Using Fabrique design cards with the Slice Elite

Did you know that the Fabrique and Elite design cards are interchangeable in your Slice? The Fabrique cards are designed especially for cutting fabric with the Slice Fabrique, but you can also use them with the Slice Elite AND you can cut paper with them as well as fabric!

The designs on the Fabrique cards tend to be made up of multiple shapes which are great for appliqué work. However, they also work great for paper piecing projects! The design card booklets for the Fabrique design cards very helpfully let you know how large the final overall design will be, like this:

I find that many of the size 1 designs are perfect for card-making.

Here are a couple of cards I made with the Secret Garden Fabrique card. The designs on this card are simply beautiful, I think, with so many possibilities.

I used papers from the Making Memories Dilly Dally collection for this first card. I chose papers with different designs that worked together - much easier when you choose papers from one collection.

The floral design from the Secret Garden card was cut at size 1. I moved a few of the pieces from their original place (according to the picture in the booklet) because this just worked better for me on the design, and it's great to be able to do that.

The word "friends" was cut at 2.5" from the Dilly Dally design card.

For this card I chose a large rose design from the Secret Garden card, with papers from the Making Memories Je t'Adore collection. Again I cut it at size 1, then put the pieces together on my cardstock.

To add a bit of shimmer I used Glossy Accents on the large dots on the red paper.

The word "Hope" was cut at 2" from the Think Pink design card.

Have fun experimenting with the Fabrique cards in your Elite, and make sure you become a fan of the Slice Facebook page if you'd like to keep updated with more tips and projects!

~ Caroline ~

Wedding mini album

Today I’m showing you a mini album I created using the Slice Wedding design card. This card was perfect for the wedding pictures I wanted to use, and I paired it with the beautiful papers and embellishments from the Making Memories Je t’Adore collection. I really like the tone on tone theme in these papers as well as the vintage layered look which features throughout.

I repurposed some coasters as the base for the album. I love their scalloped edge which fits well with the wedding theme. This also gives me the freedom to add more pages/coasters if I want. These coasters are exactly 4” in diameter which of course is totally perfect for my Slice!

On the first page, I cut out a frame from the Wedding design card and stuck it to my photo, then trimmed the photo in line with the frame to accentuate the shape. I wanted a somewhat understated title so cut out “i do” from the Wedding design card at 1" and adhered the letters a Je t’Adore die-cut heart. I inked the heart with silver pigment ink. The circle for the background paper was cut from the Basic Elements design card.

Everything on the left page was cut from the Wedding card. I used pop dots for the dove and heart to make them pop. Read on to find out where the flowery paper circle cut came from!

I used the same polka dot paper as on the opposite page to cut a 4” frame from the Wedding card for the picture, and the shape also complemented and balanced the one on the other side of the page. I also used a dove to match the opposite page and a flower – both foil die cuts from Je t’Adore.

On the left page, I used a scalloped circle from the Wedding card as the background. Then I cut out the double heart shape, and the heart tag. On the heart tag, rather than leaving the heart shape empty, I turned round the heart cutout because it was cut from double-sided paper, and then adhered it on the back with some tape. 

I attached the tag with a small pink brad I had in my stash. Then I inked all the elements for this page with gold pigment ink. The double hearts are attached with pop dots to add some dimension.

On the right page I cut the word “love” from the border of one of the Je t’Adore specialty papers which has pretty gold foil over the top of the pink design. This really helped the letters pop. The 4” background circle is cut from the Basic Elements card. 

The scalloped frame is from the Wedding card. For the observant among you, you might notice that the center cutout from this shape is what I used on the earlier page with the dove! I love to make the most of my Slice cuts and pretty papers. J

On the left I cut the background circle from the Basic Elements card as before, then used one of the Je t’Adore die cuts as a background for the bells, which I cut from the Wedding card. I wanted to adhere the bells with a brad so I cut an asterisk with the shadow feature on the Wedding card to make the “base” for the brad, which made the embellishment a bit sturdier. The brad is from the Making Memories Panorama collection.

On the right I cut the 4” scalloped circle, and the 2” word “dance” from the Wedding card and adhered it over the photo.

On the back page I cut a 4” flower from the Wedding card and used pop dots to adhere the Je t’Adore die-cut heart.

After punching holes in all the coasters I attached them with a ring which I embellished with some ribbon, taken from the Je t’Adore Fleur Bouquet.

Maybe I’ll add some more pages sometime – if so I’ll post them here! J

For more tips, projects and ideas, become a fan of the Slice Facebook page!

~ Caroline ~

Changing the Slice blade

If your Slice isn’t cutting all the way through your paper, or the paper is getting wrinkled, you may need to change the blade in your Slice. So if you notice your Slice isn’t giving you such “clean’ cuts, or for some reason just doesn't seem to be behaving quite right – it's likely time for a new blade! The actual number of cuts your blade will make before it needs replacing will depend a lot on what material you are cutting.

I recommend keeping the blade replacement tool and the replacement blades with you wherever you’re using your Slice – especially if you take it to a crop. You don’t want to be in the middle of a masterpiece and not have a new blade!

It’s very easy to change the blade and it can be done in a matter of seconds. With your Slice turned off, you use the blade replacement tool to pull the blade right out, then the same tool to insert the new one. For more details you can watch this video:

Happy cutting!

Make sure to become a fan of the Slice Facebook page to keep up to date with the latest tips and info!

~ Caroline ~

Jungle Slice Design Card

I had a lot of fun with today’s layout, using the Jungle Slice Design Card and a lot of different patterned papers. A while ago, I had the amazing opportunity to go on safari and thought this would be a great chance to use some of my photos! One memory of the safari was that the animals you want to see don’t always appear when you want them to, even if they might be very close by! I took this idea into my layout and decided to use images of the people I traveled with, and have the animals off the photos and cut out from the Jungle design card instead.

I only used one design card on this layout (unusual for me!) but I used papers from three different Making Memories collections. I love how the various collections work together and can be versatile enough to be used in so many different ways. One of the background pieces of paper is from the Panorama collection, and the green one in front is from the Dilly Dally collection. I cut the giraffe at 4” from the yellow version of this background paper and matched up the pattern to “hide” the giraffe in the green paper. I also cut the lion at 4” from Dilly Dally paper, and the 4” leopard from the leopard paper that is in the Paper Reverie Brun Antique collection. The 2.5” gorilla was also cut from Paper Reverie paper.

I tried to incorporate the personality of the animals into the layout to add a bit of fun. The giraffe’s long neck going into the group of people in the photo makes it seem like she wants to see what they're up to. The lion is cut from paper that makes it almost hidden on the background cardstock, close by but not too visible. The gorilla is “hanging” from the paper block underneath the word "relax":

The leopard is trying to walk off the page!

I cut the Land Rover at 2.5” from Kraft cardstock. The 1.5” compass is cut from Dilly Dally 8x8" paper, but I exchanged the middle part for an arrow brad from the Panorama collection, pointing into the layout.

I wanted to have the camouflage theme in the title too, and cut this very cool “safari” at 4” from the Jungle design card on Panorama paper. Then I outlined the words with a brown colored pencil just to add some more visual interest and make it a little easier to read.

I cut the 1.5” camera from the same Dilly Dally paper as the lion and added it to the top photo, playing off the theme of cameras and people looking around in the picture. These photos were originally taken on a film camera so I scanned them and printed copies. This meant I wasn’t afraid of adhering the camera to the picture - always better to make copies than use original photos!

Finally I used a thin strip of the green Dilly Dally paper on the left side of the page just to bring it together.

There you have it! How to mix lots of papers and how to get the most out of the Jungle design card. Have fun!

If you’re on Facebook then become a fan of the Slice page to stay up to date with the latest ideas and tips.

~ Caroline ~

Mix & Mingle Design Card

On today's layout I want to show you the very versatile Mix & Mingle Design Card for your Slice. This card has tons of different letters and numbers, all in different fonts, so you can "mix and mingle" for a cool look on your layout. This is one of my go-to design cards because it can be used for so many different styles and projects.

For this layout I used the Making Memories Panorama collection. It's a collection that has a travel theme, but I thought the bright colors went really well with a food layout too. Food is also about going places, right?☺In our home we've become big fans of fruit and vegetable smoothies, which we call "blendies" because we mix so many different ingredients. And seeing as today's layout is all about mixing and mingling, this seemed to be a perfect blend!

I cut the word Discover out of one of the sheets of Panorama embellishment paper, then I inked the edges with a fluid chalk ink. I used a star-shaped Panorama brad before adhering the paper using pop dots to give it some dimension.

I used the Mix & Mingle card for the word Blendies, cutting letters of different sizes as well as choosing letters of varying height (this just depends which style of letter you choose). I used one of the Panorama brads for the dot over the I.

For the lower part of the page, I handcut part of one of the sheets of Panorama embellishment sheets but only partially stuck it down, so that I created a handy pocket. Instead of having a journaling tag, I used the Bon Appetit design card to cut a recipe card shape on which I could put the ingredients for the blendie. You could actually make your own recipe book in this way, and because the recipe cards aren't attached to the page you can just take out whichever recipe you need at the time.

On the front of the recipe card I used the Mix & Mingle card again to cut out the word Yum in the different fonts. I think this creates a very fun look, and it emphasizes the page's theme of blended tastes.

 On the back of the card, I wrote the ingredients and cut out Bon Appetit from the Bon Appetit card.

I embellished my photo with a flower from the fabulous Panorama label stickers (which come in a cool little suitcase that would make a great embellishment of its own). On the opposite corner I made a small (1") award from the Bon Appetit card. I needed a really tiny circle for the center, so I used one of the layers from a shape on the Dilly Dally design card and then another Panorama star brad to complete the look. More mixing and mingling for my layout!

In the top corner, I attached some Panorama trim with some Making Memories colored staples, which I really love to use on my layouts. This added some more dimension as well as another texture to the page.

I hope this has inspired you to try new combinations of designs and shapes in your creations!

If you'd like to see more tips on getting the most out of your Slice, be sure to become a fan of the Slice Facebook page.

~ Caroline ~