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 ~

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 ~