The Life of the Blade

If you've been using your Slice for a while, you have probably needed to change the blade at some point. (I wrote about how to do that on this post.) How long a blade lasts will ultimately depend on what you're cutting. Here are a few tips to make your blades last as long as possible!

• The Slice Elite has been designed to cut even more deeply and precisely than its predecessor. I've experimented with a variety of different materials including vellum, fabric and glitter cardstock. But you do need to have a sharp blade. You'll find that if you're cutting a lot of thicker, denser materials then the blade will need to be replaced more quickly than if you're just cutting regular paper. But it's very fun to experiment. :)
• For thicker materials, or if you find your Slice isn't cutting quite so well, you might want to try adjusting the blade pressure. This video will show you how. This is less necessary with the Slice Elite but you might find it useful sometimes.
• Make sure your paper etc. is well-adhered to the cutting mat (check out the Making Memories Brayer for the Slice to help you with this!) You want to ensure that the paper doesn't move or bunch up while you're cutting, which could make extra work for the blade and the Slice machine itself.
• If you do need to change your blade then check out this video for how to do it - it's easy!

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Happy cutting, Slicers!

~ Caroline ~

Make a Bird Mobile with the Aviary Design Card

When I first set eyes on the Aviary design card for the Slice, I thought how fun it would be to make something where these beautiful birds could actually fly... so I made this paper mobile. It's great to use my Slice "off the page"!

I used the gorgeous Making Memories Paper Reverie (Brun Antique) collection for the papers, ribbon and embellishments, so I knew everything was going to work together really well.

First, I picked half a dozen different birds at 2" from the Aviary design card, from the ones that were flying rather than just perched. Then I cut out two of each, one on the Normal setting and one on the Mirror setting, so I could make them matching on each side.

For the hoop at the top, I made a circle with a pipe cleaner. I didn't add the ribbon till later but here's a pic of both:

I cut differing lengths of clear fishing line (about 5" - 10") and attached one end to the hoop, and tied a Paper Reverie Bauble on the other end. Then I adhered each pair of birds back to back at different heights using tape runner. I filled up the spaces using double sequins, which I adhered with E6000.

I added another length of fishing line to either side of the hoop at the top so I could hang the mobile. Mine is about 16" but you could add whatever length works for you. Then I covered the pipe cleaner with ribbon from the Paper Reverie Trim cards (as shown in the picture above).

Once the glue was dry, it was time to take my birds outside and let them fly in the summer breeze! J

Would you like more fun ideas and tips for how to get the most of your Slice? Make sure you become a fan of the Slice Facebook page!

~ Caroline ~

Mix and Match with Layering

Some of the newer Slice cards offer the extremely cool layering feature. This enables you to to cut the original shape and then an extra layer which just adds even more pizzazz to your designs!

Here's an idea to try out when you're using this feature. Why not mix and match what you're cutting out? It's fun to mix different papers; if you use two from the same collection or kit then you'll find it really easy to make them work together. You can also use different kits, or mix in plain cardstock or paper for a simple, clean look.

Here are some other ideas I had for other ways you can add texture and dimension to your layering. The papers all come from the Making Memories Dilly Dally collection. The shapes are all from the Dilly Dally design card, which has the layering feature.

Foil/Metal

Here I cut out the boot from paper, and then cut the layer from foil cardstock for a classy look to my boot!

Vellum

I wanted a delicate, whimsical look, and I've seen this done very effectively elsewhere. I cut the butterfly from paper and the layer from vellum to make it look like the wings were in motion. I used Glossy Accents to adhere the edges of the wings by the body of the butterfly, then bent them up slightly to add more dimension.

Fabric

The Slice Fabrique machine is specially designed for cutting fabric, but did you know that you can also cut fabric with your Slice Elite? It's easy to iron your fabric onto the Making Memories Fusible Web which stabilizes the fabric, stiffening it to enable you to cut it with your Slice.

Here I used two different shapes, each with a layer. Firstly I cut the banner from cardstock and inked the edges, then cut the banner layer from Dilly Dally paper. I used pop dots to adhere the layers together. Then once I'd ironed my fabric onto the Fusible Web, I cut the flower and its petals layer from each of the fabrics, and adhered them to the banner. This would make a fun tag embellishment, or could be added to a card with a sentiment.

Would you like more project ideas and tips for your Slice? Make sure you become a fan of the Slice Facebook page!

~ Caroline ~

Embellishments with the Basics 3 design card

One of the things I love about my Slice design cards is the great variety with the designs. Some of them are more theme-related and specific, and some have become absolutely vital go-to design cards which are incredibly versatile and work on many different projects. I find the Basics cards have definitely remained in my go-to pile.

The Basics 3 design card has a nice, elegant font and some beautiful swirls that are perfect for adding some style to layouts and cards. I used it to make the following embellishments, along with the Making Memories Paper Reverie (Brun Antique) collection.

Basics 3 font

I like to mix up upper and lower case as well as the size of the letters for a different look. It gives me many more options with the same font.

The Basics 3 card has the standard font and then an extra lower-case one with each letter in a scalloped circle. I've used this for titling in the past, and it also works perfectly for monograms. On this embellishment I added two swirls and also a flower from the Paper Reverie (Brun Antique) Baubles collection.

Borders

I mentioned repeating designs to create borders in this post. The Basics 3 card has some perfect designs for this. I just cut out the same shape multiple times and put them next to each other. You could also mix them up with other shapes for a different look.

Flowers

I cut the flower shape on the specialty shimmer paper at 2.5", then the shadow on the dictionary paper also at 2.5". The bottom layer (the 'B' side of the leopard paper) is cut at 3". I used pop dots to adhere the layers and give them dimension, which makes the different elements easier to see.

Hopefully this has inspired you to go and create your own embellishments!

If you'd like more ideas on Slice-related projects and tips, be sure to become a fan of the Slice Facebook page.

~ Caroline ~