ScanNCut – Page 34 – Craft With May

Camping Scrapbook Layout featuring the ScanNCut

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Camping adventures: Scrapbook Layout

I’ve been doing a lot of testing with my own handwriting + the ScanNCut and I’ve got to tell you – it’s good stuff. In fact the less I try to get it just right, the better it is turning out! I decided to turn my attention to a scrapbook page I’ve been meaning to make for quite a while that needs a giant of a title.

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To create a layout like mine you’ll need:

cardstock and patterned paper, buttons and do-dads, washi tape, gold and black pens, journaling tag, and of course a Brother ScanNCut machine.

To begin with, you need to write a word (any word!) then scan in, re-size, and cut!

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For the full video tutorial on doing this, please see my last ScanNCut post here.

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Then cut out of the material of your choice! I thought about cork paper or woodgrain… but I decided classic green cardstock was the way to go. I adhered the cardstock title, photos (4×6), and patterned paper (7×9) to get things started.

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Next add some small letter stickers (or stamps would work, or cut tiny letters) to complete the title, and add some washi tape to accent.

What comes next?

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We stitch with Tex my beloved Brother sewing machine, of course! This black stitching is going to add the pop and contrast I need.

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Speaking of pop and contrast – I am edging my letters with black pen (around outside) and gold puffy pen (on actual letter) and I love the results! For a little more “mess” an optional step here is to splatter with mist.

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Finally, it’s button, leaf, sequin, and do-dad time! Finishing this off was a breeze – and I love the finished results.

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What I am really loving about making my own words/titles with my ScanNCut is:

Any word, any size, any font, any material!
Use my stash of paper when my big alphas are running low
Perfectly size my title to my page/project needs
No more craft knife cutting in front of the TV – the machine handles it all in minutes while I keep on crafting!

In other words, there’s a lot to love and I’m sure you’ll see more projects featuring my words and doodles in the future.

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Disclosure: I am a paid consultant for Brother International Corporation and have received a ScanNCut from Brother to evaluate. However, the opinions expressed are entirely my own and based on my use of the product.

ScanNCut homemade words and birthday card

One of my favorite things lately is doodling and then seeing what it looks like when my ScanNCut machine cuts it out of paper. What I LOVE about this is that I can take a word that is big (or small) or other shape and re-size it to the project I need. So often I doodle something and think “it’s not the right size….” well by scanning into my ScanNCut it doesn’t matter! I can just re-size and play!

Today I’ve got a full (long!) video tutorial that will show you how to do that – and how I made this card.

link to YouTube

My key tips are:

use pencil first (contrasted with the pen, the machine won’t pick it up!
don’t expect it just right on the first sketch, but at the same time don’t underestimate the “do it quick don’t think too much” approach
thin pen first, then thicken with more pen strokes or a thicker pen so that it cuts around your shape
Scan words separately if you want to be able to manipulate them as separate words
Don’t forget to unify the pattern so that you move all the pieces together/everything will re-size properly

Most of all though, have fun! Card making is my favorite for birthdays and thank yous. Something about celebrating a special person combined with crafting that just puts me in a great mood!

I love how fun this turned out – and really it’s a party it could be for a man or woman, kid or adult. If you have any questions or requests with the ScanNCut be sure to email me or leave me a comment – I’ve got so much to share with you and have so many fun things still to come!

ScanNCut: mixed media tag cut out

One of my favorite things to do with the ScanNCut is to cut out a shape from a tag and use everything but the shape I cut out. What do I mean? I will show you today in this full tutorial! I prefer to do this with my ScanNCut machine – it makes it so quick and easy!

Supplies needed: ScanNCut, manila tags (2), dye ink, gold paint, gold and green mist, background stamps, ribbon, leaves and buttons (or other embellishments), word stickers (or handwrite/type your own)

The first step is to figure out what image you want to use. At first I thought this intricate doily image was a good idea. Ah but there is a problem! The design would simply cut a semi-circle out of my tag leaving a lovely border that looked more like someone bit my tag than the beautiful image it was. So- that’s not the image I want for this project.

One of my favorite features of this machine is that I can scan the cutting mat (with paper on it) so that I can see exactly what I’m getting into. It is going to be light (my tag is a light color, after all, but clear enough so that I can view and place my image over the tag and get a feel for what it will look like. Love that!

After selecting a botanical image I adjusted the height and the position -both things I can do while seeing the image on top of my tag which is so great- no guessing what it will look like! Once satisfied there’s only one thing to do: let the machine cut!

Now that the technical part is done, it’s time for inky fun!

Above you can see the image and the tag left behind. We’ll be focusing on the tag today. First, I placed the image down onto the tag and lightly inked with pink ink. I love this shadow/masking effect!

I felt like going more bold though – and also heading purple instead of pink. How to accomplish this? I first ran my pink ink pad over the image, and then I took a foam tool and blended a rich blue over the top! The result is that all the pink ink turned lovely shades of purple.

Next up, to add some texture I applied gold paint to a background stamp.

For this kind of project I like to leave the stamp on my table, and press the tag onto the stamp. This tag is pretty delicate around all those intricate cuts – so this lets me press it down with the best results.

I love the look of a nice dot stamp then combined with a few splatters of mist! I let the random nature of mist act as a way to add to the funky factor of my tag – and I’m loving it! Now that the background is rich and lovely, there’s just a few more things to do. First back the tag with manila cardstock or a cardstock of your choice. I waited until now because I didn’t want to ink up that clean paper. I love the contrast!

To add even more contrast, I added a few more touches listed below. Here’s my finished project:

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Finishing touches:

use black ink to stamp the script stamp
add black ink to edges of tag for contrast
add stitching along one side, and where phrase stickers are applied
add gold dimensional paint in dots along stitching
top tag with a few embellishments and trim

I have so much making tags like these – in fact I’m going to be doing ten background/technique tags with full video tutorials in my upcoming Camp Scrap class on my site! I can never get enough of how my ScanNCut makes getting one of these fun inky creations started- and I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial!

ScanNCut: Bird inspired mixed media canvas

Do you have time to make a fun mixed media canvas right now? Well, if you have about 30 minutes you sure do! The trick is to work in short quick bursts, utilize simple techniques, and have fun! Today I’m letting a new bird cut file inspire me and help me get creative with my ScanNCut machine!

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Here is my full video tutorial:

link to YouTube

This was such fun to make! I used the Home-Deco pattern collection #3 – really digging these designs! In fact you can expect to see several more canvases featuring these designs in the coming weeks of summer.

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What I love most about this one is that I was able to build texture, add detail, and have a lot of fun without a huge investment of time at once. Just a few minutes at a time and before I knew it I had a finished piece to hang up.

Apple Thank You projects

How is it time for end-of-year teacher gifts?! Well luckily I was able to hand craft some cards + tags to make things a little homemade with my ScanNCut machine, some color mediums and just a bit of time before school pick-up.

Supplies needed: Cardstock (manila and white), watercolors or other fluid/blendable mediums, buttons/embellishments, stamps, embossing powder, ink, and of course a ScanNCut

Here is my video tutorial:

Link to YouTube

I am so in love with making these apples – such fun! I really love using a basic shape as a starting point for mixed media fun.

The how-to for my tag:

1. Size (2 1/2″) and cut the apple from your ScanNCut onto the tag

2. Use clear embossing powder to add texture to a stamped image on the background. Also, stamp (black ink) the apple.

3. Use color mediums such as watercolor to color everything. Then mount white cardstock behind the tag.

4. Add stitching to the tag background, add trim and embellishments to the top.

5. Finish the tag by attaching the original apple on foam adhesive to the tag. Then add trim and embellishments as well as a stamped sentiment to the bottom.

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Card how-to:

1. Cut the apple at size desired using ScanNCut

2. Scan the original apple, then add outline before cutting on white cardstock – this becomes your base for the card. A folded piece of cardstock will also need to be cut to this size (by hand).

3. Color the white layer with ink along edges

4. Color main apple with watercolors, add a red embossed/stamped image, and finish with gold mist before attaching to the card base/background.

These are sure to make some teachers smile (I hope!) and I hope you’ve enjoyed my tutorial today.

I am a paid consultant for Brother International Corporation and have received a ScanNCut from Brother to evaluate. However, the opinions expressed are entirely my own and based on my use of the product.