Birthday card with Sharpies in the Explore!

Finally got some time to play with my new Explore and wanted to get those neon Sharpies to work on a birthday card!  And they fit in the Chomas Creations adjustable marker holder for the Explore!  I love how bright they are!  Being the 80's have made a come back and the neon colors are all the rage for the teens and tweens, I can't wait to give this card to one of them!  And with the Explore I do love the option of using the font I want on my computer, any fonts I have installed!  WOOHOO!

I use a Popsicle stick to adjust the height of the marker after the  mat is already installed in the machine to figure out the right height.

Here are some of the different neon Sharpies they offer.

Want to try making these for yourself?  Use the coupon code may15 in the Chomas Creations store to save 10% off your purchase!

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Scoring a card with the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder & stylus

Want an easy way to score fold lines??  Look no further!  I used a stylus (I do have these in the Chomas Creations store if you don't already have one) in the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder to score 110 pound cardstock, which is the thickest I can think of that would be good for cards.  You do NOT need an embossing mat for this, just an original Silhouette mat.

I used the smaller tip of the stylus as shown here.

You can get the file for a 5x7 card for Studio with the score line here... 5x7 card  All parts of files are set up to cut when you send them to the Silhouette Cameo. But I don't want to cut the middle score line for the card, I want to score it. So first I click on the cut style icon on the top menu of Studio (1) to get my options, which are located at the right side of Studio. I need to turn off the large rectangle that will be my card, so I click on that, then click on no cut (2).

Now add the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder with the stylus to the Silhouette Cameo and set the pressure all the way at 33.  The line shown in this picture is layered 5 times, so it will run over the line 5 times to really score it.

Next we want to cut the card out. To do this we need to switch our options in cut style. This time we select the line we scored and select the no cut option. Now select the large rectangle for the card and select cut. Without removing your mat from the Silhouette, carefully switch out the stylus for the blade. Now cut the rectangle.

You will have a scored line right down the middle of your card!  You may have to click on the picture to see it larger and see the score line.

Fold it in half and use a bone folder to smooth out the edge!  You have a scored card! 

Of course you don't have to just use this with cards, you can do this with any score line!

Use the coupon code april15 at checkout  to save 10% off your order in the Chomas Creations store.

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The difference between the pen and marker Chomas Creations adjustable holders

I have so many people asking why both a pen and marker holder?  After asking people if they would want one of both, for the reasons shown, we all decided on both, as people did want both options!  But keep in mind you can always just use the marker holder for holding pens to, you just won't be able to center them like you see below.

This cute bear shape from Lettering Delights has a ring around it as the bonus layer.  I used the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder with a Sakura Souffle gel pen to draw the ring.  The Souffle pens dry puffy, I just love them!  Of course this means you should let them have extra dry time before you touch them or they will smear!

Now I'm often asked what the difference between the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder and adjustable marker holder.  The biggest difference of course is the size.  The adjustable pen holder holds pens up to 3/8 inch while the adjustable marker holder goes up to 1/2 inch.  The biggest problem with putting a gel pen in the adjustable marker holder is how far off center the gel pen will end up.

Now, if you were to draw with the gel pen in the adjustable marker holder it is going to be way off center.  If you try to cut a design like I showed above it will end up drawing the ring outside of the design.

Notice how the gel pen is centered inside of the adjustable pen holder.

When you draw and cut with the gel pen inside the adjustable pen holder your ring will be centered inside your design!

I also used the Chomas Creations adjustable marker holder with a Prismacolor Permier to draw the font around my design.  This is the Lettering Delights thin font called Typewriter.





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Sparkle card with Chomas Creations adjustable marker holder

Oh boy, look what I ran across while shopping at Target the other day, NEON!  My daughter was so excited!  They also had these Sharpies all separate on an end cap to buy. 

These original size fine tip Sharpies fit perfectly (& centered) in the Chomas Creations adjustable marker holder for the Silhouette.

Now Sharpies will work wonderful on glossy surfaces such as transparency, vinyl, clear cardstock, glossy cardstock and more, but Sharpies may bleed into some papers.  This is a special cardstock I really like from Papertrey Ink.  It works great with Sharpies and also if you are a Copic user it is fantastic paper for that.  The Sharpies will not bleed on this cardstock. 
Now being that I wanted to use 4 different colors on this card, I figured I would show you how I do that.  You need to click on cut line settings (1) in Studio and select you entire project (2) and then click on no cut (3).  This is going to turn off all the lines that the Silhouette would normally cut. 

Now click on the first image you want to draw, I'm choosing the word Sparkle (1) and click on cut (2).

Now you can draw your image.  Add the Chomas Creations adjustable marker holder and your first colored Sharpie to your Silhouette machine.  I used a thickness of 1 (keep in mind you can crush the tip of a Sharpie marker if you use too high of a thickness, so make sure to check that you are on between 1-5) and a speed of 5. 

Do not remove your mat from the machine for this next step.  Take out your first colored Sharpie and add another different colored Sharpie.  Now go back in Studio, the word Sparkle is still selected, so click on no cut.  This will turn off that image.  Click on your next image, which is the shadow of sparkle (1) and click on cut (2).  Now draw this image using the same settings as above.

 

Now you have 2 different colors that you have drawn with.  Being that the Sharpie is centered in the Chomas Creations adjustable marker holder you can see the the shadow of Sparkle is lined up perfectly!

Again without removing your mat from your machine, keep going until all of you images are drawn.  This only took me a few minutes as it is pretty quick to change out the markers in the Chomas Creations adjustable marker holder.

 

I also added a stylus to the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder to score my card lines for easier folding.  You can get the file for the card (not for the Sparkle design, that is a Studio paid download) here... scored 5x7 card.
Then I swapped out the adjustable holder for a blade and cut out the card.  I know it may sound like a lot, but it is easy once you get the hang of it!  This took me less then 10 minutes once my design was set to go.  I'm just loving these bright fluorescent colors, they are perfect for my niece's sparkly personality!

Ready to try out some of the Chomas Creations tools?  Use the coupon code september14 at checkout in the Chomas Creations store to save 10% off your purchase!

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Birthday card with Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder

I love how this turned out, looks so much like chalk on chalkboard!!  This is the Sakura moonlight gelly roll gel pens in the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder.  The file is from the Studio store.  I used internal offset to fill in the pattern on this file.  I kept adjusting the internal offset until the whole thing was filled!  Worked great!  Because these pens are pretty juicy, I used a speed of 2 and a thickness of 6. 

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Robot birthday card with Chomas Creations adjustable marker holder

Young boy birthday cards are a tough one for me!  Give me girly, flowery any day and I can make a quick card.  But a boy card?  Not so quick!
But what could be better for boy then robots and silver and black and dark blue?  Well nothing!
I found these Sharpie markers that are a fine point on one side and an ultra fine point on the other that fit in the Chomas Creations adjustable marker holder.  Sharpies work awesome on glossy surfaces like this silver glossy cardstock that I found at Target, 2 pieces for under $1!

The sentiment and robot were both Studio store downloads.

Want to try out some of these fun ideas?  Use the coupon code december13 to save 10% off in the Chomas Creations store.

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abc thanks card with Chomas Creations adjustable holders

I needed a quick thank you card for my daughter's teacher and love the look of "chalk" on "chalkboard" this is hot right now.  I created this card in Studio and you can get the share for it
here... abc thanks  The font I used is a Lettering Delights thin font called Sparkle.
I used the Chomas Creations adjustable marker holder with a white Signo Uniball gel pen (adjust your speed to 1 and thickness to around 3) to draw the design.  I also used a stylus in the Chomas Creations adjustable marker holder to score my card.  There is a tutorial for scoring cards here...  score card

Ready to give the Chomas Creations tools a try?  Use the code october13 at checkout to save 10% off your order in the Chomas Creations store.


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Black & white card with the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder for the Cricut

I've always loved the look of white gel pen on black cardstock!  Now that the Expression2 is out, and there is no lip to block the height of the pens you put in the machine, Chomas Creations now has an adjustable pen and marker holder for it!  You can get more info on the new Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder and adjustable marker holder here... Chomas Creations
So I used the new Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder to hold the Uniball WHITE gel pen.  .  This is from the Cindy Loo cartridge.

The dots are all Viva Decor, love how that stuff stays poofy! 
Want to give it a try?  Use the coupon code september13 at checkout in the Chomas Creations store to save 10% off your order!


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The biggest difference between the adjustable pen and adjustable marker holder...

I get asked this question A LOT!  The biggest difference between the Chomas Creations adjustable pen and adjustable marker holder is of course the size.  The adjustable pen holder is 3/8 inch in diameter and the adjustable marker holder is 1/2 inch diameter.  But what does this mean when using gel pens in the adjustable marker holder?  Well you are going to get what they call an offset (meaning the gel pen is NOT centered in the holder).  Now this means that if you want to draw an image, when you go to cut it it isn't going to be centered when you try to cut your shadow.  The adjustable pen holder is very close to center with most gel pens (Chomas Creations mini gel pens, Sakura, Gelly Roll, and more).  So when you go to cut your shadow with these gel pens, it is going to line up right for you.  If you go to put these same sized gel pens into the adjustable marker holder, you will notice you have to tighten the screw quite a bit, making it even further off center. 
Here is a card I made using the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder for the Cricut with a Chomas Creations black mini gel pen (if you own the Expression 2, you can use any length gel pen!)  Notice how the shadow cut around the design very nicely!  If you want to try to make this card with Once Upon A Princess in Cricut Craft Room, I have the file here... birthday party
Oh and notice how far my cupcake pops off the page?  That is an Action Wobble Spring!  How neat is that?  I'm going to make my cards more fun with these hehe! 

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Bee happy card with Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder

Looking for a white gel pen that will center in the Chomas Creations adjustable  pen holder, well here you go... The Gelly Roll by Sakura.  I did try it on kraft cardstock and it didn't show up well enough, but it did look good on the black.  So the darker color cardstock does work best.

The slower speed worked better with this gel pen, so I did do this on a 1 speed with a thickness of 5.  As you can see in the picture the gel pen is centered in the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder, so that it lined up just right on my edges of my card!  Bee happy is one of Lettering Delights thin fonts.  The bee and flower are a download from the Silhouette Studio store.  The loop de loop around the outside of the card was done with the Studio sketch feature.

Want to try this out for yourself?  Use the coupon code august13 in the Chomas Creations store to save 10% off your purchase!


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Embossed card with Cricut Expression 2

Here is a quick card I did today with the Chomas Creations embossing kit for the Cricut and vellum!  The design I used is one from Cindy Loo. 
I attached the Chomas Creations embossing mat to my Cricut mat (you don't even need a new one, just clean an old mat, add some adhesive, I use Zig 2 way glue, and add your mat to that!)  Then I attached a piece of vellum with adhesive in each cover to the embossing mat.  I set my pressure to 5, or max, the speed to 3 or medium and embossed the design.  I did use a multi cut of 2.
 I added the Chomas Creations embossing tip into the Expression 2 (it fits in the entire line of Cricut machines though!) and tightened the screw.  No other parts needed, the embossing tip fits right into the machine.

I did cut out a window in my card for the vellum to sit in.  I just used my paper trimmer for this as I said I was going for quick! 

 

Want the same look using the Cameo?   Use a stylus in the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder and use an embossing mat.

***Don't forget to use the coupon code july13 in the Chomas Creations store to save 10% off your purchase at checkout!
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Father's Day card with Chomas Creations engraving tip

Oh boy, I almost (I did say almost, right) feel guilty because this card was soooo easy to make!  The title is from the Studio store.  The kraft cardstock is made for cards and pre-scored.  All I did was use the Chomas Creations engraving tip in the Cameo with a speed of 3, a thickness of 33, and double cut to etch the sentiment in the card.  Then I swiped a Tim Holtz distress ink over the top of it!  I've been sooo busy lately (I know excuses, excuses) and had just a few minutes to get this done!  I think it gives a pretty neat look as the ink absorbs into the etched cardstock and is darker then the rest of the card!

Don't forget to use the coupon code june2013 to save 10% off your purchase in the Chomas Creations store!


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Birthday card with the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder and some free fonts!

So I see these doodle fonts that I like from someone else, then realize there is a whole bunch more by the same person!  So if you are looking for some dingbats and cute fonts (some are thin and would work great for journaling), look no further then MTF fonts!
I used the MTF Cupcake font for this card, as well as the MTF Sweetdings for the actual cupcake.  Did I mention both are FREE fonts!  And look how cute!  I drew them both with the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder and the Staedtler triplus fineliner (one of my fav pens!).  I used a thickness of 4 and a speed of 5 for the drawing.
 Notice how the font looks like a thin font or single line font.  This will work at smaller sizes for these fonts, but the bigger you get the font will look outlined.

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