They are PERFECT gift toppers or small gifts for when you just have way too many family members! They are also great for kids with unique names, so they can have their own personalized ornaments every year.

You can see more photos and a full description here.

Pin It]]> http://artschooldropout.net/blog/personalized-ceramic-ornaments-for-silhouette-america/feed/ 0 http://artschooldropout.net/blog/a-round-quilted-table-topper-for-silhouette-america/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-round-quilted-table-topper-for-silhouette-america http://artschooldropout.net/blog/a-round-quilted-table-topper-for-silhouette-america/#comments Thu, 04 Dec 2014 13:30:16 +0000 jesseesuem http://artschooldropout.net/blog/?p=3391 Continue reading →]]> Two weeks ago I did a half tutorial over on the Silhouette America blog showcasing the above table topper! It was super easy to put together and looks awesome with my Pyrex bowls.

So if you’re looking for a quick gift or decoration, then go check out the post,! (Theres way more photos too!)

Also, if you are already a Silhouette user, then make sure to check out the Silhouette Design Team Blog Hop Giveaways! Theres just one more day left to enter.

My favorite product is the Silhouette brand Sewable Fabric Interfacing. I use it in every fabric project I make for their blog, plus a load of personal projects for myself. It’s a great time saver that adds a special personal touch to your sewing projects. I use it to personalize quilted pieces or cut super intricate designs. It’s also great for kids clothes and any type of sewn gift.

I chose a personalized stocking as the project to showcase the Sewable Interfacing because it’s been on my to do list for YEARS! I started three, one for each of us, but was only able to finish the one shown due to my sewing machine malfunctioning. I’m hoping to share the other two, that my family helped design, later in the month.

I wanted to show each of our very different personalities in a quilted sock form. Mine shows my love for shapes, polka dots, fabric with writing on it and the color gray. The Honeycomb Background design file would have taken forever to cut by hand, but with my Silhouette CAMEO it only took a few minutes.

I also love how it looks super complicated, but was super easy to put together!

I used the Stocking design file and enlarged it as big I could to fit on the 12″x24″ cutting mat. I cut just the basic stocking shape out of card stock. I then opened the Honeycomb Background file and tilted it slightly so the edge near the toe made it look like a sock with those different colored toe tips. I clicked on “Release Compound Path” so all of the honeycomb lines were separated. I deleted a few hexagons here and there so some would be solid. I used some awesome rainbow speckled denim and I wanted to showcase it here and there.

Once I was happy with the file, I grouped it back together. I prepped and cut it as a I usually do (my full tutorial on the Silhouette blog can be found here) and ironed it onto my already cut out stocking. I also cut out a basic stocking piece for the back. I then spray basted both pieces to separate cotton batting and quilted them up like I would any quilt. I cut the lining out of the cute black and gray polka dotted fabric and sewed all of them together, just like you would a zipper pouch!

After everything was sewn and turned inside out, I folded down the top cuff and added my name using the Lovely Day Font (found in the Silhouette Design Store) and some solid gray fabric to finish it off.

It took me about two hours total to finish this one stocking. Not Bad, right?!!

Now onto the GIVEAWAY!

On Silhouette’s behalf, I will be giving away one pack of Silhouette Brand Sewable Interfacing and one Fabric Blade. To enter you NEED to follow Silhouette America and myself on Instagram. To earn additional entries you can follow me on Bloglovin and/or leave a comment letting me know what kind of projects you’d like to see on here in 2015!

Rules, Guidelines & Disclaimers:

This giveaway is being hosted by me, Jessee M / Art School Dropout, as part of the Silhouette Design Team Blog Hop. There will be only one winner chosen by Rafflecopter. This giveaway is open to US/Canada Residents, 18 & older.  Void where prohibited. This giveaway is not associated with Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. Prizes will be fulfilled by Silhouette America. Winner cannot have won another Silhouette America giveaway in the past 90 days. Winners should expect their prize to arrive within 4-6 weeks. Only one entry per reader, period. Only the first comment posted will be counted. Giveaway starts at midnight December 1st, 2014 and will end at 11:59PM (EST) December 5th, 2014. Whew, I think that’s it!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck to everyone who enters. Please head on over to Guiseppa Gubler’s blog to find out what she’s giving away. Then from there hop on over to the next one and the next. If all works out you should finish up right back here where you started. If you’d like to start at the begging then go check out the Blog Hop Giveaway post on the Silhouette America Blog.

Updated:

Here’s a list of ALL of the Silhouette Design Team Blog Hop Posts in case you think you may have missed one!…

Of course I fell behind (I took on too much this past month) and was only able to make Batman. I used some of my favorite fabrics for a very neutral looking piece.

He measures 8″ square and is quilted with a simple 45 degree angled straight line. I hand sewed the binding on while watching Constantine, so it’s a bit wonky because I was so interested in the show! ( At least I was was watching a DC show while sewing a DC character, right?). It’s the perfect size for our pop culture gallery wall, and even though he’s not the correct colors, my husband approves!

I absolutely loved how nicely the Crafty Geeks pattern went together, and will totally be sewing more soon. Most likely after the crazy holiday season is over! I 100% recommend that all my nerdy sewing friends out there check out their shop!

I know there isn’t much time left to make the above project for this years Halloween, BUT you can alter it slightly for Thanksgiving, or make it winter themed! If you’d like to see more photo’s, along with instructions then you should check out my blog post over on Silhouette America’s blog!

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I’ve been missing from this here blog. Between family obligations, deadlines and a cold turned pneumonia I hardly had free time. The free time I do have goes towards teaching myself Illustrator, how to use a Wacom tablet and anything else to better my creative side. I’m hoping to be back to a normal schedule soon. I have so many ideas, I just want to be able to execute them the best way I can.

It uses the free shape of the week and their Fabric Starter Kit. The process is super simple and yields great results. The coolest part is when people see them they think they are screen printed! Goal achieved.

You can read more about the entire process over on their blog here.

One of the selling points for the Silhouette Portrait was its ability to make custom stamps. You can either buy a Stamping Starter Kit, or buy the pieces separately (which is what I did). I bought the Stamp Material, the Cutting Mat and a Fiskars Stamp Press (this thing is great for centering and getting even presses with no ghost markings).

The first stamp I made was just the logo, no boxed in areas. It ended up being a pain to transfer the cut silicone sheet over to the stamping press. So for the second cutting I added the background, and everything that was positive turned into negative space. I still lost the little piece inside the tiny “P”, but I’m cool with it, it adds character.

I did a few test runs on paper which looked a bit distressed, but again there was that homemade character, and I like that. I watched a few YouTube videos that said different inks react in different ways with the stamping material. So I may try some others out when I have the time and money. For now, the stamp is great!

It’s about 4″x4″, which is a little on the big side. I don’t plan on using it for product packaging or anything like that. I really only wanted it to stamp on the back of outgoing boxes and shopping bags at shows. Brand recognition!!! For those purposes its mostly perfect. My only complaint has to do with the boxes themselves, not the stamp. The currogated texture makes for a very striped logo. Again, it looks handmade, and not in a bad way. I imagine when I stamp bags, it won’t be striped.

I wish I could make all of my stamps this way, but the process really doesn’t allow for super detailed designs. So instead I ordered some self inking stamps for tags and product packaging. I’ll show the process for those once they come in.

I’m so excited for the switch over this weekend! I can’t wait to hear feedback from you all!!

On a side note: I’m almost done reworking the ecommerce side of Art School Dropout, and once thats done I’ll be looking more at this here blog. Trying to figure out what to share here. As a reader, would you like to see more blog posts like this? If not, what would you like to hear about? 

You’re probably wondering now what this has to do with the “WIN THIS” flag above, well I made the above paper cut using my machine and one of my animal doodles I mentioned on Monday. I made it purely to see if I COULD. I love experimenting and testing my limits, and this was one of the outcomes. I want to make some many more too!!!

I love the print, but I don’t own a Dachshund and I felt like there might be someone out there who loves them more and would like a likeness on their walls! So here goes…

If you love wiener dogs, paper cut pieces or this piece just “speaks to you” (hahaha) then you can enter to win by just leaving a comment below. The comment can say anything. You can tell me about your day, what your favorite food is, what you think I should make next, or whatever else is on your mind! Please keep it nice and clean though, I guess thats the only rule. The print measures a total of 8.5″x11″, that includes the chipboard I mounted it to. You have until next Wednesday night to enter (January 22nd at midnight EST) , and I’ll choose a winner the next day!!

Entries are closed for this giveaway!

The winner is comment #3, Katie T.

I’ve contacted Katie, but if she doesn’t get back to me, then i will choose a second winner!!

My partner just happened to be a friend of mine, Heather (I seriously lucked out guys!). Her lists of favorites was awesome! Futurama, Cryptozoology, Twin Peaks and knitting. I don’t know anything about knitting, so I went with the first three. The first thought I had was “how about Fry dressed up as a yeti? or maybe sasquatch?” Well I ran with it and made a clay Frysquatch! (my own made up term) The other ornament is a simple log to represent the Log Lady’s Log!

They were both so much fun to do!! I want to make the entire set of Futurama for my tree, and maybe even a set of Bob’s Burger characters?

I have been asked a bunch of times already if I will make these, and the Donut Mushroom Hybrid ornaments for sale. I am contemplating remaking the mushrooms and the log and casting them for next year, but I WILL NOT be selling any Frysquatch ornaments. I don’t like the idea of selling licensed anything. I even felt weird making this as a gift, it’s a gray area and I’d rather stay there. I just knew Heather would love it, and I made no profit from it.

But yeah, keep an eye out for replicas of the others! I have been itching to do more 3D molds, but never could decide WHAT to cast. Now I know and I’m excited to get back on track. When would be a good time of year to add them to my shop?

The only swap I didn’t go out of my way to sign up for was the one for Heidi’s crafternoon this month. My recipient just happened to be Heidi herself, and she is always fun to shop for! I found her a bunch of cool little trinkets, but of course I HAD to make something too! She collects mushroom stuff and donuts, so I figured why not make a set of mushrooms WITH icing and sprinkles on top? They were so fun to make, I always forget how much I love playing with clay.

I also made a few more clay ornaments for another swap I’m doing, but photos would seriously give away who the new owners will be, so I’m going to wait. The other set is something close to my own nerdy heart and I wish I had made myself some too!!

Maybe I’ll make some cast plastic ornaments for the shop next year? Is that something people would want?