Birches Slim Stencil Card

 Hi, Connie Nichol here today with the Birches Slim Stencil Card (available in the Silhouette Store here) embellished with some of the stamps in Suzanne Cannon's Leaves stamp set.

The cut file is great - it comes in two pieces so you can use the birch stems as a separate stencil.

I just adhered a piece of cream coloured cardstock to back the birch stencil piece, but you could also cut the birch stencil in another contrasting color for a different look. 

The Leaves stamp set is available in the Emerald Creek online store here.  It's a great set with a couple of lovely quotes and four different leaves.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting, Connie

Stitched Flourished 50 Card

Hi, Connie Nichol here today with cards featuring the "50 - flourished logo" cut file available in the Silhouette Store here. These flourished numbers are great for birthdays or anniversaries.   I experimented with something a little different today.  Instead of cutting the flourished 50 design out completely,  I changed the solid lines of the design to dashed lines, essentially creating a stitching template.  Just select the design and click the line style button in the Silhouette Studio software to adjust the type and thickness of the lines in the design.  

Here's what the dashed line design looked like after it was cut..  Having the Silhouette Cameo do the work was a lot faster than poking my own holes with a paper piercer.  I  used three strands of DMC embroidery thread to backstitch the design.  I used a very ordinary cream colour, but you could have all kinds of fun with variegated threads and bright colour combinations.  The stitching actually goes very quickly and it's a great project to work on while you are watching TV with your family.

Here's a more typical flourished 50 card.  I cut the '50' out of Close to My Heart pink glitter paper and adhered it to a black cardstock background.  Super quick and simple but the glitter makes it extra fancy.

Thanks for stopping by and happy cardmaking!  

Quietfire Summer Blog Hop - Day 3 - Baby Doily Cards

Welcome to Day 3 of the Quietfire Summer Blog Hop! It’s Connie Nichol here today. 

Each day we will be sharing a project or two to inspire your summer creativity.  We also have prizes!  There will be 2 prizes awarded, valued at $50 each and are a combination of Dies, Stamps and Digital files.  (Suzanne will have a look at the interests of the winners to decide what to give away! If you’re not a digital person, you won’t want those files!) To be eligible to win, you must leave a sweet comment on each Blog Hop blog post!  Visit Quietfire Creations and Quietfire Digital blogs to enter.

Here is the list of posts that you will need to comment on:

Monday: Suzanne on Quietfire Creations

Tuesday: Katelyn on Quietfire Creations, Robyn on Quietfire Digital

Wednesday: Betsy on Quietfire Creations, Connie on Quietfire Digital (you are here now)

Thursday: Kora on Quietfire Digital

Friday: Diana on Quietfire Creations, Kim on Quietfire Digital

Deadline for commenting is midnight Saturday, July 25, 2020

Winners will be announced on Sunday, July 26^th.

Good luck!

Here are my  projects.  I made two baby cards using the Quietfire Baby Doily Card electronic cutting file and the Elizabeth Craft Designs Baby Love dies.  This is a quick and easy card to cut and give.  Just ungroup the elements in the digital file, spread them apart and cut in coordinating colours.  I went with a traditional blue and pink, and added a teeny tiny little pink glitter heart to the front of the onesie.

Here's the component parts......

I added some hand stitching with DMC embroidery thread to the pink card.  In hindsight I think I would have used a contrasting or darker colour of thread to increase its visibility but I love the texture a litle hand stitching adds to a project.

Here's the Baby Love die set.  Isn't it cute?  Use the words separately or together.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Be sure to visit all the blogs this week to enter to win personalized prizes!

Share your creations, comments and questions  with us on the

Suzanne Cannon Fan Group

Facebook Page.

Floral Grad 2020 Card

Hi Connie Nichol here today with a graduation card using the 3D Floral Grad card available in the Silhouette Design store here.  My youngest son is graduating high school this year.  It's not much of a grad, with the Covid19 social distancing and school closures, but it's still a milestone to be celebrated.

There are quite a few pieces - make sure you ungroup and separate them all before cutting, especially the multi-layer flower. It's a super cute card and you can get many different looks by varying the colours of the cardstock you use to cut the different components.  Try using foam adhesive under some of the components to add dimension.

Thanks for stopping by, Connie

Flower Garden Monogram Font - Two Card Ideas

Hello, Connie Nichol here today with a couple of cards featuring the new Quietfire Design Flower Monogram font available in the Silhouette Design Store.  It's such a beautiful font - first I simply printed short words in different colours with my inkjet printer and then I tried it as a cut file with my Silhouette Cameo.  It worked beautifully!

Here's a card where I printed the monogram font onto a piece of white cardstock and coloured the flowers with markers and a bit of Stickles glitter glue. Quick and easy.

And here's a card where I cut out a letter using my Silhouette:

I dropped the cut out monogram onto an adhesive sheet and then applied ultra fine glitter to the adhesive background.  I used short pieces of plastic drinking straws to carefully apply different colours of glitter to different areas of the monogram.  It's not perfect, but the overall effect turned out pretty good.   I shook off the excess glitter, burnished the adhered glitter firmly with my index finger to make sure it was good and stuck and mounted to a card base. A less messy approach would have been to back the cut out monogram with a contrasting color of cardstock.  Ha!  When I use glitter, glitter gets everywhere, but I do enjoy it's shimmery goodness.

Be sure to check out Suzanne Cannon's font files in the Silhouette Store.  There are so many possibilities!

Zipper Pocket Cards

Hello, Connie Nichol here today with a a couple of cards cut from the Zipper 3D Pocket cut file available in the Silhouette Store here.  These cards are super cute and super easy to make - only a couple of pieces and you can stamp or write something on the card insert, and tuck a gift card  or a photo into the pocket.

I experimented with  different kinds of two sided patterned paper, but you could also use  one or two colours of plain cardstock.  The back has a lovely little stand, making it easy to prop on a shelf or mantel.

Here's another version with a different Quietfire Design stamp and different colour scheme.  

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting, Connie

Quietfire Design supplies used:  Zipper 3D Pocket Card, Coffee and Friends stamp, Always Believe stamp

Other supplies:  Wild Whisper wood grain paper, unknown reddish patterned paper, Versafine ink, Beacon Adhesives.

Southwest Cactus Frame

Hello, Connie Nichol here with one of Suzanne Cannon's newest cut files, the Southwest Cactus Frame available in the Silhouette Design Store here.  It's super cute and just perfect for framing a photo from the Arizona desert.

I love that the back of the frame has a stand so you can easily prop this frame on a shelf or mantel.

Here's the cut file itself - only a few pieces to ungroup and then cut.  The little dots on the cactus provide some texture to look like prickles.  I poked them with a needle to open them up just a little bit more.  Experiment with different colours of cardstock or add a touch of patterned paper to give this frame a different look.  

Thanks for stopping by, Connie

Supplies Used:  Southwest Cactus Frame cut file, Silhouette Cameo, cardstock

Star Quilt Scrapbook Layout

Hello, Connie Nichol here today with a 12x12 scrapbook layout featuring the Star Quilt Block cutting file.  It's available in the Silhouette Design store here.

Here's an example of how the Star Quilt Block card would look. I didn't use all of the components and I super sized my base square to 5.5" to fit a quadrant of a scrapbook page.  The 'stars' are cut out of Simple Stories patterned paper.

If you like the look of quilt blocks, this is a perfect cut file for you!  As you can see, it makes a very pretty card, or can make a striking scrapbook layout. It is quick to put together because there aren't many pieces, and it is a great way to use up different bits of patterned paper.

Thanks for stopping by and happy scrapbooking!

Supplies Used:

Star quilt block cutting file designed by Suzanne Cannon

Silhouette Cameo cutting machine

Simple Stories patterned paper and stickers

Bazzill cardstock

US Artquest Perfect Paper Adhesive

Sakura white pen

Flourished Heart Valentine's Day Card

Hello, Connie Nichol here today with two quick Valentine cards featuring the Flourished Heart File available in the Silhouette Design Store here.

I cut the first one out of red cardstock and just embellished with a few pearls.  The heart cut file is so pretty that you really don't need much of anything to dress it up.  Just add a stamped sentiment and you're good to go.

I also made a card using metallic gold cardstock for something different.  Backing the cut out heart with black gives a more elegant look.  Sorry for the slightly wonky photograph - mirrored cardstock is always so hard to photograph because it reflects me and my Iphone.

Aren't the flourishes pretty?  Here's the Quietfire Design stamp set I used.  It's a set of 8 versatile love stamps perfect for Valentine or Wedding/Anniversary cards.  

Thanks for stopping by and have an awesome Valentine's Day.  It's sneaking up fast and less than a month away!

Easy Christmas Cards with the Twiggy Wreath Monogram Font

Hello, Connie Nichol here today with two Christmas cards I created using the Twiggy Wreath Monogram font designed by Suzanne Cannon and available in the Silhouette Design store.  Super easy and super quick!!

Just print the word Joy onto cardstock and embellish with pens and fine glitter glue to add colour and texture.  Mat on one or more layers of cardstock, put onto a card base and you're done.  Try printing with or on different colours.  White cardstock is handy but I think the kraft looks kind of classy.  Wasn't that easy?   Merry Christmas!!

Supplies Used:  cardstock, Twiggy Wreath Monogram font, Sakura gel pens, Rangers Stickles glitter glue, Close to My Heart embossing folder, cheesecloth.

Flourished Snowflake Star Tree

Hello, Connie Nichol here today with a scrapbook layout featuring the Flourished Snowflake Star Tree cut file available in the Silhouette Design store here. It's a beautiful little cut file that would make a great front for a Christmas card, or in this case, a great embellishment for a scrapbook page.  The snowflake is a separate element from the tree, so you can cut lots of extra snowflakes.  Decorate your tree with glitter glue, gems or pearls.

The Merry Christmas title is cut using Quietfire Design metal dies although similar digital options are available in Suzanne Cannon's designs in the Silhouette store.

Christmas is only 35 days away and I know that Rusty will be ready to help decorate once again.  Capture those memories and enjoy the season!  

Quietfire Design Supplies Used:  Merry Christmas 2 die, Flourished Snowflake Star Tree digital cut file

Other Supplies:  cardstock, Ranger Perfect Pearls glimmer spray and Stickles glitter glue, Kaisercraft red pearl stickers, sewing machine, cardboard, black pen. 

Chalkboard Easel Cards

Hello Connie Nichol here today with a couple of super simple cards featuring Suzanne Cannon's chalkboard easel cutting file available in the Silhouette store here.  The easel design is a great base for so many different cards - you can use chalk paper and write a message with chalk or a chalk marker, add a stamped sentiment or as I did in my projects, add a die cut word.

I gilded my die cuts with the brand new Quietfire Design gilding powder.  This is an ultra fine embossing powder that comes in six delicious shades.  I dabbed embossing ink on my die cut word, coated with Kells Gold gilding powder and heated with my embossing heat gun. Simple, yet magical to turn white cardstock into a beautiful metallic gold.

For the background of the Hola card, I experimented with gilding droplets of gel medium.  I used a stiff brush, dipped it into the gel medium and flicked it with my finger onto the card background, then coated it with the gilding powder.  Tap off the extra and then heat emboss.  It turned out kind of neat because of the dimension of the gel medium.  You can try this with anything that will make the embossing powder stick so that it can be heat embossed.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Quietfire Design Products Used:  Kells Gold gilding powder,  Happy Birthday - small die, Hola die, Chalkboard Easel cut file

Other Products:  Echo Park patterned paper, Close to my Heart cardstock, chalk paper and chalk marker, Prima gel medium, Faber Castell stiff brush, Clearsnap embossing ink.

Floral Step Card

Hello, Connie Nichol here today with two different versions of a step card  using a cutting file designed by Suzanne Cannon.  It's available in the Silhouette Design Store here.  The cut file is actually a 'Smile' floral step card, but like all digital files, you can ungroup the components and use whatever you like.  I used everything but the calligraphic smile word.  There are three different shapes of flowers that you can mix and match.

I love the step card base - it is very simple to cut and fold, yet classy and different from an ordinary greeting card.  You can add a stamped sentiment to the front panel, or different die cut sentiments, and of course as many flowers in as many colours as you like!

Here's the beginning stages before I put anything together:

You also have many choices for flower centers. Stack the cut flowers together with a brad or glue, or embellish the centers with small beads, glitter glue, or with stickers and gems.  You can get a huge sheet of 'pearls' and 'diamonds' from the dollar store.  Happy Crafting!

Quietfire Design Products Used:  The Only Time rubber stamp, Happy Birthday - small - metal cutting die, Smile Floral Step Card cutting file

Other Supplies:  Close to My Heart Cardstock, Dollarama glitter stickers, Versafine ink