Let's call this stationery week at How About Orange. Friends inexplicably keep marrying and having babies, so here are some shower invitations I made with a pal last week. The mom-to-be registered for purple butterfly things, so I had to hold off on the orange cheetah-themed shower that could have been awesome. I think this one might be more tasteful. I made the design in Adobe Illustrator, then cut the cards out with the Silhouette machine. The party information is printed on an interior sheet. It's stapled inside the card along the spine to form a mini booklet. Chartreuse envelopes from Papersource plus these stamps finished it off.
You can download the butterfly template as a PDF file, a zipped Studio file for Silhouette users, or a zipped SVG file for Cricut users. And folks without a digital cutter will have to make do with an X-acto knife. Eek, that's a little bit daunting.
Wow, these are so cute, next time I order checks I'll make a order for these as well. Thank you for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteThose are really cute. Luckily I have Illustrator! Wahoo!
ReplyDeleteso cute! The file can easily be changed to an svg to cut on a cricut too - I need to make my sister a birthday card today and this is perfect. Thanks for sharing :-)
ReplyDeleteOh, Cricut users take SVGs? That's cool. I'll add that as a file option for people.
ReplyDeletethose are so cool. im loving all the stationary!
ReplyDeletethese came out just so delicate and beautiful. what a lucky gal to have you for a friend.
ReplyDeletelynda in calif
Nice how you color-coordinated the stamps, too. :) All in all sooo pretty!
ReplyDeleteMum
man that silhouette machine looks incredible..
ReplyDeleteThose turned out really lovely. I think the silhouette machine is proving to be quite handy.
ReplyDeleteThose turned out really lovely. I think the silhouette machine is proving to be quite handy.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful and very appropriate for the occasion! Love the scalloped edges too. Gwenny Penny has just done Thanksgiving name cards with scalloped edges as well, they have both really caught my eye this morning.
ReplyDeleteSO COOL! Those are amazing!
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of stapler did you use to staple along the fold? Did you use a long reach stapler, or did you have another solution? Thanks for your help!
ReplyDeleteI used a regular stapler, swung open. I put the two sheets of paper on top of a chunk of corrugated cardboard, stapled into the stack. I flipped the paper stack over and bent the staples closed with my thumbnail. A letter opener will bend them nicely, too.
ReplyDeleteI love those! How delicate and beautiful!
ReplyDeleteHi.
ReplyDeleteLove your site. Visit each day around lunch time : )
I noticed today that your ribbons were featured in dog collar form in another blog I read, Whatever.
How fun.
Gorgeous. Thanks so much for the download. I love my Silhouette too. :-) I have a little blog where I show a few things I've made. http://www.forthejoyofsharing.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteOkay, I really need to finally take my Cricut out of the box. Those butterfly cards re absolutely amazing.a
ReplyDeleteThese are awesome! That cutter is darn versatile.
ReplyDeleteI love these so much. ;)
ReplyDeleteVery cute cards!
ReplyDeleteJessica - forgive me for the possibly silly question but how do you make a Studio file? I don't have a Silhouette but I've been wanting to get one...
ReplyDeleteNot a silly question. Right now you have to have a PC and some old Robomaster application. I didn't convert this; a lovely blog reader converted my PDF for me and sent it in, so I updated the post with it. I don't have a way to do it myself, being a Mac user.
ReplyDeleteBut: You can cut directly from Illustrator using a free plug-in from the Silhouette website.
Or: The company says they will be updating the Silhouette Studio software this month to import .dxf files you make in Illustrator. Then maybe once you've got it open in Silhouette Studio, you can save as a .studio file.
Thanks for all the info Jessica! These cutting machines are pretty awesome. Many ideas... little time.
ReplyDeletety!
ReplyDeleteSeeing examples like this makes me very tempted to get a silhouette machine, but one concern is how quickly consumables (blades and cutting mats) wear out. How have you found them to hold up under heavy use on projects like this?
ReplyDeleteSo far, so good, but I do wonder about that blade. I cut 15 of these cards, plus some previous projects. I wonder how long the blade will stay sharp if it's used on paper. Vinyl and the heat transfer stuff seems easier on it. I'm less worried about the cutting mats.
ReplyDeleteSo I guess I can't answer that question quite yet; i haven't used it enough yet. It's holding up better than an X-acto blade, I can say that much.
A follow-up on how long the blades last, straight from the people at Silhouette support:
ReplyDeleteThe blades for the Silhouette should typically last up to 6 months depending on usage and the type of material being cut. Please note that thicker materials will wear down the blade more quickly and the average life for heavy users will be closer to 2 - 4 months. The thickest material the Silhouette will cut well would be 80 - 90 lb weight cardstock, such as Bazzill cardstock. Attempts to cut thicker materials or certain materials the Silhouette is not designed to cut that are more dense (such as shrink plastic, foam, chipboard) or fibrous in nature (such as fabric) may ruin the blade or result in the blade dulling very quickly.
These are gorgeous!!!! This makes me want to buy a cutter. Can anyone recommend what is better? A Cricut or a Silhouette? Thanks! Angie @ www.221vision.com
ReplyDeleteThe pattern for silhouette comes up as a blank page..... :(
ReplyDeleteBecsta, the download is a zipped folder that contains the Studio file. It won't display in your browser window, but it will download onto your computer. You can then launch Silhouette Studio, go to File > Open and choose the butterfly file.
ReplyDeleteIt still comes up blank... I dont know why...
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the lovely cut file.
ReplyDeleteJocelan
what a beautiful card! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! These are really cute.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing!! These are perfect for my daughter's butterfly birthday party.
ReplyDeleteSuch lovely cards! Thanks so much for the template; I used it for Mother's Day cards.
ReplyDeleteThank's! It will be a birthday 's card (in France :-) )
ReplyDelete