MODKIDBOUTIQUE: Silhouette

Showing posts with label Silhouette. Show all posts

Back to School goodies!

My girls' first day of school was yesterday and with it came a new milestone for our family. My oldest, Sophie (or Sophia, as she likes to be called now... sniff, sniff), started Junior High! I can't believe my baby (don't tell her I called her that) is a BIG GIRL now.

To commemorate the grand event, I shot these pictures before they left for school yesterday. The girls wore the newest MODKID knit patterns, The BREEANN Top and the MELANIE Dress (available now in our Etsy shop), which were actually named after their BFFs.

When I posted these pics on Facebook, I got tons of questions about how I did those giant numbers the girls are holding. I just made them up real quick in Illustrator and cut them onto card stock on my Silhouette Cameo machine. Since a few of you requested I made these available, I have these now live on my Silhouette store:

But, now onto the patterns...

A few weeks ago I sneaked peeked our BACK TO SCHOOL collection on Facebook, and both pattern designs were met with lots of "oooh's and ahhh's" and "when can we get these?".

Well, your wait is finally over!! We have just released the BREEANN and MELANIE patterns. And here's a little bit of info about each...

MELANIE

This adorable and comfy dress is designed to be sewn with knits, and features a sweet A-line silhouette and some oversized side pockets for all her treasures. Our pattern includes three sleeve length options so it can take your girl from the warm Summer months through the chilly Winter days.

BREEANN

For the tween/teen crowd, we've designed this hip hooded top that features two sleeve variations -- fitted and flutter. We paired that with an oversized kangaroo pocket and a yoga waistband, for the perfect top.

See lots more photos of both patterns in the shop listings.
Again, both patterns are available NOW in our Etsy shop.

What's new?

WOW, it's been nearly 6 weeks since I blogged! This Summer has proven to be one of the busiest Summers I've had in a long time (if ever). Lots of new exciting projects coming up which, as it usually goes, I have to keep hush-hush until it's all said & done.

But I did want to keep you abreast of some of the stuff that's been keeping us busy for the past few weeks.

On the PDF pattern front, we are working on a few new designs, and we just released a new pattern yesterday. It's called the JOSIE Retro A-line dress.

Josie is a sweet A-line dress with retro styling. It features a center gore with wrap-around tabs and adorable cap sleeves. With only 5 pattern pieces to cut, this dress will be an easy sew, so you can make it over and over again in all your favorite designer fabrics!

At the moment you can buy JOSIE (along with all of our other e-patterns) here:

Here's some wonderful pictures I received from my tester, Debbie Clifton. This gives you a clearer idea of the fit and construction. It has adorable button-back tabs for a more fitted look and sweet cap sleeves. How perfect is this for back-to-school wardrobe? I know, I know... they just got out of school, but it's never too early to start planing ahead, right?

On the PAPER CRAFTING front, I have been creating lots and lots of new shapes for my Silhouette store. My most popular, by far, have been these fun and colorful cupcake wrappers shown below. And I can't lie... I do love that in order to photograph them well, we need to get some of these amazing cupcakes from Sugar Mama Bakery here at the studio. It does sweeten our day quite a bit. ;)

Can I just say...YUM!

On the PUBLISHING front... oh boy, where do I even begin!? I am in the middle of signing contracts for not one, but two (yes, 2!) books to be published in 2014. Sorry that I can't reveal anything more on that, but just trust me when I say it's exciting and NEW for us, so I hope you all will be just as excited about them.

We have also been working on LOTS and LOTS of projects for different magazines. In addition to the quarterly SCRAP LAB projects for American Patchwork & Quilting (a new one will be out on August 13th!), we are also busy designing projects for Modern Quilts Unlimited. Actually, we will be featured THREE times on MQU this year, including a studio tour later this year! Stay tuned.

Currently, we have a quilt in the current issue of QUILTY Magazine (a Fons & Porter publication):

And a table runner in the current issue of Modern Quilts Unlimited:

On the FABRIC FRONT, a little birdie told me that Just My Type is shipping in just a couple of weeks, so we have been busy creating projects for the fabric launch. Check your favorite store and see if they have Just My Type on pre-order. I hear it's selling out FAST!!

Thank you all for the wonderful comments on my blog reveal last month! I am thrilled that you love it as much as I do. :)

OK, that is it for now!! PHEW. Like I said above, LOTS and LOTS more exciting projects coming up soon... new patterns, new fabric, new magazine projects, books and paper crafting items, so STAY TUNED!

Winners, a Flash SALE and New Product reveal!

Thank you all for your sweet comments on our newest PDF pattern, the Holly Jumper Dress. I read each and every one of the 96 comments that came in and was pleased to see how many of you already owned a MODKID pattern or a copy of my book and just were hesitant to try PDFs. There were also a few comments from folks who came from the PDF industry, but had never tried a MODKID pattern before. Regardless, there were so many great comments that we couldn't choose winners ourselves, so we left it up to chance. We used Random.org to choose 3 winners, and the results were:

Comment #32:

Kelly Smith3:28 PM

I love PDF patterns. I am horrible about losing my patterns, but I always make sure my PDFs are backed up in many places. I haven't tried any of your yet, but I love the Holly dress. This will be the first spring/summer that my girl has been walking so I can't wait to make her some cute dresses.

Comment #35:

Angela4:40 PM

I have some of your paper patterns, but haven't yet bought one of your PDF patterns. Holly is a gorgeous girl's dress and I would so love to,win it :-)

Comment #77:
Gorby family blog9:53 PM

I love that Holly goes up to a size 10. My oldest daughter doesn't get many handmades anymore since so many patterns stop at size 8. It's a beautiful dress and I'd love to make one for her!

Congrats to all the winners!! Please take a look at our PDF pattern offerings on our Etsy store, and email us your choice at info (at) modkidboutique (dot) com, so we can get it to you right away.

Since so many of you commented that you had not yet tried one of our PDF patterns, we thought we'd make it a little easier on you and give you a 20% off code to use in the next 24 hours... use code TRYMODKID2 to receive 20% off you entire order on our Etsy store! This code is only valid on our Etsy store and is not valid on our website for paper patterns or books. It expires Friday, May 3rd at 12 noon CST.

While I have you all here, I also wanted to talk a little about what's been going on in the design front. As some of you might now, I am a licensed designer for Silhouette America, designing shapes to use on their Cameo machine, which die cuts on paper, vinyl, fabric and other surfaces. Well... true story: I had designer's block recently. It happens to the best of us, I've been told, haha. I didn't upload any new shapes to my Silhouette shop for about 2 weeks because I just couldn't come up with anything new to draw. I needed to draw something that just felt... well.. me. Do you know what I mean?

I dug deep and deeper and then I had an A-HA moment. I thought, why not go back to my roots and draw up my favorite things? What are my favorite things?? Well, I seem to have an almost unhealthy obsession with mid-century modern chairs. I own a couple at home and drool every time I see one at a local auction house. So, I drew up some shapes based on my favorite mod chairs...

Then, I looked around my house and found my other obsession... vintage cameras! I own probably 2 or 3 dozen of these beauties and they are sprinkled all over my house and studio. I just adore looking at them...

Finally, I thought, why stop there? Let's draw everything retro and vintage! haha

Anyway, you can find my new retro and vintage shapes, along with the rest of my Silhouette Shape Collection, HERE.

Wondering what's going on in the fabric front? Well, we are busy getting ready for the International Quilt Market, which this Spring happens to take place in one of my favorite cities in the whole wide world, Portland, OR! This is a special Market for me because I feel I've come full circle. The first Market I ever attended, 5 years ago, was in Portland, and here I am, 5 years later and 12 fabric collections in. I am not ready to completely show you my new fabric collection, but how about a little sneak peek? OK...

That's it. Not giving any more hints! Stay tuned for a full reveal... soon! :)

Card-making

I don't think I'll ever have to step foot in Hallmark again! I am having such a fun time designing and making cards with my new Cameo machine. The other day Sophie was going to a birthday party when she yelled at the last moment, "We forgot to buy a card!" I said, "No worries" and within 5 minutes, I had cut this beauty out of the birthday girl's favorite color:

Now, cards aren't just for birthdays anymore. Can St. Patrick's Day be romantic? Hmmm... I don't know, but I'm certainly gonna try...

Find this file for download here.

If St. Patty's Day isn't your favorite holiday to send greeting cards for, I have also been busy designing adorable Easter cards for all the sweet things in your life...

Find this file for download here.

See my entire portfolio of Silhouette shapes here.

My girls assembling 52 bookmarks for their classmates and teachers:

Hope everyone has a sweet day!

The loveliest time of the year

Well, maybe not weather-wise (especially if you live in the Midwest!). But, it is Valentine's Day in just 2 weeks, so I have been inspired to create some fun new shapes for my Silhouette Online store. All of these shapes are currently on sale for just 75-cents, so hurry, because after V-Day they will go back up to full price!

My girls will be giving these adorable bookmarks as gifts to their classmates... and yes, I will be making some blue ones for the boys. ;)

The file comes with 3 of each sentiment and 3 sets of background shapes on a 12" x 12" page, so you can cut it out of one color once then cut it again out of the second color and this will yield 12 total bookmarks, 6 of each sentiment. Layer and glue the bookmarks so that the heart cut out is perfectly aligned, add a pretty ribbon and voila... instant Valentine for your kids!

I've also designed some fun cards and treat boxes for that very special Valentine in your life:

I think this sweet heart ornament would be perfect for a teacher gift. It's pretty easy and fast to make too, so your kids can help with them.

How about these adorable critters?!?! They are holding hearts so you can write your special message on them and give it to your favorite Valentine. How perfect are these for school V-Day party projects? Each file comes with a few shapes to cut and layer (no more than 5 shapes each) so it'll be easy for even the tiniest of fingers to handle.

I also got to play with some 3D shapes this week. I had never made paper flowers before, but the Cameo machine just makes it so darn easy and fun to do! Just cut the layers out, curl the petals around your finger or a pencil and adhere the layers to create these pretty blooms. These are not considered "Valentine themed" so they are full price in the store, but at 99-cents, they are still a steal!

I hope you are loving these as much as I am. Let me know if you guys would like a tutorial on any of these. They are mostly pretty simple to assemble, but if you need extra help with any of them, I'd be more than glad to show the process here. Enjoy!

Playing with Paper

I finally got my new Silhouette Cameo machine in the mail last Friday and I spent all weekend playing with paper, like a little kid. I've been a contributing artist on the Silhouette site for over 3 months now, but since I wanted to start designing some 3D shapes, I really needed to get a hold of one of these machines, to make the cutting and assembling that much easier. But, boy, I was not prepared for how much fun I was gong to have with this! I literally stayed up all night Saturday designing, cutting and assembling fun little treat boxes for all my loved ones. Check these out!

I designed them to be treat boxes (they are just perfect sized for small toys, candies or gift cards). But then I thought, how cute would these look as luminaries?!? So, I ran out to my nearest Dollar Tree and grabbed a couple sets of battery-operated tea light candles (they sell them in sets of 3 candles for $1!!) and now check them out!

Of course, after I snapped this picture I thought... hmmm... I should've slipped a sheet of vellum behind the cut outs, to diffuse the light a bit. So I ran out to Hobby Lobby (yes, it was a crazy weekend!) and got a few sheets of vellum. Then when I got back home, I had another idea for a luminary, so rather than taking the ready-made ones apart, I just made a new one. How sweet is this? I just adore this look! Sydney immediately claimed it for her room. :)

The possibilities are endless with this machine! I made these adorable Nordic Mitten cards and gift tags...

A nifty gift card holder...

...and these adorable flags to slip into gift bags this Christmas. This also helps me use up all those left-over paper straws from the kid's parties!

Guys, I think I've found my new obsession (like I needed another one!). All of my 3-D cut files are currently available as digital downloads on the Silhouette Online Store. They are only $0.99 each! (and the Christmas-themed ones are currently on sale for 75-cents each!)

These are SVG files and can be used on most machines, like the Cameo, that cut files for scrapbooking or card-making. After the New Year, we will put my shapes on our site, so you can get them directly from us for use on other machines.

Happy Holidays, all!!

A winner and new products from MODKID

Hello, all! First off I want to thank you all for entering our GenerationQ Magazine giveaway. Your comments were all lovely, as usual, but we had to choose one winner, so we used the random number generator and this time... it's lucky number FIVE!!

DianeY11:17 AM

Love this magazine! I have the first 2 issues and plan to buy this one when I find it online. Seems none of the few quilt shops in Hawaii carry it! It would be cool to win a copy. Thanks for the chance

Congrats, Diane! Looks like we'll be sending this mag to sunny Hawaii (wish I could come with!!) Please email your mailing address to Emalee at egrambo@modkidboutique.com and she will get your magazine to you right away.

So... on to exciting new projects! At Quilt Market, I had an extensive conversation with the amazing Carla Crim (a.k.a. The Scientific Seamstress) and although I had [several times] claimed that we don't do PDF patterns, by the end of our meal, she had me convinced that this was the thing to do (that tricky girl!). This led to a conversation with Kim of YouCanMakeThis.com and now we are excited to announce our first PDF pattern!

May I present to you... MODKID MOD OWL STUFFIE! We made a few of these last year as Christmas presents to my girls, nieces and friends. They were such a hit that we decided to test it out as our first PDF pattern.

This adorable Owl pattern is available now as a download at:

The pattern is $7.95 no matter where you purchase it from (choose your favorite site!) and it comes as an 8-page downloadable PDF document. Print it at 100% (no scaling) right to your desktop printer. Not need to enlarge the pattern... it has been tiled so all you have to do is print, cut, tape and sew! Step-by-step sewing instructions, detailed diagrams and tons of photos are also included in true MODKID fashion.

In addition to the PDF patterns (yes, that is plural because we have some more in the works!), we also have some new offerings in the Silhouette Online Store. Check out these adorable shapes you can download and use for cards, scrapbooking, party invitations, gift tags and so much more!

And this is not all. I have some amazing projects to share with you in the coming weeks. So, please check back here often to see all the fun little goodies we have been working on at the MODKID studio!

Happy Holidays, friends!

Do you CAMEO®?

I am so thrilled to share with you this new design venture I am embarking on. This past Summer I attended the CHA Show (Craft & Hobby Association) in Chicago and I met with so many lovely folks. One of them worked for Silhouette and after showing me how their amazing Cameo® machine worked and taking a look at my portfolio (which I conveniently brought on my iPad), urged me to submit some designs for their contributing artist program. I also had dinner with a couple of lovely designers who had nothing but great things to say about this company. So, fast-forward a couple of months and I am now the newest licensed designer at Silhouette! I'm sure you'll recognize some classic Patty shapes in my artist page:

If you're not familiar with Silhouette or the Cameo, here's a bit of info for you (directly from their website):

The Silhouette CAMEO® is an electronic cutting tool for personal use. Like a home printer, it plugs into your PC or Mac® with a simple USB cable. However, instead of printing it uses a small blade to cut paper, cardstock, vinyl, fabric and more up to 12" wide and 10 feet long. The machine also boasts a quiet motor and the ability to register and cut printed materials.

The Cameo can be used to make Scrapbook pages , Cards , Custom apparel , Vinyl décor , Etched glass , Sketch designs , Temporary tattoos and Paper crafts.

The designs I have currently available on the Silhouette site are all "regular cut" which means that they are SVG files to be used with their software and printed on their machine. They are scalable, meaning you can scale them to any size you need, and editable, which means you can modify them (move elements around on a layout) to fit your needs.

My dear friend Char from Crap I've Made used three of my designs to make some adorable shirts for her kids and friends. In her words, "I made some t-shirts using some stencil vinyl and the Silhouette fabric ink and then I tried one with freezer paper and the Silhouette fabric ink. They turned out pretty darn awesome, if I do say so myself." I couldn't agree more!!

Here are some close-ups of all three:

Eeeek! I want one now!

More designs will be popping up every week, so bookmark my page and check often! If you guys out there make any fun projects using my shapes, please send me some photos (email to info AT modkidboutique DOT com) and I will be sure to share them here.