock. I used the Neenah card stock for the white and Recollections for all the colors.
I didn’t illuminate Tree Town like Tea Light Village because that added a level of complexity. Instead I designed it so that is self illuminates if you display it in front of a window. The sunshine makes the windows glow!Be sure to share your finished Tree Town in the Facebook group pages or by sending photos to me at marji@3dcuts.com. I will include unique and creative ideas in the tutorial.
Be sure to share your finished Tree Town in the Facebook group pages or by sending photos to me at marji@3dcuts.com. I will include unique and creative ideas in the tutorial.
Every year at about mid- August the emails start coming in asking if I am going to be adding new buildings to Tea Light Village. The answer for 2022 is again - Yes! I think about it all year considering the holes in the village and what it needs. For 2022 I added the bank and it has classic columns and looks quite proper for our country village. There is one similar to it in the new by Sturbridge Village - a reconstructed New England Village.
And given current trends, every village also needs a coffee shop. I designed the Tea Light Village version to have outdoor seating to reflect the times.
Paper crafters are always searching for new birthday card designs because birthdays keep coming round….over and over again. We celebrated the big 70 for my husband this year and so I designed a decades card - for all those big decades. It is based on the idea of being a perfect 10 - 7 times over.
This is a cascading card. It opens long with another page for each decade. The one for a 70th is over 6 feet long! Yet it all folds up and fits in an envelope for mailing.
I like giving these cards that make the recipient say “WOW”.
The download includes all the parts to make this card for 50,60,70,80,90, or 100. It doesn’t work for the in-between years.
Best of all - it is easy to make - much quicker than some of my other card designs!
The download is here.
The assembly tutorial is here.
What better theme than kitties to warm you up late in February? Here is a new shadow box design for those of you that love cats. I have created a playscape of handcrafted boxes for a family of little kitties to explore.
This project is designed to fit into either an 11 x 11 or 12 x 12” shadow box. I explain different framing options with links in the tutorial here. I have created it in both a deep shadow box and a less deep display frame.
Paper choices and box organization can be up to the artist although I do give directions for my choices in the tutorial. Here are the links.
Gina McCole just shared with me this photo of her completed Deer at Moonrise shadow box. She did a few modifications that are spot on!
Her choice of background paper is perfect adding a moon and clouds. She had to improvise because the straws I used are no longer available. She instead cut foam strips as spacers. She found that time consuming. Here are a few affiliate links to other straw options at Amazon.
Cutting files for this project are here.
Tutorial for the assembly of this project is here.
Sharon Neumann recently sent me photos of her Tea Light Village. She made this for her daughter Jackie and I noticed she also has Ledge Village behind it. Here is a crafter that likes architectural subjects as much as I do! What a great display. Thanks for sharing Sharon.
