silhouette

Silhouette CAMEO + BB Frösch a Match Made in Heaven // GIVEAWAY

188 · Jan 12, 2016 · 477 Comments

Peanut Butter & Jelly, Fred & Ginger, Mac & Cheese… Famous pairings. We have a new one that I’m sure you’re going to fall in love with as well!

Silhouette & BB Frösch Chalk Paint Powder!

If you love to create in any way shape or form, you need to learn how these two play so well together. Here’s an example…

This hot cocoa bar was created with BOTH Silhouette AND BB Frösch. The beautiful buffet was transformed with BB Frösch along with the fun Hot Cocoa sign. We used our Silhouette CAMEO to create the stencil for the sign along with the buffalo plaid fabric banner. WAY FUN!!

It’s super easy to make signs with Silhouette & BB Frösch.

You can download WhipperBerry’s Hot Cocoa sign design HERE.

I typically use the Silhouette Premium Vinyl when I’m making signs. You can also use the Stencil Material.

With this sign, started with a BB Frösch (more about BB Frösch in just a second) Faux Stained base. You can learn all about that HERE.

The secret to a perfect stencil is to seal your stencil with BB Frösch Premium Finishing Wax before you paint. It helps seal any edges that might leak.

Then I paint away…

I distress the sign and then finish it with another coat of clear wax to seal and protect my work. It gives the sign a beautiful sheen.

This same BB Frösch / Silhouette sign was a part of a fun wedding recently. Witney Carson from Dancing with the Stars commissioned WhipperBerry & BB Frösch to create a custom sign for the Hot Cocoa bar at the reception.

I’ve been working on signs like this for a while now, I LOVE THEM!!

Now, many of you are very familiar with the whole family of Silhouette cutting machines. Whether you have the Silhouette CAMEO, Portrait or the Curio… You know that you can design and create all kinds of fabulous goodies. If you didn’t know though, I’ve recently switched over to using a Cricut more often. I talk about the differences between Cricut vs Silhouette here. BUT…

What is BB Frösch Chalk Paint Powder?

Many of you may be asking, “What is BB Frösch Chalk Paint Powder?“

I’m so glad you asked! BB Frösch is an all-natural powder that you add to any flat latex paint and turn it into chalk paint. The reason why we all love chalk paint is the ease of use & manipulability .

Ease of use – NO sanding, stripping or priming.

Manipulability – You can manipulate all kinds of finishes like smooth and modern, faux stain – all the way to shabby chic.

What BB Frösch brings to the table is AFFORDABILITY & FLEXIBILITY!

Affordability – When you use BB Frösch Chalk Paint Powder vs. boutique brands of chalk paint, you cut your paint expense in HALF!

Flexibility – YOU get to select your paint color, any color of the rainbow! If you were to use one of the boutique brands, you have a limited color palette.

You can paint wood, metal, glass, fabric… We’ve painted pretty much anything from a kitchen all the way down to the rug.

Classy Clutter BB Frösch Kitchen Makeover

Barn Owl Primitives Red Desk Makeover

BB Fröshed Stenciled Rug – You can watch how we did that HERE!

You can find all kinds of BB Frösch inspiration on our Instagram account or Facebook.

Silhouette & BB Frösch

The beauty of BB Frösch is that it brings the fantastic Chalk Paint world into the crafting world as well. Before it was way to expensive to use chalk paint for anything other than painting furniture or cabinetry. The cost was way to prohibitive for small scale projects. NOT with BB Frösch!! You can get all of the magic of chalk paint without the high price tag. Couple that with any of the Silhouette products and you have a match made in HEAVEN!!

You can create custom signs like these or create your very own stencil to stencil your pillows, bags or rugs. Really the things that you can do with these two are LIMITLESS!!

GIVEAWAY

Now that we’ve wet your whistle… We would LOVE to help YOU get started on your very own Silhouette + BB Frösch project!

Silhouette & BB Frosch have teamed up to GIVEAWAY a…

Silhouette CAMEO

+

BB Frosch Starter Kit

valued at $415

To one lucky person!

All you have to do to enter is follow the directions in the Rafflecopter box below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Simple Kid Friendly DIY Christmas Village

2 · Nov 28, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Who’s looking for something fun & simple to do this Christmas? Something even the kiddos will love!

This year, I’m looking to simplify. I want to simplify everything, the gift giving, the message, the decor. I want the Holidays to be more about the family and the true meaning of Christmas. Several years ago my family spent a month in Germany in December and we had a chance to enjoy a European Christmas that was simply magical. For the Germans the holiday is all about nature, simplicity & family. We fell in love! Ever since then I have wanted to create more of an old-world Christmas experience and this year is finally the year… I’m so excited!!

It’s all starting with my simple kid-friendly DIY Christmas Village. I wish I could take all of the credit for this, but I can’t. I was inspired by a friend of mine here in Lincoln from Little Red Cabin. She has this beautiful shop where she sells simple, yet stunning decor items for the home. She used to sell these Christmas Villages in her shop but she no longer carries them, therefore I had to make one of my own and of course put my WhipperBerry spin on them. It’s really quite simple, you only need a few items.

Christmas Village Supplies

2×2 Select Pine Board

BB Frösch Chalk Paint Powder

Behr Premium Plus Sample Pots FLAT – Mink & Decorator White

Krylon Premium Metallic Spray Paint – Copper Foil

DIY Christmas Village Instructions

The trickiest thing with this project is getting access to a saw. If you don’t have a saw, hit up your neighbors or family members. I’m sure someone has something you can use. I have a Rigid 10 inch Sliding Compound Miter Saw and it works like a dream for this project, but it isn’t the only saw that will work.

All you need is to be able to cut at an angle for this little village. There is no rhyme or reason when you’re cutting the little buildings. I made the little buildings roughly 3-4 inches tall, with all different types of angles for their roofs. I mostly used a 30-40˚ angle when cutting to tops of my buildings.

The only one that needs to be exact is the larger building in the center that you place your stencil on. For that one I used a 35˚ cut and made sure both sides of the building were the same hight.

Sand your blocks if needed. My wood cut so nice that I didn’t really need to sand them at all.

Now it’s time to paint your village. I knew that I wanted to keep some natural wood, Faux Stain some building with BB Frösch & then spray some of the buildings with copper spray paint for a metallic accent. I’ve see others use puffy paint for these kinds of projects but I liked the spray paint instead. If you have kids creating these then you can use puffy paint instead because they love it. I wrote a post about how to make your own puffy paint too!

Faux Staining & Painting with BB Frösch Chalk Paint Powder

This to me is my favorite part… I LOVE working with Chalk Paint! I use BB Frösch Chalk Paint Powder when I’m crafting. Typically Chalk Paint is too expensive for crafting, but not when you use BB Frösch. I mix the chalk paint powder with a sample pot of Behr Premium Plus Flat paint from Home Depot. The BB Frösch turns the regular paint into CHALK PAINT for a fraction of the cost.

It’s so easy to mix-up your chalk paint, here’s a quick video showing you how to do it.

For the White buildings, I just brush on the Decorator White BB Frösch Chalk Paint and because it’s has the all-natural mineral additives, it dries super quick! I don’t really bother to wax these guys, they don’t really need it. Plus, I like the look of the flat finish.

Now for the Faux Stain… You use this technique that I created when you want to see the natural wood come through. Traditionally people would use Stain for this, but I use BB Frösch because it’s so much easier. You can visit this post on WhipperBerry to learn how to Faux Stain.

I love how the faux stain turns out for this Christmas Village. I use the color MINK from Benjamin Moore for most of my Faux Staining. YES, I use the sample pots of Behr at Home Depot, but they have the color recipe for the Benjamin Moore colors in their computer. Just ask for Benjamin Moore Mink and they will be able to look it up.

Copper Buildings

Now for the copper, I use Krylon’s Premium Metallic Spray Paint in Copper Foil. It’s super simple and adds that little pop of copper that is so hot right now.

Just spray paint a couple of your buildings for that accent color.

Stencil

Now for the stencil…I’ve used a Swiss Cross, but you can use whatever you like. A star, snowflake, heart… Whatever you come-up with really. I cut my stencil out of vinyl on my Silhouette CAMEO but you can either buy a pre-made stencil or create one of your own.

I put the two pieces of cut wood together and then place the stencil on top.

Then paint with your desired color. ALSO, don’t forget that you can use both the positive and negative parts of the stencil. That way you don’t have to waste anything!

Peel-off the vinyl once it is dry and voilá… You have a stylish decorated building for your set.

You can also drill a hole into one of your buildings and add a star. I just glued a star ornament from Michaels to the top of a dowel and it fit perfect with the village.

I love this simple decor that is kid friendly. So many Holiday decorations are breakable and we’re constantly following the kiddos around telling them not to touch… With this simple Christmas Village they can touch and play with it all they want!

+ This was originally a guest post on 30 Handmade Days +

Silhouette Black Friday 2015

2 · Nov 26, 2015 · Leave a Comment

It’s the best time of the creative year!! It’s the Silhouette Black Friday Event!

If you entered this weeks CAMEO Giveaway, you learned once again how much I LOVE my CAMEO.

There are so many options out on the market for this type of creating and hands-down… I pick Silhouette. I’ve drawn the line in the sand and made my choice. I use my CAMEO all of the time. It is the first thing I pull out when I sit down to create a project. Now with a whole family of creative machines the folks at Silhouette have you covered!

Here are a few signs that I’ve been making for the Holidays this year that I’ve used my CAMEO to create…

I’ll be sharing how to make this fun BB Frösch Mistletoe sign on Tatertots and Jello next week.

I’ll even be sharing my Silhouette Studio files for the design, so I’ve got you covered! Here are a few more that I had a ball creating with my CAMEO…

No other cutting machine has the kind of software to allow you to create your own designs like the Silhouette Studio. It is by far the best software out there!

Here are the deals for this year’s event…

Click HERE to go to the Silhouette Black Friday Event

Remember to enter WHIPPER at checkout to receive all of those amazing deals.

To get the 20% off the Silhouette Design Store Subscriptions, you’ll need to enter BLACK

The free shipping on orders over $50 is for the continuous United States only.

Disclaimer – This is not a sponsored post. I am however a member of the Silhouette Maker program which has an affiliate program as well.

Mistletoe Christmas Sign + Silhouette CAMEO GIVEAWAY

1 · Nov 22, 2015 · 258 Comments

+ This Silhouette CAMEO GIVEAWAY brought to you by Silhouette +

Let’s get real…

Christmas is right around the corner and we ALL want something nice in our stockings this year!

Frankly, I’m a gadgets girl. I love all kinds of tools that make my life easier or more creative. My ALL-TIME FAVORITE creative tool is my Silhouette CAMEO. Seriously, hands-down, without a doubt, what would you take to a creative desert island (with power of course)… My CAMEO!!!

I will admit, that I have been blessed when it comes to these types of machines. I’ve extensively used both the Silhouette and Cricut cutting machines. I have met with the CEOs and their executive teams for both companies. I have learned about their visions for their companies and the new directions each company has in the works. I respect them both but, time and time again, I use my Silhouette CAMEO without a 2nd thought. It’s my go-to tool when I start any project. I LOVE my CAMEO. I love the creative capabilities that the Silhouette Studio has to offer. I love what’s available in the Silhouette Store and I love what I can create within the software. My hands don’t feel tied in any way with Silhouette. I can’t say the same for the other company’s software.

This Christmas I’ve created a fun new sign with my Silhouette CAMEO that I’m super excited to share with you guys.

This sign was painted with BB Frösch Chalk Paint Powder using my Faux Stain technique and then I stenciled this design onto the wood. There is NO WAY I could have made that sign without my Silhouette CAMEO.

For years before I had learned about any kind of cutting machine, I yearned to make projects like this and couldn’t. I don’t have the talent to hand letters nor the patients to trace and cut out a design with a craft knife. When I learned about the Silhouette Cutting Machine 5 years ago my heart skipped a beat. This was the creative tool I had been waiting for my whole life!

I bought one on their Black Friday deal back in 2011 and I’ve been in love ever since! So many products have come out since and as much as I love the companies, I always go back to… “I can make that with my Silhouette, why would I need to buy anything else.”

So here’s the deal… I’m going to be sharing my cut files for this Mistletoe sign on December 1st on Tatertots & Jello. If you don’t have a Silhouette yet, now’s the time to get one. This week, at Midnight on Wednesday, Silhouette is starting their Black Friday Sale. This sale is epic every year! They offer the best discounts on Black Friday, this is for sure the time to grab one and stock up and all kinds of Silhouette goodies. I’ll have all the details on the sales event right at Midnight on Wednesday… BUT, while we anxiously await, the amazing folks at Silhouette have given me a CAMEO to give away to one of you!!!

All you need to do is follow the directions in the Rafflecopter box below and you’ll be entered to win the Silhouette CAMEO of your dreams!

I’ll announce the winner on Thanksgiving morning. Don’t forget to come back that night to take advantage of the Silhouette deals. They sell out quickly so you don’t want to miss out.