This project veers away from my norm just a bit. Less fabric, more paper and a bit more scrapbook-ish. And guess what? I’m kind of hooked. The ScanNCut machine cuts so many materials, but cutting paper on it is truly addicting. To feed that addiction — and the upcoming Father’s Day holidays! — I’ve created 5 Father’s Day cards for you all in addition to today’s project. I’ve shared a few so far — the rest will be coming over these next few days before
I love how this framed Father’s Day tree project turned out. I wanted to create a layered piece that could be framed for Andy’s office. I also know that trying to get a good handprints on the final project would probably send me into anxiety– letting the ScanNCut machine cut out the best ones I wanted to use made it easy! This project can be as kid-driven as you’d like! I will warn you though, Harlow is asking me to scan and direct cut just about every drawing she makes now. I wanted to incorporate both kids into the project–their handprints–and many of the things Harlow loves to spend her day doing–painting with watercolor and writing her letters! Let’s hop right into it.
SUPPLIES
Shadow Box Frame (any size! mine is 12″ x 12″)
Cardstock
Paint
Standard Mat
Standard blade
Glue stick
The first piece we will create is the tree. I found this tree as a free .SVG download, but I wanted to make a few changes to it, so that I could layer two shades of brown for some dimension. Using ScanNCut Canvas, I removed and moved anchor points to alter the design.
After I finished modifying the tree designs, I saved them on a USB stick to bring over to my ScanNCut machine.
After resizing, I cut out one tree from a light brown cardstock and the other from a darker cardstock.
MY CARDSTOCK SETTINGS
// blade depth: 3.5-4
// blade pressure: 0
// blade speed: 1-3
Tree is finished, set it aside.
Next we will create the handprints! This part was the most fun for me, but also the most messy. Harlow was a pro, but here are a few tips for younger kids:
// have a wet rag near by to wipe hands immediately
// have scrap paper to practice
// have a clear surface with nothing else grab-able
// just have fun ;)
When cutting out something like these painted handprints, the ScanNCut machine will want to grab tiny details that you most likely don’t want it to. To “trick” you ScanNCut into cutting the outline you want it to, tape a piece of vellum or typing paper on top of the handprint and trace. Place your cardstock on the standard mat and direct cut scan your mat.
The ScanNCut will recognize the outline you created — I chose to add .04″ to the perimeter. Remove the typing paper and cut!
You can use a simple piece of cardstock as the background for your piece, if you’d like. I asked Harlow to paint a sun and sky for me — I love how it turned out!
Next, create the text (if you want!) for your framed piece. You can use one of the built-in fonts or have one of your kids–or all of them!–write it instead! I mean, I don’t know of any fonts that make E with 4 lines look as cute as Harlow can!
I helped her write, “We love you Daddy” with marker, but it was a little thin to cut out. If you save your scanned data onto your USB stick, you can thicken the lines in ScanNCutCanvas using the “Create Offset Line” tool. Download and save to the USB stick again and cut out. I used the same settings for all the cardstock in this project.
After you have everything cut, it’s time to assemble! I used a glue stick to adhere all of the layers. I placed a heavy box on top to flatten it a bit while drying, but I love how pieces aren’t laying completely flat to give it some dimension.
Pop it in the frame, and you’re ready to gift!